Part A Texts / 02 
01 Unit 1 
Passage 1 What Is a Forest? / 02
Forestry 
Passage 2 Global Forest Resources Assessment / 04 Passage 3 Challenges and Opportunities for Forests / 05 Part B Vocabulary / 09 Part C Academic Reading Skills / 10 Skimming and Scanning / 10 Part D Academic Writing Skills / 13 Writing Topic Sentences / 13 Part E Academic Listening Skills / 15 Listening for Main Ideas and Note-taking / 15 Part F Integrated Exercises / 18 
III 
Part A Texts / 26 

25 Unit 2 
Passage 1 What Is Urban Agriculture? / 26
Urban Agriculture 
Passage 2 Food Price Volatility and the Urban Poor / 27 Passage 3 Agronomic Considerations for Urban Agriculture in Southern Cities / 29 Part B Vocabulary / 33 Part C Academic Reading Skills / 34 Generalization-specification / 34 Part D Academic Writing Skills / 37 Classification and Citation / 37 Part E Academic Listening Skills / 42 Understanding Main Ideas and Supporting Evidence / 42 Part F Integrated Exercises / 46 

Part A Texts / 54 

53 Unit 3 
Passage 1 What Is Biodiversity? / 54
Biodiversity 
Passage 2 The Loss of Diversity: Causes and Consequences / 56 Passage 3 A To-Do List for the World’s Parks / 59 Part B Vocabulary / 62 Part C Academic Reading Skills / 63 Main Ideas and Supporting Details / 63 Part D Academic Writing Skills / 65 Cause and Effect / 65 Part E Academic Listening Skills / 68 Recognizing Cause and Effect Relationship / 68 Part F Integrated Exercises / 70 
Part A Texts / 78 

77 Unit 4 
Passage 1 Carbon Sequestration / 78 
Ecosystem 
Passage 2 The Ecological Footprint / 80 Passage 3 Signs of Hope for Nature in a Rapidly Degrading World / 83 Part B Vocabulary / 85 Part C Academic Reading Skills / 86 Interpretation of Visual Information / 86 Part D Academic Writing Skills / 89 Description of Process / 89 Part E Academic Listening Skills / 92 
Recognizing the Language for Introducing Process, Tendency or Change / 92 Part F Integrated Exercises / 94 
Part A Texts / 102 

101 Unit 5 
Passage 1 Landscape Architecture / 102 
Landscape Architecture 
Passage 2 Green Infrastructure / 103 Passage 3 Sponge City: Solutions for China’s Thirsty and Flooded Cities / 106 Part B Vocabulary / 109 Part C Academic Reading Skills / 111 Problem and Solution / 111 Part D Academic Writing Skills / 113 Definition / 113 Part E Academic Listening Skills / 115 Recognizing Definitions and Key Facts in a Lecture / 115 Part F Integrated Exercises / 118 
Part A Texts / 126 

125 Unit 6 
Passage 1 Desertification / 126 
Soil and Water 
Passage 2  Measures to Combat Desertification: Lessons Learned 
and Best Practices / 127 Passage 3 Exploring Nature-Based Solutions for Source Water Protection on World Water Day / 130 Part B Vocabulary / 132 Part C Academic Reading Skills / 134 Recognizing the Difference Between Facts and Opinions / 134 Part D Academic Writing Skills / 137 Identifying Key Points Related to Perspective and Stance / 137 Part E Academic Listening Skills / 140 Recognizing Similar/Different Opinions in an Interview/Lecture / 140 Part F Integrated Exercises / 143 
Part A Texts / 150 

149 Unit 7 
Passage 1 Food Safety and Food Contamination / 150 
Food Safety 
Passage 2 Are G.M.O. Foods Safe? / 152 Passage 3 Digital Transformation of the Food System / 154 Part B Vocabulary / 157 Part C Academic Reading Skills / 158 Recognizing Comparison and Contrast / 158 Part D Academic Writing Skills / 161 Writing Evaluative Language: Opinion, Attitude and Assumption / 161 Part E Academic Listening Skills / 165 Recognizing the Language for Introducing Evaluation / 165 Part F Integrated Exercises / 169 
Part A Texts / 176 

