Unit 27

UNIT 27 WORD LIST beneficial If something is beneficial, it is good for you. Drinking milk every day is beneficial for your bones. birthplace A birthplace is a place where a person is born or where something started. China is the birthplace of chopsticks. capacity The capacity of something is the amount of things that can be put in it. The parking lot has reached its full capacity. comparative If something is comparative, it is being judged based on something else. The money that John has is comparative to that of most other adults. comprehensive If something is comprehensive, it has all the details about something else. The teacher gave us a comprehensive review for the exam. conserve To conserve something is to protect it from being ruined or used completely. The group worked to conserve the beauty of Europe's national parks. crucial If something is crucial, it is extremely important to another thing. Clean air is crucial to the survival of humans, plants, and animals. cumulative Cumulative describes an increase by adding one after another. The cumulative snowfall in the area is fifty centimeters per year. deposit To deposit something is to put it into a place or another thing. I deposited the money into my bank account. distribute To distribute something is to give it to a number of people. The teacher distributed crayons and markers to her students.

equator The equator is an imaginary line that splits the Earth into north and south. The equator crosses the northern part of South America. exotic Exotic describes something unusual because it is from far away. Rebecca tried many exotic foods on her trip to Africa. federal If something is federal, it relates to the government of a country. Sometimes federal laws are different from state laws. formation A formation is the way that something is made. The formation of ice happens when water freezes. frequency The frequency of something is the number of times that it happens. The frequency of rainstorms is very high, especially during the spring. objective An objective is a goal or plan that someone has. My objective this week is to finish my homework by 7:30 every night. oxygen Oxygen is a gas that all living things need to breathe. She thinks there is more oxygen in the air in the country than in the city. rainforest A rainforest is a forest that is in a place where it rains very often. The rainforest is home to many animals. strategy A strategy is a plan for how to do something. The team came up with a strategy to win the game. wooded If an area is wooded, it is covered with trees. Jim and Ben decided to go hiking in the wooded area by the river.

A Dying Forest Rainforests provide much of the world's oxygen supply. But the forests' exotic trees and animals are being destroyed to make room for farms and roads. People have been trying to conserve rainforests for years. But another type of forest—the cloud forest is just as important and beneficial to humans. Cloud forests are also in danger of disappearing, but little is being done to save them. These forests are located at the tops of mountains, generally near the equator. These humid, wooded mountaintops are mainly in African and Central and South American countries. They are called "cloud forests" because their height allows for the formation of clouds among the trees. Rainforests produce large amounts of oxygen. Cloud forests produce comparative amounts of water. The trees in these forests pull water out of the clouds. The moisture gathers on the leaves. When it drips, it is deposited into streams. The streams flow into towns at the bottom of the mountain. Then, the water is distributed to people. The yearly cumulative rainfall in these areas is 173 to 198 centimeters. Cloud forests can pull in up to 60 percent of that. This water is crucial to the plants and the people in the area. It helps them survive. Cloud forests are also the birthplace of countless species of plants that can't be found anywhere else. One small cloud forest has the capacity for as many types of plants as there are in all of Europe. There are so many, in fact, that scientists haven't made a comprehensive list of them yet. These forests are being destroyed with increasing frequency. Trees are being cut down, and roads are being built in their place. Some people have an objective to get federal money to protect the forests. But they have had little success. Another strategy is to replace the destroyed plants. That, too, has been difficult because the plants are so unique. There's plenty of work to be done, but saving the cloud forests is still a possibility.