The amazon rainforest

(0)…Until… a hundred years ago, countries (1)…… the equator were covered with rainforests. More than half of all the types of plants and animals (2)…… earth lived there.

The largest rainforest is Amazonia (3)…….. South America. It covers an area (4)…….. about 6.5 million square kilometres. It takes its name from the River Amazon which flows (5)…….. the northern part of Brazil. Thousands (6)…….. different kinds of animals, birds and butterflies live there. But the rainforest has suffered (7)…….. felling and burning. Now long dusty roads lead (8)…….. the forest. What are the reasons (9)…….. the destruction? Trees are burnt or cut down (10)…….. their hardwood. The land is used (11)…….. farms, mines and cattle ranches.

There has already been a lot of damage (12)…….. the plants and animals of the rainforest. If the destruction is not stopped, (13)….... thirty years all the trees will be gone.

2.18. Read the following four texts through and decide where each extract is from:

a) a leaflet from an environmental organization

b) an account of a journey through the rainforest

c) an advertisement for an adventure holiday

d) a scientific discussion of an environmental issue

1) In parts of the forest, the vegetation is so dense that when you look up you can’t even see the sky. The atmosphere is thick and heavy. You sweat all the time and you are constantly troubled by biting insects. The sounds of the rainforest are extraordinary: the songs of many different bird species, the cries of animals in the treetops that you never see. Underfoot, the ground is soft and your feet sink into the carpet of rotting leaves. You tread carefully, keeping an eye out for snakes that wind themselves around branches in your path.

2) The rainforest contain about 50 per cent of all the plants and animals species on earth, and we haven’t even identified most of them yet. The rainforests have already given us life-saving medical drugs and delights like oranges, lemons, bananas and chocolate. No one really knows what else lies waiting to be discovered. Yet, through our irresponsibility and greed, we are putting all such future discoveries at risk. The awful fact is that we are destroying about 50,000 plant and animal species a year through…

3) The rate of deforestation worldwide is difficult to estimate. Recent studies have suggested that around 100,000 square kilometres are probably being lost annually. There are three identifiable consequences of forest loss to the global environment. The first is the contribution that the burning of trees makes to global warming through the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The second consequence is the loss of species brought about by the destruction of ecosystems.

4) If you’re expecting comfort and luxury, the Amazon is not the place for you. If you can put up with basic accommodation, biting mosquitoes, the sticky heat and frequent exhaustion, you may be the kind of person we’re looking for. What you get in return for all this hardship is the chance to experience the most extraordinary place on earth: where you can see birds with the most exotic plumage imaginable, trees that reach the height of 20-storey buildings, …

► Complete the table with the number of the text /texts:

The writer’s purpose	to analyse	to entertain	to warn
Text	3
is written in a very formal style
has words that express strong feelings
contains facts intended to shock
contains descriptive detail
contains verbs in the passive voice
addresses the reader directly
contains the words we and our
contains specialist vocabulary

2.19. Read the text The Beauty of Scotland – How Long Will It Last? and decide if the statements after it are true (T) or false (F). Correct them if they are false.