175 Unit 8 
Passage 1 Food and Forests: We Can Have Them Both / 176 
Forestry Products 
Passage 2 How Can Restoration Help Solve Hunger? / 177 Passage 3 Forest Pathways to Sustainable Development / 179 Part B Vocabulary / 182 Part C Academic Reading Skills / 183 Arguments and Supporting Evidence / 183 Part D Academic Writing Skills / 186 Writing Arguments and Types of Supporting Evidence / 186 Part E Academic Listening Skills / 188 
Recognizing How Evidence Is Presented to Support an Argument / 188 Part F Integrated Exercises / 192 

2018年*、農業農村部、國家林業和草原局發布了《關於加強農科教結合實施卓越農林人纔教育培養計劃 2.0的意見》，其中提出要緊緊圍繞鄉村振興戰略和生態文明建設，堅持產學研協作，建設中國特色、世界水平的一流農林專業；要創新農林人纔培養模式，推進教學方法改革，實施探究式、討論式等多種教學方法，促進學生的批判性思維和創新意識的培養；開展以能力為導評價，突I出對學生學習能力、實踐能力和創新能力的考核，建立多樣化的學業指導和考核評價體繫。中國高等教育已經從規模擴張轉到內涵發展的軌道之上，面對新科技革命和產業革命的時代浪潮，我們應該超前識變、積極應變、主動求變。
卓越農林人纔的培養離不開農林學科領域專業國際化知識，必須具備的關鍵素質應該包括：寬廣的國際化視野、扎實的本專業國際化知識、熟悉和掌握國際慣例、較強的跨文化溝通能力和獨立的國際活動能力。因此，幫助學生提高專業領域內的英語交流能力，即學術英語能力，是新時代高校公共外語教學的一項不可推卸的重要責任，而這種能力必須經過繫統的學習和訓練纔能提高。本教材可以幫助學生提高在學科領域進行國際交流的外語能力，切實提高本科生使用英語從事學術活動的能力，為培養未來卓越農林人纔奠定學科英語基礎。

本教材共有 ，涉及林業、城市農業、生物多樣性、生態繫統和園林規劃等方面。包括三篇閱讀文章，內容和話題具有較高的相關性，選材兼顧專業性和趣味性，避免太過專業化和艱澀的文章。篇為概述、背景介紹類文章；第二篇話題涉及的相關問題、熱點話題類文章；第三篇為與技術、未來展望相關的文章。另外包括 2–3篇聽力，圍主題，鍛煉學術聽力和演講技能。通過本教材的學習，學生可以掌握以下 3種技能：
（1）學術閱讀技能：能夠讀懂英語閱讀專業文獻；
（2）學術寫作技能：掌握國際通用學術規範，能夠使用英語撰寫符合規範的摘要和總結，轉述他人觀點，甚至撰寫英文學術論文；
（3）學術聽說技能：能夠聽懂英文授課、講座並記筆記，能夠使
II用英語宣讀論文，陳述演示研究成果，參加學術討論。通用學術英語教學是大學英語教學的重要組成部分。本教材結合農林類專業方面的科普知識和通用學術英語技能，為學生過渡到學習專門用途學術英語做好語言和專業知識儲備。本教材的重點在於培養學生汲取信息、處理信息和表達信息的能力。在注重語言技能培養的同時，注重把學術英語素養（如文獻搜索、查找資料、引用規範、轉述、撰寫摘要等）和語言交際能力的培養結合起來。本教材既適用於農林類高等院校老師課堂教學和學生課下學習，也適用於從事農林相關工作的科技人員進行自學。需要注意的是，書中 Part E聽力部分的音視頻可以通過手機掃描對應二維碼進行在線收聽、收看或下載。其中 TED演講相關視頻，在相應位置附有相關演講者姓名及演講題目。讀者可上網訪問 TED官網www.ted.com，在站內搜索對應視頻進行在線收看。

