More than 50, 000, 000 people live in the rainforests of the world and most of them do not hurt the forest they live in. They eat the fruits that grow on the forest trees, but they do not cut them down. They kill some animals to eat, but they do not destroy them.
When we cut down the rainforests, we destroy these forest people, too. In 1900, there were 1, 000, 000 forest people in the Amazon forest. In 1980, there were only 200, 000.
The Yanomami live along the rivers of the rainforest in the north of Brazil(巴西). They have lived in the rainforest for about 10, 000 years and they use more than 2, 000 different plants for food and for medicine. But in 1988, someone found gold in their forest, and more than 45, 000 people came to the forest and began looking for gold. They cut down the forest to make roads. They made over a hundred airports. The Yanomami people lost land and food. Many died because new illnesses came to the forest with the strange people.
The Yanomami people tried to save their forest, because it was their home. But the people who wanted gold were stronger.
Many forest people try to save their forests. Chico Mendes was famous in Brazil because he wanted to keep the forest for his people. “I want the Amazon forest to help all of us—forest people, and all the Earth,” he said. A few months later, in December 1988, people who wanted to cut down the forest killed Chico Mendes.
In Brazil, people were cutting down the forest of local people to sell the wood. Local people tried to save their rainforest. They made blockades(障碍) across the roads into the forest. In 1987, they closed fifteen roads for eight months. No one cut down any trees during that time.
In Panama (巴拿马), local people also saved their forest. They made a rainforest park which tourists must spend money visiting.
The number of the people living in the Amazon forest in 1980 was _______of that in 1900.
| A．half | B．one-third | C．two-fifths | D．one-fifth |
The people who _______have destroyed the rainforest of the Yanomami.
| A．made the roads and the airports |
| B．use plants for food and medicine |
| C．pick fruits and kill animals to eat |
| D．have lived there for about ten thousand years |
Those people built roads and airports probably in order to_______.
| A．carry the gold to other places |
| B．make people there live a better life |
| C．attract more tourists to the rainforests |
| D．stop the new illnesses from spreading |
In Panama, visitors have to_______ before they enter a forest park of local people.
| A．plant trees |
| B．pay for the gold |
| C．pay for the tickets |
| D．make blockades across the roads |
From the article, we learn that _______.
| A．to humans, gold is more important than trees |
| B．we mustn’t cut down any trees or kill any animals |
| C．we need wood to build houses, so we have to cut down trees |
| D．the rainforest people have done something to protect their home |
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