2017年第三届“LSCAT杯”江苏省笔译大赛 竞赛汉译英译文

Ever since Darwin came up with the theory of natural selection, there has been a question — in some quarters, a worry — about whether human beings remain in any meaningful sense unique creatures. When it comes to things like cognition and language, we operate at far higher levels than other animals do. But are these merely differences of degree, as Darwin’s theory suggests, rather than of kind? Should t he human faculties that once led us to see ourselves as ontologically special —our capacity for moral conduct, our ability to make choices on the basis of reasons — be understood instead as marking the far end of a continuous spectrum of animal behavior, all of which can be explained in light of DNA and the evolutionary history that shaped it?自从达尔文提出自然选择学说，有些人就一直疑惑，甚至烦恼人类是否从任何层面来说都是一种与众不同的动物。

我们在认知和语言等方面比其他动物拥有更高的水平，但就像达尔文理论里所说的，这些仅仅是程度上的差异而非种类的差异吗？有些能力让我们曾经认为人类在本质上是特别的，比如符合道德的行为能力和基于理性的选择能力，但这些人类能力难道就能因此被理解成动物连续行为的终端标志吗？这些动物行为的不同实际上可以从DNA差异和历史进化的观点来解释。

三级笔译综合-课文翻译练习7班级：学号：姓名：电影导演虽然以虚荣自负、独断专行、唯我独尊而著称，但是，由于导演这项艺术工作的特殊性，使得他们隐身幕后。

大多数情况下，导演自身强烈的个性特征需要通过他人的面部表情和肢体语言才能表现出来。

比如，提起导演约翰·福特，在你脑海中出现的也许是演员约翰·韦恩的形象。

导演伊利亚·卡赞富有激情，不易相处，行事专断，其个性不亚于同辈中的任何人，他的形象将主要通过一批演员塑造的艺术形象而留在人们的记忆中。

卡赞先生星期天去世了，随后的电视讣告就像是一部精选的专辑，汇聚了众多体验派演艺明星。

在这里，有演过《欲望号街车》和《码头风云》马龙·白兰度，他高喊“斯特拉！”，他悄悄地对罗德·斯泰格尔说，他本来有可能是一个有力的竞争对手；有演过《伊甸园之东》的詹姆斯·狄恩，有演过《天涯何处无芳草》的华伦·比提。

英俊的年轻人，动人地演绎了一段痛苦的情感；有《娃娃新娘》里的埃里·瓦拉赫和卡尔·莫尔登，两人倾情演绎了密西西比蛇舞，其妖艳性感以及票房收入方面均难以与之抗衡。

作为一个“演员工作室”的建立者，卡赞先生在20世纪40年代后期经常穿梭于百老汇和好莱坞之间。

他把美国戏剧写实主义所表现的细腻情感及其演艺风格带到了美国电影里，也许这方面卡赞先生居功至伟。

早期电影里程式化的语言表达和优雅的动作被取代了，首创了一种吞吞吐吐、含含蓄蓄的情感演艺方式。

社会问题、委婉表达的性以及心理真实等问题成了舞台和荧屏上严肃剧的标志。

现实主义，任何艺术形式中的现实主义，都是一个带有明显欺骗性的术语。

尤其是在电影艺术中，幻想着透明地反映现实，这种幻想最为严重。

如今看来，卡赞先生的电影，反映的似乎不像生活片段，更像社会的寓言，心理的寓言，与其说质朴粗狂，还不如说夸张高调。

当然，这正是他的电影一贯的风格，也是仍然大家受欢迎的原因。

笔译大赛试题及答案试题一：请将以下英文段落翻译成中文："In the realm of artificial intelligence, machine learning stands out as a pivotal technology that enables computers to learn from experience and improve their performance over time without being explicitly programmed to do so."答案一：在人工智能领域，机器学习作为一种关键技术脱颖而出，它使得计算机能够从经验中学习，并在没有明确编程的情况下随着时间的推移提高其性能。

试题二：请将以下中文段落翻译成英文：“随着全球化的不断推进，跨文化交流变得越来越重要。

为了促进不同文化之间的理解和尊重，我们需要学习彼此的语言和文化。

”答案二："With the continuous advancement of globalization, cross-cultural communication is becoming increasingly important. To promote understanding and respect between different cultures, we need to learn each other's languages and cultures."试题三：请将以下英文句子翻译成中文："The rapid development of technology has brought about significant changes in the way we live and work."答案三：技术的快速发展已经改变了我们生活和工作的方式。

