under threat;respond to;up and down;be host/home to;be made up of
John "Charlie" Veron—widely known as "the Godfather of Coral Reef(珊瑚礁)"—is a celebrated expert who has personally discovered nearly a quarter of the world's coral species and has spent the past 45 years diving Australia's Great Barrier Reef.But now the 73-year-old is raising the alarm about its future.The Great Barrier Reef,one of the natural wonders,is 2,300 kilometres long and is the only living organism that can be seen from space.It is considered a World Treasure Site due to its biodiversity with 30 species of whales,dolphins and sharks.Within the reef itself,there are also a number of tiny organisms and fishes.
However,its health is threatened.After the recent mass bleaching(白化) events,Veron dived in many areas of the Great Barrier Reef to see the damage for himself."I was seeing and feeling it and it was absolutely shocking," he says.
Veron says the mass bleaching events in the past few years—and the possibility of losing one of nature's greatest treasures—were a wake-up call for the world in the wider battle against climate change,which,together with the rising sea temperature,is considered the greatest threats to the reef.
Fortunately,earlier this year,the Australian government announced nearly 400 million dollars in new funding towards scientific projects designed to help the reef.
There has been criticism in Australia about the slow process for the funding."It won't be wasted,though," Veron says."As scientists will be able to create a sort of seed bank to protect the species until the climate is good enough to rebuild the reef.What the scientists hope to do is help nature along a bit after the big carbon dioxide increase is over and it starts to come down."
The amount of plastic pollution in the oceans is rapidly increasing.This is problematic,as at least 700 kinds of ocean animals—including sharks,whales,seabirds and turtles—can become caught in the stuff or mistake it for a tasty snack.
While we know that some ocean animals seem to catch plastic because it looks like jellyfish or some other food sources,less research has been carried out into what plastic smells like to ocean animals.But now,a study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has found the coating(涂层) that naturally builds up on ocean plastics causes the rubbish to give off the smell of food.
The researchers took 15 turtles,each around five months old,and placed them in a lab aquarium.They then piped in smells of clean water,clean plastic,turtle food,and plastic that had been soaking in the ocean environment for five weeks.The turtles showed no reaction to the smells of clean water or clean plastic.But when facing ocean soaked plastic or turtle food,they stuck their noses out of the water and showed increased activity.
"This finding is important because it's the first proof that the smell of ocean plastics causes animals to eat them," said Dr Kenneth J Lohmann,who took part in the study."It's common to find a turtle with its stomach full of plastic materials.There are also increasing reports of sea turtles that have become ill and stuck on the beach due to their taking in plastic."
According to the researchers,areas of the ocean with much plastic may trick turtles and other animals into thinking that there are plenty of food sources,when the opposite is true."Once these plastics are in the ocean,we don't have a good way to remove them or prevent them from smelling like food," said Lohmann."The best thing we can do is keep plastic from getting into the ocean at all."
阅读下面材料,根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段,使之构成一篇完整的短文。
It was the day of the big cross-country run.Students from seven different primary schools in and around the small town were warming up and walking the route(路线) through thick evergreen forest.
I looked around and finally spotted David,who was standing by himself off to the side by a fence.He was small for ten years old.His usual big toothy smile was absent today.I walked over and asked him why he wasn't with the other children.He hesitated and then said he had decided not to run.
What was wrong?He had worked so hard for this event!
I quickly searched the crowd for the school's coach and asked him what had happened."I was afraid that kids from other schools would laugh at him," he explained uncomfortably."I gave him the choice to run or not,and let him decide."
I bit back my frustration(懊恼).I knew the coach meant well—he thought he was doing the right thing.After making sure that David could run if he wanted,I turned to find him coming towards me,his small body rocking from side to side as he swung his feet forward.
David had a brain disease which prevented him from walking or running like other children,but at school his classmates thought of him as a regular kid.He always participated to the best of his ability in whatever they were doing.That was why none of the children thought it unusual that David had decided to join the cross-country team.It just took him longer—that's all.David had not missed a single practice,and although he always finished his run long after the other children,he did always finish.As a special education teacher at the school,I was familiar with the challenges David faced and was proud of his strong determination.
注意：续写词数应为150左右。
We sat down next to each other,but David wouldn't look at me.
……
I watched as David moved up to the starting line with the other runners.
