Getting help from nature真“蚌”！监测水质河蚌来帮忙

侯昌玮

河蚌常被烹飪成美食，但原来它还能帮助监测水质。

主题语境：人与动物 篇幅：330词 建议用时：7分钟

1 A group of clams recently caught peoples atten?tion after an article was posted by China Science Com?munication online. Although these clams are usuallyregarded as nothing more than delicious food， theywork to monitor the local water quality in Poland.

2 Gruba Ka?ka pumping station， which stands inthe River Wisla， helps provide millions of liters of water for Warsaw， the capital of Poland.However， one particular concern for the water quality has been heavy metals， and re?searchers sought help from nature to solve this problem.

3 Clams are sensitive to pollutants in their environment as they filter water to feed onmicroorganisms. They shut their shells immediately after detecting“ dangerous” water.

4 Based on this， researchers selected eight clams at a time and recorded the naturalopening of their shells. After the clam“ employees” become accustomed to the local water，they are placed in a specially designed container. With sensors stuck onto their shells，the clams are connected to a system that records how wide the shells are open. If four or more clams close their shells at the same time， an alarm will be triggered and the watersupply will be shut down. The result is reliable because the creatures are considering manydifferent factors at the same time， according to ZME Science.

5 Animals have long been helpers for human activities. Farmers in north Queensland，Australia， have been ordering different species of dung beetles to help clean up cattle dung，according to ABC News. As the number of cattle grows， their waste increases， leading to anenormous population of flies and a worsening environment. Dung beetles， however， take thewaste and bury it. This way， they help improve soil quality.

6 Similarly， cockroaches are used to deal with kitchen waste at several firms in China，according to a report of The Beijing News in 2018. About 300 million cockroaches are fed15 tons of food waste on a daily basis， and they themselves are a good protein resource forlivestock.

Reading Check

Detail

1. Why did researchers turn to nature for help？

A. To solve the food shortage.

B. To detect heavy metals sooner.

C. To improve the water quality.

D. To attract people's attention.

Gist

2. What is paragraph 4 mainly about？

A. The reason for the study.

B. The result of the research.

C. The purpose of the study.

D. The process of the study.

Inference

3. How can dung beetles help farmers？

A. By dealing with cattle's waste properly.

B. By cleaning up food waste regularly.

C. By digesting and burying the waste of flies.

D. By using kitchen waste to improve soil quality.

Gist

4. Which statement can summarize the main idea of this text？

A. Three kinds of amazing animals.

B. Animals， good helpers of humans.

C. A special way to test water quality.

D. Animals， far more than tasty food.

Language Study

Ⅰ. Text?centered chunks

nothing more than 只不过；仅仅

seek help 寻求帮助

be sensitive to 对……敏感

at a time 一次

become accustomed to 习惯于……；适应……

clean up 清理；清除

lead to 导致

on a daily basis 每天

Ⅱ. Difficult sentence in the text

With sensors stuck onto their shells， the clams are connected to a system that recordshow wide the shells are open. 蚌壳上粘贴的传感器将河蚌与记录蚌壳开启程度的系统连接到一起。

【点石成金】本句中，With sensors...shells是with的复合结构；that引导的是定语从句，先行词为a system；how引导的是宾语从句。