The Underwater Photographer of the Year, which originated from 1965, is a yearly contest based in the United Kingdom. As you might expect, the focus is on photos taken underwater, whether in the ocean, in lakes or rivers, or even swimming pools.
The pictures are judged in several different categories. The contest in 2020 had over 5,500 entries from 70 different countries.
The grand prize winner was “Frozen Mobile Home” by French photographer Greg Lecoeur. The photo shows seals swimming around a small iceberg. To get the picture, Mr Lecoeur traveled to Antarctica in a small boat and spent time tracking the life around floating icebergs.
The photo “Last Dawn, Last Gasp” by Pasquale Vassallo of Italy won the award for Ocean Protection Photographer of the Year. Mr Vassallo said that he went diving early in the morning to take this picture of a tuna (金枪鱼) trapped as fishermen pulled their nets in.
Mr Vassallo also took “Octopus Training”, a picture that won in the category of “Behavior”. He says that when he came up after a dive, he noticed a soccer ball floating on the surface. When he went to check it out, he saw that there was an octopus hanging from the ball. Mr Vassallo says he doesn’t understand what the octopus was doing, but wonders if it was training for the World Cup.
Though Rooman Luc of Belgium didn’t win the “Portrait” category, his photo, titled “Angry Seahorse”, is quite striking. The closeup shot of a seahorse staring strictly into the camera was named runnerup (second place). He said he spent nearly an hour standing in kneehigh water being bitten by mosquitos in order to get the picture.
The contest has many more amazing photos that can be viewed on the site, along with the stories behind them. There is even a book with all of the contents that can be downloaded for free.
14. Which isn’t suitable to enter the Underwater Photographer of the Year contest?
A.The crying dolphin. |
B.Saving the elephant. |
C.The dancing lemon shark. |
D.Kissing the whale. |
15. What is the photo “Last Dawn, Last Gasp” aimed to tell us?
A.A tuna is hard to shoot. |
B.We should protect ocean animals. |
C.Diving early in the morning is painful. |
D.There are too many fishing nets in the sea. |
16. What can we learn from the photo of “Octopus Training”?
A.The octopus is endangered. |
B.Photography should be serious. |
C.The photographer has a sense of humour. |
D.The photographer concerns himself about the octopus. |
17. In which section of a website can we read the text?
A.Arts. | B.Literature. |
C.Documentary. | D.Education. |