Unit2 Section Ⅰ Welcome to the unit & Reading（作业）-2022-2023学年新教材高中英语必修第三册【精讲精练】牛津译林版

[限时检测] [限时30分钟] Ⅰ.阅读理解 A It is not uncommon for human­generated fires－lit to clear the land out for farming－in the Amazon rainforest to get out of control.However, this year, the number of wildfires has been extraordinarily high. Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE) has recorded over 73，000 fires in the world's largest tropical rainforest between January and August 2019, 2，500 of which are currently active. This is the highest number observed since the agency began keeping records in 2013. Brazil, which is home to 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest，has been the hardest hit. The thick smoke from the fires currently covers half of the country and can be seen clearly from space. The fires have recently also spilled over into the neighboring country of Bolivia, where they have thus far torched over 113，000 acres，including forests and grasslands in Chiquitania, a popular nature reserve. The area's dry season, which spans from August to November，is undoubtedly a factor in the unusually high number of fires.“However, there is nothing abnormal about the climate this year or the rainfall in the Amazon region, which is just a little below average，” INPE researcher Alberto Setzer told Reuters. “Starting a fire is the work of humans.” While all wildfires are harmful to the environment, the ones in the Amazon can be particularly so. Often referred to as the “lungs of the planet”， the tropical rainforest generates more than 20% of the world's oxygen. It also sucks up about a quarter of the 2.4 billion metric tons of carbon that global forests absorb each year. The rainforest is, therefore, crucial in regulating global climate. If the Amazon disappears or is reduced in size greatly, it could change weather patterns everywhere, impacting everything from how much food farms can produce to the availability of clean drinking water. [解题导语]　本文是一篇说明文。2019年1月至8月，亚马孙热带雨林发生了73 000多起火灾，可能会对全球气候造成严重影响。 1．What do we know about the Amazon wildfires in 2019? A．Most of them ar