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In the United States, the need to protect plant and animal species has become a highly controversial and sharply political issue since the passage of the Endangered Species Act in 1973. The act, designed to protect species living areas, and policies that preserve land and forests compete with economic interests. In the 1990s, for example, the woodcutters in the Western United States were challenged legally in their attempt to cut trees for timber in the Cascade Mountains. The challenge was mounted to protect the endangered spotted owl, whose remaining population occupies these forests and requires the intact, ancient forest for survival. The problematic situation set the interests of environmentalists against those of corporations and of individuals who stood to lose jobs. After months of debate and legal battles, the fate of the woodcutters-and the owls-was still undecided in mid-1992. 注：1. controversial的意思是受争议的，同sharply political issue，contro表示反 2. for example前句子是重点 3. problematic悬而未决的 Similar tensions exist between the developed and the developing nations. Many people in industrialized nations, for example, believe that developing nations in tropical regions should do more to protect their rain forests and other natural areas. But the developing countries may be impoverished , with populations growing so rapidly that using the land is a means to temporarily avoid worsening poverty and starvation. | 
