Question Statement:
The author begins by citing a 19th-century prediction by Malthus on agricultural limits, demonstrates how chemical fertilizers temporarily invalidated it, and warns that peak phosphorus may ultimately vindicate Malthusian fears. The rhetorical structure is best characterized as:
Options:
- (A) Thesis $\to$ Historical Antithesis $\to$ Modern Synthesis
- (B) Circular argument without factual support
- (C) Strict chronological bibliography
- (D) Deductive geometric proof