Humans in the Amazon — A Long-Lost History Comes to Light 课文结构分析(text structure analysis)

In the reading passage the author narrates a long-lost history about humans in the Amazon: an introduction with a proposition, a history of exploration in the region and an attempt to lift the veil of misunderstanding that shrouds the Amazon Basin, and finally a conclusion that reaffirms the proposition.
    The first part is Paragraph 1, a general introduction to the passage.
    The second part, consisting of 3 paragraphs, from Paragraph 2 to Paragraph 4, is about European expeditions in the Amazon Basin from the time of the Renaissance through to the late 17th century.
    The third part is made up of 5 paragraphs, from Paragraph 5 to Paragraph 9. It is about the mistaken idea that exists in people's minds and about the evidence that is lifting the veil of misunderstanding about the human societies in the Amazon.
    The fourth part consists of the last two paragraphs: Paragraph 10 and Paragraph 11. It draws a conclusion: the rainforest should no longer be seen as an untouched “paradise” and that knowledge about the past has a vital role to play in planning and decision making for the future.