2015考研英语阅读理解精读P13—工学类.docVIP

2015考研英语阅读理解精读P13—工学类 Passage 13(People and the Environment) 　　Tropical rainforests cover over an area of nearly 3 billion acres，or about 8.3 percent of the Earth’s total 1and surface.These remarkable forests are shared by some 50 countries on five continents.Biologists believe that rainforests are the home of perhaps half the world’s biotic species，about five-sixths of which have not yet been described and named. 　　Throughout most of history，rainforests were considered to be remote，inaccessible，and unpleasant places，and as a result they were 1ittle affected by human activities.In the present century，however，rainforests have been exploited and ruined at a quickening pace，and in the last decade or so，tropical deforestation has become one of the Earth’s most serious environmental problems.The rate of deforestation is spectacular—51 acres per minute;74，000 acres per day;27 million acres per year.More than half of the original African rainforest is now gone;about 45 percent of Asia’s rainforest no longer exists;the proportion in Latin America is approaching 40 percent. 　　As the forest goes，so goes its animal life.In the mid-1980s it was calculated that tropical deforestation was responsible for the extinction of one species per day;by 1990 it was estimated that the rate was one species per hour. 　　Moreover，loss of the forests contributes to increased soil erosion，drought，flooding，worsening water quality，declining agricultural productivity，and greater poverty for rural inhabitants.In addition，atmospheric carbon dioxide continues to be increased because there are fewer trees to absorb it and because burning of trees for forest clearing releases more to the air. 　　The irony of tropical deforestation is that the anticipated economic benefits are usually illusory.Much of the forest clearing，especially in Latin America，is in response to the social pressure of overcrowding and poverty in societies where most of the people are landless.The governments open up“new lands”for s