荷兰采用新型人工鱼礁保护海滩
Artificial reefs have been used in many parts of the world. Made from submerged （在水中的） subway cars or buses， or even 3-d printed， these man-made structures are giving new homes to coral and other marine life. But now， there’s a new dual-purpose reef that is helping to protect the fragile shoreline in Rotterdam， Netherlands， as well.
Officially called a Reef Enhancing Breakwater， reported Wired， the underwater modular structure is made of 17 blocks that weigh 16 tons each that are piled on the floor of the Mass River， just outside of Rotterdam. It is the first project of the startup Reefy and is designed to protect against the damage caused by large ships that go in and out of one of Europe’s busiest ports.
The startup was founded by Jaime Ascencio， a business development engineer in Latin America who was concerned about the loss of sand in the region’s beaches that threatened the tourism industry. “If there is no sand， there are no guests，” Ascencio told Wired.
He knew about artificial reefs to provide natural breakwaters but nothing was available that was sustainable and stable enough to handle the waves. So he decided to get a masters degree in coastal engineering from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands in order to learn how to develop one himself.
Ascencio co founded Reefy with Leon Haines， a marine biologist who worked on coral reef restoration projects. It took them five years of research and development to come up with the artificial reef that is being tested in the Mass river.
The interlocking blocks that were used to construct the reef fit together like LEGO blocks. But before the blocks could be used to construct the underwater structure， there were many tests that had to be run.
（材料出自“Goodnet”网站，有删改）
1.What happens to Rotterdam with so many large ships coming and going？
A. The beaches are damaged.
B. Many tourists come to visit.
C. Local wildlife disappears.
D. The air becomes polluted.
2. What do we know about Jaime Ascencio？
A. He was a native of Rotterdam.
B. He is a famous environmentalist.
C. He is an engineer in Latin America.
D. He majors in Artificial Intelligence.
3. Why did Ascencio go to the Delft University of Technology？
A. To make his company sustainable.
B. To promote the local tourism industry.
C. To get an advanced degree in engineering.
D. To learn how to protect the shoreline in Rotterdam.
4. What is Paragraph 5 mainly about？
A. Where Reef Enhancing Breakwater is located.
B. How the artificial reef has come into being.
C. The current situation of the artificial reef.
D. An introduction to a marine biologist.
1. A。（剩余231字）
