I. LISTENING

Listen again and decide whether the statements are True (T) or False (F). You will listen TWICE.

Dr Steve Logan is an environmental expert with a lot of experience in biodiversity conservation.

Script:

Nam: Good morning. I'd like to introduce Dr Steve Logan - an environmental expert with a lot of experience in biodiversity conservation. He’ll talk about the importance of ecosystems at our environmental club meeting. Please welcome, Dr. Logan.

Mr. Logan: Thank you, Nam. As you know, an ecosystem includes living and non-living things, and each of them plays an important role. A healthy ecosystem brings many benefits, such as cleaning our air and water, providing food and controlling climate change. But human activities are damaging our planet's biodiversity. Half of our coral reefs have disappeared and it's believed that 90% of the world coral reefs will die by 2050 due to warming oceans and pollution. We've cut down one third of the world's forests to make space for farming or houses. As a result, many animals and plants have lost their habitats, and many species are disappearing.

Nam: So people are destroying the balance of local ecosystems, aren't they? But this in turn will affect human life.

Mr. Logan: That's right. One day we may not have fresh air to breathe or water to use. This may happen if we damage the fine balance among all living and non-living things in the ecosystems. As species disappear, the food chain may break down. We may run out of food, suffer from health problems, and face more natural disasters. So what can we do to restore ecosystems?