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  3. About 3 billion people live within 100 miles of the sea, a number that could double in the next decade as humans flock to coasta

About 3 billion people live within 100 miles of the sea, a number that could double in the next decade as humans flock to coasta

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问题     About 3 billion people live within 100 miles of the sea, a number that could double in the next decade as humans flock to coastal cities like gulls. The oceans produce $ 3 trillion of goods and services each year and untold value for the Earth’s ecology. Life could not exist without these vast water reserves—and, if anything, they are becoming even more important to humans than before.
    Mining is about to begin under the seabed in the high seas—the regions outside the exclusive economic zones administered by coastal and island nations, which stretch 200 nautical miles offshore. Nineteen exploratory licences have been issued. New summer shipping lanes are opening across the Arctic Ocean. The genetic resources of marine life promise a pharmaceutical bonanza: the number of patents has been rising at 12% a year. One study found that genetic material from the seas is a hundred times more likely to have anti-cancer properties than that from terrestrial life.
    But these developments are minor compared with vaster forces reshaping the Earth, both on land and at sea. It has long been clear that people are damaging the oceans—witness the melting of the Arctic ice in summer, the spread of oxygen starved dead zones and the death of coral reefs. Now, the consequences of that damage are starting to be felt onshore.
    Thailand provides a vivid example. In the 1990s it cleared coastal mangrove swamps to set up shrimp farms. Ocean storm surges in 2011, no longer cushioned by the mangroves, rushed in to flood the country’s industrial heartland, causing billions of dollars of damage.
    More serious is the global mismanagement of fish stocks. About 3 billion people get a fifth of their protein from fish, making it a more important protein source than beef. But a vicious cycle has developed as fish stocks decline and fishermen race to grab what they can of the remainder. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO), a third of fish stocks in the oceans are over-exploited; some estimates say the proportion is more than half. One study suggested that stocks of big predatory species—such as tuna, swordfish and marlin—may have fallen by as much as 90% since the 1950s. People could be eating much better, were fishing stocks properly managed.
Thailand is mentioned in the text to______.
选项 A、reveal the importance of coastal mangrove
B、serve as an example of the power of nature
C、show the results of damaging the environment
D、prove Thailand is not suitable for breeding shrimp
答案C
解析 根据Thailand一词定位到第四段。该段首句提到：Thailand provides a vivid exam．pie．而这段话是举例说明上一段结尾提到的这个句子：Now，the consequences of that damageare starting to be felt onshore．故本段提到Thailand的目的是为了举例说明破坏海洋在陆地上产生的后果，与之最接近的选项是[C]show the results of damaging the environment(证明破坏环境的结果)。故该题答案为选项[C]。
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