the broadleaf evergreen rainforests of Japan, Chile and Tasmania, the sclerophyllous forests of Australia, central Chile, the Mediterranean and California, and the southern beech Nothofagus forests of Chile and New Zealand. 
There are many different types of tropical moist forests, with lowland evergreen broad 
leaf tropical rainforests, for example, várzea and igapó forests and the terra firma forests of the 
Amazon Basin; the peat swamp forests, dipterocarp forests of Southeast Asia; and the high forests of the Congo Basin. Seasonal tropical forests, perhaps the best description for the colloquial term 
“jungle”, typically range from the rainforest zone 10 degrees north or south of the equator, to the 
Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. Forests located on mountains are also included in this category, divided largely into upper and lower montane formations on the basis of the variation of physiognomy corresponding to changes in altitude. 
Tropical dry forests are characteristic of areas in the tropics affected by seasonal drought. The seasonality of rainfall is usually reflected in the deciduousness of the forest canopy, with most trees being leafless for several months of the year. However, under some conditions, e.g. less fertile soils or less predictable drought regimes, the proportion of evergreen species increases and the forests are characterized as “sclerophyllous”. Thorn forest, a dense forest of low stature with a high frequency of thorny or spiny species, is found where drought is prolonged, and especially where grazing animals are plentiful. On very poor soils, and especially where fire or herbivory are recurrent phenomena, savannas develop. 
Sparse trees and savanna are forests with lower canopy cover of trees. They occur principally in areas of transition from forested to non-forested landscapes. The two major zones in which these ecosystems occur are in the boreal region and in the seasonally dry tropics. At high latitudes, north of the main zone of boreal forest, growing conditions are not adequate to maintain a continuous closed forest cover, so tree cover is both sparse and discontinuous. This vegetation is variously called open taiga, open lichen woodland, and forest tundra. A savanna is a mixed woodland grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of grasses. Savannas maintain an open canopy despite a high tree density. 
Forest plantations are generally intended for the production of timber and pulpwood. Commonly mono-specific and/or composed of introduced tree species, these ecosystems are not generally important as habitat for native biodiversity. However, they can be managed in ways that enhance their biodiversity protection functions and they can provide ecosystem services such as maintaining nutrient capital, protecting watersheds and soil structure, and storing carbon. 
(Adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest) 

change—between 2000 and 2010. During the same period, reforestation partially offset these losses, reducing annual net forest loss to 5.6 million hectares. But this still amounts to a loss of 
forest area larger than the size of Costa Rica each year (FAO, 2014). Furthermore, as much as 40 
million hectares of primary forests were converted to secondary forests. With concerted action, society could make significantly improved and long-lasting use of global forest resources for poverty eradication and sustainable economic development. Although forests still face major challenges, opportunities have emerged that could transform the way they are managed. 
Climate Change 
Challenge 
The current and projected impacts of climate change, including but not limited to rising temperatures and increasingly unpredictable precipitation patterns, increase the vulnerability of forests to pests, diseases, and fires. At the same time, forest loss affects water cycles on a large scale and can put water supplies and food security at risk. 
Opportunity 
Forests and their biodiversity make a crucial contribution to mitigating the impacts of climate change not only by absorbing GHGs from the atmosphere, but also by regulating water flows, protecting coastal communities from extreme events and sea level rise, and offering plant and animal species migratory corridors to more suitable habitats. Forests and trees are the cornerstone of the land restoration agenda: some two billion hectares of lost or degraded forests and landscapes could be restored and rehabilitated to functional and productive ecosystems. Essential to this process is the restoration of the biodiversity within forest systems, which is the backbone of a healthy ecosystem. The restoration of ecosystems and their biodiversity would generate increased economic opportunities in rural areas, deliver improved rural livelihoods and food security, help fill household energy gaps as a renewable energy source, enhance climate resilience, and mitigate GHG emissions while taking pressure off pristine forests. 

