¡Descarga living english2 unit 1 y más Exámenes en PDF de Inglés solo en Docsity! 1 UNIT TEST Optional Reading Read the text and answer the questions that follow. Keeping Traditional Knowledge Alive I Palm trees play an integral role in the everyday lives of the indigenous communities that live in the tropical rainforests of South America. Members of these communities have a tremendous amount of knowledge about the trees. Yet scientists and researchers in the Western world know very little about palms and the people who live amongst them. II Researcher, Rodrigo Camera-Leret, is hoping to change this situation. Camera-Leret believes that it’s important to document the cultural traditions of these communities. He is concerned that the traditional knowledge about palms, that is known only to members of the indigenous rainforest communities, may soon be lost forever. Many people from these communities are leaving the rainforests and moving to cities in search of jobs. They and their children are beginning to move away from traditional practices in order to adopt a “modern” lifestyle. III That is why he and his research team decided to embark on a project to try to gather and document this information before it’s too late. Over the course of 18 months, they visited 68 indigenous communities in the rainforests of South America and conducted more than 2,000 interviews with community members. They recorded thousands of ways that palms have been used over the centuries. IV In recent years, researchers like Camera-Leret have begun to focus on the potential benefits of traditional knowledge for people all over the world. In the case of palm trees, their roots are used in various traditional medicinal remedies. These remedies are of particular interest to Western scientists. V As people from the West begin to show an increasing interest in traditional knowledge, there are many who believe that indigenous communities must be compensated when their knowledge is accessed. In particular, they argue that traditional uses of medicinal plants shouldn’t be patented by companies claiming to have “discovered” their medicinal qualities themselves. Western companies using traditional knowledge must get the consent of indigenous communities to use this knowledge. They should then share any of the financial benefits that are gained from the sale of these products. In this way, traditional knowledge will continue to be used around the world without taking advantage of the rights of those who deserve to benefit from it. 1 Decide if the following sentences are true (T) or false (F). Find evidence in the text to justify your answers. (3 x 3 = 9 points) ...... 1. In indigenous communities, palm trees are only used for medicinal purposes. ............................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................ ...... 2. Indigenous communities are growing. ............................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................ ...... 3. Camera-Leret and his team travelled to South America. ............................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................