蚊子随着渐暖的春夜到来了，星夜下我们的卧房成了他们的舞台。

我一整夜不停地挥舞一张湿毛巾驱赶他们，最后他们还是侵入了我的领地。

今晨我感到轻微的头疼，由于整夜无眠和一种对写作有帮助的饮料，因为一切的责任感对词语本身所表达的意义已失去。

昨夜我的妻子给我看了一个几码大的网状纱巾，我们一起用这条薄纱巾盖住壁炉，这使它看起来像桥一样。

（我们的一个观点是，蚊子是从烟囱飞下来的。

）我在第三大街的五金店买了一副可调整帘子，并把它们安在窗户上。

因为这栋建筑窗户的窗框太老旧，不规则，所以除了有些大的过分的蚊子外，其它蚊子都可以毫无困难的从窗框与帘子的空隙中飞进房间里去。

（甚至在上下窗框间有更大的空隙，尤其是在打开下窗框收帘子的时候——有一个极大的空隙，只要住过这栋楼的居民都知道，与此同时，蚊子也知道）。

我也极尽讨价还价之能花了25美元买了一个自己很喜欢的旧空调。

它对改善房间里的温度几乎没什么用，仅仅降掉了一点点热度。

还使人想起铁路上轰鸣而过列车发出的巨大的噪音，我啪的一下关掉灯，闭上眼，拿着准备好的湿毛巾，忽而胡思乱想着：我站在被一个挥舞着别针的怒不可遏的女孩刺破的地下。

我还有一个关于蚊子的秘密隧道想法：他们偷偷地进入房间是通过空调随着被吸入的的冷空气，就如空中盘旋的老鹰。

这是一个毫无根据的理论，但是人们不得不想出一个很幽默的观点来打发无聊的失眠时间。

我去商店想买一些过时的杀虫剂，但当我向店员咨询时他古怪的看了我一眼，他的眼神好像在说这些年你呆在哪个落后的地方。

他说，他有比那个更强效的药。

生产一罐所需的原材料包含氯丹和几种不了解的化学物质。

我告诉他我对氯丹过敏因此不能使用这种产品，我还想活久一点，说罢我散漫的瞥了他一眼。

早上是公寓里最令人愉快的时候，酒足饭饱的蚊子已经精疲力竭地趴在天花板或墙上，。

江苏省笔译大赛优秀译文原文：We know from fossil records that the populations of many animal species declined sharply when humans expanded their range. There is no doubt that the world that existed from the emergence of Homo sapiens about 300,000 years ago until the beginning of human civilizations was far richer in large wild animals than the one we inhabit today. Art and literature all record this.Of course, these artistic and literary sources do not tell the whole story. They are not spread out evenly across space, time or biological class; they do not result from systematic selection; and they were mostly written by white men. Some of them are works of fiction or myth; many of them are anecdotal; some may have involved exaggerations, or be reports only of exceptional phenomena; and all should be subject to the normal rigours of source analysis. Many of the abundances described, moreover, were also probably influenced by human actions and should not be considered straightforwardly natural.They are nevertheless important because, first, anyone interpreting a historical source that hails from any great distance in the past needs to remember that the world its creator existed in was probably more abundant than ours. When Keats wrote about a nightingale singing in north London, he was not writing about a rare or extraordinary event. When Milton described how “fry innumerable swarm”, he was describing something many of his readers would have witnessed personally. When Darwin wrote of “a tangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds and with birds singing on the bushes”, he was describing something more various and lively than we would be likely to encounter today. When choughs and bustards were put on the coats of arms of Cornwall and Wiltshire, these were not obscure choices. When Tennyson wrote of sparrows being speared by shrikes, he expected readers to know what he was referring to. When Shakespeare included “choughs that wing the midway air” in his description of Dover cliff, he probably chose them because they were typical shoreline birds. When John Clare wrote a poem about a wryneck’s nest, he considered himself to be writing about a fairly common country bird. When late- medieval men and women sang “Sumer is icumen in” , they were familiar with the sound of the bird they imitated in the second line. An understanding of lost bioabundance should be part of the basic background knowledge that readers bring to historical sources.This should also affect how we think about progress. Though optimistic writers like Steven Pinker have attempted to describe the history of the past few hundred years as one of improving quality of life for millions of people, brought about by improved nutrition, more reliable food supplies, better education, a decrease in violence and so on, these narratives, even if they are allowed to be true, need to be qualified by an understanding of what these improvements have meant for the natural world. What might in one account be “progress” might in another be a vast and unsustainable transfer of benefits from non-human living beings to human ones.Thinking like this can promote several different reactions. If we believe that humans tend under a diverse range of conditions to spoil and diminish the naturalworld, then we may be sceptical about the likelihood of humanity significantly mitigating the effects of the crisis. Humans will need to behave in ways that are historically extraordinary if the future is not to be one of continued disaster. It might also make us think that mitigation is the best we can hope for. Any hope of putting things back the way they were must be dismissed, not least because so many irreversible events, including extinctions, have already occurred. But thinking like this may also make us angry. Restoring wildlife populationseven to what they were in the 1990s, although a desirable and ambitious aim, would be risible if even a partial restitution of what has been lost overall were sought.译文：我们从化石记录中了解到，当人类扩大其活动范围时，许多动物物种的数量急剧下降。

