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
73
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.
Which of the following poses a threat to the River Thames?
选项
A、Fish that come from the North Sea.
B、Tiny shrimps.
C、Flounders.
D、Chinese Mitten Crabs.
答案
D
解析
根据第3段后半部分,Chinese Mitten Crab在河岸掘洞,使河岸松动。因此选项D为正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/t3eO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Intheword"unpredictable","pre-"isa______.
Norms:TypesandAcceptanceSociologistsfindthattounderstandaculture,itisveryimportanttounderstanditsnorms.Ⅰ.
Norms:TypesandAcceptanceSociologistsfindthattounderstandaculture,itisveryimportanttounderstanditsnorms.Ⅰ.
Norms:TypesandAcceptanceSociologistsfindthattounderstandaculture,itisveryimportanttounderstanditsnorms.Ⅰ.
A、Sharon’sgovernmentaimedatalleviatinginternationalpressureonIsraelB、Sharon’sgovernmentfeltguiltyoftheirexcessive
BasicCulturalTypesAsbusinessgoesglobal,businessmenhavecometofindthepeopleindifferentculturesactquitediffer
A、admiringB、respectfulC、disapprovingD、understandingC
A、Traineesarerequiredtosigncontractsinitially.B、Trainees’performanceisevaluatedwhennecessary.C、Trainees’startings
NewYorkwasoncethemurdercapitaloftheworld.Thankstothezero-tolerancepolicingpolicyintroducedbyGiuliani,themean
随机试题
驾驶机动车在道路上掉头时提前开启左转向灯。
Forthispart,youaresupposedtowritealetterinEnglishin100-120wordsbasedonthefollowinginformation.Rememberto
某市工商局决定吊销某中外合资企业的营业执照,该中外合资企业的法定代表人魏某是中方甲企业的董事长,他认为市工商局的决定是正确的,因为他正想终止与外方的合作,尽早清算,另外投资其他项目。于是,魏某决定不对市工商局的处罚决定提起行政诉讼。外方乙企业的投资则还未
承包人按照工程师的变更指令实施变更工作后,往往会涉及对变更工程价款的确定问题。变更工程的费率或价格,往往是双方协商时的焦点。计算变更工程应采用的费率或价格,可分为( )。
某开发商新建一栋综合楼及一座独立的地下商场,委托消防技术服务机构对两座建筑中设置的湿式自动喷水灭火系统进行验收前检测。该综合楼地上6层,地下1层,建筑高度29.8m,层高均为4.8m,总建筑面积为21000m2。一至四层经营服装、百货等,五层经营地方特色风
某实木家具厂房,地上4层,耐火等级一级,建筑高度24m,每层建筑面积均为20000m2,4层靠外墙部位设置成品喷漆工段(其建筑面积为600m2,采用防火墙和甲级防火门与其他部位分隔)。该厂房已按现行有关国家工程建设消防技术标准的规定设置了消防设施。下列做法
下列不属于产品生产成本表的有()。
押韵就是把同韵的两个或更多的字放在同一位置上,一般把韵放在句尾,所以又叫()。
AHistoryofAspirinBBadThingsaboutAspirinCOriginofAspirinDGoodThingsAboutAspirinEHowAspirinWorksinthe
Accordingtonews,theWestVirginiacoalminedisaster
最新回复
(
0
)