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Deforestation occurs for a variety of reasons. These are some of the main causes of deforestation. Countries require food and in order for food to be grown farms are necessary. In order to create space hundreds of acres of forest are cut down for each farm.  Logging is another reason for deforestation. Logging can be very profitable and therefore hundreds of thousands of trees are cut down every year to be sold. Rarer trees fetch a higher market value and therefore they are targeted by loggers, which is reducing biodiversity and causing some species to become endangered. Extraction of minerals is also another cause of deforestation. Quarries require a huge amount of area and due to the complete destruction of the land regrowth once the quarry has stopped being used is almost impossible.  Hydropower requires large dams, which require a large amount of land to be flooded. Although this isn't directly cutting down the trees they are unable to survive whilst being flooded and therefore thousands die. The pollution that sometimes occurs in rivers can also poison the forest and cause the trees to die. Finally, population pressure can cause deforestation, especially in areas where space is limited.    The impacts of deforestation can be serious and wide reaching. The effects of deforestation vary with location and extent of deforestation. Deforestation has a significant impact on the environment, the most dramatic of which is the loss of habitat for millions of species. Forests also play a vital role in the hydrological cycle. They protect the soil from drying out by protecting it from the sun and ensure water returns back to the atmosphere. Forests also absorb thousands of tons of CO2 every year and without them greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will increase, leading to increased global warming. Forests also reduce the impact of floods. Without them the impact of floods will increase significantly, as seen in Bangladesh. Those that rely on forests for their livelihood and survival are finding it increasingly difficult to do so as more and more of their home is destroyed. This includes indigenous populations who use the forests for most aspect of their lives and people who rely on the tourist industry brought in by the forests such as the rainforests of Brazil. Deforestation reduces the natural beauty and therefore could threaten the tourism industry. If the tourism industry is affected it can affect the economy of the country which can further impact any measures to reduce/ recover forests, further increasing the problem (a positive feedback loop). Increasing impacts of floods will also cost more to repair, and protection from floods doesn't come cheap. 

It can be daunting to have to use sources in an exam situation, as it provides another unknown: as well as not knowing what topic the question will be on, you also don't know what the sources will be. But this can also be an advantage, as even if you don't know the topic that well, you can use information from the sources to help you answer the question.  As with all exam questions, the first thing is to read the question and the sources carefully. Think about how the sources can be used to answer the question - do they support what it says, or do they oppose it, and how do they do this? You of course also need to think about the origins of the source - who was it written by, when, and with what likely intention? Another of the key things is to think about how they work together. This is cross-referencing, and a really key A Level skill. You need to compare and contrast the sources to see how they work as a group in answering the question. For example, you might write that sources A and C support the question, as they have similar ideas, but source B is opposed to them and comes from a very different perspective. Or, that while source A discusses x as the main reason, the author of source B suggests it is y, which source C also supports. It can be helpful to talk about the sources in a different order from how they are presented in order to make these connections, so you might talk about source B first, link it to source C, and then talk about source A at the end, or however this works best to make the links between them.  Then you also need include a conclusion, as with all your exam answers. In this, you should aim to answer the question given. If this is in the form of 'How far do these sources suggest...' then think about to what extent they do suggest this. So this could be: sources B and C both suggest that x was true, but source A does not, so in conclsion, these sources support the idea of x. But if you have cross-referenced successfully throughout the essay, then you will just be summarising your ideas in the conclusion, not making the connections for the first time. 

'Feature spotting' is a term that teachers often throw around in classrooms, and sometimes never fully explain. This can lead students feeling confused and frustrated. This was a problem that I used to have, before I established what  'feature spotting' actually was. Basically, 'feature spotting' is when you simply name the different techniques used by an author in a piece of text. So in a question such as 'Compare how Marvell uses language to present ideas and feelings in 'To His Coy Mistress'', instead of analysing the way that the features work you will simply state what Marvell uses. Feature spotting - 'The structure of To His Coy Mistress is split up into 3 stanzas. Marvell uses exaggeration here. He then uses explicit imagery here, to back up the exaggeration. He then uses alliteration here.'   Answering the question - 'Marvell structures To His Coy Mistress as a three pronged attack upon the female addressee, starting in the first stanza by using flattery and extremely exaggerated imagery. 'I would / Love you ten years before the flood, / And you should, if you please, refuse / Till the conversion of the Jews.' The images that Marvell conjures up - the notion of the speaker's love existing before the Flood, and for it to last until the conversion of the Jews - is farsical as the whole idea is that the Flood happened an impossibly long time ago, and Jews do not convert. This imagery helps to present the idea that the speaker in To His Coy Mistress loves the addressee for a particularly long time, due to the farsical, unimaginable comparisons that Marvell is alluding to. 

For your personal statement, you should show off your academic ability by using practical examples. For example, if you enjoyed studying Frankenstein for AS Level, you could talk about how this sparked your interest in Feminist Literary theory. This could link to activities such as involvement in groups like Amnesty International, and thus you are placing your passion for your subject in a real world context. 
Using quotes may be relevant, but don't be cliche, it won't impress the University you are applying to. Equally, keep your extra-curricular activities relevant- if you love unicycling, great, but how is that relevant? It probably isn't. Nevertheless, if you are head of your school's unicycling club, then this could be used as an example of leadership.