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Among unusual trees are the tropical mangrove and banyan. From their extended branches they send down roots that grow into supporting trunks. Thus each tree becomes a grove. The baobab, or monkey-bread tree, grows immensely broad without growing proportionately tall. Its trunk may be 20 to 30 feet in diameter but only 60 to 70 feet high. Its branches, 50 to 60 feet long and each as thick as a good-sized tree, sweep the ground with their foliage. South American forests have several different cow trees. They yield a creamy, pleasant-tasting juice, which is said to serve as a milk substitute. These are related to the rubber trees. The "deadly tree" of southeastern Asia was once believed to have a poisonous breath that was fatal to any living creature within ten miles. This has proved to be a fable; but the real tree has a poisonous juice.
According to tradition, Buddha received enlightenment under the sacred Bo tree in India. The original tree has vanished, but a Bo tree in Sri Lanka, said to be over 2,000 years old, is venerated by Buddhists as having sprung from a slip of the sacred tree. It is a member of the fig genus.
The Redwoods and Douglas firs of the Pacific coast are the world’s tallest trees. Second to them is the eucalyptus of Australia. Probably the largest in circumference is the Tree of Tule, about 175 feet around the trunk and 150 feet tall. It is in a village churchyard southwest of Oaxaca, Mexico. It is a cypress, called in English the Montezuma cypress. Its age has been estimated to be 3,000 to 5,000 years.
Topics for discussion.
1. Discuss these statements:
· Trees are the most important plants on Earth because they contribute to the conditions which support life.
· Trees provide many types of living places and food for animals.
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· People have used trees and their products for many different purposes.
· Different trees are suited to different habitats.
2. Your favorite tree.
It is interesting to know
The most beautiful tree:
the horse – chestnut in full bloom.
The tallest tree:
the giant redwoods in California (about 112metres).
The shortest tree:
the weeping mulberry. It’s not even as high as an elephants eye.
The heaviest tree:
black ironwood. It weighs about 81 lbs/cu.ft.(specific gravity =1.30).
The lightest tree:
balsa. It weighs about 7 lbs/cu.ft.(specific gravity =0.11).
Part III FOREST
Unit 1 What a forest is?
1.1 Active vocabulary:
| canopy | полог |
| еven-aged stand | одновозрастное насаждение |
| forest floor | лесной настил |
| mixed forest | смешанный лес |
| pure forest | однородный лес |
| species composition | видовой состав |
| uneven-age stand | разновозрастное насаждение |
| understory | 1) нижний ярус 2) порослевое молодое насаждение |
| veteran | дерево диаметром более 60 см |
Read and translate the text using the active vocabulary and a dictionary.
Text 1
