Directions : Read the following texts and choose the best alternative for each question. (1-6)
     Blame for deaths and property damage from flash floods and mudslides during severe tropical storms often is directed at loggers. The most recent example is tropical storm Thelma, which slashed the Philippines in November and caused at least 7,000 deaths. The mayor of Ormoc, one of the hardest hit areas, cited illegal logging on the surrounding hills as the cause of flash floods that devastated the town.
     Researcher Larry Hamilton contends that logging is seldom responsible for such disasters. The primary cause of these landslides, he says, is conversion of already logged lands to agriculture or grazing. Grasses and young seedlings do not provide the same holding power against erosion as tree roots do. In logging, some trees and tree stumps are left behind, providing stability to the soil. In addition, trees in humid condition, trees in humid conditions grow back rather quickly by sprouts, root suckers or seeds. In the wet tropics, regrowth is particularly swift.
     The problem, he says, is that if you log, you put in a road. People then come in and further clear the land of old roots and stumps. So while logging indirectly contributes to the problem, banning logging will not solve the problem.
     “The big floods that took place in South Thailand in 1988, which devastated hundreds of villages and resulted in a tremendous loss of property and life, resulted in a ban on logging.” he says. “And it wasn’t logging that did the job. It was land clearing on steep slopes, partly to establish new rubber plantations because the price of rubber was up.”
     This fact was subsequently confirmed by an independent inspection mission. Yet the logging ban continues and the popular sentiment that logging was the villain prevails among the more radical environment organizations worldwide.
     The solution to problem of landslides and flash floods, says Hamilton, is to control land clearing on susceptible slopes. This is a complex task in view of prevailing situations of landlessness, population growth, taxation policies and pressures on hill farmers to move farther upslope due to waves of migration from the lowlands.
     “It is important to identify the proper cause or we will initiate solutions that do not solve the problem, “he says “Tightening enforcement in logging or even prohibiting logging entirely, as was done in Thailand, will not prevent further occurrence of such disasters.”

The main idea of this article is that………

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