Floating cities above the sea

Noel Kirkpatrick

题材 环境 体裁 新闻报道文章词数316 难度 ★★★ 建议用时6′

随着全球变暖，海平面不断升高，很多海滨城市都会受到影响。现在有人设计出了漂在海上的房子，拼在一起就可以构成一个小型城市，这样海平面升得再高也不怕了。

海词积累

1.prototype n.原型

2.shrunken adj.缩小的；减少的

3.hexagon n.六边形

4.integrate v.成为一体

5.desalination n.（海水的）脱盐

6.sheltered adj.受庇护的；不受坏天气侵袭的

A company called Oceanix is building a prototype floating island as an experimental solution for crowded coastal cities threatened by climate changes.

The idea might sound unacceptable, but urban coasts are running out of land as sea levels are projected to rise as much as 18 centimeters by 2030.To reclaim （夺回）shrunken coastlines,Singapore and seaside huge cities in other countries have already poured sand into the ocean, and sand is quickly becoming a scarce（稀缺的）resource.

Amina Mohammed,deputy secretary general of the UN,said the proposal is more unconventional than approaches the United Nations would have taken even four years ago. “We are trying to adapt,”she said. “We are trying to think ahead.”

“The full 18,000-square-meter floating platforms made of wood and bamboo would be the basic part of a shared urban system,” said Bjarke Ingels of the Bjarke Ingels Group,the architectural firm partnering with Oceanix.Each platform would house 300 people.

The islands proposed by Oceanix wouldn't be playgrounds for the rich.Construction costs would stay low.The floating hexagons can be mass-produced in factories and pulled to destination bays.Therefore，the poor can afford the house in the floating cities.

What makes an Oceanix city different is its“integrated vision”. The islands could power and feed themselves.Turbines （涡轮机）in the air above the platforms and water below would provide energy,as would solar panels.Rain and desalination systems would provide fresh water.Greenhouses,farms and gardens would provide food.

The first floating communities would be established at warm coasts like those in Southeast Asia.Though architects claimed the platforms could stand Category 5 hurricanes,ocean engineers suggested the cities should be built in calm bays.

“You have to take small steps,” said Nicholas Makris, director of the Center for Ocean Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “If you're just trying to get something to work,do it in a sheltered,harbored area.”

——From National Geographic

Reading Check

I.Match each person or firm with its identity.

（ ）1.Oceanix A.director of the Center for Ocean Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

（ ）2.Amina Mohammed B.the architectural firm partnering with Oceanix

（ ）3.the Bjarke Ingels Group C.a company's name

（ ）4.Nicholas Makris D.deputy secretary general of the UN

Ⅱ.Answer the following questions according to the text.

1.Who is building a prototype floating island?（no more than 6 words）

2.What is the purpose of Singapore and other cities'pouring sand into the ocean?（no more than 6 words）

3.Why can the poor afford the house in the floating cities?（no more than 16 words）

4.What makes an Oceanix city different?（no more than 5 words）

5.Where are the cities likely to be built?（no more than 5 words）

Language Study

Complete the following sentences.

3.The full 18,000-square-meter floating platforms（make）of wood and bamboo would be the basic part of a shared urban system.

4.Though architects claimed the platforms could stand Category 5 hurricanes,ocean engineers suggested the cities（build）in calm bays.