Rainforests rule! by Julie Bray

Rainforests are the lungs of the planet — storing vast quantities of carbon dioxide and producing a significant amount of the world’s oxygen. Rainforests have their own perfect system to ensure their own survival; the tall trees make a canopy of branches and leaves that protect themselves,smaller plants,and the forest animals from heavy rain,intense dry heat from the sun and strong winds.

Amazingly,the trees grow in such a way that their leaves and branches,although close together,never actually touch those of another tree. Scientists think this is a deliberate tactic to prevent the spread of any tree diseases and make life more difficult for leaf-eating insects such as caterpillars. To survive in the forest,animals must climb,jump,fly or glide across the gaps. The ground floor of the forest is not all tangled leaves and bushes,as in films,but is actually fairly clear. It is where leaves decompose into food for the trees and other forest life.

They are not called rainforests for nothing: they can generate 75 per cent of their own rain. At least 80 inches of rain a year is normal — and in some areas there may be as much as 430 inches of rain annually. This is real rain — your umbrella may protect you in a shower,but it won’t keep you dry if there is a full rainstorm. In just two hours,streams can rise 10 to 20 feet. The humidity of large rainforests contributes to the formation of rainclouds that may travel to other countries in need of rain.

Worryingly,rainforests around the world are disappearing at an alarming rate,thanks to deforestation,river pollution,and soil erosion as land is being claimed for agriculture and trees are felled for wood. A few thousand years ago,tropical rainforests covered as much as 12 per cent of the land surface on Earth,but today this has fallen to less than 5.3 per cent.

We can only hope that the world governments work together with environmentalists and businesses to use their environmental knowledge and power to preserve the rainforests — awe-inspiring,beautiful and vital for our existence.

Vocabulary

Five words/phrases from the text:

* sustain: to supply with the necessities of life

* store: to accumulate something for future use

* protect: to guard against danger

* survived: to continue in existence

* rise: to grow upwards

Exercise one

Vocabulary gap fill. Now use the five words/phrases to fill the gaps in the sentences below:

* Some animals ………[1 nuts and fruit ready for the long winter months when food is difficult to find.

* The World Wildlife Association insists that the number of endangered species is going to ………[2 every year.

* Chameleons and other reptiles use camouflage to ………[3 themselves from predators.

* The world cannot possibly ………[4 the current growth in pollution.

* His grandfather ………[5 two wars and lived to the age of 99.

Exercise two

Comprehension: answer the five questions using information from the article:

1. Where are most rainforests located?

2. Why are rainforests called the lungs of the planet?

3. How do rainforests stop tree diseases from spreading?

4. How can rainforests help countries without rain?

5. Why are rainforests disappearing?

English and culture

‘Don’t knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn’t start a conversation if it didn’t change once in a while.’ Kin Hubbard,the writer of this text,was an American humorist,journalist and cartoonist. What is the climate like in your country? How do people start conversations?

Answers

Vocabulary

1. store

2. rise

3. protect

4. sustain

5. survived

Comprehension

1. Most rainforests are between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn

2. They are called the lungs of the planet because they store carbon dioxide and produce a lot of the world’s oxygen

3. Rainforests stop the spread of tree diseases because the leaves of two trees never touch each other

4. Rain clouds from rainforests can travel to countries where there is no rain

5. Rainforests are disappearing because of deforestation,river pollution and soil erosion