More than 30 million acres of tropical rain forest are destroyed each year. an area as small as 1,000 acres of primary rain forest contains as many as 600 species of flowering plants, 280 species of trees, and 40 types of reptiles. what if one of these plants or animals contained the cure for cancer but was lost forever when its home was destroyed? that acre of rain forest could have saved millions of people, including the lives of innocent children.

what sentence best sums up the author’s viewpoint on the world’s rain forests?

a. the destruction of the rain forests must be stopped.

b. the rain forest must be cut away to make room for development.

c. the cure for cancer might be found in the tropical rain forest.

d. a small area of the tropical rain forest contains many different types of species.