首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
I am standing under Hammersmith Bridge looking at something I have known all my life as a Londoner but am beginning to realise t
I am standing under Hammersmith Bridge looking at something I have known all my life as a Londoner but am beginning to realise t
admin
2011-01-08
100
问题
I am standing under Hammersmith Bridge looking at something I have known all my life as a Londoner but am beginning to realise that I don’t have a clue about. The River Thames has been here a lot longer than the city itself, but it has been keeping its secrets well hidden beneath those familiar muddy tones of green and brown. On a grey afternoon such as this one, the surface of the river is particularly unforgiving, and a tentative dip soon brings me close to fast-running water. This is the sort of stuff that carries people away to a watery doom and I don’t want any part of that.
But I’m here with an open mind at this family beach party in Hammersmith, part of a series of events in South East Marine Week. It is not a beach party in the traditional sense, needless to say, more an opportunity to get a little gentle education. I had been vaguely aware, over the past few years, that the river was getting cleaner all the time. Its very appearance, it appears, is deceptive, because its colour is a result of the natural silts which are constantly disturbed from the bottom. From being a river that supported no fish at all, it can now boast more than 100 different types. I was aware that the Thames occasionally played host to a well- publicised dolphin or seal, but this diversity was news to me. It is all the result, I was informed, of the fact that the North Sea pours up the river twice a day, bringing with it all the teeming life of those salty depths.
I took a deep breath and went for a light dredge with a net. The results didn’t look like much at all, but when carefully sifted my sample was teeming with tiny shrimps, which are the basic foodstuff of the river, the tiny little fellows holding the key to the food chain, There were, thankfully, better fishermen here than me, and there was great excitement when someone captured a flounder. Granted, it was about an inch long, but the flounder was otherwise perfect in every detail. Further excitement was to follow, with the capture of the shell of a crab, but that did not last long. The shell belonged to a Chinese Mitten Crab-so-called because it appears to have mittens on its claws. Rachel Hill from the Environment Agency explained to me that it ate everything in its path, suffered no effective predators, and caused havoc by its habit of burrowing into the river banks, which are consequently being eroded. Furthermore, the fact that it was only a shell meant that somewhere not too far away the former occupant was going about its business only this time it would be bigger. This unwanted visitor, a delicacy in the restaurants of Chinatown, is here to stay.
Further up the beach, enthusiastic volunteers were coping with another menace, this one of human making. The amount of rubbish on this relatively small stretch of the river was astonishing and depressing. There were the expected plastic bottles and hamburger cartons, tossed away carelessly by idiots. To my surprise, there was also the wheel from a car, complete with tyro. The most sinister items were also among the smallest: slim white sticks which looked as if they might have come from a child’s lollipop but are, in fact, cotton buds. The thought occurred that thousands of Londoners must come to the banks of the Thames each morning to clean out their ears. By the end of the afternoon, all this rubbish had been cleared away in a quite astonishing number of black bags, but it would have been better had it not been there in the first place.
There was, however, great cause for optimism in the behaviour of the kids who were present. They huddled excitedly round microscopes to look at tiny shrimps and gobies transformed into fearsome-looking creatures. They listened intently as it was explained to them how important it was to keep the river clean. Even the very smallest who were painting their fishy face masks might have gone away with the idea that fish are a good thing and worth looking after. It occurred to me that if the grown-ups persist in behaving like human Chinese Mitten Crabs, then it will be down to the coming generations to ensure that the good work which has already been done on this great river is not to be wasted.
How does the author feel about the condition of the River Thames?
选项
A、Worried but hopeful.
B、Pessimistic.
C、Uncaring and indifferent.
D、Extremely satisfied.
答案
A
解析
根据最后一段,作者感到还有希望,因为孩子们对保护鱼类感兴趣;如果成年人不停止他们的破坏行为,保护泰晤士河的任务将落在未来几代人的身上。可见作者对未来还是抱有希望。选项A为正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/C3eO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Doyourememberallthoseyearswhenscientistsarguedthatsmokingwouldkillusbutthedoubtersinsistedthatwedidn’tknow
A、Reducedchargesfortransportingfarmproducts.B、Requiredpaymentfromvehiclesthatusedtheirroads.C、Maderepairstoolde
Norms:TypesandAcceptanceSociologistsfindthattounderstandaculture,itisveryimportanttounderstanditsnorms.Ⅰ.
Federaleffortstoaidminoritybusinessesbeganinthe1960’swhentheSmallBusinessAdministration(SBA)beganmakingfederal
Inthelate1960smanypeopleinNorthAmericaturnedtheirattentiontoenvironmentalproblems,andnewsteel-and-glassskyscra
OralPresentationOneofthewaysthatteachersusetoinvolvetheirstudentsmoreactivelyinthelearningprocessis【1】___
Opinionpollsarenowbeginningtoshowareluctantconsensusthat,whoeveristoblameandwhateverhappensfromnowon,highu
Inacompetitiveandfast-pacedmodernsociety,busybusinessexecutivesaresoengrossingintheirworkthattheyhardlyknow
NewYorkwasoncethemurdercapitaloftheworld.Thankstothezero-tolerancepolicingpolicyintroducedbyGiuliani,themean
随机试题
手术中预防粘连性肠梗阻的措施有哪些?
以下均是引起肺性脑病的机制,除了
A.宫颈活组织检查B.宫腔吸片脱落细胞学检查C.颈管搔刮活组织检查D.子宫内膜活检E.双合诊与三合诊检查用于宫颈腺癌确诊的是
患者,女性,70岁。走路中突发眩晕、频繁呕吐、枕部头痛和平衡障碍,无肢体瘫痪。体格检查见眼球震颤、共济失调,头颅CT检查见出血灶,其出血部位最可能为
当地下水的温度突然发生变化时,可能是由于
4岁男孩,自幼青紫,生长发育明显落后于同龄儿,杵状指(趾),喜蹲踞,20分钟前突然发生昏厥来院就诊
[2010年第64题]防火分隔水幕用于开口部位,除舞台口外,开口部位的最大尺寸(宽×高)不宜超过:
阅读文本材料和具体要求,回答问题。李白《梦游天姥吟留别》原文海客谈瀛洲,烟涛微茫信难求;越人语天姥,云霞明灭或可睹。天姥连天向天横,势拔五岳掩赤城。天台四万八千丈,对此欲倒东南倾。我欲因之梦昊越,一夜飞度镜湖月。湖月照我影,送
所有的密钥都有生存期,通常情况下一个密钥的生存周期主要有以下几个阶段,以下各选项中顺序正确的是()。
Ifyouwanttostayyoung,sitdownandhaveagoodthink.ThisistheresearchfindingofateamofJapanesedoctors,whosayt
最新回复
(
0
)