繆蘭

Scientists have made an alarming discovery about what kinds of pollution are most harmful to seabirds. A study led by Australias Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies discovered that balloons were the deadliest kind of plastic for seabirds. The research team said balloons were 32 times more likely to kill seabirds than hard plastics. They found that while balloons and other soft plastics accounted for2 only 5 percent of plastics ingested3， they were responsible for more than 40 percent of deaths among seabirds. Lead researcher Lauren Roman said， “Hard plastic fragments4 may pass quickly through the gut5， but soft plastics are more likely to become compacted6 and cause deadly obstructions7.”

關(guān)于哪種污染對海鳥的危害最大，科學(xué)家們有了一個令人震驚的發(fā)現(xiàn)。澳大利亞海洋與南極研究所主導(dǎo)的一項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，氣球是對海鳥最致命的一種塑料制品。該研究小組表示，氣球殺死海鳥的可能性是硬塑料的32倍。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，雖然氣球和其他軟塑料僅占塑料攝入量的5%，但它們占海鳥死亡原因的40%以上。首席研究員勞倫·羅曼說：“硬塑料碎片可能會快速通過腸道，但軟塑料更容易被擠壓并導(dǎo)致致命阻塞?！?/p>

The study examined 1，733 dead seabirds and found that more than a quarter of the deaths is caused by eating plastic. Ms. Roman explained that plastic is becoming an increasing threat to seabirds. She said， “Marine debris8 ingestion is now a globally recognized threat...We suggest that reducing the presence of balloons and balloon fragments in the ocean would directly reduce seabirds death.” LiveScience.com said， “With an estimated 280，000 tons of floating marine debris worldwide， about half of all seabird species are thought to ingest plastic on a daily basis. Birds are especially likely to swallow9 dangerous balloons because they closely like squid10， according to the study.”

該研究調(diào)查了1，733只死海鳥，發(fā)現(xiàn)四分之一以上的死亡歸因于食用塑料。羅曼女士解釋說，塑料正在成為對海鳥的日益嚴(yán)重的威脅。她說：“海洋垃圾攝入現(xiàn)在已成為全球公認(rèn)的威脅……我們建議減少海洋中氣球和氣球碎片的存在將直接減少海鳥的死亡率。”網(wǎng)站LiveScience.com稱：“根據(jù)研究，全世界估計有28萬噸漂浮的海洋垃圾，大約有一半的海鳥被認(rèn)為每天吞食塑料。鳥類特別容易吞下危險的氣球，因?yàn)樗鼈兎浅Ｏ耵滛~?！?/p>

Notes

1. deadly? adj. 致命的;非常的;死一般的;adv. 非常;如死一般地

2. account for （比例）占

3. ingest? vt. 攝取;咽下;吸收

4. fragment? n. 碎片;片段或不完整部分

5. gut n. 內(nèi)臟;腸子

6. compact vt. 使簡潔;使緊密結(jié)合

7. obstruction? n. 障礙;阻礙;妨礙

8. debris? ?n. 碎片，殘骸

9. swallow? ?v. 吞下;咽下

10. squid? n. 魷魚;烏賊

▲Questions：

[1]Do you think balloon fragments are dangerous to seabirds？你認(rèn)為氣球碎片對海鳥很危險么？

[2]What should we do to deal with the balloon fragments？我們應(yīng)該怎么處理氣球碎片呢？

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