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  3. About 3 billion people live within 100 miles of the sea, a number that could double in the next decade as humans flock to coasta

About 3 billion people live within 100 miles of the sea, a number that could double in the next decade as humans flock to coasta

admin2018-03-01  31
问题     About 3 billion people live within 100 miles of the sea, a number that could double in the next decade as humans flock to coastal cities like gulls. The oceans produce $3 trillion of goods and services each year and untold value for the Earth’s ecology. Life could not exist without these vast water reserves—and, if anything, they are becoming even more important to humans than before.
    Mining is about to begin under the seabed in the high seas—the regions outside the exclusive economic zones administered by coastal and island nations, which stretch 200 nautical miles offshore. Nineteen exploratory licences have been issued. New summer shipping lanes are opening across the Arctic Ocean. The genetic resources of marine life promise a pharmaceutical bonanza: the number of patents has been rising at 12% a year. One study found that genetic material from the seas is a hundred times more likely to have anti-cancer properties than that from terrestrial life.
    But these developments are minor compared with vaster forces reshaping the Earth, both on land and at sea. It has long been clear that people are damaging the oceans—witness the melting of the Arctic ice in summer, the spread of oxygen starved dead zones and the death of coral reefs. Now, the consequences of that damage are starting to be felt onshore.
    Thailand provides a vivid example. In the 1990s it cleared coastal mangrove swamps to set up shrimp farms. Ocean storm surges in 2011, no longer cushioned by the mangroves, rushed in to flood the country’s industrial heartland, causing billions of dollars of damage.
    More serious is the global mismanagement of fish stocks. About 3 billion people get a fifth of their protein from fish, making it a more important protein source than beef. But a vicious cycle has developed as fish stocks decline and fishermen race to grab what they can of the remainder. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a third of fish stocks in the oceans are over-exploited; some estimates say the proportion is more than half. One study suggested that stocks of big predatory species—such as tuna, swordfish and marlin—may have fallen by as much as 90% since the 1950s. People could be eating much better, were fishing stocks properly managed.
Consequences of damaging the oceans include all EXCEPT ______.
选项 A、vanishing of marine organisms
B、emergence of ocean storm surges
C、expansion of areas of oxygen deficit
D、change of climate and rise of temperature
答案B
解析 根据题干中的“consequences of damaging the oceans”定位到第三段最后一句：Now, the consequences of that damage are starting to be felt onshore．这句话之前也提到一句：It has long been clear that people are damaging the oceans witness the melting of the Arctic ice in summer, the spread of oxygen starved dead zones and the death of coral reefs. 其中破折号后面的内容就是damaging the oceans的具体体现。其中“witness the melting of the Arctic ice in summer”对应D项 change of climate and rise of temperature；“the spread of oxygen starved dead zones”对应C项expansion of areas of oxygen deficit；“the death of coral reefs”对应A项vanishing of marine organisms。而B项emergence of ocean storm surges在第四段第三句有提到，但是风暴潮的出现并不是破坏海洋造成的，故本题答案为选项B。
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