202 Useful Exercises for IELTS Side1-15-Ex2.3RadioItem4

 Narrator: Radio Item 4:
This is 'Postcards from the Edge of the World'. I'm Catherine Small with a disturbing story from the Great Barrier4 Reef in Northern Queensland, Australia. Residents of the sleepy beachside town of Carrsville near the luxuriousresort of Port Charles were woken yesterday at 6.20 a.m. to the sound of a number of explosions that many wereconvinced was either a serious thunderstorm, blasts of gas or even planes nose-diving into the sea! It turned out,however, that the sounds heard were actually part of a series of 25 controlled explosions set off approximately200 metres offshore¹ and conducted by marine² authorities in an attempt to rid the sea of dangerous swarms³ ofPortuguese Man-O'-War jellyfish that have been plaguing the local beaches for the past two years.
No-one is certain why the jellyfish have made a home in the once clear blue waters near the popular resort, butwhat is certain is that something had to be done. The town relies almost exclusively on the resort and tourism forits survival; but Carrsville beach has been strewn with the deadly jellyfish now for the last two summers, and fishingand bathing are no longer possible. Last year, the Shire Council decided⁴ to enlist⁵ the help of Professor StephenBlunt, a British marine biologist working with the biology department at the University of Northern Queensland,who proposed a controversial solution to the problem involving the foreshortening of the 2 kilometre long rockshelf that lies 200 metres out to sea. The shelf apparently⁶ traps the creatures before they have the chance to escapeback to the ocean and this, in turn, encourages them to increase in numbers.
Global warming is thought to be at least partly responsible for slight changes in the recent patterns of moon tideswhich have, however, been enough to upset the delicate natural balance - allowing the jellyfish to reach the shorein numbers previously⁷ unheard of. By blasting away almost half of the rock shelf, Professor Blunt hopes thejellyfish will soon be a thing of the past. If the technique is successful, it may be used along other sensitive coastalwaters of Northern Queensland. Environmentalist groups are observing the experiment with caution.

1 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

2 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

3 swarms   

蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They came to town in swarms. 他们蜂拥来到城里。
• On June the first there were swarms of children playing in the park. 6月1日那一天，这个公园里有一群群的孩子玩耍。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 enlist   

vt.谋取(支持等)，赢得；征募；vi.入伍

参考例句：

• They come here to enlist men for the army.他们来这儿是为了召兵。
• The conference will make further efforts to enlist the support of the international community for their just struggle. 会议必将进一步动员国际社会，支持他们的正义斗争。

6 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

7 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。