Question

47. Read the following passage and answer in your own words The earth is losing its forests. Presently, trees cover about 30 percent of the earth‟s surface, but they are being destroyed at an alarming rate, especially in the tropics. Timber harvesting is a major reason for the destruction of the forests. Trees are used for building houses, making furniture, and providing pulp for paper products, such as newspapers and magazines. At least 40 hectares of rainforest are being felled every minute, mostly in order to extract the valuable timber. Another way that man is destroying the world‟s forests is by burning them down. In the Amazon, for example, rainforests are bring burnt down at a rate of 20 hectares a minutes. The main reason of burning down the rainforests is to clear the land for farming. Farmers in rainforests countries are often poor and cannot afford to buy land. Instead, these farmers clear rainforest land to raise their animals or grow their crops. Because tropical rainforest soil is so poor in nutrients, farmers cannot reuse the same land year after year. In the following years, farmers just clear more land, destroying the forest piece by piece. Already more than 30 tropical country have reached a critical level of forest destruction and one-time exporters of timber such as Nigeria and Thailand now have to import timber for their domestic needs. Questions: a. What is the major reason for the destruction of forests? b. Mention any two uses of trees. c. Why do some people burn down the rainforests? d. How many tropical countries have reached a critical level of forest destruction? e. From where do Nigeria and Thailand get timber for their domestic needs?​

Answer 1

1 timber harvesting is a major reason for destruction of the forests

2 ) for building houses making furniture and providing pulp for paper

3) the main cause of burning down the rainforest is to clear land for farming

4) 30 tropical country have reached a critical level of forest destruction

5) foreign countries