新視野大學(xué)英語讀寫教程第三冊unit6-b Changes in the Balance of Nature
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Section (B)
Changes in the Balance of Nature
Perceptions are relative.
A single tree may seem large compared to a person. If you compare it to a mountain, however, the large tree seems small. In other words, things in nature are large or small, new or old, only in accordance with the measures and the comparisons involved.
During the duration of one human lifetime, not many things change. Even trees live longer than people, and the Earth itself is far older. The Earth was formed about five billion years ago from a rotating, circular cloud of dust and gases such as hydrogen and nitrogen. A billion years later, the planet had cooled, and the continents and the great bodies of water had formed.
About 3.5 billion years ago, another great change occurred. The oceans began to develop an enormous system of living things, with many diverse forms of life, all dependent on one another. The first animals on this living sphere, the Earth, were primitive marine animals, and then around 500 million years ago these sea animals developed shells. Seventy million years later, the first fish appeared. Next, insects developed, about 400 million years ago.
After another 200 million years, dinosaurs and the first mammals walked the Earth. About 200 million years ago, warm-blooded animals took to the air — the first birds. Fifty million years later, both birds and mammals were well established. About three million years ago, scientists believe, the first human beings walked the Earth.
Life was now flourishing.In terms of the evolution of life on Earth, human beings have just arrived. Despite their short time on Earth, however, people have brought about enormous changes to the surface of the planet — changes far out of proportion to the interval of time they have occupied it.
People Try to Control Resources
People have more control over their surroundings than any other species on Earth. With the combination of intelligence and manual skill (allowing us to make and use tools), people have found ways to use plant and animal resources, mineral ores, fuels, and many other of Earth's materials and resources.
As the number of people on Earth increases, it becomes increasingly difficult for the population to survive on the resources of the land. The amount of land is limited. Although agricultural production can be increased by use of machinery such as tractors and the addition of fertilizer, the land ultimately can produce only so much food and no more. As the human population grows, people consume more.
Clearly, some locations on Earth already have too many people; in many of these areas, future increases will surely bring about more poverty and suffering. Yet people in rich nations use proportionally far more of the available resources than people in poorer nations. As they consume these resources without restraint, they also waste large amounts of them.
People are only a very small fraction of all the living things on the planet. Yet their numbers create a drain on resources that can't be renewed. For example, the amount of water on Earth is limited; this water is cleaned through natural processes. However, the natural processes for filtering water can clean only a certain amount of water by removing the pollution.
Likewise, a limited amount of petroleum can be found under the Earth's surface. Petroleum is a valuable resource. Should people use it up to manufacture petrol for automobiles? As people work to control the planet and make life comfortable, are they using up resources that are needed for their survival?
The Balance of Nature
All natural systems tend toward balance among opposing factors or forces. Human activities can cause or accelerate permanent changes in natural systems. The smoke of one small fire causes no harm to the environment. Natural cleaning processes can clean the particles of smoke from the air. However, the collective smoke from thousands of factories, over the past two centuries, has caused enormous increases in air pollution levels worldwide. Cleaning this smoke has exceeded the protective ability of natural processes. The forests cannot clean the air fast enough.
In spite of rapid population increase and industrial growth, some groups of people, often in remote areas, have been able to live in harmony with the planet. These people have not changed their ways of living from the ways of their ancestors. Called native peoples, they retain the ways of life that have remained unchanged for many generations. Many of their cultural values and ways of life include practices that return resources to the Earth.
Human population growth is creating food shortages, problems of air quality, and changes in weather patterns. What is destroying rain forests and ruining the land and seas? What causes the acid rain that forms from water passing through polluted air? Why is there the threat of global warming? All these harmful results come from the too much use of resources and the human struggle to control the environment.
The twentieth century began with powerful countries competing to take advantage of the Earth. As an outcome of their hunger for empires, the Earth was abused. Now people all over the world are living with the problems caused by this abuse. Now that they are no longer ignorant of the causes of the sickness of our planet, they seek ways to help the Earth, to give back what they take away. Previously, mankind only used the Earth. Now everyone must protect planet Earth, a planet in danger.
