Adults and children are frequently confronted with statements about the alarming rate of loss of tropical rainforests. For example, one graphic illustration to which children might readily relate is the estimate that rainforests are being destroyed at a rate equivalent to one thousand football fields every forty minutes-about the duration of a normal classroom period. In the face of the frequent and often vivid media coverage, it is likely that children will have formed ideas about rainforests-what and where they are, why they are important, what endangers them-independent of any formal tuition. It is also possible that some of these ideas will be mistaken .

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　　首句引入主题：Rainforest 。For example 后不用看。看到末句，出现 It is also possible that 观点句型，且伴有 also ，说明最后两句是并列的观点句:

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　　1. Children hold ideas about rainforests

　　2. They are mistaken.

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　　固本文主题或问题就是儿童关于热带雨林看法的对错

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　　Many studies have shown that children harbour misconceptions about ‘pure’, curriculum science. These misconceptions do not remain isolated but become incorporated into a multifaceted, but organized, conceptual framework, making it and the component ideas, some of which are erroneous, more robust but also accessible to modification. These ideas may be developed by children absorbing ideas through the popular media. Sometimes this information may be erroneous. It seems schools may not be providing an opportunity for children to re-express their ideas and so have them tested and rined by teachers and their peers.

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　　Despite the extensive coverage in the popular media of the destruction of rainforests, little formal information is available about children’s ideas in this area. The aim of the present study is to start to provide such information, to help teachers design their educational strategies to build upon correct ideas and to displace misconceptions and to plan programmes in environmental studies in their schools.

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　　第二段 Literature Review 。第一句话就是观点句，说明以前的研究说明儿童对于热带雨林的知识是错误的

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　　第三段调查研究开始(做问卷调查)。调查过程(五个问题)

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　　The study surveys children’s scientific knowledge and attitudes to rainforests. Secondary school children were asked to complete a questionnaire containing five open-form questions. The most frequent responses to the first question were descriptions which are self-evident from the term ‘rainforest’. Some children described them as damp, wet or hot. The second question concerned the geographical location of rainforests. The commonest responses were continent or countries: Africa (given by 43% of children), South America(30%), Brazil(25%). Some children also gave more general locations, such as being near the Equator.

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　　Responses to question three concerned the importance of rainforests. The dominant idea, raised by 64% of the pupils ， was that rainforests provide animals with habitats. Fewer students responded that rainforests provide plant habitats, and even fewer mentioned the indigenous populations of rainforests. More girls (70%) and boys (60%) raised the idea of rainforest as animal habitats.

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　　Similarly, but at a lower level, more girls (13%) than boys (5%) said that rainforests provided human habitats. These observations are generally consistent with our previous studies of pupils’ views about the use and conservation of rainforests, in which girls were shown to be more sympathetic to animals and expressed views which seem to place an intrinsic value on non-human animal life.

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　　The fourth question concerned the causes of the destruction of rainforests. Perhaps encouragingly, more than half of the pupils(59%) identified that it is human activities which are destroying rainforests, some personalizing the responsibility by the use of terms such as ‘we are’. About 18% of the pupils rerred specifically to logging activity.

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　　One misconception, expressed by some 10% of the pupils, was that acid rain is responsible for rainforest destruction; a similar proportion said that pollution is destroying rainforests. Here, children are confusing rainforest destruction with damage to the forests of Western Europe by these factors. While two fifths of the students provided the information that the rainforests provide oxygen, in some cases this response also embraced the misconception that rainforest destruction would reduce atmospheric oxygen, making the atmosphere incompatible with human life on Earth.

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　　In answer to the final question about the importance of rainforest conservation, the majority of children simply said that we need rainforests to survive. Only a few of the pupils (6%) mentioned that rainforest destruction may contribute to global warming. This is surprising considering the high level of media coverage on this issue. Some children expressed the idea that the conservation of rainforests is not important.

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　　找到这些并列的问题就可以了

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　　分析综合结果：

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　　The results of this study suggest that certain ideas predominate in the thinking of children about rainforests. Pupils’ responses indicate some misconception in basic scientific knowledge of rainforests’ ecosystems such as their ideas about rainforests as habitats for animals, plants and humans and the relationship between climatic change and destruction of rainforests.

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　　Pupils did not volunteer ideas that suggestedthat they appreciated the complexity of causes of rainforest destruction. In other words, they gave no indication of an appreciation of either the range of ways in which rainforests are important or the complex social, economic and political factors which drive the activities which are destroying the rainforests. One encouragement is that the results of similar studies about other environmental issues suggest that older children seem to acquire the ability to appreciate value and evaluate conflicting views. Environmental education offers an arena in which these skills can be developed, which is essential for these children as future decision-makers.

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　　共得出三点结论：

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　　儿童对于热带雨林认识有偏差。

　　儿童认识到热带雨林破坏的复杂性。

　　年长的孩子有能力认识到热带雨林价值，评估冲突的观点

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　　Word List

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　　Confronted with: deal with

　　Tropical rainforest: 热带雨林

　　Formal Tuition ： Teaching or instruction in classroom

　　Curriculum: the subjects comprising a course of study in a school or college.

　　Erroneous: wrong, incorrect

　　Accessible: easy

　　Modification: change

　　Habitat: the natural home or environment of an organism

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