World Wetlands Day:Celebrating our wetlands世界湿地日：珍爱湿地

刘同功

主题语境：环境保护 篇幅：312词 建议用时：6分钟

Do you know what exactly a wetland is？ A wetlandcan be defined as land that contains marshes or swamps（沼泽）.

The first World Wetlands Day was celebrated in1997. Each year a new theme is selected and that is thefocus of all the celebrations for that year. Some of thepast themes have been“No Wetlands—No Water”and“Healthy Wetlands， Healthy People”. World WetlandsDay brings awareness and remembrance of the Convention（公约）on Wetlands of 1971.The convention and World Wetlands Day were established to educate on the importance ofwetlands and what they mean to humanity and the planet.

There is data that proves the link between healthy wetlands and the decrease of vio⁃lent weather. Also， when there are healthy wetlands， the people nearby tend to be healthier.UN⁃Water estimates that 90% of natural hazards are water based. This makes the wetlandsso important. When violent weather comes in， the wetlands act as a buffer. This gives timefor the bad weather to slow a little and give time for the people nearby to get to safety. If thewetlands can stall （拖延） the weather slightly， there can be less damage to property andloss of life.

To celebrate World Wetlands Day， as a family， it would be a good time to see if thereare wetlands in your community. If there are， you are sure to find a group or agency thatoversees them. You may find that there are activities sponsored on this day. If you have awetland， you could take the time to go and visit. Sometimes wetlands can have trails thatwill allow you to walk and enjoy the green space and reconnect with nature. Look around asyou walk and you will find that not only are the wetlands a treasure， but also the animalsthat live within them.

Reading

Check

1. What does paragraph 2 focus on？

A. The Convention on Wetlands.

B. The theme of World Wetlands Day.

C. The origin of World Wetlands Day.

D. The origin of the Convention on Wetlands.

2. Which is the closest in meaning to the underlined word“buffer”in paragraph 3？

A. Stage. B. Button. C. Protector. D. Container.

3. Why is UN?Water mentioned in paragraph 3？

A. To provide details. B. To support an argument.

C. To introduce a topic. D. To provide a background.

4. What's the message implied in the last paragraph？

A. It's better to seal off all the trails in the wetlands.

B. Wetlands in a community should be well managed.

C. More communities should be built close to wetlands.

D. It's better to celebrate World Wetlands Day as a family.

Language

Study

Ⅰ. Difficult sentence in the text

The convention and World Wetlands Day were established to educate on the impor⁃tance of wetlands and what they mean to humanity and the planet. 设立这个公约和世界湿地日是为了向公众宣传湿地的重要性，以及它们对于人类和地球的重要意义。

【点石成金】本句是一个复合句。第一个to引导的是动词不定式，作目的状语；what引导的从句作介词on的宾语；第二个to是介词。

Ⅱ. Text⁃centered chunks

be defined as 被定义为

tend to 倾向于

act as 扮演；装扮

get to safety 脱险

reconnect with 与……重新建立联系