4 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.
A. extinct B. wasted C. population D. compete E. harvested F. tragedy
G. industry H. accounts I. previously J. burnt K. crisis |
Tropical rainforests occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season. A recent report from the United Nations indicates that the world’s tropical forests are disappearing faster than 1 thought. Up to 50 million acres a year are disappearing, almost the area of West Germany, 50 percent more than expected. The World Resources Institute says that the rising rate of deforestation (毁坏森林) was “ 2 for the biological richness of the earth and a warning signal for the climatic conditions of the future”. About 100 forest species become 3 every day, with irreparable loss of part of the world’s genetic resources. The report says that deforestation 4 for a third of the world’s emissions (排放) of carbon dioxide, the biggest cause of global warming.
The loss of the forests is largely the result of 5 growth. Hungry landless masses in Africa, South America and Asia 6 with commercial logging for the available resources. At the moment, the landless masses are winning. A great deal of the wood and timber (木材) of tropical forests is burnt where it stands. Of that wood which is extracted, only 17 percent goes for 7 use. The rest is used for firewood. The concept is quite common that natural forest is spare land ready for agriculture. It is the central reality of the deforestation 8 In 1988, 60 million acres of Rondonia in the Brazilian Amazon were burnt for grazing and cropland. Billions of dollars’ worth of timber went up in smoke, 9 , because there was no ready economic market for it. That forest was seen to have more value as agricultural land than as standing forests to be 10 .
