六级英语阅读练习.docVIP

Before anyone can honestly care how important it is to protect marine habitats（生活环境）, one needs to appreciate the vast quantities of marine life that exists in the ocean. It is hard for some people to relate to something they never see. However, it makes sense that the vast expanse of water and its inhabitants, covering 70% of the planet, affects us all.  距离2012年6月四六级考试越来越近，现在正是四六级考生复习冲刺的黄金时期。为了助大家取得好成绩，新东方在线四六级频道为考生网罗了四六级辅导名师，整合了各题型备考资料，给你一站式学习体验。 [马上进入2012年6月四六级备考专题：英语四级复习备考 英语六级复习备考 免费在线模考] Most marine animals are found near coral reefs. These colorful underwater forests naturally spring to mind with the mention of scuba（水中呼吸器）diving or underwater life. Coral reefs are constructed by living plants and animals, primarily corals that surround their small anemone (海葵)-like tentacles in a hard skeleton that forms much of the reef structure.  They generally occur in clear, tropical or semi-tropical seas to a depth of approximately 100 meters (328 feet). Coral reefs fringe approximately one sixth of the worlds coastlines and are the biologically richest of all shallow-water marine ecosystems. They support as many as 1 million species of animals and plants, but only a small fraction have been described. Among the best known groups are at least 5,000 species of fish, over 10,000 species of mollusk (软体动物) and more than 800 species of reef-building corals.  Corals are not only important to fish. Reefs are important to the human population for a wide variety or reasons: for one, they are a food source. A majority of people make their living fishing near coral reefs and an even larger part of population enjoys eating some of the catch. Unfortunately, if current trends of over-fishing continue, and we deplete fisheries as fast as we are, then this food source will eventually run out. Scientific evidence shows that 90% of top predators in the ocean are now extinct because of over-fishing-predatory fish include anything salmon sized and above al