青少年项目帮助清洁海洋

景苏华

A teenagers dream of cleaning up the worlds oceans may soon come true. Boyan Slat lives in Holland， Europe. Seven years ago， when he was a teenager， he was swimming in the ocean. He saw more trash in the water than fish. So for a school project， he made a plan to clean up the ocean.

In 2013， Slat formed a group called The Ocean Cleanup. It raised money to put Slats water clean?up plan into action. On September 8， Slats plan began. In the ocean between California and Hawaii there is a lot of floating garbage. It is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch （GPGP）.

Slats group will clean it up using a floating plastic tube. The tube will go around the garbage and trap it. The plastic tube is hollow （空心的）. It is 600 metres long. A big screen hangs down from it， about three metres into the water. Wind， waves and ocean currents （洋流） will push the trash toward the tube. （Fish can swim under the screen.） A ship will pick up the trash and take it back to the shore to sort and recycle it. The GPGP contains about 1.8 trillion （万亿） pieces of trash. Most of it is plastic， like bottles， bags and packaging.

Plastic trash is very bad for birds and fish. They try to eat it and may become sick. They may also get tangled up in it. The Ocean Cleanup says it will be able to clean up half of the trash in the GPGP within five years. If this first project works well， The Ocean Cleanup hopes to launch as many as 60 more. About 8 million tonnes of plastic end up in the ocean every year. Thats like having a garbage truck full of plastic dumped （倾倒） in every minute.

1.What do we know about The Ocean Cleanup？

A.It is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

B.It has cleaned up half of the trash in the GPGP.

C.It is firstly set up on September 8， 2013.

D.It covers 60 more projects.

2.Whats the function of a floating plastic tube？

A.Picking up the trash and take it back to the shore.

B.Carrying the rubbish as it is hollow.

C.Sorting and recycle rubbish.

D.Protecting birds and fishes.

Ⅰ.Important vocabulary in the text

1.trap v. 诱捕

2.launch v. 发起

3.hang down 挂下来;下垂

4.pick up 捡起

5.end up in 最后到了……;结果是

6.be full of 充满……

Ⅱ.Complete the following sentences.

1.如果第一个项目进展顺利，海洋清理计划有望启动60多个这样的项目。

If this first project ， The Ocean Cleanup hopes to launch .

2.这就像每分钟都有一辆装满塑料的垃圾车。

Thats like having a garbage truck plastic in every minute.