Floating cities above the sea

Noel Kirkpatrick

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隨著全球變暖，海平面不斷升高，很多海濱城市都會受到影響。現(xiàn)在有人設計出了漂在海上的房子，拼在一起就可以構成一個小型城市，這樣海平面升得再高也不怕了。

海詞積累

1.prototype n.原型

2.shrunken adj.縮小的；減少的

3.hexagon n.六邊形

4.integrate v.成為一體

5.desalination n.（海水的）脫鹽

6.sheltered adj.受庇護的；不受壞天氣侵襲的

A company called Oceanix is building a prototype floating island as an experimental solution for crowded coastal cities threatened by climate changes.

The idea might sound unacceptable, but urban coasts are running out of land as sea levels are projected to rise as much as 18 centimeters by 2030.To reclaim （奪回）shrunken coastlines,Singapore and seaside huge cities in other countries have already poured sand into the ocean, and sand is quickly becoming a scarce（稀缺的）resource.

Amina Mohammed,deputy secretary general of the UN,said the proposal is more unconventional than approaches the United Nations would have taken even four years ago. “We are trying to adapt,”she said. “We are trying to think ahead.”

“The full 18,000-square-meter floating platforms made of wood and bamboo would be the basic part of a shared urban system,” said Bjarke Ingels of the Bjarke Ingels Group,the architectural firm partnering with Oceanix.Each platform would house 300 people.

The islands proposed by Oceanix wouldn't be playgrounds for the rich.Construction costs would stay low.The floating hexagons can be mass-produced in factories and pulled to destination bays.Therefore，the poor can afford the house in the floating cities.

What makes an Oceanix city different is its“integrated vision”. The islands could power and feed themselves.Turbines （渦輪機）in the air above the platforms and water below would provide energy,as would solar panels.Rain and desalination systems would provide fresh water.Greenhouses,farms and gardens would provide food.

The first floating communities would be established at warm coasts like those in Southeast Asia.Though architects claimed the platforms could stand Category 5 hurricanes,ocean engineers suggested the cities should be built in calm bays.

“You have to take small steps,” said Nicholas Makris, director of the Center for Ocean Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “If you're just trying to get something to work,do it in a sheltered,harbored area.”

——From National Geographic

Reading Check

I.Match each person or firm with its identity.

（ ）1.Oceanix A.director of the Center for Ocean Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

（ ）2.Amina Mohammed B.the architectural firm partnering with Oceanix

（ ）3.the Bjarke Ingels Group C.a company's name

（ ）4.Nicholas Makris D.deputy secretary general of the UN

Ⅱ.Answer the following questions according to the text.

1.Who is building a prototype floating island?（no more than 6 words）

2.What is the purpose of Singapore and other cities'pouring sand into the ocean?（no more than 6 words）

3.Why can the poor afford the house in the floating cities?（no more than 16 words）

4.What makes an Oceanix city different?（no more than 5 words）

5.Where are the cities likely to be built?（no more than 5 words）

Language Study

Complete the following sentences.

3.The full 18,000-square-meter floating platforms（make）of wood and bamboo would be the basic part of a shared urban system.

4.Though architects claimed the platforms could stand Category 5 hurricanes,ocean engineers suggested the cities（build）in calm bays.