English 9 reading 2

Task 2
Earth has lost half its trees because of humans
There is good news and bad news regarding the number of trees on our planet. The good news is that there are seven (1) ____ more trees on Earth than we thought. Until a (2) ____ years ago, scientists estimated that the world had around 400 billion trees. However, a new study from Yale University estimates that there are around three trillion trees. That`s a three followed (3) ____ 12 zeroes. That means there are more than 420 trees for every person alive today. Lead researcher Dr Thomas Crowther told the BBC that the new estimate will not change anything. He said: "It`s not like we`ve discovered a load of new trees. It`s not good news for the world or bad news that we`ve produced this new number."
The bad news is that thousands of years ago, the earth had around six trillion trees. Human activity has cut in half the number of trees on the planet. A good(4) ____ of this is the fact that Europe used to be one giant forest. Now much of it is farmland, fields, cities and towns. Dr Crowther said people are responsible(5) ____ the loss of three trillion trees over the past several thousand years. Humans are destroying around 15 billion more trees every year because of deforestation and the demand (6) ____ farmland. The scientists said this figure is "considerably higher" than just a century ago. Dr Crowther warned that: "This study highlights how much more effort is needed if we are to restore healthy forests worldwide."
1. Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.
1.
(a)
figures
(b)
numbers
(c)
much
(d)
times

2.
(a)
several
(b)
few
(c)
lot
(d)
many

3.
(a)
as
(b)
up
(c)
by
(d)
to

4.
(a)
example
(b)
main
(c)
idea
(d)
aspect

5.
(a)
as
(b)
for
(c)
by
(d)
to

6.
(a)
as
(b)
to
(c)
for
(d)
at

2. True or false
a.
There is only bad news regarding the number of trees on Earth. _____

b.
There are seven times more trees on Earth than scientists thought. _____

c.
There are around three trillion trees on Earth. _____

d.
There are around 420 trees on Earth for each person alive today. _____

e.
The earth used to have over 10 trillion trees. _____

f.
Europe used to be one very big forest. _____

g.
Humans are destroying 400 billion trees a year. _____

h.
The rate of deforestation is smaller today than it was 100 years ago. _____