The pollution of the earth’s soil and water has become an issue of great concern. Until recently, most of that     1     has focused on the land     2     of the planet, where pollution directly affects people in their daily lives. Now, however, we have begun to realize that marine (海洋的) pollution is     3     important. According to S.A. Patin, marine pollution is the condition that results when people introduce into the seas substances harmful to life, health, resources, activities, or     4    .

Marine pollution is far from new. For over a million years, people have thought of the sea as a     5     place to throw their garbage. And it is true that the sea has a great capacity for absorbing organic wastes. Some of these wastes are eaten directly by the larger fishes. Others quickly     6     into a kind of organic soup that provides food to     7     species of single-celled plant and animal life.

As civilizations grew, more different pollutants were dumped into the seas. Still, this pollution did not really threaten the marine environment. The seas seemed     8     of coping with anything that people could throw at them. This situation changed, however, when suddenly factories began dumping enormous quantities of materials into the seas. Especially in some coastal areas near large cities, ocean pollution began to     9     marine life. For the first time, the oceans began to fail in their ability to     10     humanity’s waste.

As you may know, coral (珊瑚) is not a plant, but an animal. However, coral reefs (珊瑚礁) around the world are in    1    . Here is a piece of bad news. Thailand will close one of its beaches to protect its coral       2     business activities for tourists. The beach is so famous that     3    of tourists put it on their wish lists. More than 5,000 visitors visit it a day. They arrive by boat. This does    4     harm to the coral reefs. Most of the coral has died. The beach will be closed between June and September to let the coral come    5    to life．

Experts (专家) say that 80％of Thailand’s coral reefs have been    6    . Too many tourists     7     a lot of pollution to these beaches. An expert said the biggest problems were hotels by the beaches, boats, and plastic waste in the sea. He believed the     8    choice was to close the beaches forever. He said, “I hope the       9       can take steps to protect the coral reefs. At the same time, I also hope all of us should    10    our best to protect the environment around us.”