1 . A recent study suggests that logging (cutting down trees to use the wood) does not necessarily mean that things can’t live in the left-over forest any more. In fact, chopping down trees sometimes attracts more plants and wildlife than in forests where the trees have been left untouched.
Experts believe that about 70% of the world’s forests have had at least some logging. Until recently it wasn’t clear exactly what impact this had on other wildlife in forests. However, new research carried out on the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia, shows that logging can encourage healthy animal and plant life.
Scientists from Oxford University used tens of thousands of camera traps (cameras connected to sensors that only photograph when movement is detected) to find out how many animals were in forests that had been logged and how many were in forests where the trees just died naturally. The scientists worked out that the total weight of birds in logged forests was more than double, and for mammals it was more than three times as much. They also found that animals in logged forests get two and a half times as much energy from food than in untouched forests. The scientists think there is more food available in logged forests because more light reaches the forest floor when some of the canopy (dense tree tops) has been cleared away. This extra light helps smaller plants grow bigger, giving more food to wildlife like insects, deer and wild pigs. Yadvinder Malhi, an ecologist, said, “The whole forest gets more edible and more tasty.”
The study makes it clear that although more animals and plants might be able to live there, logging even part of a forest is still bad. That’s because untouched forests, with more and bigger trees, absorb lots of carbon dioxide, a gas that causes climate change. However, the study is important because conservationists didn’t think logged forests were important to protect. The new research shows that even damaged forests can have lots of wildlife that needs protecting.
1. What does the recent study find?| A．More plants and wildlife will live in forests where humans don’t cut down the trees. |
| B．Cutting down the trees in a forest will attract more plants and animals to live there. |
| C．70% of the world’s forests have had at least some logging. |
| D．Plants and wildlife can’t live in the left-over forest any more. |
| A．Monitoring the changes in the number of animals. |
| B．Detecting how many trees in the forests died naturally. |
| C．Finding out how many animals were in the forests. |
| D．Connecting the sensors to detect any movement. |
| A．Ambiguous. | B．Objective. | C．Doubtful. | D．Favorable. |
| A．Conservationists are supposed to protect the wildlife in the logged forest. |
| B．Logging forests is the direct reason that causes climate change. |
| C．Conservationists think untouched forests are more important than the logged ones. |
| D．Compared with untouched forests, Logged forests can’t absorb any carbon dioxide. |
2 . The Royal Botanic Gardens,Kew,usually known as Kew Gardens,in Richmond upon Thames is a major London tourist attraction and a UNESCO Word Heritage site.
Founded in 1759,Kew began as a royal garden attached to the Royal Kew Palace,home to George III and his many children. The Palace is now open to visitors,but probably the buildings most visitors come to see are the incredible glasshouses. The Palmhouse is one of the largest surviving Victorian glasshouses in the world,with over 16,000 panes of glass. The Waterlily House,which contains some of the world's largest and smallest waterlilies, is also not to be missed.
However, Kew is more than just a garden and green space in the heart of Britain’s capital city. It is also the world’s leading horticultural (园艺学的) center for botanical research and plant science. The Royal Botanic Gardens,Kew,covers approximately three hundred acres of land,and attracts around a million visitors every year.Its collections and laboratories illustrate the important part that plants play in our lives, and highlight the need to protect and conserve them for the benefit of generations to come.
Kew is a vital research and scientific base, with multiple research projects and partnerships stretching across the globe. As a world leader in plant science,Kew employs around seven hundred people, and is home to about nineteen thousand species of living plants. Its Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst Place holds seeds from around ten percent of the world's plant species for the benefit of humankind, exhibiting around two billion seeds from 28,000 species of plants sourced from approximately 130 countries.
Around eighty percent of our daily calorie intake comes from just twelve plant species.A project of Kew's Millennium Seed Bank recognizes the need for greater genetic diversity in our crops and seeks to preserve food security for future generations.The project collects seeds from the wild relatives of some of our most important food crop plants whose genetic make-up can be used to breed new and useful qualities back into modern agricultural crops so that they can better adapt to future climates and other threats, such as pests and diseases.
1. What can we learn about the glasshouses from Paragraph 2?| A．Every tourist to Kew will come to see them. |
| B．The Palmhouse is the largest glasshouse in the world. |
| C．They are made of about 16,000 panes of glass. |
| D．The Waterlily House displays waterlilies of different sizes. |
| A．Lives. | B．Plants. | C．Gardens. | D．Laboratories. |
| A．To help modern crops become more adaptable. |
| B．To guarantee safe environment for future generations. |
| C．To completely change the genetic make-up of crops. |
| D．To find a way to kill pests and prevent other threats. |
| A．The booming tourism of London. |
| B．The popularity of a royal garden. |
| C．Kew Gardens featuring science. |
| D．Genetic make-up boosting modern crops. |