Competing Uses of Land 
Challenge 
For a long time, the default development path for forest-rich nations has been to convert natural forests into agricultural or other land uses. This development model is usually referred to as the “forest 10 World Bank Group Forest Action Plan FY16-20 transition theory”, holding that economic growth goes hand in hand with deforestation (Mather, 1992). This theory is now questioned, however, and some countries, such as Brazil, show that the curves of deforestation and economic growth can be decoupled, and that increased agricultural value does not have to come at the expense of forests. 
Opportunity 
A forest-smart, multisector or landscape approach considers forests and the services they provide to be key elements of the Sustainable Development Agenda. This translates into decisions on land use that seek to minimize or mitigate negative impacts on forests and enhance their positive contributions to other sectors. Greater attention to the role of forests in national development 
strategies can provide benefits for longterm food security, poverty reduction, social development, 
and green growth. Data and information on the long-term impacts of potential decisions on forests can inform discussions on trade-offs in land use planning. 

Growing Demand for Forest Products 
Challenge 
Demand for timber products is growing rapidly, with the demand for global industrial roundwood predicted to quadruple by 2050 (Indufor, 2012). This increase surpasses by a large amount the supply growth, deepening the projected yearly supply deficit from one billion cubic meters in 2012 to 4.5 billion cubic meters in 2050. This rising global demand for timber and other forest products risks fueling unsustainable and often illegal timber trade flows. Planted forests can represent a promising option to fill the gap in timber supply. However, poorly designed planted forests can lead to the degradation of critical ecosystems, erosion of the ecological services delivered by these ecosystems, and lack of respect for the rights and interests of local communities. 
Opportunity 
Since 2000, the area of planted forests has increased considerably. Planted forest area now accounts for around 7 percent of the total area of global forests—some 280 million hectares. The area continues to increase at a rate of around five million hectares per year, through afforestation as well as managed natural regeneration. The expansion of planted forests is largely driven by the private sector. Carefully designed and managed planted forests can present major opportunities for job creation and sustainable economic growth in rural areas. Certification schemes as well as new models (such as the New Generation Plantations) are paving the way for responsible investments in the sustainable management of forests—natural and planted—in southern countries. 

Forest Governance 
Challenge 
Estimates indicate that industrial hardwood timber of questionable origins might constitute 23-30 percent of global supply, and the availability of illegal supply depresses prices by 7-16 percent. Illegal logging on public lands results in estimated losses in assets and revenue in excess of $10 billion annually. Because of its value and scale, illegal logging is also a driver of wider systemic corruption and can fuel conflicts and threaten security. 
Opportunity 
Progress has been made over the past 10 years in tackling illegal logging, resulting from a combination of actions taken at the international and national levels to monitor and track illegal activities. However, forest governance requires continuous efforts to tackle emerging challenges through policy changes, strengthened institutions, and enhanced monitoring systems. New information and communications technologies (ICTs) provide opportunities to monitor forest cover in almost real-time, allowing for the detection of fires and deforestation hotspots. Timber can now be tracked all along the supply chain, and public participation is enhanced through open data 
applications (such as e-government and open government). 

Private Financing for Sustainable Forest Management 
Challenge 
The required funding for sustainable forest management is estimated to be between $70 billion and $160 billion per year globally (World Bank, 2014). The amount needed to supply the world’s need for wood products alone is about $50 billion. Mobilization of adequate financing for the forest sector remains a challenge. Private financial flows to this sector are estimated to be as high as $15 billion per year (Asen, Savenije, and Schmidt, 2012). Although private financing is promising, it is not yet distributed evenly across regions, and the potential in many developing countries has yet to materialize. 
Opportunity 
Increased investments in plantations are expected to go to emerging and developing countries. This represents a shift in this industry, where historically private investment in timber production and processing has been concentrated in high-income countries. Some countries in Latin America have significantly increased their plantation area over the past decade, but opportunities exist in other regions, particularly in Africa. There is tremendous potential to unlock the investment of responsible private operators in sustainable forest management and forest product value chains in emerging and developing countries. This will require a robust regulatory framework that ensures that forest investments are done in an environmentally friendly and socially responsible way.