This passage is adapted from material published in 1993 The recent recognition of a link between increasing rates of defores

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问题                         This passage is adapted from material published in 1993
    The recent recognition of a link between increasing rates of deforestation and increasing global climatic warming has focused new attention on the ecological role of forests. Deforestation threatens the continued existence o forests, and their loss would lead to an immediate, irreversible destabilization of the climate because the destructio of forests contributes to increased atmospheric concentrations of such heat-trapping gases as carbon dioxide and therefore to the acceleration of global warming.
    The world is at present accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from two well-known sources: the combustion of fossil fuels and deforestation. Deforestation results in higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere because the carbon stored in plants and trees is released when trees decay or are burned. A third sources, the warming-enhanced decay of organic matter in forests and soils, especially in the middle and higher latitudes, is now being recognized as potentially significant. Evidence is accumulating that carbon from this source is beginning to have global effects. Thus, two of the three sources of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are directly related to the survival and health of forests.
    In the discussion about the importance of forests, however, emphasize has fallen on biodiversity, or numbers of species per unit area, especially in the tropics, where such diversity is particularly high. But forests, it should be emphasized, have a similar role in every latitude. They contain the largest numbers of different kinds of plants and animals of any community on land and might be considered the most highly developed of the terrestrial communities from the standpoint of complexity of structure and diversity of life and life forms. Forests are far more than simple collections of species, however. It is unfortunate that the discussion of biotic or living resources has been focused on biodiversity rather than on the actual ability of the land itself to support life. In order for the complete range of plant and animal life to thrive, the soil must contain essential nutrients in their proper quantities and proportions, and the atmosphere must be composed of the correct molecules in their proper proportions. If the soils were to become infertile and the atmosphere inhospitable, more than mere diversity or numbers of species would be lost, the land would become impoverished and no longer be able to support any life.
According to the passage, the emphasis on preserving biodiversity in forests has had which of the following effects?

选项 A、diverted attention from the importance of the land’s ability to support life.
B、led to recognition of the causes of complexity of terrestrial communities.
C、led to an understanding of the causes of accelerated rates of global warming.
D、resulted in the formulation of the concept of biotic resources.
E、shifted attention away from the role of forests in stopping the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

答案A

解析 根据第三段,强调生物多样性使得人们不能关注土地维持生命的重要性,所以选项A正确。
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