四、CATTI考试英译汉译文处理简要提示第一段原文：All Luciano Faggiano wanted when he purchased the seemingly unremarkable building at 56 Via Ascanio Grandi, was to open a restaurant. The only problem was the toilet. Sewage kept backing up. So Mr. Faggiano enlisted his two older sons to help him dig a trench and investigate. He predicted the job would take about a week. “We found underground corridors and other rooms, so we kept digging,” said Mr. Faggiano, 60. His search for a sewage pipe, which began in 2000, became one family’s tale of discovery.分析：第一句话是由all引出的一个主语从句。

该句理解难点在于中间插入了when引导的时间状语从句，可能与考生以往见到的状语从句位置不同。

“the seemingly unremarkable building”意为:“这座似乎不起眼的建筑”。

第三句“Sewage kept backing up.”其中back up为高频动词短语，具有多义性，分别为“支持”、“备份”、“倒退”、“援助”、“堵塞”等多种义项，（其近义词可以有corroborate, substantiate, reinforce, copy, dupilicate, reverse, go backward, recede, congest等等），但根据上下文不难理解该句指“下水道一直堵塞”。

自从达尔文提出了物竞天择说，在某些领域，就产生了一些令人担忧的问题——关于人类是否仍然在任何意义上都是独一无二的。

当提及类似认知和语言等，人类的运用水平远高于其他动物。

但是就正如达尔文的理论所说，只是程度上的差异而并非品种上的差异吗？人类曾经将把自己看作是本位论体系中的特殊物种——有道德行为的能力，有在理性的基础上做出选择的能力——是否应该被理解而不是当作不间断的动物行为结束的标志？这些动物行为可以用DNA和进化史来解释。

对于很大一部分科学家和有着科学性思维的思想家来说，这个问题的回答绝对是肯定的。

人类仅仅是一种很聪明的动物。

如果我们最初违抗生物学原理（也可以说，英勇的自我牺牲），只要一些时间，那些雌雄淘汰和群体遗传学的理论便可以解释这类现象。

我们所做的每件事只是我们动物形象的一种表达。

关于人性其他的观点只是奇思妙想或者感情主义的一种锻炼尝试。

哲学家罗杰斯克鲁顿说并非如此。

在他细致的描述中，简介地批评了由普林斯顿大学出版的论人性这本书，他打算为人性的独特性辩护，而不是因为生物学定律而反对人类是动物这一观点。

他的主张是人类是动物同样也是“人”，通过这个他说这意味着人是“自由、有个体意识的、是理性的主体，会因为理由而服从并且会被道德法律所约束”。

人格在此观点中，不仅仅是被超自然地放置在有机体的自我之上。

但同样的，也无法简化我们的生物，不管哪一个成为重点，都是取决于我们询问自己什么样的问题。

科学对于一方面有很多要说，但并不关于另一种。

斯克鲁顿提出一个相似之处，想想一幅油画，就比如《蒙娜丽莎的微笑》，这是一个纯由物体组成的画面，画在帆布上的行字与字段的油漆。

当你看到这幅油画，你会看到那些物理性的物体，但是，你同样可以看到其他东西，一个面带神秘表情的女人形象。

那些行字与字段的油漆并不仅仅衍生于这个图像，同样的，还有一些超脱于这幅画的东西，这也是丽莎盖拉蒂妮的肖像，虽然不是每幅画的布局都会产生如此的图像，但那些有着一定复杂性的布局会产生。

