FLEX ENGLISH COMMUNICATION I

Thomas the Tank Engine and SDGs 関連入試問題

同志社大学

Forestry is the science of developing and managing woodlands and the water resourcesthat sustain them. The purpose of forestry is to develop fuelwood (for fuel), sawlogs (forlumber), and pulpwood (for paper production) that can be extracted through logging. The
production of fuelwood sawlogs and pulpwood grew (a) steadily between 1960 and 2000,
rising from 62 billion cubic feet* in 1960 to 84 billion cubic feet in 1980, and 110 billion
cubic feet in 1995. Global population growth increased demand for wood by 77 million
cubic meters per year in the early 2000s. By 2005, production was expected to reach 122
billion cubic feet. About half the wood harvested each year is used for fuel.
Since forestry directly affects the environmental quality of every nation and involves
the use of enormous amounts of public and private land, it is a focus of intense publicdebate in many countries. In most nations, the forest industry ― which cuts timber ―is also responsible for regenerating and maintaining the land. While intense worldwide
debate continued over the extent and location of timber harvests, the forest industries ofmost major industrial nations have, for the most part, become more responsible andcareful in their management of forest resources.
In some developing nations, overcutting of land to create farmland, ranchland*, or fuelcontinued to degrade the environment. While Southeast Asian nations producing tropicaltimber moved to check overcutting through regulation, taxation, and export bans,
overcutting was said to continue despite safeguards. The loss of tropical rain forests inSouth America is a major example of this problem. Another problem was the (b) massive
damage done in Indonesia from 1997 through 2002, when fires ― some (c) deliberately set― ravaged* lands where timber had been cut or where forests were being cleared foragriculture. The burnings were supposed to help prepare or clear the land for agricultural
purposes, but once the fires were out of control, they created intense smog and haze that
affected the entire region for months. Monetary damages from the fires and the haze theycaused were estimated at US$4.4 billion in a study from the Economy and Environment
Program for South East Asia (EEPSEA)* and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)*. (中略)While forests exist in every nation on earth, the scientific management of forests tended
to be concentrated in countries that produce large volumes of forest products althoughthese countries did not necessarily have the most total forest area. For example, Finlandand Sweden were leaders in forestry management and produced very high volumes offorest products yet did not rank among the top ten countries in terms of total forest area.
Leading areas in terms of total forest cover were the Commonwealth of Independent
States (former Soviet Union), North America, (中略) continental Europe, Southeast Asia,New Zealand, and Latin America. In Latin America several companies established highly
productive plantation forests (artificially planted forests intended for harvest at a specifictime), particularly in Brazil and Chile.
Forest policies around the world differed based on each country’s political history. In theUnited States, the federal and state governments own and manage substantial shares offorestland ― especially in the West ― but private corporations and individuals also ownlarge woodland (d) tracts, particularly in the South. In former communist countries, whereforests were owned by the state, emerging (ア) market economies privatized forestry tovarying degrees. Mixed ownership of woodlands, like that of the United States, is foundFLEX ENGLISH COMMUNICATION I

throughout most of Asia, Western Europe, and South America. In Japan, most forests ―a precious (e) commodity in such a densely populated country ― are state owned. In many
African countries, tribal ownership is prevalent, a （ f ） practice that can make modernforestry management difficult.
Although there are thousands of tree, plant, and shrub varieties growing in the world’s
forests, foresters cultivate a relatively small number of tree species. Most forestry
activities focus on two broad varieties of trees: coniferous* and nonconiferous* (broadleaf).
(中略) Forested areas around the world also contain (イ)a large variety of woody shrubs andgrasses (such as bamboo). In 2005 about 41 percent of the annual world harvest of wood
was comprised ( Y ) softwood species. Plantation forests (g) accounted for only 4.7 percentof forestry acreage* worldwide.
Forests regenerate naturally through seeding or sprouts that grow from the roots of cut
trees or artificially by planting seedlings*. Hardwood trees are usually allowed toregenerate naturally. Most softwoods do not sprout from the roots of cut trees and are mostoften replanted after harvest. In the early 2000s, according to USDA* statistics, about 2.6
million acres of trees were planted (h) annually in the United States: roughly 1.8 billion
trees. The forest industry planted 45 percent of this total, and the national forest system
planted 6 percent. Other government and industries accounted for another 7 percent, ( Z )the remainder planted by noncommercial owners. Replanting by forest products
companies and other groups created a net growth in the amount of forested land in mostmajor countries. In Western Europe, for example, there was 30 percent ( あ ) forested
land in the mid-1990s ( い )( う ) ( え ) 50 years prior. From the early 1970s to the mid1990s, the total acreage of trees growing in the United States increased by 20 percent.
(From “Forestry,” Encyclopedia of Global Industries, 4th ed., Gale, 2007)[注] cubic feet (foot) 立方フィート（フット）:1 foot = 30.48 cm
ranchland 大牧場
ravage 荒らす
EEPSEA 東南アジア経済環境プログラム
WWF 世界自然保護基金
coniferous 針葉樹のnonconiferous 広葉樹の acreage エーカー(acre)単位による面積：1 acre = 4047m²
seedlings 苗木
USDA 米国農務省
Ⅰ- A 空所(Y)および(Z)に入るもっとも適切なものを次の１～４の中からそれぞれ一つ選びなさい。
(Y) 1 at
2 in
3 of
4 out
(Z) 1 for
2 of
3 on
4 withI - B 下線部(a)~(h)の意味・内容にもっとも近いものを１～４の中からそれぞれ一つ選びなさい。
(a) steadily
1 intensively
2 occasionally
3 rapidly
4 stably(b) massive
1 artificial
2 huge3 environmental
4 progressive(c) deliberately
1 accidentally
2 cruelly
3 consciously
4 unwillingly(d) tracts
1 areas2 benefits
3 budgets
4 fortunes(e) commodity
1 export
2 import
3 quality
4 resource