giới thiệu đến bạn IELTS Academic Reading 15 nhằm giúp các bạn có tài liệu ôn tập, luyện tập nhằm nắm vững được những kiến thức, kĩ năng cơ bản, đồng thời vận dụng kiến thức để giải các bài tập đề thi một cách thuận lợi. Chúc các bạn thi tốt! | IELTS Academic Reading 15 You are advised to spend about 20 minutes on Questions 16-26. BENEATH THE CANOPY 1. The world s tropical rainforests comprise some 6 of the Earth s land area and contain more than half of all known life forms or a conservative estimate of about 30 million species of plants and animals. Some experts estimate there could be two or even three times as many species hidden within these complex and fast- disappearing ecosystems scientists will probably never know for certain so vast is the amount of study required. 2. Time is running out for biological research. Commercial development is responsible for the loss of about 17 million hectares of virgin rainforest each year - a figure approximating 1 of what remains of the world s rainforests. 3. The current devastation of once impenetrable rainforest is of particular concern because although new tree growth may in time repopulate felled areas the biologically diverse storehouse of flora and fauna is gone forever. Losing this bountiful inheritance which took millions of years to reach its present highly evolved state would be an unparalleled act of human stupidity. 4. Chemical compounds that might be extracted from yet-to-be-discovered species hidden beneath the tree canopy could assist in the treatment of disease or help to control fertility. Conservationists point out that important medical discoveries have already been made from material found in tropical rainforests. The drug aspirin now synthesised was originally found in the bark of a rainforest tree. Two of the most potent anti- cancer drugs derive from the rosy periwinkle discovered in the 1950s in the tropical rainforests of Madagascar. 5. The rewards of discovery are potentially enormous yet the outlook is bleak. Timber-rich countries mired in debt view potential financial gain decades into the future as less attractive than short-term profit from logging. Cataloguing species and analysing newly-found substances takes time and money both
