“生态美人鱼”的马拉松

袁泉

為了遏制海洋塑料污染，一个来自爱沙尼亚的女孩绑上特殊的鳍来模仿海洋生物游泳，并在游泳的过程中收集塑料垃圾，以此来呼吁公众重视海洋塑料污染的问题。

1 On May 7， 2022， “Eco?Mermaid” Merle Liivand broke her own world record for swimming with a single fin. She swam the distance of a full marathon in the rough waters of Biscayne Bay， Florida. She even picked trash out of the water as she swam.

2 Ms Liivand was born in Estonia. As a child， she had health problems， and began swimming to help her lungs get stronger. She was soon taking part in open water swimming contests， sometimes， even in icy water. In one training session， she nearly wound up swallowing some plastic that was floating in the sea.

3 That experience made her think of all the sea animals that faced similar pollution every day. She decided to make people more aware of plastic pollution， which she calls a “plastic pandemic”. Thinking about sea creatures gave her the idea of swimming like one. She began swimming with a special single swimming rubbery “monofin” attached to both of her feet， which allows her to swim by kicking both of her legs together.

4 Ms Liivand first set the world record for swimming with a monofin in 2019. In 2021， she set a new Guinness World Record by swimming 18.6 miles （30 kilometers） again in Florida. Ms Liivand said she knew she could go farther. On May 7， 2022， she swam the distance of a full marathon in the rough waters of Biscayne Bay， Florida， with her new award from Guinness World Records. The water was rough， and she ran into a few problems， but she didnt stop. “I got stung by jellyfish，” she said， “and kept telling myself that it was not the time to cry.”

5 To keep her energy up， a friend followed her in a kayak （皮艇） and gave her food and water from time to time. By the end of her marathon， the kayak held three bags full of trash. “At the end of the day，” Ms Liivand said， “this isnt just about a record. Its about helping the community and the world.”

[Reading][Check]

Detail 1. Why did Merle Liivand swim initially？

A. To fight against disease.

B. To make herself happy.

C. To make her legs stronger.

D. To inspire her intelligence.

Inference 2. What can we learn about Merle Liivand？

A. She got into trouble when she first swam with a single fin.

B. She gave up a full marathon when she got stung by jellyfish.

C. She broke the world record several times by swimming further.

D. She accomplished a half marathon by swimming on May 7， 2022.

Inference 3. Which words can best describe Ms Liivand？

A. Adventurous but lonely.

B. Easy?going and optimistic.

C. Independent and outgoing.

D. Kind?hearted and courageous.

Gist 4. Whats the text mainly about？

A. Merles whole life experiences.

B. People are in peace with each other.

C. Everybody should take action to protect animals.

D. A girl fought plastic pollution to protect sea creatures.

Ⅰ. Difficult sentences in the text

1. That experience made her think of all the sea animals that faced similar pollution every day. She decided to make people more aware of plastic pollution， which she calls a “plastic pandemic”. 那次經历让她想起了所有每天都面临着类似污染物的海洋动物。她决定让人们更多地意识到塑料污染，她称塑料污染为“塑料大流行”。

【点石成金】本句中，the sea animals充当定语从句that faced similar pollution every day的先行词，that在从句中作主语。which she calls a “plastic pandemic”为which引导的非限制性定语从句，which在从句中作宾语。

2. She began swimming with a special single swimming rubbery “monofin” attached to both of her feet， which allows her to swim by kicking both of her legs together. 她开始在游泳时在两只脚上各绑上一只特殊的橡胶“单鳍”，这样她就可以通过蹬动双腿来游泳。

【点石成金】本句中，with a special single swimming rubbery “monofin” attached to both of her feet构成with的复合结构，a special single swimming rubbery “monofin”和attached之间构成被动关系；which allows her to swim by kicking both of her legs together为which引导的非限制性定语从句。

Ⅱ. Text?centered chunks

pick out 挑出

be aware of 意识到

attach sth to sth 把某物附在某物上

set the world record 创造世界纪录

run into 途中遭遇；遇到

at the end of 在……的结尾