雅思阅读第126套P3-The Future of fish

READING PASSAGE 3

You should spend about 20minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.

The Future of fish

The face of the ocean haschanged completely since the first commercial fishers cast their nets and hooksover a thousand years ago. Fisheries intensified over the centuries, but evenby the nineteenth century it was still felt, justifiably, that the plentifulresources of the sea were for the most part beyond the reach of fishing, and sothere was little need to restrict fishing or create protected areas. Thetwentieth century heralded an escalation in fishing intensity that isunprecedented in the history of the oceans, and modern fishing technologiesleave fish no place to hide. Today, the only refuges from fishing are those wedeliberately create. Unhappily, the sea trails far behind the land in terms ofthe area and the quality of protection given.

For centuries, as fishing andcommerce have expanded, we have held onto the notion that the sea is differentfrom the land. We still view it as a place where people and nations should befree to come and go at will, as well as somewhere that should be free for us toexploit. Perhaps this is why we have been so reluctant to protect the sea. On land,protected areas have proliferated as human populations have grown. Here,compared to the sea, we have made greater headway in our struggle to maintainthe richness and variety of wildlife and landscape. Twelve percent of theworld’s land is now contained in protected areas, whereas the correspondingfigure for the sea is but three-fifths of one percent. Worse still, most marineprotected areas allow some fishing to continue. Areas off-limits to allexploitation cover something like one five-thousandth of the total area of theworld’s seas.

Today, we are belatedly comingto realise that 'natural refuges’ from fishing have played a critical role insustaining fisheries, and maintaining healthy and diverse marine ecosystems.This does not mean that marine reserves can rebuild fisheries on their own -other management measures are also required for that. However, places that areoff-limits to fishing constitute the last and most important part of ourpackage of reform for fisheries management. They underpin and enhance all ourother efforts. There are limits to protection though.

Reserves cannot bring back whathas died out. We can never resurrect globally extinct species, and restoringlocally extinct animals may require reintroductions from elsewhere, if naturaldispersal from remaining populations is insufficient. We are also seeing, incases such as northern cod in Canada, that fishing can shift marine ecosystemsinto different states, where different mixes of species prevail. In many cases,these species are less desirable, since the prime fishing targets have gone orare much reduced in numbers, and changes may be difficult to reverse, even witha complete moratorium on fishing. The Mediterranean sailed by Ulysses, thelegendary king of ancient Greece, supported abundant monk seals, loggerheadturtles and porpoises. Their disappearance through hunting and overfishing hastotally restructured food webs, and recovery is likely to be much harder toachieve than their destruction was. This means that the sooner we act toprotect marine life, the more certain will be our success.

To some people, creating marinereserves is an admission of failure. According to their logic, reserves shouldnot be necessary if we have done our work properly in managing the uses we makeof the sea. Many fisheries managers are still wedded to the idea that one daytheir models will work, and politicians will listen to their advice. Just givethe approach time, and success will be theirs. How much time have we got? Thisapproach has been tried and refined for the last 50 years. There have been fewsuccesses which to feather the managers’ caps, but a growing litany of failure.The Common Fisheries Policy, the European Union’s instrument for the managementof fisheries and aquaculture, exemplifies the worst pitfalls: flawed models,flawed advice, watered-down recommendations from government bureaucrats andthen the disregard of much of this advice by politicians. When it all wentwrong, as it inevitably had to, Europe sent its boats to other countries inorder to obtain fish for far less than they were actually worth.

We are squandering the wealthof oceans. If we don’t break out of this cycle of failure, humanity will lose akey source of protein, and much more besides. Disrupting natural ecosystemprocesses, such as water purification, nutrient cycling, and carbon storage,could have ramifications for human life itself. We can go a long way toavoiding this catastrophic mistake with simple common sense management. Marinereserves lie at the heart of the reform. But they will not be sufficient ifthey are implemented only here and there to shore up the crumbling edifice ofthe 'rational fisheries management’ envisioned by scientists in the 1940s and1950s. They have to be placed centre stage as a fundamental underpinning foreverything we do in the oceans. Reserves are a first resort, not a final resortwhen all else fails.

SECTION 3: QUESTIONS 27-40

Questions 27-31

Do the following statementsagree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 3? Write

YES

if the statement agrees with the views of the writer

NO

if the statement contradicts the views of the writer

NOT GIVEN

if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

27 _________________  It is more than a thousand years since people started tocatch fish for commercial use.

28 _________________  In general, open access to the oceans is still regarded asdesirable.

29 _________________  Sea fishing is now completely banned in the majority ofprotected areas.

30 _________________  People should be encouraged to reduce the amount of fishthey eat.

31 _________________  The re-introduction of certain mammals to the Mediterraneanis a straightforward task.

Questions 32-34

Choose the correct letter, A,B, C or D.

32What does the writer mean with thequestion, 'How much time have we got?’ in the fifth paragraph?

AFisheries policies are currently based onuncertain estimates.

BAccurate predictions will allowgovernments to plan properly.

CFisheries managers should provide clearerinformation.

DAction to protect fish stocks is urgentlyneeded

33What is the writer’s comment on the CommonFisheries Policy?

AMeasures that it advocated were hastily implemented.

BOfficials exaggerated some of itsrecommendations.

CIt was based on predictions which wereinaccurate.

DThe policy makers acquired a goodreputation

34What is the writer’s conclusion concerningthe decline of marine resources?

AThe means of avoiding the worst outcomesneeds to be prioritised.

BMeasures already taken to avoid a crisisare probably sufficient.

CThe situation is now so severe that thereis no likely solution.

DIt is no longer clear which measures wouldbe most effective.

Questions 35-40

Complete the summary using thelist of words/phrases, A-J, below.

Measures to protect the oceans

Up till the twentieth centurythe world’s supply of fish was sufficient for its needs.

It was unnecessary to introduce35 _________________ of any kind, because large areas of the oceans wereinaccessible.

However, as 36 _________________ improved, this situation changed, and in the middle of thetwentieth century, policies were introduced to regulate 37 _________________.

These policies have notsucceeded. Today, by comparison with 38 _________________ the oceans have very little legal protection.

Despite the doubts that manyofficials have about the concept of 39 _________________, these should be at the heart of any action taken.

The consequences of further 40 _________________ are very serious, and may even affect our continuing existence.

A

action

B

controls

C

failure

D

fish catches

E

fish processing

F

fishing techniques

G

large boats

H

marine reserves

I

the land

J

the past