VOA常速英语2016--创意海洋生物制品唤起环保意识

创意海洋生物制品唤起环保意识

A giant parrot fish greets visitors at the main entrance to the National Zoo. A bit farther on area tufted puffin seabird, a freedom starfish and more — all bright, beautiful and eye-catchingsculptures. But take a closer look, and you begin to notice they are assembled with plastictoys, a hair comb, bottle caps, beer cans and many other everyday objects. I observed visitorscoming in, thinking these sculptures are made out of recycled plastic. But, in fact, they aremarine debris². And when they find out, they are shocked. The sculptures were created byAngela Haseltine Pozzi — with the help of thousands of volunteers — to deliver a seriousmessage. The artist is executive director of Washed Ashore³, a non-profit environmentalgroup. This is all plastic picked up off of beaches, every single bit of it. So we have processedabout 18 tons of garbage off of a small area of beach in the last six years. And it could beanywhere in the world. This is a worldwide problem, the plastic pollution issue. So far, Pozzihas created 68 such sculptures, and 17 of them are displayed throughout the National Zoo.This whale bone ribcage is made entirely⁴ with bleach⁵ bottles; the blue marlin has flip-flopsinside its mouth; and hundreds of water bottles create the jellyfish. I've purposely chosen torepresent the animals that are threatened by marine¹ debris. The fact that plastic breaks downinto microscopic⁶ pieces and is getting into the entire food chain means that everything in theocean is affected⁷ by it. A recent study estimates about eight million tons of plastic wasteenters the oceans each year, and poses a threat to a wide variety of marine animals. Single-use plastics are probably the worst you can get. They are used for five seconds and then lastforever. We don't even think about it. The artwork seems to be making an impact on visitors ofall ages. First we need to make sure that no trash is washed up. So instead of leaving it ontothe beach, you need to pick it up and you need to put in the trash [can] before it gets washedout and gets [eaten by] fish. Or you can recycle it. We have to be more careful. We have to bemore attentive⁸ about what we do with the containers and things we use. Pozzi hopes hertraveling exhibit will reach as many people as possible across the United States, and overseasas well.

一只巨型鹦鹉鱼在国家动物园的正门出欢迎游客的到来。稍微往远处望去，就能看到角嘴海雀海鸟、海星和其他各式各样的雕塑。它们无不光鲜亮丽，吸人眼球。不过，再近点看，就会注意到这些雕塑的周围有塑料玩具、发梳、瓶盖、啤酒罐和其他日常用品。络绎不绝的游客都以为这些雕塑是用回收塑料做的。但事实上，他们是用海洋垃圾做的。所以当游客知道事实真相的时候，都很震惊。这些海洋塑料作品是安吉拉在无数志愿者的帮助下完成的，旨在传达一个严肃的信息。安吉拉是公益环保组织冲上岸的总监。这里每件作品的素材都是从海滩上捡来的。在过去的六年中，我们已从某片小型海滩上捡回18吨垃圾并对其进行加工处理。但这可以发生在世界上的任何地方。塑料污染问题是一个全球性问题。

目前为止，安吉拉已经创作了68个这样的雕塑，其中有17个散布在国家动物馆进行展示。比如，这个鲸鱼骨胸腔完全由漂白剂瓶制成；这个蓝枪鱼的嘴里有触发器；而这个水母是用水瓶子做的。海洋垃圾威胁着这些海洋生物的生存，所以我特意选择海洋垃圾来表现这些生物。由于塑料会进行微观分解，并进入整个食物链中，所以海洋里的所有生物都不能幸免地受到波及。最近一则研究估计，每年有有近8百万吨塑料垃圾进入各大海域，对各种海洋生物造成威胁。一次性塑料是最可怕的。虽然一次性塑料的使用时间仅为5秒钟，但之后却能遗留千古。这一点我们从来不考虑。这些作品似乎对各个年龄段的游客都有冲击。首先，我们需要确保垃圾不会遗留在岸边。所以，为了不让垃圾留在岸上，就得把他们捡起来放在垃圾桶里，以免被鱼吃掉。或者对垃圾进行回收。我们得更加慎重才是。我们要对使用的容器和其他用品更加小心。安吉拉希望此次旅行展览能为更多人所知。

1 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。

2 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

3 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

4 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

5 bleach   

vt.使漂白；vi.变白；n.漂白剂

参考例句：

• These products don't bleach the hair.这些产品不会使头发变白。
• Did you bleach this tablecloth?你把这块桌布漂白了吗？

6 microscopic   

adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的

参考例句：

• It's impossible to read his microscopic handwriting.不可能看清他那极小的书写字迹。
• A plant's lungs are the microscopic pores in its leaves.植物的肺就是其叶片上微细的气孔。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 attentive   

adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的

参考例句：

• She was very attentive to her guests.她对客人招待得十分周到。
• The speaker likes to have an attentive audience.演讲者喜欢注意力集中的听众。