听力题 W: You must have heard about red tides. M: Of course I have. W: Red tides are no longer strange, due to their frequent occurrence in recent years. The State Oceanography Administration said there were 28 red tides in China’s waters in the year 2000. M: As we know, due to the food chain, man and other species may be badly affected. In the past 10 years, deaths attributed to this have increased in number, becoming a severe threat to people’s health. W: What is the specific reason for this? M: Red tides are a natural disaster. Their frequent occurrence in recent years should be blamed on unnatural influences. W: What do you mean by unnatural influences? M: Pollution. Untreated industrial and domestic sewage leads to an environment for an explosive reproduction of red tide organisms. Another form of pollution is from offshore aquaculture. This unexpected product of offshore aquaculture has encouraged a favorable ecological environment for the development of red tide organisms. W: And what has been done up till now? M: Firstly, the Marine Environmental Protection Law, which took effect on April 1, 2000, has been revised, in an effort to raise the public’s awareness of environmental protection. Secondly, the law-enforcing departments are making greater efforts to punish enterprises that drain untreated sewage into rivers and the ocean, regardless of environmental protection laws and the Government’s repeated bans. This year, the authorities closed 17 enterprises, large and small, which broke such laws. W: That’s really good news. In addition, following the principle of prevention first, efforts will be made to establish and improve nationwide red tide monitoring and early-warning systems and the disaster emergency response mechanism, so as to reduce economic losses and to protect people’s health.