印尼抹香鲸死亡，谁是罪魁祸首？

河南郸城县第一高级中学 于晓梅

Jntroduction

抹香鲸死亡的照片在印尼持续发酵，是谁杀死了这些抹香鲸呢？此类事件引起怎样的关注和反思？还会有更多的悲惨一幕发生吗？

体裁 新闻 文章词数 2 7 1 难度指数 ★★★题材 人与自然 建议用时 5′

More than 1,000 pieces of plastic,including 115 cups,25 bags,4 bottles and 2 flip-flops（人字拖鞋）,have been found inside a dead whale in Indonesia,according to the local officials.

“The whale,found washed ashore Monday in Wakatobi National Park,had already rotten away when rescuers arrived.So investigators were unable to determine whether it was the the plastic that had caused its death,”said Lukas Adhyakso,the conservation director of the World Wildlife Fund in Indonesia.“The plastic weighed about 6 kilograms,or 13 pounds,”he said.

But images of the dead whale continued to widely spread throughout Indonesia,a country that has started to reflect upon its overuse of plastics.Indonesia,a nation of about 260 million people spread over thousands of islands in Southeast Asia,was the world's second biggest producer of plastic waste in 2015,behind only China,according to a study in the journalScience.

“Taking in plastic can give whales a false sense of satiation （饱足）,leading them to eat less food that provides the nutrients they need,”said Nicholas Mallos,director of the Trash Free Seas Program at Ocean Conservancy,an environmental nonprofit organization.Consumption of plastics can lead to reduced weight,energy and swimming speed,making whales more vulnerable to their natural enemies.

“More than 800 species of marine animals are easily exposed to the estimated 8.8 million tons of plastics deposited each year in the ocean,for which they would be likely to be harmed，”Mallos said.Plastics can trap animals and get them stuck,sometimes causing them to drown,or pierce elements of their digestive systems after being swallowed.

——FromThe New York Times

Reading Check

1.How does the author begin the article？

A.By giving some numbers.

B.By presenting an awful scene.

C.By introducing a phenomenon.

D.By illustrating an typical case.

2.What can be inferred from the third paragraph？

A.Scienceis a journal released in Southeast Asia.

B.Plastic waste in Indonesia is as much as that in China.

C.Indonesia tried to control its use of plastic to an reasonable extent.

D.The death of the whale caused a wide concern in the country.

3.What does the underlined word “vulnerable” in paragraph 4 mean？

A.Totally similar.

B.Quite sensitive.

C.Easy to be attacked.

D.Completely exposed.

Language Study

Sentence for writing

强调句型：It is/was+被强调部分+that...

So investigators were unable to determine whether it was the the plastic that had caused its death.

因此，调查人员无法确定是否是塑料造成了它的死亡。

本句中，whether引导的是一个宾语从句，作动词determine的宾语。在宾语从句中，it was和that去掉后，从句依然成立，故it was the the plastic that had caused its death是一个强调句。在强调句中，当强调人时，可用who来引导。

【仿写】正是Tom帮助我提高了英语。