“Mother Coral”“珊瑚媽媽”

張嵐

在過去的32年里，珊瑚已經遭到嚴重破壞。從2005年開始，中國女生物學家黃暉致力于珊瑚的研究和珊瑚的拯救行動。因此，黃暉被媒體親切地稱為“珊瑚媽媽”。

主題語境：海洋環保 篇幅：381詞 建議用時：7分鐘

In the past 32 years， China has lost over 80 percentof its coral reefs. In the South China Sea， the coral cover?age on the seabed has dropped quickly from some 60 per?cent to around 20 percent， and worldwide， the coral cov?erage has dropped to about 15 percent in recent decades.

Facing the severe living conditions of coral， HuangHui， a Chinese coral biologist who has been engaged in coral research and rescue work formore than 20 years， said that to save coral， more people should see the living conditions ofcoral and pay attention to it consciously. Since 2005， Huang Hui has devoted herself to cor?al research and practical actions to save coral. Therefore， Huang Hui is also affectionatelycalled“Mother Coral”by the media.

To help the coral community recover， Huang decided to plant coral under the sea. In2009， she organized a team in south Chinas Hainan Province， which administers Sanya.

Are all sea areas suitable for coral planting？ In response to this problem， Huang Huisaid that“repairability assessment”should be carried out before planting coral.“In fact，coral has clear requirements for the hardness of the seabed， the quality of water， the trans?parency of water， and the degree of human interference. To ensure the survival of the plant?ed coral， it is necessary to do a series of preparatory work in the early stage.”

Typhoons and tropical cyclones are frequent visitors to the South China Sea. Huangand her team only have a narrow time?slot （時段） for underwater work each year.“If theweather permits， we make the most of the time available，”Huang said. A bottle of oxygenallows about 30 minutes of diving， during which time a diver can only plant a few coralbushes.

Despite the challenges， their efforts have paid off. Since 2009， Huang and her teamhave planted 120，000 to 150，000 groups of coral， covering over 200，000 square meters ofthe seabed of the South China Sea.

Yet， she considers this result to be only“a drop in the ocean”.“The underwater eco?system needs time to recover. Planting coral is only the first step in restoring the underwa?ter ecology. We need time to plant more，”said Huang.“Hopefully， the coral will graduallybecome a forest， and the fish and shrimp will come back.”

Reading Check

1. What is vital for saving coral according to Huang Hui？

A. Government policies. B. Pollution control.

C. Modern technology. D. Public awareness.

2. Which of the following may help the planted coral survive？

A. The harder seabed. B. Less human activities.

C. Muddy water. D. Lower water temperature.

3. What do we know about Huang and her teams underwater work？

A. It depends much on the weather.

B. It goes on all the year round.

C. It consumes lots of hydrogen.

D. It calls for two divers working together.

4. How does Huang feel about her teams future job？

A. Excited. B. Cautious.

C. Ambitious. D. Disappointed.

Language Study

Ⅰ. Difficult sentence in the text

Facing the severe living conditions of coral， Huang Hui， a Chinese coral biologist whohas been engaged in coral research and rescue work for more than 20 years， said that tosave coral， more people should see the living conditions of coral and pay attention to it con?sciously. 面對如此嚴峻的珊瑚生態狀況，已經從事珊瑚研究和拯救工作20多年的中國珊瑚生物學家黃暉認為，為了拯救珊瑚，有必要讓更多的人看到珊瑚的生存困境，并自覺重視對珊瑚的保護。

【點石成金】本句是一個復合句。Facing...coral是現在分詞作原因狀語；a Chinesecoral biologist who has been engaged in coral research and rescue work for more than 20years是一個同位語，含有who引導的一個定語從句；不定式to save coral作目的狀語。

Ⅱ. Text?centered chunks

be engaged in 從事于

be suitable for 適合

in response to 回應；回答

carry out 執行；開展

pay off 成功；奏效