Ｅｖｅｎ　Ｔｈｅ　Ｗｈａｌｅｓ　Ｈａｖｅ　Ｔｈｅｉｒ　Ｐｒｅｄａｔｏｒｓ：Ｓｈｉｐｓ

On a day so clear the ocean, from certain angles, is nothing but a field of glare, a team of spotters in a Twin Otter airplane flies a precise grid pattern, looking for North Atlantic right whales in the warm, shallow waters they use as their winter calving ground.

Ships are one of the two leading causes of unnatural death among right whales, and scientists have warned that the unnatural death of even one breeding female has the potential to tip the species toward extinction. From 2002 to 2006, there were 17 confirmed deaths by ship strike, at least six involving adult females.

The North Atlantic right whale, which grows to more than 60 feet and is black with distinctive white markings, isthe state marinemammal of Georgia and could be called America's own whale. The hunting of it in the 1800sbolstered thesuccessofthe country'swhaling industry, but depleted the stock so severely that hunting it was banned in 1935.

Theremainingwhales, nowrare, traveltheAtlantic coast fromthe Bay ofFundy to Cape Codto Florida, a habit that has made them vulnerable to ship strikes and another lethal problem, entanglement in fishing gear.

Particularly at risk are the females that come south starting in early winter to give birth and nurse. The mothers do not feed while calving or producing the thousands of gallons of milk it takes to nourish their young, and that leaves them in a weakened state for their return journey, beginning in early spring.

Fornearly 20years, thefisheriesservicehastried variousmethodsofprotectingtherightwhales, like recommending shipping-route changes and radioing ships to notify them of whale sightings. The aerial surveys off the Florida, Georgia and South Carolina coasts alone cost ＄1.5 million a year in taxpayer money.

But the effect of the measures, especially those where compliance is voluntary, has been limited. A 2005 study showed that 95 percent of ships notified of whale sightings failed to slow down or skirt the area.

After a three-year deliberative process, the fisheries service proposed that during whale season, which varies by region, ships greater than 65 feet be limited to 10 knots as they near port. Ship companies, port authorities, pilot associations, the Navy and even operators of whale watchtourshaveopposedtherule, sayingthatthe permitted speed would be too low for safesteerage, that foreign vessels cannot be forced to follow American speed limits or that the restriction would cost too much.

Just A Small Black Hole

If you thought you didn't have enough to worry about, consider the catastrophe projected in a lawsuit filed recently in Hawaii. The plaintiffs warn that a huge particle accelerator on the Swiss-French border could create a dangerous black hole that could gobbleup the (A) E____ or produce new form of matter that would destroy our (1) p _____ .

Scientists hope experiments with the accelerator will detect a long-sought (2) p____ that may explain how elementary particles (3) a_____mass. They also yearn for otherstartlinginsights, perhapsevenbycreatingmicroscopicblackholes, a mini-(B) v____ of the massive energy.

We draw comfort, however, from the fact that similar (C) c were raised nine yearsagoby aformerradiationsafetyofficeraboutacolliderat Brookhaven NationalLaboratoryonLong Island. His suit was (D) d_____ . The accelerator was turned on. We are still here.

We are further reassured that the Earth has been bombarded for billions of years by cosmic rays far more (E) p____ than anything the collider will (4) p_____ without, so far, being sucked into a black hole or turning into an uninhabitable planet.

So, if the courts have any sense, they will drop this (F) l____ into the nearest black hole.

(A,B,C,D,E,F FOR CROSS, 1,2,3,4 FOR DOWN. The first letters of the absents were given)

1. The passage mainlydeals with _____.

A. the preservation of ecology system on Earth

B. theimprovement ofthe ocean environment

C. the use ofairplanes in fishery industry

D. the development of whaling industry

2. The North Atlantic right whales are valuable because_____.

A. they are the only marine mammals in the U.S.

B. theyliveneartheAmerican coasts

C. theyarevulnerable toship strikes

D. they are among therarest marine animals

3. The rightwhales are in danger because_____.

A. ofthewidespreadhuntingof them

B. of the reduction of food for them

C. their traveling course coincides with those of ships

D. they don'tfeed whilecalving or producing milk

4. Oneofthereasons whyship companies oppose the speed limit rule is that _____.

A. the permitted speed would be too low for fishing

B. itmightinfluencethe boom in foreign trade

C. the restriction would be too expensive to follow

D. the effect of the measure has proved to be negative

Rose Rows

A gardener wants to plant rosebushes in pleasing patterns. She plantsthefirst group of6 rosebushes in the pattern shown below, with 4 rows of 3 rosebushes each.

1. Howcan sheplant7rosebushes so they form 6 straight lines of 3 rosebushes each?

2. Howcansheplant10rosebushes so they form 5 straight lines of 4 rosebushes each?

3. Howcansheplant 19rosebushes so they form 9 straight lines of 5 rosebushes each?

上期Crossword答案

A. including B. taking

C. casing D. construction

1. significant 2. aircraft

3. problems4. magnetic

5. deviate6. lines

上期Illation答案

1. Mg+2H2SO4（濃） →MgSO4+ SO2↑+ 2H2O

2. This reaction can let out a great deal of calories, which make the temperature heat up in the light bulb. Sothe magnesiumattains ignition point verysoon. Ifthe oil of vitriol is enough, the magnesium burns more prosperous, likea candle bomb.