Section BDirections: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by som
Section B
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice.
Much of Canada's forestry production goes towards making pulp and paper. According to the Canadian pulp and Paper Association, Canada supplies 34% of the world's wood pulp and 49% of its newsprint paper. Id these paper products could be produced in some other way, Canadian forests could be preserved. Recently, a possible alternative way of producing pa per has been suggested by agriculturalists and environmentalists: a plant called hemp.
Hemp has been cultivated by many cultures for thousands of years. It produces fibre which can be made into paper, fuel, oils, textiles, food, and rope. For centuries, it was essential to the economies of many countries because it was used to make the ropes and cables used on sailing ships; colonial expansion and the establishment of a world-wide trading net work would not have been feasible without hemp. Nowadays, ships' cables are usually made from wire or synthetic fibres, but scientists are now suggesting that the cultivation of hemp should be revived for the production of paper and pulp. According to its proponents, four times as much paper can be produced from land using hemp rather than trees, and many environmentalists believe that the large-scale cultivation of hemp could reduce the pressure on Canada's forests.
However, there is a problem: hemp is illegal in many countries of the world This plant, so useful for fibre, tope, oil, fuel and textiles, is a species of cannabis, related to the plant from which marijuana is produced. In the late 1930s, a movement to ban the drug marijuana began to gather force, resulting in the eventual hanging of the cultivation not only of the plant used to produce the drug, but also of the commercial fibre-producing, hemp plant. In fact, marijuana cannot be produced from the hemp plant, since it contains almost no THC(the active ingredient in the drug).
In recent years, a movement for legalization have been gathering strength. It is concerned only with the hemp plant used to produce fibre this group wants to make it legal to cultivate the plant and sell the fibre for paper and pulp production.
Why is pulp and paper production important to Canada?
A.Canada needs to find a way to use all its spare wood.
B.Canada publishes a lot of newspapers and books.
C.Pulp and paper export is a major source of income for Canada.
D.Hemp is a traditional plant of Canada.