Today tropical rainforests are disappearing from the face of the globe. Despite growing international concern, rainforests continue to be destroyed at a pace over 80,000 acres per day. World rainforest cover now stands at around 2.5million square miles. Human activities have had an effect on much of this remaining area.
Deforestation(森林滥伐) of tropical rainforests has a global effect through species extinction, the loss of important ecosystem services and renewable resources, and the reduction of carbon sinks. However, this destruction can be slowed, stopped, and in some cases even reversed(逆转). Most people agree that the problem must be solved, but the means are not as simple as building fences around the remaining rainforests or banning the wood trade. Economic, political, and social pressures will not allow rainforests to continue to exist if they are completely closed off from use and development.
So, what should be done? The solution must be based on what is practical, not completely idealistic and depends on developing a conservation approach built on the principle of sustainable(可持续的) use and development of rainforests. Beyond the responsible development of rainforests, efforts to restore damaged forest lands along with the establishment of protected areas are key to securing rainforests for the long-term benefits they can provide for mankind.
Historic approaches to rainforest conservation have failed, as shown by the increased rate of deforestation. In many regions, closing off forests as untouchable parks and reserves has neither improved the quality of living or economic opportunities for the rural poor, nor stopped forest clearing by illegal woodcutters and developers.
The problem with this traditional approach to preserving wildlands in developing countries is that it fails to develop proper economic motives for preserving the forest. Local people and the government itself must see financial returns to prove the costs of maintaining parks from economic activities.
1. What has caused some species extinction in the tropical rainforests?| A．Humans' destroying the trees. |
| B．Carbon sinks being reduced. |
| C．Lacking renewable resources. |
| D．Fences not being built around the rainforests. |
| A．Tropical rainforests can be easily preserved. |
| B．Rainforests must be closed off to be better protected. |
| C．Human activities have had an effect on tropical rainforests. |
| D．Economic returns can make some difference in protecting tropical rainforests. |
| A．Indifferent. |
| B．Concerned. |
| C．Doubtful. |
| D．Puzzled. |
| A．To show the bad effects of deforestation. |
| B．To stress the importance of the rainforests. |
| C．To appeal for right ways to save the rainforests. |
| D．To introduce the fact of forests disappearing. |
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【推荐1】Rachel Carson was concerned about what was happenig to the environment. So in her book Silent Spring, she warned that some chemicals were poisoning the air, the water, the earth, and all its creatures. She imagined a time when spring would not bring the rebirth of flowers, trees, and the songs of birds. The book became a bestseller, and Ms. Carson was in great demand as a speaker. People lisened to her because what she said made sense, and because she was a scientist who knew her facts.
Rachel Carson was primarily interested in the world of sea and shore, so she became a marine biologst for the government. She studied and recorded facts about the sea' s plant and animal life, their special characteristics, and the nature of their environments. In 1951, she wrote The Sea Around Us, which brought her honors, fame, and respect around the world.
Ms. Carson then devoted herself full-time to research and writing. One thing much on her mind was the effect of modern technology on the natural environment. One day, a distressed friend wrote her to say that a plane spraying(喷洒) DDT had flown over her yard, and the next day several birds lay dead. Carson decided to act.
For four years she studied the use of pesticides(杀虫剂) in the United States, and then she wrote Silent Spring.
In her book Ms. Carson said that these pesticides would harm much more than insects. She explained that these poisons would pollute the environment. “Even if their effects are not immediately observable, they remain for years in the water and the soil, and they become part of the food eaten by animals and humans.
Besides, after a time, insects develop immunity to pesticides,” she said.
Recent studies have shown that pesticides can affect human brainwave activity and cause loss of memory and inability to concentrate. We should still remember Rachel Carson’s words, “I think we are challenged as we have never been challenged before to prove our mastery, not of nature, but of ourselves.”
1. Silent Spring is a book that__________| A．aims to raise people’s environmental awareness |
| B．stresses the importance of the cycle of nature |
| C．describes the author' s childhood experiences |
| D．asks people to enjoy the beauty of spring |
| A．curious | B．humorous | C．excited | D．worried |
| A．became world-famous due to Silent Spring |
| B．warned against the use of chemicals to kill insects |
| C．had a good knowledge of the planets in the universe |
| D．created a system for improving human brainwave activity |
| A．we should prove ourselves to be the ruler of this world |
| B．it's a chance for us to prove our mastery of nature |
| C．it's time for us to think about what we have done |
| D．settling on the earth is a challenge for humans |
【推荐2】The second little pig was unlucky. He built his house from sticks, which was blown away by a wolf. His brother, by contrast, built a wolf-proof house from bricks. The fairy tale could have been written by an agent for the construction industry, strongly favoring brick, concrete and steel. However, in the real world it would help reduce pollution and slow global warming if more builders copied the wood-loving second pig.