Words: 901
New Words
perception n. 1.感知，感覺，知覺 2.認(rèn)識，觀點(diǎn)，看法
accordance n. 一致，和諧
duration n. 持續(xù)，持續(xù)期間
rotate v. 1.（使）旋轉(zhuǎn)，（使）轉(zhuǎn)動 2.（使）輪流
circular a. 圓形的，圓的
hydrogen n. 氫
nitrogen n. 氮
sphere n. 1.球形，球體 2.范圍，領(lǐng)域
primitive a. 1.原始的，早期的 2.簡陋的，粗糙的
shell n. 1.殼，貝殼 2.炮彈 vt. 剝... ...的殼
insect n. 昆蟲，蟲
■dinosaur n. 恐龍
■mammal n. 哺乳動物
flourish vi. 茂盛，繁榮，興旺 vt. 揮舞
evolution n. 1.進(jìn)化 2.演變，發(fā)展
manual a. 手工制作的，人工的 n. 操作手冊，指南
ore n. 礦石，礦砂
tractor n. 拖拉機(jī)
fertilizer n. 肥料，化肥
location n. 1.地點(diǎn)，位置 2.（電影的）外景拍攝地
proportional a. 與... ...成比例的
proportionally ad. 與... ...成比例地
restraint n. 1.克制，抑制，約束 2.限制因素，約束措施
fraction n. 小部分，片段
renew vt. 1.更新，補(bǔ)充 2.注入新的生命和精力，使恢復(fù) 3.延長期效
petroleum n. 石油
manufacture vt. 1.（大量）制造，加工 2.編造
petrol n. 汽油
oppose vt. 反對，反抗
accelerate v. 加速，促進(jìn)
particle n. 粒子，微粒
collective a. 集體的，共同的 n. 集體，團(tuán)體
exceed vt. 超過，勝過，越出
protective a. 保護(hù)的，防護(hù)的
remote a. 1.遙遠(yuǎn)的，偏僻的 2.關(guān)系疏遠(yuǎn)的，脫離的，與……沒有聯(lián)系的 3.絕少的，微乎其微的
ancestor n. 1.祖先，祖宗，先人 2.雛形，原型
retain vt. 保留，保存
shortage n. 缺乏，不足
threat n. 1.構(gòu)成威脅的人或事物 2.威脅，恐嚇 3.兇兆，征兆
empire n. 1.帝國 2.（由一個人、一個家族或集團(tuán)控制的）大企業(yè)
abuse vt. 1.濫用，妄用 2.虐待，凌辱 n. 1.濫用，妄用 2.虐待
ignorant a. 1.不知道的 2.愚昧的，無知的
mankind n. 人類
Phrases and Expressions
compared to/with 跟……相比
in other words 換句話說，也就是說
in accordance with 依照；與... ...一致
be formed from 由……構(gòu)成, 由……做成
take to 開始 (從事) 喜歡上 逃入；躲藏于
in terms of 就……而論
bring about 使發(fā)生
out of proportion to sth. 與... ...極不成比例的，大大超過... ...的
survive on 靠……活下來，靠……生存
so much 這么多（表示未明確指出的數(shù)或量）
use up 用盡，用光
in harmony with 與……協(xié)調(diào)一致，與……相配
take advantage of 利用
hunger for sth. 得到某事物的渴望
live with 接受，容忍
be ignorant of 不知道，不了解
give back 歸還
take away 拿走，帶走
自然界平衡的改變
人的感覺是相對的。
和人相比，一棵樹看起來很大。 可是將樹和山相比，大樹就顯得小了。 換言之，自然界的事物是大是小，是新是舊，僅僅是根據(jù)其所涉及的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)和參照而言的。