第三届国际口笔译大赛汉译英组优秀译文原文：中国的士大夫与民本思想陈嘉映翻开历史我们会看到，中国历史上充满了残酷的压迫、剥削、残杀，但是欧洲也一样。

我们没有公民概念，但是有所谓民本思想。

人民生活的保障，不是通过伸张权利，而且通过例如官员和士人为民请命诸如此类。

民本思想和中国独特的政治结构有关系。

简短地说，这个政治结构就是，中国有士和士大夫的阶级。

士不像贵族或草莽英雄，由于血统或英雄气概获得权力，他们的长处是受过教育、富有理性。

他们本身不是权力的来源，而只是皇帝的办事员。

士大夫之所以要服从于皇帝，是因为需要皇帝的权力，皇帝赋予他权力才能保证民本的实现。

所以，他们劝谏皇帝，上疏、进谏，有时候是不要命的。

在很大程度上，民本思想是因士大夫阶层的存在而存在的。

而西方更多的是通过每一个公民自己以及公民社会进行权利上的斗争来保障自己的利益。

虽然今天的中国跟传统上的中国相比已经面目全非了，但这一特点仍然依稀可见，在中国人的政治心理上仍然相当明显。

无论从社会身份上说，还是从思想内容上说，中国的士人都不大像西方的自由知识分子。

他们在学问上、知识上，首先有的是政治关怀。

他们的研究、思考方式始终都是高度的政治化、社会化或者伦理化的。

对于中国读书人来说，很难设想他会去从事纯粹智性的追求，而和政治伦理无关。

任何知识上的追求都是要跟“齐家、治国、平天下”连在一起，否则大家会觉得他太古怪，几乎要把他当成一个异类。

译文：Chinese Scholar-officials and Populist IdeasChen JiayingA glimpse of Chinese history offers, like that of Western history, a daunting array of poignant persecution, demeaning exploitation and brutal killings. Unlike the Western world, we have no concept of citizenship. Instead, we hold populist ideas. The improvement of people’s life stems not from legal justice, but from pleading byscholar-officials and officials to top-rank officials or emperors on behalf of the general public.Populist ideas are related to the distinctive political fiber of China which, if put briefly, is characterized by the stratum of scholar-officials. Unlike greenwood outlaws and the noble clan, who gain power by blood or by heroic spirit, scholar-officials are cultivated and sensible in human dealings. They are no source of power, but run errands for Emperors with utter obedience, which arises from the need for royal authority to materialize populist ideas. Scholar-officials resort to persuasion and suggestion, sometimes even at the risk of their own lives. To a large extent, populist ideas exist due to scholar-officials. Westerners safeguard their own interests by fighting for rights as an individual or a civil society. Though China’s present differs vastly from its past, the association ofscholar-officials with populist ideas remains a salient feature in the political psyche of Chinese people.Socially or ideologically, scholar-officials in China bear little resemblance to liberal intellectuals in the West. Political concern permeates their pursuit of knowledge. The political, social and ethical tint in their research or thinking is marked. It’s hard for an intellect in China to pursue purely intellectual knowledge. Any knowledge should be pursued in connection to the management of a family and the government of a country, and the failure to do so will be deemed weird and unacceptable.译文作者：第三届北京语言大学国际口笔译大赛一般性文本汉译英组一等奖选手桑秋波。

