2021-2022学年度第32期总第863期(6版)
Reaching the end (Page 6)
江苏省新沂市中学  张蕊

I. Lead-in: Think and talk
Tropical rainforests
热带雨林
Where can tropical rainforests be found?
What is the weather like in tropical rainforests?

Tropical rainforests are located north and south of the equator (赤道). The weather in tropical rainforests is warm and humid (潮湿) all year round.  

What do you know about the Amazon rainforest?

II. Making a prediction

III. Reading for structure  

IV. Reading for details  
Part 1:
The Amazon rainforest is moving toward a “tipping point (临界点)” past which trees will start to die off in large numbers, researchers have said.

1. What's the “tipping point”?

2. What will the result of reaching the Amazon rainforest's “tipping point” be?

Part 2:
The study, published in the Journal of Natural Climate Change, was conducted by scholars (学者) from the University of Exeter, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the Technical University of Munich. They used satellite data from 1991 to 2016 to examine trends in deforestation (滥伐森林).
They calculated that 75 percent of the rainforest is now at risk of being unable to recover when experiencing droughts, which are also increasingly more common due to global warming.
“Deforestation and climate change are likely to be the main drivers of this decline,” Niklas Boers of PIK and the Technical University of Munich told the BBC. The study has predicted that it is only a matter of decades until a “significant chunk (大块)” of the Amazon is transformed from rainforest into savannah (大草原).

3. What research method was used?

4. What are the reasons for the forest's decline?

5. Which word can replace “transformed” in paragraph 4?
A. translated               B. transported   
C. changed              D. reformed

Key： C

IV. Reading for details  
What would the world be like without the Amazon rainforest?
The destruction of the Amazon rainforest, in some ways caused by global warming, will also speed up this process. “The Amazon stores lots of carbon and all of that would be released into the atmosphere, which would then further contribute to increasing temperatures and have future effects on global mean temperatures (平均温度),” Professor Boulton of the University of Exeter told the BBC.
This worrying snowball effect means that the destruction of the Amazon will make the much larger battle against global warming more difficult.
The destruction of the Amazon would also have a huge impact on the ecology of the Earth. The Amazon rainforest is home to more than 30,000 species of plants, 2.5 million species of insects, 2,500 fish, more than 1,500 bird species, 550 reptiles (爬行动物), and 500 mammals (哺乳动物), according to the Wildlife Conservation Society. A savannah, a grassland environment that lacks a large variety of plant life, would be unable to host the large and varied ecosystems that currently exist in the rainforest. It is likely that a large number of species would become endangered or even extinct, as they would be unable to adjust to this new ecosystem.  

6.How was the last paragraph developed?
A.By listing numbers.              B. By comparing opinions.
C.By analyzing causes.        D. By describing details.

Key：A

7.Will the destruction of the Amazon rainforest increase or decrease?
It will increase.

8.Why are many species likely to become endangered or die out?
Because they are unable to adjust to a new ecosystem.

V. Language study
Can you find these expressions in the text?
1. 临界点
2. 由于全球变暖
3. 可能是主要驱动力
4. 加速
5. 导致
6. 对……有进一步影响
7. 雪球效应
8.对……有巨大冲击力
9. 大量物种
10.适应

Key：
1. tipping point          2. due to global warming          3. be likely to be the main drivers
4. speed up           5. contribute to                6. have future effects on
7. snowball effect       8. have a huge impact on           9. a large number of species
10. adjust to

The study has predicted that it is only a matter of decades until a “significant chunk” of the Amazon is transformed from rainforest into savannah.
 it is +一段时间+until/before+从句
It was an hour until (＝before) the police arrived.
过了一个小时，警察才来。
释义：这项研究预测，只需几十年的时间，亚马孙“相当大的一部分”就会从热带雨林转变为热带草原。
VI. Discussion
What should we do to protect our earth?