Question 5
About 6% of the earth is covered by rainforests. The largest rainforest in the world is the
Amazon Basin, which stretches over 2.3 million square miles in nine different South American countries. This area is double the length of all the other remaining rainforests in the world. Brazil contains 60%of the Amazonian rainforest, since it lies at the mouth of the river Amazon. This river is the second largest in the world and contains more than one-fifth of the world's fresh water. The Amazon rainforest is a type of wet broadleaf forest. The weather there is very humid and warm as it rains quite a bit. Because of the high rainfall, the forest is very rich and green. The
tree leaves are pointed and narrow so that the raindrops can easily drop off wet plants. This
tropical rainforest has more living species than the entire European continent. There are over 400 types of insects living in one single rain forest tree for a total of 2.5 million species. One square kilometer of rainforest may contain over 75,000 types of trees and approximately 438,000
different kinds of plants, which comes to a total of 90,000 tons of greenery overall. The Amazon rainforest is home to 2,000 birds and mammals, with one in every five birds in the world living there. Local farmers have lived off this rich and diverse land for thousands of years. They have been able to find food and water here without destroying the land. The Kayapo people of Brazil
farm in an environmentally-friendly way. Instead of chemicals, they use burned wood to enrich the soil, and plant banana trees, which attract wasps. These wasps then feed on leafcutter ants and get rid of these harmful insects. The rainforest also offers a lot of tropical fruits, such as bananas and coconuts, as food.
Cinnamon is made from the bark of a rainforest tree. Amazonian Indians use the fruit and stem
of the Buruti plant as a drink, to make bread and to build houses. Many other plants are used as medicine. But the Amazon rainforest is in very big danger of disappearing. 9,169 square miles of
forest have been cut down in 2003 in Brazil alone. An area of the size of a football field is burned down basically every minute, which means that the rain forest may be gone by the year 2030.The dangers related to this type of activity are obvious. Trees take in poisonous carbon
dioxide from the air and give off oxygen. There is more oxygen and less carbon dioxide around a
rainforest. When trees are cut down, however, the amount of carbon dioxide increases, and the
air gets warmer. This leads to global warming, which is extremely harmful to the environment. It
is estimated that the burning of Brazilian rainforests alone produces 200 million metric tons of carbon dioxide ayear. Another danger connected with destroying the rainforest is the disappearance of plants and animals. When trees are cut down, plants and animals have no more
food left and slowly die out. Killing wild animals is illegal in Brazil, but there is plenty of stealing going on. 38 million animals are stolen and sold illegally each year. The most hunted
animals are birds, especially parrots, followed by snakes and the jaguar.
What does the sentence 'people of Brazil farm in an environmentally friendly way' mean in paragraph 3?
Rationale
They do not poison the soil when farming.
The phrase "farm in an environmentally friendly way" indicates that the farming practices employed by the people of Brazil avoid harmful chemicals that would damage the soil and the ecosystem. Instead, they utilize natural methods to enhance soil fertility and maintain a healthy environment.
A) They do not poison the soil when farming.
This choice correctly reflects the environmentally friendly practices mentioned in the text, such as using burned wood instead of chemicals to enrich the soil. This approach promotes sustainability and protects the ecosystem from toxic substances.
B) They use natural chemicals to make the soil rich.
While the farmers do enhance soil fertility, the term "natural chemicals" could imply the use of substances that may still be harmful or synthetic. The text emphasizes the avoidance of chemicals altogether, making this option misleading in the context of environmentally friendly practices.
C) They plant and don't cut down banana trees.
This choice inaccurately suggests a focus solely on banana trees, ignoring the broader context of sustainable farming practices. The emphasis of the text is on the overall method of farming rather than the preservation of specific plants.
D) They do not kill insects even if they are harmful.
This option misinterprets the practices described. While the farmers attract beneficial wasps to control harmful insects, it does not imply that they refrain from eliminating harmful insects altogether. The focus is on ecological balance rather than outright non-intervention.
Conclusion
The phrase "farm in an environmentally friendly way" emphasizes sustainable agricultural practices that protect the soil and ecosystem, specifically through the avoidance of harmful chemicals. By using natural methods to enrich the land, the Brazilian farmers demonstrate a commitment to preserving their environment while maintaining agricultural productivity. The other choices fail to capture the essence of these sustainable methods as described in the text.
