1. Words And Phrases About Travel
　a.
　　(1) travel：
　　(2) journey：
　　(3) trip：
　　(4) tour：
　　(5) voyage：
　　(6) hike：

　b.
　　tourism
　　tour agency /service
　　touring party
　　tourist / traveler
　　tour guide
　　travel companion
　　traveling expenses
　　route
　　schedule

2. How can we travel?
　 (1) by road / land　　 by bike, bus, car, taxi, train, on foot, etc.
　 (2) by sea / water　　by ship, boat, etc.
　 (3) by air 　　　　　　 by plane

3. Things taken while traveling
　 traveling bag
　 sleeping bag
　 tent
　 sneaker
　 raincoat
　 map
　 flashlight
　 compass
　 sun glasses
　 soap, toothpaste, tooth-brush, towel, etc.
　 medicine
　 food

5. Amazon
　 (1) Map of Amazon:
　
　 (2) Brief introduction:
　　　Amazon is the longest river in South America. It is rich in aquatic products. A kind of
　　　dangerous fish named “piranha”（食人鱼） live in the river, which often attack people
　　　falling into the river in shoals.

6. words about rivers
　 river bank
　 riverbed
　 river mouth
　 river course
　 river valley
　 waterways
　 the bend of a river
　 riverhead
　 river transport
　 river system
　 branch

7. Types of Forests
　 tropical forests
　 rain forests
　 monsoon forests
　 coniferous forests
　 pine forests
　 broad-leaved trees
　 windbreak forests
　 sand-breaks
　 evergreen trees

Amazon River
The Amazon, about 6,450 km (4,000 mi) in length, is, after the Nile, the second longest river in the world. Flowing eastward across Brazil in the broad equatorial part of South America, it has the world's largest drainage basin, more than 7 million sq km (2.7 million sq mi) or nearly 5% of the world's total land area. It carries nearly 20% of the Earth's total water discharge to the ocean--more than the six next-largest rivers combined. The flow is so powerful that it noticeably dilutes the ocean water of the Atlantic 160 km (100 mi) beyond the coastline.
　　The Amazon's headstreams form in the Peruvian Andes little more than 160 km (100 mi) from the Pacific Ocean. In 1541 the Spanish explorer Francisco de ORELLANA began European exploration here, descending the river to the Atlantic. In any event, he gave the river its name, which refers to the AMAZONS of Greek mythology. Most of the river's drainage basin lies east of the Andes. It is composed of low plains less than 150 m (500 ft) above sea level, strips of floodplain alongside the channels, and broken higher ground in the upper reaches of its many tributaries, to both the north and the south

Rain Forest
Rain Forest, tropical woodland, characterized by lush (green and growing strongly) vegetation and great biological diversity. There are more species of plants and animals in tropical rain forests than in all the rest of the world. About 70 percent of all plant species in these forests are trees.
　　Most of the world's tropical rain forests are within 10° of the equator. The largest tropical rain forests are located in the Amazon Basin in South America; in southern Asia, including the large archipelagoes; and in the Congo Basin in Africa. Tropical rain forests contain most of the planet's bio-diversity, and there are probably still millions of insect species, as well as many plant species, that have not been described scientifically.

IMPORTANCE It is now generally accepted by scientists that rain forests are of more potential value on a long-term sustainable basis when left more or less intact than when converted to pastures or other simplified habitats. Rain forests have built up the largest standing biomass of any plant community on earth, and they have done this almost independent of soil conditions by recycling nutrients. Managed rain forests can thus provide huge amounts of valuable timber, retain the naturally thin topsoil layers, regulate runoff, and stabilize local climate.
Because rain forests contain the earth's greatest diversity of plants and animals, they also represent giant gene banks that can provide new drugs, foods, and other products.

HUMAN IMPACT
There are a large number of natural phenomena and human activities that have had an impact on rain forests. Cyclones, lightning fires, disease, landslides, and other natural forces are now of rather minimal influence compared to human activities such as logging, road building, mining, and large-scale clearing for cattle pasture and other agricultural crops. Traditional societies practiced slash-and-burn cultivation in which only relatively small areas were cleared. After two or three years, when the nutrients in the soils had been used up, the land was abandoned and another cleared. In modern practice, however, the large-scale clearing that takes place in nearly all rain forest areas is so extensive that hundreds of years would probably be needed for anything resembling the original vegetation to return.
　　Since the 1970s the rate of tropical deforestation has accelerated greatly. The eastern region, in places such as Australia, Sumatra, Malaysia, and Melanesia, began to suffer huge losses due to timber and agricultural operations. Amazonia, which became a focus of world attention, was being cleared mostly for large cattle ranches and ambitious government programs, such as the Trans-Amazon Highway.
　　There is growing concern about the loss of bio-diversity and global warming (due to increased levels of carbon dioxide) that may result from rain forest destruction (see Greenhouse Effect). It now seems clear, however, that the loss of species is by far the more important concern. So little is yet known about rain forest diversity and ecology that large-scale extinctions could take place as a result of human activities before anything can be done to understand the consequences of such extinctions and prevent them from happening.

The Amazon Rain Forest
The Amazon rain forest, with an area of about 6 million sq km (about 2.3 million sq mi), covers much of equatorial South America and contains more species of flora and fauna than any other ecosystem in the world. Trees constitute about 70 percent of the plant species found in rain forests. Currently, the Amazon rain forest is being cleared at an alarming rate for timber and agricultural purposes.