Level 1 Reading 11A

Ch.21

第21章

Reading 11A

阅读11A

THE PROBLEM WITH PLASTIC On a boat near Costa Rica, a team of marine biologists is helping a turtle. The animal is having trouble breathing, and the team discovers why— there is something inside its nose. A scientist tries to extract the object, but the turtle cries in pain. Finally, after eight long minutes, a long object is pulled out: It is a 10-centimeter plastic straw. The video of the turtle's rescue has been viewed millions of times on YouTube. It has helped raise awareness of a growing problem: The world's seas are full of plastic. Since 2000, there has been a huge increase in worldwide plastic production, but we recycle less than one-fifth of it. A lot of this plastic waste ends up in the ocean. Today, scientists think about 8.1 billion kilograms goes into the sea every year from coastal regions. Most of this plastic will never biodegrade. This ocean plastic hurts millions of sea animals every year. Some fish eat plastic because it is covered with sea plants, and it looks and smells like food. Typically, eating plastic leads to constant hunger. "Imagine you ate lunch and then just felt weak... and hungry all day," says marine biologist Matthew Savoca. "That would be very confusing." In some cases, eating sharp pieces of plastic can seriously hurt sea animals and even result in death. Plastic is useful to people because it is strong and lasts a long time— but this is bad news for sea creatures who eat or get stuck in it. According to Savoca, "Single-use plastics are the worst." These are items that are used only once before we throw them away. Some common examples include straws, water bottles, and plastic bags. About 700 sea species (including the turtle from the video) have been caught in or have eaten this kind of plastic. Luckily, the turtle survived and was released back into the ocean. How will plastic affect sea animals in the long term? "I think we'll know the answers in 5 to 10 years' time," says Debra Lee Magadini from Columbia University. But by then, another 25 million tons of plastic will already be in the ocean.

塑料的问题 在哥斯达黎加附近的一艘船上，一组海洋生物学家正在帮助一只海龟。 动物呼吸困难，研究小组发现了原因-- 它的鼻子里有东西。 一位科学家试图取出物体，但乌龟痛苦地哭了。 最后，在八分钟后，一个长物体被拉出： 这是一根10厘米的塑料吸管。 海龟获救的视频在YouTube上被观看了数百万次。 它有助于提高人们对一个日益严重的问题的认识：世界海洋充满了塑料。 自2000年以来，全球塑料产量大幅增加，但我们回收的塑料不到五分之一。 很多塑料垃圾最终都流入了海洋。 如今，科学家们认为每年约有81亿公斤的水从沿海地区流入大海。 这些塑料中的大部分永远不会生物降解。 这种海洋塑料每年伤害数百万海洋动物。 有些鱼吃塑料，因为它被海洋植物覆盖，看起来和闻起来都像食物。 通常，吃塑料会导致持续的饥饿。 海洋生物学家马修·萨沃卡说：“想象一下，你吃了午饭，然后感觉虚弱……饿了一整天。”。 “那会非常令人困惑。” 在某些情况下，吃锋利的塑料片会严重伤害海洋动物，甚至导致死亡。 塑料对人们很有用，因为它很结实，可以使用很长时间-- 但这对那些吃东西或被困在里面的海洋生物来说是个坏消息。 萨沃卡说：“一次性塑料是最糟糕的。” 这些物品在我们扔掉之前只使用一次。 一些常见的例子包括吸管、水瓶和塑料袋。 大约有700种海洋物种（包括视频中的海龟）被这种塑料捕获或吃掉了这种塑料。 幸运的是，这只乌龟幸存下来，并被放归大海。 从长远来看，塑料将如何影响海洋动物？ 哥伦比亚大学的Debra Lee Magadini说：“我认为我们将在5到10年内知道答案。”。 但到那时，海洋中已经有2500万吨塑料。

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