1 . The newly-elected president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro says that his country should withdraw (退出) from the 2015 Paris Agreement, and that Brazil’s rainforest protections are standing in the way of economic success. During the election campaign, he promised to ease protections for areas of the Brazilian Amazon set aside for native people and wildlife. Are Brazil’s rainforests in danger?

The Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest, is called “the lungs of the planet.” Each tree takes in and stores carbon dioxide from the air around it. Billions of trees pull up water through their roots and release water vapor into the air, forming tiny drops of water. The Amazon creates 30 to 50 percent of its own rainfall. Carlos Nobre, a climate scientist, says that it is almost impossible to say Just how important the rainforest is to the planet’s living systems.

Some of Bolsonaro’s support comes from business and farming groups. One supporter, Luiz Carlos, noted that farmers “are not invaders, they are producers.” He blamed the past government for supporting rainforest protections at the cost of farmers. “Brazil,” he said, “will be the biggest farming nation on Earth during Bolsonaro’s years.”

Paulo Artaxo, a professor of environmental physics at the University of Sao Paulo, says that if Bolsonaro keeps his campaign promises, then “deforestation of the Amazon will probably increase quickly — and the effects will be felt everywhere on the planet.”

Other scientists warn that if the Amazon and other tropical rainforests lose too many trees, this could affect rainfall in other areas. Without enough trees to support the rainfall, the longer and bigger dry season could turn more than half of the rainforest into a tropical grassland.

1. The first paragraph is intended to ________.

A．draw people’s attention to the disappearing rainforests

B．ask people to ease the protection of rainforests

C．attract the public to the newly-elected president

D．to complain about the new government's withdrawing

2. According to the passage, rainforests can ________.

A．produce much farmland

B．examine people’s lungs

C．change the earth’s living system

D．destroy farmers’ crops

3. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．The new president’s supporters care less about farmers.

B．Scientists are concerned about the protection of rainforests.

C．The rainforests will stop the economic development in Brazil.

D．The past government is to blame for the destruction of rainforests

4. The passage is probably taken from ________.

A．a newspaper

B．a magazine

C．a guidebook

D．a textbook

3 . Royal Dutch Shell is launching a $ 300 million forestry program, at a time when an increasing number of oil companies are putting money in carbon offset (碳补偿) plans to meet climate goals. The company will spend the money over the next three years on projects to store carbon, including large forests in the Netherlands and Spain, and will start offering motorists the option of purchasing carbon offsets when they buy petrol at the pump.

The executives of the company explained that these carbon offset projects were a new business opportunity for Shell, as well as a way to meet its climate targets. “We believe that over time we will be building a business, because these carbon credits will become more valuable as carbon becomes more limited,” they said. Shell recently decided to cut its net carbon footprint by 2-3 percent in five years, which includes emissions from the products it sells. The company plans to produce carbon credits from the forestry projects, then sell these credits on to customers buying its oil and gas products , or apply the credits to its own operations to lower its carbon footprint.

Plants absorb carbon dioxide as they grow and restoring forests and other natural areas is considered one of the simplest ways to store carbon. However, the voluntary market for carbon credits based on forestry projects has its critics, as projects in developing countries can be hard to monitor. Shell's move has also been criticized by some environmentalists. They worried that there was a risk of “green wash” when companies invested in forestry projects. “There is an entire debate about whether forestry projects truly reduce emissions or not,” they said, pointing out that planting in one area could cause deforestation(滥伐森林) to another.

Shell said it would rely on the third party to ensure its forest program to meet the Voluntary Carbon Standard and strict biodiversity requirements. Mark Lewis, head of climate change investment research at BNP Paribas, said," Planting trees to offset emissions, as far as it goes, is a step in the right direction.

1. What is popular among oil companies these days?

A．Studying climate changes.	B．Launching forestry programs.
C．Selling carbon credits.	D．Working out carbon offset plans.

2. How will Shell make profits from its carbon offset projects?

A．By quitting the emissions of its products.

B．By commercializing carbon credits it produces.

C．By limiting the oil used by other companies.

D．By reducing its carbon footprint sharply.

3. What does the underlined word “green wash” in Para. 3 mean?

A．Discount.

B．Cheat.

C．Decline.

D．Change.

4. What does the text imply about carbon offset projects?

A．They sharply reduce emissions.	B．They will fail in developing countries.
C．They require broader monitoring.	D．They contribute to deforestation.

4 . What are the speakers talking about?

A．Apartment building.

B．Plastic trash.

C．Environmental protection.