Read the passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions from 3...

Read the passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions from 31 to 40.

        A conspicuous shift is underway in corporate sustainability: not so much in deeds as in declarations. This decade’s surveys suggest that while 87% of firms sustain or expand ESG spending, nearly a third speak less about it; likewise, the “Financial Times” notes 71% of America’s fifty largest companies keep climate goals yet scrub “ESG” from public pages, Alphabet included. [I] That ambivalence is often glossed as this quiet confidence – a poise born of action without anthem – though detractors call it opacity masquerading as prudence.

        So what is greenhushing? It is the deliberate soft-pedalling – or outright avoidance – of outward claims about sustainability work. Unlike greenwashing, which over-claims impact, greenhushing understates it even when progress is real. [II] On the surface, such restraint looks like a detox from performative messaging. In practice, it signals a sector wrestling with authenticity under scrutiny: companies fear mischaracterising complex, provisional data while stakeholders, increasingly exacting, expect plain, durable truth over sloganised triumphalism.

        Why the surge? In some markets, ESG has been politicised; public-affairs crossfire and litigation risks nudge executives toward silence. Meanwhile, rules are tightening: the EU’s CSRD, California’s SB 253, and Australia’s nascent sustainability standards elevate disclosure stakes and auditability. [III] Companies treat silence as risk management, yet that tactic incubates other, subtler risks. Internally, shaky emissions baselines, outdated dashboards, and misaligned teams make communicators unsure what can be shared without later retraction or technical caveats.

        Going quiet carries costs: trust erodes when achievements stay invisible; momentum stalls when teams’ toil goes unrecognised; opportunities with investors and partners slip by; and collective learning slows because methods aren’t shared. [IV] Thoughtful transparency, by contrast, is data-backed, plainspoken, candid about obstacles, focused on progress, consistent in cadence, and cross-functional so external words match internal work. The counsel is simple: don’t await perfection – state where you are and how you are moving, then evidence the movement over time.

(Adapted from https://www.zevero.earth/blog/what-is-greenhushing)

Question 31. According to paragraph 1, companies are investing in ESG but ______.

A. they increasingly overstate outcomes to secure awards and favourable press coverage

B. they increasingly avoid saying “ESG” to sidestep politicised, distracting controversies

C. they increasingly outsource disclosures to consultants to evade direct accountability

D. they increasingly bundle climate targets with marketing campaigns for wider reach