Appendix (for reading content...etc)
Read the passage 'Urban Forest Plan'. On a piece of paper, take notes on the main points of the reading passage.
Reading time: 3 minutes
Urban Forest Plan
The city enjoys urban forests not only in the city square, the municipal parks, and golf courses, but also along many streets in the city. The forest, boasting almost 700,000 trees, was planted during the late 17th century, but since the 1920s, planting has not kept pace with the losses from age, disease, storms, and development. An urban forest plan is needed that incorporates the following points: legislation to protect the existing forest, support to maintain and conserve the trees, and a public information campaign.
Legislation would have to include a temporary moratorium on development in areas where mature trees would be harmed and ordinances that would protect and nurture mature trees currently growing on industrial, institutional, and residential land.
Support to maintain and conserve the trees should be twofold. First, public funds should be allocated for this purpose. An adequate budget for maintenance of trees in parks and along city streets must be included in several city departments and funded by a small increase in city taxes. Equally important, however, private funds should be solicited through initiatives such as memorial tree plantings, adopt-a-tree programs, and a tree endowment fund.
As the final portion of the plan, a public information campaign would be essential to educate local residents and businesses. Otherwise, the advantages of the urban forests would not be understood and, therefore, not encouraged. Besides enhancing the landscape and improving the lifestyle of residents and visitors, trees mitigate air pollution, provide natural shade, cool the surrounding area, and reduce ultraviolet radiation. They also provide habitats for wildlife in the city.
Now listen to the passage. On a piece of paper, take notes on the main points of the listening passage.
[audio|src:'\listening\toefl_advanced\UrbanForestPlanning.mp3']
No one would deny that the urban forest is a positive aspect of our city or that we need a plan to take care of the mature trees. However, many earlier attempts to protect the existing urban forest by legislation have not succeeded, and, in my opinion, this plan is also destined to fail.
The first goal, legislation, sounds good on the surface, but legislating the problem hasn't worked very well over the years. The reasons that past laws have come to nothing are, first, because the legislation was too complicated-too many rules published in language that wasn't easily understood. And, second, the legislation was simply not enforced. The consequences of ignoring the law didn't deter anyone from breaking the law.
Next, support to maintain and conserve the trees is just another way to say that taxes are going to increase. It would be wonderful if the public would voluntarily come forward to provide funding for the project, but again, in the past, a very small percentage of the budget for maintenance and conservation has come from private donations. Almost 80 percent has come from taxes, and, although this new plan doesn't specify how much of a tax increase will be necessary, it's clearly going to cost taxpayers to implement it.
The public information campaign is probably the best idea, and it should happen before anything else. But again, in the past, similar campaigns have focused on very vague goals like improving the lifestyle, and I hear the same ambiguous incentives again this time. If the public is going to support a costly project, people need to see how their lives will be improved. Will golfers enjoy a better golf course? Will the dog park be cleaned up for pet owners? These are the specifics that the public might be willing to support.
Summarize the main points in the lecture, and then explain how they cast doubt on the ideas in the reading passage.
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urban forest plan destined to fail
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legislation to protect existing forest
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square, parks, golf, streets
700,000 trees 17 C
1920s age, disease, storms, develop
moratorium develop
ordinances maintain
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not worked in past
too complicated
not enforced
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support to maintain + conserve trees
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public funds ß city taxes
private funds ß memorial
tree planting, adopt tree,
tree endowment
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80% from taxes in past
very little private funding
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public information campaign
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benefits – lifestyle, air pollution,
natural cooling, reduc
radiation, habits
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goals too vague
specific improvements – public golf,
dog park
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