Each year, people burn or cut down 143,000 square kilometers (55,000 square miles) of the forest. People who burn or cut down trees do it for different reasons: farmers cut down trees in order to get more fertilize lands to grow rice or vegetables, and use the woods as fuel. Timber companies cut down trees and turn them into furniture or paper productions. As to goal miners, they remove the forests to find out whether there are goal underground.
每一年，人們都會砍伐14.3萬平方千米的森林（約5.5萬平方英里）。人們砍伐樹木出于種種原因：農民們為了得到更肥沃的空地來種植大米蔬菜，砍下的樹木用來取火。木材公司用樹木來制作家具或是各類紙制品。至于那些開采煤礦的人，把樹木砍掉就是為了檢測是否有煤礦在下面。

However, many of us fail to realize that forests are the lungs of the earth. When we cut down trees, we also push ourselves in to a dangerous situation. That is the global warming. When you come to think about it, there are only few ways to solve these negative effects: stop cutting down trees blindly; try to find some clear energy that can replace oil and coal. But these solutions can be impractical to some degreed.
然而，我們中的許多人都沒有意識到樹木等同于地球的“肺部”。當我們砍伐樹木時，我們就把自己推入一個危險的境地——會引起全球氣候變暖。想到這些，只有為數不多的幾個辦法可以解決這個問題：停止盲目地砍伐樹木；尋找可以代替石油和煤礦的新能源。但是，就目前來看，這幾個策略并不可行。

Why trees can be so important to the whole nature? First of all, trees are the habitat of many animals. When we cut down trees, we not only destroy animals’ habitats but also ourselves. We just gradually destroy natural links. The result is that many spices of animals and plants are dying out. Secondly, cutting down trees cause global warming, to some degree. Naturalists compare forest to human’s lungs. The forests absorb the carbon dioxide and other gas that cause global warming, and then give off the oxygen that good for the human beings and other living creatures. It’s refreshed the air as well as reduced the noise. If the air quality is bad, people may die from cancers, or the new diseases for which they have no immunity. Forests also play an important role in the prevention of natural disasters. Warmer temperatures cause water to expand and also create more water by melting polar ice caps. That’s to say, the nations which near the ocean may have been flooded by the water. But the forests can prevent water loss and soil erosion, and cool off the global temperatures. It’s the key to keep the balance of the nature.
為什么樹木對整個生態環境都如此重要呢？首先，樹木是小動物們的家園。當我們砍伐樹木時，我們不僅僅毀掉了它們的家，也毀掉了自己的。一步步的，我們慢慢分解了整個生態鏈，所造成的結果就是大批的動植物種類滅絕。其二，砍伐樹木在某種程度上造成全球變暖。生態學家把森林比作人類的肺。森林能夠吸收二氧化碳和其他引起氣候變暖的溫室氣體，然后轉化成氧氣供地球上的生物呼吸。樹木不僅能凈化空氣，也能減少噪音。如果空氣質量下降，那么人們就有可能死于肺癌，或者是其他致命菌。森林在預防疾病的過程中起到了重要的角色。氣溫的上升導致北極的冰層融化，水平面上升。也就是說，臨海的城市也許會被海水淹沒。但是森林就能夠阻止水土流失，使氣溫下降。它是保證全球生態平衡的關鍵。

Sometimes people only care about money making; they don’t care about the price we pay for the pollution. When the disaster is around the corner, we may be afraid and frustrated. The earth, on which our economies have always been based, is suddenly threatening our existence. All we hope that is this overpopulated, over industrialized planet can carry on for a longer time. And maybe, it’s time for us to realize that we should protect the earth, stop cutting down trees blindly and madly.
有時候人們只關心掙錢，卻對我們所付出的代價不管不問。當災難來臨時，我們會害怕、會彷徨。我們賴以生存的地球，卻突然變成了威脅我們生命的東西。我們只希望，在這個人口過度、工業過度的星球能繼續撐下去。也許，是時候我們應該保護地球，停止盲目瘋狂地砍伐樹木了。