第三届翻译大赛试题及答案Nature and ArtNature contains the elements, in colour and form, of all pictures, as the keyboard contains the notes of all music.But the artist is born to pick, and choose, and group with science, these elements, that the result may be beautiful—as the musician gathers his notes, and forms his chords, until he brings forth from the chaos glorious harmony.To say to the painter, that Nature is to be taken as she is, is to say to the player, that he may sit on the piano…The dignity of the snow-capped mountain is lost in distinctness, but the joy of the tourist is to recognize the traveller on the top. The desire to see, for the sake of seeing, is, with the mass, alone the one to be gratified, hence the delight in detail.And when the evening mist clothes the riverside with poetry, as with a veil, and the poor buildings lose themselves in the dim sky, and the tall chimneys become campanili, and the warehouses are palaces in the night, and the whole city hangs in the heavens, and fairy-land is before us—then the wayfarer hastens home; the working man and the cultured one, the wise man and the one of pleasure, cease to understand, as they have ceased to see, and Nature, who, for once, has sung in tune, sings her exquisite song to the artist alone, her son and her master—her son in that loves her, her master in that he knows her.To him her secrets are unfolded, to him her lessons have become gradually clear. He looks at her flower, not with the enlarging lens, that may gather facts for the botanist, but with the light of the one who sees in her choice selection of brilliant tones and delicate tints, suggestions of future harmonies.He does not confine himself to purposeless copying, without thought, each blade of grass, as commended by the inconsequent, but, in the long curve of the narrow leaf, corrected by the straight tall stem, he learns how grace is wedded to dignity. How strength enhances sweetness, that elegance shall be the result.In the citron wing of the pale butterfly, with its dainty spots of orange, he sees before him the stately halls of fair gold, with their slender saffron pillars, and is taught how the delicate drawing high upon the walls shall be traced in tender tones of orpiment, and repeated by the base in notes of graver hue.In all that is dainty and lovable he finds hints for his own combinations, and thus is Nature ever his resource and always at his service, and to him is naught refused.Through his brain, as through the last alembic, is distilled the refined essence of that thought which began with the Gods, and which they left him to carry out.Set apart by them to complete their works, he produces that wondrous thing called the masterpiece, which surpasses in perfection all that they have contrived in what is called Nature; and the Gods stand by and marvel, and perceive how far away more beautiful is the Venus of Melos than was their own Eve.自然与艺术就色彩和形状而论，大自然包含所有图画的元素，就像键盘包含所有音乐的音符一样。

