阅读理解。
Plants and animals, including humans, need food and water to live on. These are from the natural
resources(资源) on Earth. To protect these resources, we need to keep the air clean and the water
drinkable. We need to keep the soil (土壤)healthy. How do we do that?
Protect the land
The soil that covers fields and farms provides much of the food we eat. Human activities such as
plowing(耕) fields, mining(采矿), and building highways can destroy (破坏)the land. Erosion happen
when wind and water carry away the soil. Soil erosion can turn rich farmland into a desert wasteland.
So does this mean we shouldn't build a highway or plow a field? Of course not. But it does mean we
might think about Earth-friendly ways of doing those things.
Today farmers plow their fields in different ways to prevent erosion. They try to use less water for their
crops. They keep animals from eating the growing grass in just one area. Farmers also plant trees to
prevent erosion from happening.
Save the Trees
Another human activity that damages the land is deforestation(采伐森林). People take away a large
number of trees from a forest. Millions of square kilometers of forest disappear each year. When this
happens, many plants and animals lose their places to live. They may die out, or become very few.
Scientists haven't even discovered all the living things in the forest. We may be losing some without even
knowing they are there. Trees absorb (吸收)and use carbon dioxide (二氧化碳)when they make food.
Environmentalists encourage careful management of the forests. They ask people to replant trees after
they cut down the forest.
Recycle, Reuse, Reduce
People throw a piece of paper into the wastebasket after using it. The paper becomes trash. Where
does the trash go next? Much of our trash ends up in landfills(垃圾填埋地). They take up valuable land
and sometimes pollute the water, air, and land around them. More than a third of the trash in landfills is
paper. Recycling, reusing, and reducing what you throw away can cut down on the need for more landfills. In fact, we can recycle about eighty percent of household trash.
1. What does the underlined word erosion mean?
A. Plowing fields and mining
B. Cutting down trees and farming.
C. Wind and rain carrying away soil.
D. Building highways on the farmland.
2. Why do we need to save the trees?
A. To discover more new trees every year.
B. To encourage careful management of the forest.
C. To take away a large number of trees from the forest.
D. To keep good places for animals and plants to live in.
3. How much of the trash can we recycle?
A. All the trash.
B. Very little.
C. One third.
D. Four fifths.
4. What's the purpose of the author writing the passage?
A. To ask people to look for places to plant trees.
B. To tell people how to protect natural resources.
C. To show how the lands are destroyed by people.
D. To discuss ways of protecting animals and plants.
