The Philippines, a tropical island nation in the Pacific, will now require by law all graduating students from elementary school to college plant 10 trees each before they can graduate.

The law was supported in the House and is now sent to the Philippines Senate for action, Supporters of the law see this as an opportunity for the Filipino youth to help deal with climate change and air pollution and build a greener environment for their generation.

“To this end, the educational system shall be a centre of spreading continuous use of natural resources among the young to make them socially-responsible citizens, The House bill stated, which was authored by representative Gary Alejano.

Alejano estimates that over the course of one generation the bill will be responsible for 525 billion trees planted.This comes from over 12 million students graduating from elementary school each year, 5 million from high school and 500,000 from college, equaling 175 million new trees planted each year.

The Philippines consists of 7,641 islands in Southeast Asia.Across those islands,deforestation has been a primary environmental issue.Agriculture has led to a significant drop in forested areas across the Philippines. Through the 20th century, forested area in the Philippines decreased from 70 percent to 20 percent.It is estimated that 24.2 million acres of forests were cut down from 1934 to 1988, primarily from logging.

The performance of this new law could set off a situation, by which the Philippines switches from net loss to net gain of trees, a simple and powerful message to the Filipino youth with the potential for long term positive influence.

【小题1】Why does the Philippines make the law to plant trees?

A．To create a better environment to live in.

B．To show the government is taking action.

C．To make sure students can graduate easily.

D．To raise people's awareness of education.

【小题2】What does Alejano think is important?

A．Natural resources.	B．The future generation
C．Powerful messages.	D．The educational system.

【小题3】How many trees will high school graduating students plant each year?

A．5 million.	B．50 million.
C．120 million.	D．175 million.

【小题4】What has caused a sharp drop in forests across the Philippines?

A．A.loss of soil.	B．Agriculture.
C．Climate change.	D．Air pollution.