A world like no other - perhaps this is the best way to describe the world of the rainforest. No rainforest is exactly the same - yet most rainforests are now distributed in the small land area 22.5 degrees north and 22.5 degrees south of the Equator, between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer. You can find tropical rainforests in South America and Indonesia. Other rainforests flourish further from the Equator, in Thailand and Sri Lanka.

Despite occupying a relatively small area, rainforests have a colossal role to play in maintaining the world as we know it. Tropical rainforests are home to a rich, colourful variety of medicinal plants, food, birds and animals. Can you believe that a single bush in the Amazon may have more species of ants than the whole of Britain! 480 varieties of trees may be found in just one hectare of rainforest. These forests sustain around 50% of all the species on Earth, and offer a way of life to many people living in and around the forest.

Rainforests are the lungs of the planet - storing vast quantities of carbon dioxide and producing a significant amount of the world's oxygen. Rainforests have their own perfect system for ensuring their own survival; the tall trees make a canopy of branches and leaves which protect themselves, smaller plants, and the forest animals from heavy rain, intense dry heat from the sun and strong winds.

Amazingly, the trees grow in such a way that their leaves and branches, although close together, never actually touch those of another tree. Scientists think this is a deliberate tactic to prevent the spread of any tree diseases and make life more difficult for leaf-eating insects like caterpillars. To survive in the forest, animals must climb, jump, fly or glide across the gaps. The ground floor of the forest is not all tangled leaves and bushes, like in films, but is actually fairly clear. It is where leaves decompose into food for the trees and other forest life.

They are not called rainforests for nothing! Rainforests can generate 75% of their own rain. At least 80 inches of rain a year is normal - and in some areas there may be as much as 430 inches of rain annually. This is real rain - your umbrella may protect you in a shower, but it won't keep you dry if there is a full rainstorm. In just two hours, streams can rise ten to twenty feet. The humidity of large rainforests contributes to the formation of rainclouds that may travel to other countries in need of rain.

Worryingly, rainforests around the world are disappearing at an alarming rate, thanks to deforestation, river pollution, and soil erosion as land is being claimed for agriculture and trees are felled for wood. A few thousand years ago, tropical rainforests covered as much as 12% of the land surface on Earth, but today this has fallen to less than 5.3%.

We can only hope that the world governments work together with environmentalists and businesses to use their environmental knowledge and power to preserve the rainforests - awe-inspiring, beautiful and vital for our existence.

Vocabulary

5 words/phrases from the text:

1. to sustain: to supply with the necessities of life
2. to store: to accumulate something for future use
3. to protect: to guard against danger
4. to survive: to continue in existence
5. to rise: to grow upwards

Exercise one.

Vocabulary gap fill. Now use the 5 words/phrases to fill the gaps in the sentences below:

1. Some animals ................ nuts and fruit ready for the long winter months when food is difficult to find.
2. The World Wildlife Associations insists that the number of endangered species is ................. every year.
3. Chameleons and other reptiles use camouflage to ............... themselves from predators.
4. The world cannot possibly ................ the current growth in pollution.
5. His grandfather ................ two wars and lived to the age of ninety-nine.
   

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Exercise two.

Comprehension. Answer the 5 questions using information from the article.

1. Where are most rainforests located?
2. Why are rainforests called the lungs of the planet?
3. How do rainforests stop tree diseases from spreading?
4. How can rainforests help countries without rain?
5. Why are rainforests disappearing?

Grammar.

Reported speech (2)

Remember that in reported speech we usually change the tense of the direct statement. The present simple tense changes to the past simple, the past simple changes to the past perfect and so on.

Here are some other points to consider.

‘Can' and ‘will'

Direct speech: "I can't remember his name." Reported speech: She said she couldn't remember his name.
‘Can' and ‘can't' in direct speech change to ‘could' and ‘couldn't' in reported speech.

Direct speech: "I'll be there for 3 weeks." Reported speech: He told me he'd be there for 3 weeks.
‘Will' and ‘won't' in direct speech change to ‘would' and ‘wouldn't' in reported speech.

Other modal verbs

Direct speech: "You could be right." Reported speech: I said that he could be right.
Direct speech: "You must call me." Reported speech: She said that I must call her.

Other modal verbs don't change in reported speech.

Reporting orders, requests and advice

Direct speech: "Sit down and shut up!" Reported speech: The teacher told me to sit down and shut up.
Direct speech: "Can you hold this for me please?" Reported speech: He asked me to hold it.
Direct speech: "You should do more exercise." Reported speech: He advised me to do more exercise.

Orders, request and advice can be reported using an infinitive.

Reporting verbs

There are a number of verbs that we use to report statements. These can make your speech and writing more interesting than simply reporting every word of the direct speech.

Direct speech: "It wasn't me who broke the window." -- He denied breaking the window.
Direct speech: "I'll help you if you want" -- She offered to help.

There are a number of verbs that can be used to report. They include: promise, claim, suggest, advise, refuse, argue, confirm and others.

Exercise

Complete the reported sentence with an appropriate verb.

1. "I won't tell you where I've hidden it!" He [1] to tell me where he'd hidden it.
2. "Why don't you go to Greece? It's beautiful." She [2] that we go to Greece.
3. "I won't lose it and I'll bring it back tomorrow." He [3] not to lose it.
4. "It wasn't me! It was Pete!" He [4] that it had been Pete, not him.
5. "You should report it to the police." She [5] us to report it to the police.

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Quiz Question 26

Harrods is situated in this part of London.

Rainforests rule! - key

Vocabulary

1. store
2. rising
3. protect
4. sustain
5. survived
   

Comprehension

1. Most rainforests are between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn
2. They are called the lungs of the planet because they store carbon dioxide and produce a lot of the world's oxygen
3. Rainforests stop the spread of tree diseases because the leaves of two trees never touch each other
4. Rain clouds from rainforests can travel to countries where there is no rain
5. Rainforests are disappearing because of deforestation, river pollution and soil erosion
   

Grammar

1. refused
2. suggested
3. promised
4. claimed
5. advised