The Amazing Amazon

The basin of the Amazon River in South America is covered by the Amazon River and the rivers that flow into it. It is an area in Brazil that holds amazing wealth. This area is part of the tropics, the land near the equator. It rains everyday in the tropical rainforest. Then the hot sun evaporates water from the soil and trees and other plants. This water vapor goes into the air, becomes clouds, and falls again as rain. Water is then recycled and kept in the region. It is believe that many valuable medicines and other products can be made from the plants and animals that live there. However, people who live in this region want to live well. They want Brazil to become an industrial nation. Many of thousands of square miles of forest are being cut down every year to make way for industry. Much of the wood is burned.. The tropical soil is thin, and soon erosion carries it away. The people often use the help of charities to help them find ways to exist without destroying their forests.

Vocabulary

1) basin: A small enclosed or partly enclosed body of water.

2) tropics:  

3) equator: the imaginary great circle around the earth's surface; extreme hot tempatures

4) evaporates: to draw moisture from, as by heating, leaving only the dry solid portion.

5) recycled: to put or pass through a cycle again, as for further treatment.

6) industry: commercial production and sale of goods.

7) charities: an organization or fund established to help the needy.

Vocabulary Exercise

Fill in the blanks with the correct word.

1. Fred walked along a river ________. 

2. Career opportunities exist in buying and merchandising as well as related field in the retail fashion ________. 

3. We are grateful for all of the ______ that help support those in need.

4. Make sure to _____ all paper and plastic bottles.

5. The water must ________  into the air.

6. The _________ is the hottest part of the Earth.

7. Common nursery plants can turn your patio into the__________.

Grammar Point:  An ending is a letter or letters added to the end of a base word. The endings -s and -es are added to singular nounds to make them plural. The ending -ed is added to a verb to make it past tense. The ending -ing is added to a verb to make it tell about present or ongoing actions. 

Grammar Exercise: Answer the following questions:

1) Bananas and tropics both have the same ending. What are their base words? How does -s change the meaning of their base words?

2) What letters are added to the word charity to make it plural?

3) Choose a noun or a verb from the passage. What is its base word? Add a new ending to it. How has the meaning of the word changed?