On October 12, 1999, the United Nations Population Fund estimated the world’s population reached six billion, celebrating the occasion as the “Day of 6 Billion.” At two minutes past midnight, a male baby born in Bosnia was symbolically designated the world’s six billionth person by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Differing estimates of the actual population turning point exist, most notably the records of the U.S. Census Bureau.

According to the Census Bureau, the world population reached the 6 billion mark on July 19, 1999, at about 12:24:02 am GMT (July 18 at 8:24:02 pm EST). Every minute there are an estimated 250 births and 103 deaths in the world, which equals an increase of 147 people every sixty seconds.

Read the text and answer the multiple-choice question by selecting the correct response. Only one response is correct.

The main idea contained in this text deals with _______.

a) the key differences in methodology used by the United  Nations Population Fund versus the US Census Bureau

b) the rate at which the population grew between 19 July and 12 October 1999

c) the assessment of the net rate of global population increase, which is currently 250 people per minute

d) the estimated points in time at which the world’s population reached a given figure