人的一生中，不會有很多東西發(fā)生變化。 連樹也活得比人長，而地球本身就更是個老壽星了。 地球的形成約在50億年前，起源于一團(tuán)循環(huán)旋轉(zhuǎn)的塵埃和諸如氫、氧之類的氣體。 10億年后，這個星球冷卻下來，于是形成了大陸和大片大片的水域。
大約35億年前，又發(fā)生了一次巨變。 海洋中開始孕育出一個巨大的生物體系，包含各種各樣相互依賴的生命形態(tài)。 在地球這個有生命的星球上，最早的動物是原始海洋動物。后來，在大約5億年前，這些海洋動物進(jìn)化成甲殼動物。 7,000萬年后，首次出現(xiàn)了魚。 而后，大約4億年前，出現(xiàn)了昆蟲。 又過了2億年，恐龍和第一只哺乳動物開始在地球上行走。 大約2億年前，溫血動物開始在天空中飛翔——它們是最早的飛鳥。 5,000萬年后，鳥和哺乳動物都有了穩(wěn)固的形態(tài)。 科學(xué)家們認(rèn)為，大約300萬年前，原始人類開始在地球上行走。 這時生命開始興旺起來。
就地球上生命的進(jìn)化而言，人類是姍姍來遲者。 然而，盡管在地球上的時日尚短，人類卻已給地球表面帶來了巨大的變化——這些變化與人類占據(jù)地球的短暫時間相比，是遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不成比例的。
人類企圖控制資源
與地球上其他物種相比，人類更能控制其周圍的環(huán)境。 由于智力與手工技能的結(jié)合（使得人類能夠制造和使用工具），人們已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)了諸多利用地球動植物資源、礦產(chǎn)資源、燃料和許多其他物產(chǎn)和資源的方法。
隨著地球上人口的增加，人類依靠土地資源生存變得越來越困難。 土地的總量是有限的。 雖然使用拖拉機(jī)等機(jī)械以及施用化肥可以提高農(nóng)業(yè)產(chǎn)量，但是土地最終所能產(chǎn)出的糧食只有那么多，不會再增加。 隨著人口越來越多，人類的消耗也越來越多。 很明顯，地球上某些地區(qū)人口已經(jīng)飽和；在這其中的許多地區(qū)，未來的人口增長肯定會帶來更多的貧窮和苦難。 然而，富裕國家的人們所使用的可得能源在比例上遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)大于貧窮國家的人們。 他們毫無節(jié)制地使用這些資源，因此也造成了大量的浪費(fèi)。
人類只是這個星球上所有生物的一小部分。 而這一小部分卻造成了不可再生資源的流失。 比如說，地球上的水量是有限的，這些水通過自然作用得到凈化。 但這些過濾水的自然作用通過去污僅能凈化一定量的水。
同理，地表之下只能找到儲量有限的石油。 石油是一種珍貴的資源。 難道人們應(yīng)該為生產(chǎn)汽車用油而耗盡石油資源嗎？ 難道為了控制整個地球，為了使生活舒適，人類就要用盡生存所需的所有資源嗎？
自然界的平衡
所有自然體系都趨向于在各種對立因素或力量中保持平衡。 而人類活動能夠引起或加速自然體系中的永久性變化。 小火帶來的煙不會危害環(huán)境，因?yàn)樽匀粌艋饔脮⒖諝庵械臒焿m清除。 但是，在過去的兩個世紀(jì)中，從千萬家工廠排放出的煙塵已大大加劇了全球大氣的污染度。 要清除這些煙塵已超出了自然作用的保護(hù)能力。 森林已不能及時清潔空氣。
盡管人口在迅速增長，工業(yè)發(fā)展很快，還是有一些人類群體——常常是居住在偏遠(yuǎn)地區(qū)的人們——能與地球和睦共處。 這些人從未改變過他們祖先的生活方式。 他們被稱為本土人，保留著歷代不變的生活方式。 他們的許多文化價值觀念和生活方式都包含向地球歸還資源的做法。
人口的增長帶來了糧食短缺、空氣質(zhì)量降低、天氣狀況變化等問題。 是什么在破壞雨林、土壤和海洋？ 是什么造成了雨水穿過污染的大氣而形成的酸雨？ 為什么會有全球變暖的威脅？ 所有這些惡果都源于對資源的過度使用和人類對環(huán)境的強(qiáng)行控制。
從20世紀(jì)初起，各強(qiáng)國競相利用地球資源。 他們渴望成為帝國的貪欲造成了地球資源被濫用的惡果。 如今，全世界的人都在忍受這種濫用所帶來的問題。 由于不再無視地球罹難的根源，人們正在尋求各種方法來治療它，把自己取走的東西歸還給地球。 從前人類只會利用地球， 如今人人必須保護(hù)地球，保護(hù)這個身處險境的星球。