No other building material has environmental credentials (认证信息) as exciting and overlooked as wood. The energy required to produce a laminated wooden beam (层压木梁) is one-sixth of that required for a steel one of comparable strength. As trees take carbon out of the atmosphere when growing, wooden buildings contribute to negative emissions by storing the stuff. And for refitting older buildings to be more energy efficient, wood is a good insulator (绝缘体). A softwood window frame provides nearly 400 times as much insulation as a plain steel one of the same thickness and over a thousand times as much as an aluminium (铝) equivalent.
But such bigger stories are still uncommon. Governments can help push the industry to use more wood, particularly in the public sector — the construction industry’s biggest client. That would help wood-building specialists achieve greater scale and lower costs. Zero-carbon building regulations should be altered to take account of the emissions that are presented in materials.
Construction codes could be regulated to make building with wood easier. Here the direction of travel is wrong. Britain, for instance, is banning the use of timber on the outside of tall buildings after 72 people died in a tower fire in London in 2017. That is a nonsense. Grenfell Tower was covered in aluminium and plastic, not wood. Modern cross-laminated timber (交叉层叠木板) panels perform better in fire tests than steel ones do.
Carpentry alone will not bring the environmental cost of the world’s buildings into line. But using wood can do much more than is appreciated. The second little pig was not wrong, just before his time.
1. The purpose of the writer telling the story in the first paragraph is to _______.| A．attract the readers’ attention | B．make the argument more convincing |
| C．criticize the author of the tale | D．lead in the topic of the text |
| A．wood is a good insulator |
| B．such skyscrapers with wood are uncommon currently |
| C．the unique advantages of wood material being friendly environmental |
| D．how wood reduces the emission of carbon dioxide |
| A．To encourage the construction industry’s biggest client to use more wood. |
| B．To transform Zero-carbon building regulations. |
| C．To arouse the public’s awareness of protecting the woods. |
| D．To regulate the Construction codes. |
| A．the second pig in the tale was unlucky |
| B．the outside of tall buildings Grenfell Tower could have been constructed in wood |
| C．we haven’t appreciated the characteristics of using wood at all |
| D．wood-building specialists will achieve greater profits |
【推荐3】How to save planet earth
Have you ever held a product in your hands and considered the existential weight of your purchase? Beyond each price tag hides a ripple effect. It expands from soil to water ways, grocery aisle to kitchen plates, factories to fulfillment centers and mail slots to landfills. This global impact has become less hidden in the past decade, and ignoring the people downstream from us has grown increasingly difficult.
We’re more aware than ever of the mark our consumption leaves on planet Earth, which now sustains nearly 8 billion people. Somehow, humans are still pumping more than 30 gig a tons of carbon dioxide(CO2)per year into the atmosphere, despite the mountain of evidence that CO2 is the top contributor to greenhouse gases causing global warming.
Climate journalist and author Tatiana Schlossberg says even a simple trip to the supermarket can feel paralyzing in 2021. “I want to buy the local thing, but it’s not organic. Or, maybe it’s in a plastic box,” she says. In her 2019 book Inconspicuous Consumption, she ventures way beyond the store aisle and into the web of less apparent ways that humans are damaging Earth. For example, your internet use is tied to extensive carbon emissions and energy consumption.
In fact, being a good citizen on planet Earth with climate concerns, you’ve likely asked or agonized over this question: What should I do?
One of their most consistent insights may surprise you: Consumer responsibility misses the mark. “One of the major failings of the environmental movement is having everyone focus on these small things that everyone can do.” says Ayana Elizabeth Johnson-a marine biologist and co-host of the podcast How to Save a Planet.
“Individuals join together to collectively have far more power changing the system than they can as individuals,” says Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
| A．That doesn’t mean it’s none of your business. |
| B．these experts propose other key steps that every human can take toward a better future. |
| C．Similar challenge apply to use of plastics and consumption of meat and other goods. |
| D．Part of the challenge with the environmental movement is the astonishing list of things we need to change. |
| E．The solution to this problem, however, is not for you to stop using the internet, according to Schlossberg. |
| F．It’s easy to get lost in the storm of supposed answers around social media, the latest data sets and “ego-friendly” marketing campaigns. |
