Are you attracted to faraway places? Do you prefer to vacation away from other tourists? Are you careful to take only memories and to leave only footprints (足迹)? If you answered yes to more than one of these questions, you just might be an ecotourist.
Ecotourists are people who want to experience the real natural world and leave it that way when they return home. It started in the 1990s and ecotourism is now growing
three times faster than the tourism industry. The Ecuador's Amazon Basin (盆地) is helpful to that development, and it gives a view of what ecotourism looks like.
At the Ecolodge, a small group of cottages sits Kapawi Ecolodge in the middle of the Achuar people's reserve and is only reached by air. From here, visitors can explore parts of the Amazon rainforest seen by few outsiders. Local guides explain how the forest is like their supermarket, where they find food, clothing, medicine and tools. As a result, tourists learn to enjoy the local culture as well as the natural environment.
The owners of Kapawi pay monthly rent to the Achuar people, but they also train the community to run and manage the cottages. They have agreed on a plan to turn the operation over to the Achuar completely. The owners are working to make ecotourism benefit the local people.
You probably won't start your own ecocottage, but you can be an ecotourist if you follow these guidelines: protect the environment, support local businesses, and respect the local customs and traditions.
The world is full of attractive places to visit. As an ecotourist, you can enjoy them yourself and make sure that they remain beautiful for future generations as well.
(
A
) 1. What do we know about ecotourists?
A. Their travel has little bad effect on the natural world.
B. They travel to the places without any public transportation.
C. They like places with amazing and special adventures better.
D. Their travel is mainly for getting away from the modern civilization.
(
C
) 2. Why are local guides needed according to paragraph 3?
A. To give an example of career.
B. To explain how to live in the rainforest.
C. To show the importance of natural resources.
D. To attract more outsiders to live there.
(
A
) 3. What can you do to be an ecotourist?
A. Respect local customs.
B. Buy food from other parts.
C. Take an adventure in the faraway places.
D. Travel by air or on foot.
(
D
) 4. Where can you read this text?
A. In a science book.
B. In a storybook.
C. In a textbook.
D. In a newspaper.