Part B Reading Practice NASA Satellite Data Verify China's Contribution to Global Greening Efforts Standing on a hillside, 46-year-old ranger Huang Xiaobin looks down at the lush landscape that surrounds his village in the remote mountainous areas of the southwestern Jiangxi Province. Terraced slopes that were once barren are now filled with cedars and pine trees. The landscape has changed a lot since Huang’s grandfather, the first ranger in his family, took the job in 1951. At that time, the fields were just sparsely dotted with bushes. Inspired by the idea of turning barren hills to green one, Huang's father and Huang picked up the batons in succession. Thanks to hundreds of thousands of devoted rangers like the Huang family, China has made huge headway in reforestation over the past decades, contributing enormously to global efforts in fighting soil erosion, air pollution and climate change. NASA DATA A new study using data from NASA satellites shows that China and India are leading the increase in greening on land and concludes that the “effect comes mostly from ambitious tree-planting programs in China and intensive agriculture in both countries.”The study was published on Feb. 11, 2019, in the journal Nature Sustainability. The researchers found that global green leaf area has increased by 5 percent since the early 2000s, an area equivalent to all of the Amazon rainforests. At least 25 percent of that gain came in China. With almost 1.4 billion mouths to feed, China needs both the land and the timber to fuel its economy. China’s contribution to the global greening efforts comes in large part from its vigorous programs to conserve and expand forests. China aims to increase the forest cover to 23.04 percent by 2020, and to 26 percent by 2035. To achieve the ambitious goals, the country has taken a slew of measures ranging from reforesting hillsides to creating protected grassland and nature reserves. UNSWERVING EFFORTS After several decades of blistering economic growth, China has realized the damage on the environment and begun to pursue a greener path forward. Reiterating that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets,” Chinese leadership has stressed that the country must embrace eco-friendly models for growth and ways of life. Over the past three years, 44.67 million hectares of state forest farms have been protected. Logging of natural forests has been strictly banned. Consumption of natural forests has fallen 5.56 million cubic meters annually. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION The notion of the eco-friendly way of life has resonated with the aspiration of the general public, with many individuals actively participating in various greening campaigns. One of the most popular programs is “Ant Forest,” which was launched in September 2017 by a Hangzhou-based company, Ant Financial Services Group, which has become a feature in the Alipay app, one of the most widely used online payment platforms in China. Users can claim carbon points for doing environmentally-friendly things such as walking, using public transportation, going paperless in the office and more. These points can then be used to water and grow their own virtual saplings. After the virtual saplings have grown to become virtual trees with the constant watering of carbon points, Ant Financial and their charity partners will plant real trees somewhere in the world. By the end of May last year, the number of Ant Forest subscribers had exceeded 350 million, reducing exhaust equivalent to 3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. More than 55 million trees had been planted and attended. GREAT BENEFITS China's reforestation efforts are paying off, with improved biodiversity and a healthier economic growth model achieved. Last year, researchers from the Beijing Normal University documented the presence of several rare animal species in the Ziwuling Forest Area in Yan'an, northwest China”s Shaanxi Province. Sightings of the animals, including leopards, the golden pheasant and roe deer, which once disappeared from the region, caught on tape. Dense forests have also become a great source of revenue for locals. Saihanba, a vast man-made forest covering about 93,000 hectares in north China”s Hebei Province, 400 km north of Beijing, is a case in point. Over the years, Saihanba Forest Farm has developed in a sustainable way, with economic growth relying on tourism, tree planting, wind power generation and logging. The greening sectors bring in over 600 million yuan (about 89.55 million U.S. dollars) annually, outweighing the revenue from logging operations in the past, data show. Forest parks are now popular attractions of tourism in the country. Last year, tourists made 1.6 billion trips to forest parks across the country, and forest-themed tourism has become a third pillar of the forestry industry, said Cheng Hong, a senior official with the National Forestry and Grassland Administration. New Words, Phrases and Expressions verify /'verɪfaɪ/ v. confirm the truth of核实;查证 lush /lʌʃ/ adj. produced or growing in extreme abundance 丰富的,豪华的;苍翠繁茂的 sparse / spɑ:s /adj. not dense 稀疏的;稀少的 reforest / ri:'fɔrist / v. forest anew重新造林 equivalent /ɪ'kwɪv(ə)l(ə)nt/ n. a person or thing equal to another in value or measure or force or effect or significance etc等价物,相等物 adj. equal in amount or value 等价的,相等的;同意义的 conserve /kən'sɜːv/ v. keep in safety and protect from harm, decay, loss, or destruction保存 exceed /ɪk'siːd; ek-/ v. go beyond超过;胜过 exhaust /ɪg'zɔːst; eg-/ n. gases ejected from an engine as waste products排气;废气 v.wear out completely;use up (resources or materials) 排出;耗尽 biodiversity /,baɪə(ʊ)daɪ'vɜːsɪtɪ/ n. the diversity of plant and animal life in a particular habitat (or in the world as a whole) 生物多样性 document /'dɒkjʊm(ə)nt/ n. writing that provides information (especially information of an official nature) 文件,公文 v. record in detail记录,记载 dot with spread over点缀;散布 in succession on end, in series接连地,连续地 make headway go head, forge ahead取得进展;有进展 contribute to be helpful for, make contribution to有助于,促成 resonate with be meaningful to, be significant to 引起共鸣,有意义 participate in take part in, join in 参加,出席 pay off get rewarded 得到回报 Notes 1. Inspired by the idea of turning barren hills to green ones, Huang's father and Huang picked up the batons in succession. inspire vt. 激发;鼓舞;启示 Our challenge is to motivate those voters and inspire them to join our cause. 我们的艰巨任务是要激励那些投票者并鼓励他们加入我们的事业。 The book was inspired by a real person, namely Tamara de Treaux. 这本书是受一个叫塔玛拉•德特罗的人启发而写成的。 baton n. 指挥棒;接力棒 picked up the batons take over the work, responsibility, etc接过工作,肩负起责任等 Socially responsible business has to pick up the baton. 具有社会责任感的公司必须承担起责任。 2. At least 25 percent of that gain came in China. At least 25 percent of this achievement is due to China’s contribution. 所取得的成绩25%都来自于中国的努力。 3. With almost 1.4 billion mouths to feed, China needs both the land and the timber to fuel its economy. fuel v. provide energy; stimulate提供燃料,刺激 The result will inevitably fuel speculation about the prime minister's future. 该结果将不可避免地加剧人们对首相前途的猜测。 fuel its economy boost the economy; try to make economy grow faster刺激经济 4. Reiterating that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets,” Chinese leadership has stressed that the country must embrace eco-friendly models for growth and ways of life. lucid adj. transparently clear; clean透明的,清澈的 lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets绿水青山就是金山银山 embrace vt. take up and use 采取,采用 embrace eco-friendly models for growth and ways of life采取生态友好型的生产生活方式 5. Users can claim carbon points for doing environmentally-friendly things such as walking, using public transportation, going paperless in the office and more. claim carbon points 申请碳点environmentally-friendly环境友好型的 To produce environmentally-friendly energy, China will launch a biofuel production programme. 为了生产环境友好的能源,中国将启动一个生物燃料生产项目。 6. China’s reforestation efforts are paying off, with improved biodiversity and a healthier economic growth model achieved. 中国的植树造林行动正逐渐产生效果,生物多样性进一步改善,经济发展模式更加健康。