Question

The Friends of the Amazon is a nonprofit association helping to preserve the forest, its wildlife and its native cultures in the Peruvian Amazon.  We are located 3 degrees south of the equator in the Region of Loreto, which is roughly the size of Montana and is one of the richest areas in the world in terms of flora(植物群) and fauna（動物群）. Our team consists of lawyers, ecologists, sociologists, medical professionals and native Amazonians working together to protect the forest and its people from destruction. We use litigation（訴訟）, filing lawsuits against those who seek to destroy the forest and its native cultures. In addition to legal processes, we promote health, education, and the conservation of native plants and animals.

The Amazon Rainforest is commonly referred to as the "lungs of the planet" whose trees are essential for absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2, a greenhouse gas that causes global warming) and converting it into oxygen, thereby mitigating the rise of global temperatures and climate change.  An estimated 120 billion tons of carbon dioxide is absorbed in the Amazon Rainforest and global emissions of carbon dioxide increase with every tree of the rainforest that is cut down. That is why the survival of the Amazon Rainforest is vital for the survival of our planet, without which rising global temperatures could melt the polar icecaps and cause flooding of our coastal cities. 

Currently, the Amazon is under siege（圍攻）, with an estimated 1000 hectares being destroyed everyday.  After harvesting old growth forests, corporations are often replacing the native forest with palm oil plantations instead of reforesting with native tree species.  Palm oil trees are native to Africa, not the Amazon, and due to high profits, their promotion by international aid agencies and recent legislation in Peru, palm oil plantations represent perhaps the single greatest threat to the native Amazon Rainforest. 

In addition to conventional logging and deforesting to make room for crops such as palm oil and soybeans, the Amazon forest faces a new threat in the form of REDD projects and “Carbon Cowboys”.  REDD refers to Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation by using carbon offsets (“carbon credits”).  Under the guise of REDD projects, scammers are tricking native communities into signing unjust contracts in English without legal representation which essentially give these so called Carbon Cowboys the forest for free. These cheaters are making false promises of "billions of dollars in profits" from REDD and voluntary carbon offset （碳補償）projects by lying that they are representatives of the United Nations and World Bank in order to trick vulnerable indigenous Amazonians into ceding their land by signing unjust contracts with hidden clauses that give the Carbon Cowboys a power of attorney to do whatever they want with the forest for a period of 100 years.  Friends of the Amazon is actively filing lawsuits against these Carbon Cowboys and those who support them. 

For further information on our programs and to find out how you can help preserve the Amazon Rainforest, please contact:

Friends of the Amazon

153 Túpac Amaru Street

Iquitos, Peru

Phone: (+51) 985665374

For more specific information on supporting the goals of our nonprofit organization, please contact us using the email address listed below.

If you would like to learn how you can help preserve the Amazon Rainforest and its indigenous people, please contact us for more information at:

info(at)friendsoftheamazon.org

1.The Friends of the Amazon is the name of _________.

A．your best friend                        B．a non-profit organization

C．a historic hero                          D．a famous carbon cowboy

2.What does the underlined word “converting ” in the second paragraph mean?

A．changing          B．increasing         C．reducing          D．burning

3.Why is the survival of the Amazon Rainforest vital for the survival of our planet?

A．Because this forest absorbs a lot of carbon dioxide emitted by the world

B．Because people rely on this forest to get enough wood to build houses and furniture

C．Because people living here can get a large sum of compensation to offset carbon dioxide

D．Because the United Nations and the World Bank are helping preserving the land here

4.We can learn from the passage that palm oil trees _____________.

A．have produced much profit for the local people.

B．are native to Amazon and fit in well with their surroundings

C．are native to Africa and may do great harm to the native Amazon trees

D．are used to replace the native forest because the local people can profit from them

5.The purpose of this article is _______.

A．introduce the largest rain forest in the world

B．to appeal to the government to take some measures to get rid of Carbon Cowboys

C．to advertise the rain forest as a favourite tourist destination

D．to arouse the awareness of the public to help conserve the “l(fā)ungs of our planet”

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.B

2.A

3.A

4.C

5.D

【解析】

試題分析：本文講述了亞馬孫森林必須要受到保護的重要性，它能吸收大量的二氧化碳放出大量的氧氣。同時，短文也給出它現(xiàn)在面臨的危險，本篇文章在于呼吁人們要保護好森林，為它盡自己的一份力量。

1.細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)The Friends of the Amazon is a nonprofit association 它是一個非營利組織，故選B。

2.細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2, a greenhouse gas that causes global warming) and converting it into oxygen,吸收二氧化碳轉化成氧氣釋放出來，故選A。

3.細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)The Amazon Rainforest is commonly referred to as the "lungs of the planet" whose trees are essential for absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2, a greenhouse gas that causes global warming) and converting it into oxygen,故選A。

4.細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)Palm oil trees are native to Africa, not the Amazon, and due to high profits, their promotion by international aid agencies and recent legislation in Peru, palm oil plantations represent perhaps the single greatest threat to the native Amazon Rainforest.非洲是棕櫚油樹的原產地，而對于亞麻孫森林卻帶來了危害，故選C。 

5.寫作意圖題。縱觀全文可以看出作者的目的是喚醒人們注意來保護亞馬孫森林，故選D。

考點：布告類短文閱讀。

點評：寫作意圖題指作者在文中表達的意思，也就是寫作目的。只有掌握作者的寫作意圖， 我們才能了解文章的深層含義， 從而全面正確，深刻把握思想。作者的寫作意圖通常隱藏在字里行間， 所以需要從以下幾個方面來看：熟悉文體；尋找 key word, topic sentence；善于把握諷刺，反語等常見修辭方法；把握作者的語氣，嚴肅或輕松，幽默或諷刺，平和或激動，樂觀或悲觀。