第一篇How I Serve the PassengersOnce I heard a man politely ask a woman in front of him at the door of the crowded bus, "Are you getting off the bus, ma'am?" The woman made no response. "Are you getting off." he asked again. The woman still did not reply. "Getting off, or not?" he shouted impatiently but there was still no response. "Are you deaf, or mute?" As he was annoyed, the man gave her a slight push. The woman glared at him angrily and hit back.At this point, it suddenly occurred to me that on the route of Bus No. 60 was a factory for the physically disabled, and that woman might be a deaf-mute from that factory. I told the man what I was thinking and wrote on a slip of paper: "Excuse me, but he wants to get off. He's asked you several times but you didn't hear him, did you?" When I showed it to the woman, she nodded and made way for him.After that, I began to pay more attention to those who look like deaf-mutes. I even learned some frequently used sign language from them. In this way, not only can I offer them better service and communicate with them, but also prevent misunderstanding or disputes between them and the other passengers.第二篇Knowledge CreationChina is a developing country. Although great progress has been made in the acquisition and application of science, technology and other modern knowledge, there is still an obvious gap between China and the developed countries. For this reason the Chinese government has formulated a strategy of "modernizing China through science and education" and is accelerating the pace of scientific and technological advancement and the updating of knowledge so as to catch up with the developed world as quickly as possible. The essence of knowledge lies in innovation. Only by constantly creating new knowledge and technology can a new industrial revolution be sparked and the rapid development of the economy be made possible. In the new century, factors such as human resources, culture, education, economic and social management are playing an increasingly important role in economic and social development. Only by continually carrying out reform and innovation in theories and technologies and achieving new breakthroughs can we inject new energy and vitality into economic and social development, more efficiently explore and make use of human and natural resources, and create more material and spiritual wealth for the benefit of human society.第三篇The Word Failure Doesn't Exist in My DictionaryMilu is always an optimist. No matter how badly he loses a game, he always remains optimistic.When asked how he responds to failure, Milu's reply was "What does failure mean?" Then he declared, "This word doesn't exist in my dictionary.""I never think about these bad things. Even in my dreams I always dream of good things. One must have confidence in oneself, and be optimistic. Only then will there be hope. I am very optimistic about the prospect of the Chinese team and about my own prospects.""In my view, it is perfectly normal to either lead or lag behind during a match. At halftime, I didn't give any thought to the possibility that we might lose. All I thought was how to change tactics, replace players, score more goals and finally win the game."No one can understand what Milu is doing, because the way we are educated in China makes it impossible for us to understand him!第四篇WaterThe earth's water resources are composed of sea water, underground water, ice and snow, and waters in rivers and lakes, totaling about 1.4 billion cubic kilometers in all. Although sea water makes up 97.2 percent of this, it cannot be used directly for human consumption or for production; water in solid forms, such as ice, snow, etc, is distributed mainly in the uninhabited Arctic and Antarctic areas; and the total amount of water in rivers, lakes and underground comprises only 0.6 percent of the earth's water, of which a considerable amount is undrinkable. Indeed, the fresh water that is usable is merely 0.34 percent of the fresh water reserves of the earth.China's annual water resources are averaged at 2,812.4 billion cubic meters, the third in the world and next only to Brazil and the former Soviet Union. But the size of the population has reduced the per capita water resources to merely 2,580 cubic metres, the 84th place in the world. Furthermore, the water resources are unevenly distributed geographically, with 90 percent of the surface water and over 70 percent of the underground water found in southern provinces. This leaves the 17 provinces in the North extremely short of water. With the increasing population, development of production and expansion of cities, the contradiction between demand for and supply of water will become more and more serious.第五篇A Shortcut to Becoming a BeijingerI came to Beijing and found a job as a hired laborer. My workplace is not far from where I stay, but I have to change buses twice to get there. To save the bus fare, I bought an imitation mountain bike and joined Beijing's large contingent of cyclists. But soon trouble found its way to me.Just five days after I bought the bike I left the building of my company after work to get my bike as usual, only to find my bike had disappeared. I walked around the bike parking lot five times but found no trace of it. I concluded it must have been stolen. Hearing my incident, my landlord consoled me, "Take it easy, sonny. You can't be a Beijinger if you haven't lost at least three bikes."As a bike was indispensable to me, I went to the same shop and bought a second bike of the same design. This time I also bought a strong lock for my bike.It so happened that the third day after I bought my second bike was over a weekend. I rode my bike to Tiancheng Supermarket to do shopping. When I came out an hour later carrying big and small bags, I failed to find my bike again. At first I thought perhaps I was dazed by so many bikes there. It dawned on me only after half an hour's careful searching in vain that my new bike was stolen. On my bus ride back I consoled myself, "At this speed I'll out-Beijinger Beijingers in a few days!"第六篇Enhance the Awareness of the EnvironmentEnvironmental protection is a big issue involving many aspects. The United Nations has also met many obstacles in solving problems concerning this issue. For example, the Bush Administration had tried to defeat the Kyoto Protocol not long ago because it might impede the development of the United States. Of course every citizen should be concerned with such issues,but as ordinary citizens we are not in a position to have much say. However, we can start with small matters in our daily life, such as refusing to use disposable chopsticks or paper napkins.My son seems to be more conscious about environmental protection than I am. He thinks it is more important to take into consideration environmental friendliness rather than economic benefit when making any decision. This gratifies me, but I wonder if he would compromise when he has to face life by himself in the future.It is now more appropriate to judge how advanced a society is by examining if environmental protection has found its way deep into the hearts of its people and their daily behavior than by examining its productivity or living standard.第七篇Capital of BeggarsAddis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, is known as the "capital of beggars". Tens of thousands out of the city's population of three million are beggars. The first impression any foreigner gets when he comes to the city is the unbelievable number of beggars. No matter where you are you will inevitably see them when you look round; and you'll be besieged by a big crowd of beggars dressed in rags as soon as you stop at any intersection.Most of the beggars in Addis Ababa are children. The average life expectancy in Ethiopia is only 49 because of the extreme poverty there. Fifteen million out of Ethiopia's population of 67 million are children under fifteen. Old people are rarely seen in the streets and almost everyone you see is of young age. These children are usually very dirty and are constantly in worries about their next meal. But they are quite optimistic and seem always happy unless extremely hungry. Some children shine shoes for others to earn some bread. They will also readily join the contingent of beggars when they find no business.Another type of beggars are displaced people from the countryside. As Ethiopia was hit by another severe drought last year, there is an obvious increase of beggars in the capital city.第八篇One Plus One Is Less Than TwoNowadays in cities it has become fashionable to remain single, and those who do so seem to be so free and unconstrained. But environmentally this is something undesirable as a recent research report suggests that getting married is an "environment-friendly" action.This sounds somewhat sensational, but it is a simple plain truth: a person living alone consumes much more natural resources than the average a person does when living together with another one. For example, if a person lives by himself in a house which can house two people, the resources used to build the house are partly wasted, and so are water and electricity. So we can see one plus one is less than two. Smaller families mean more families have to be established for the same number of people. As a result, cities get larger and larger, doing serious damage to the surrounding habitats of many species.Sure it is impossible to force single people to get married for the protection of the environment. However, to conserve natural resources, we can at least do our best to choose a way of life that is environment-friendly.第九篇Changing SeatsA woman's seat was next to that of a black man on the plane. She asked a stewardess to change her seat because she "would not sit beside someone whose skin is of an ugly color". Thestewardess replied that all the seats were occupied but she would go and have a look at the first class compartment. The other passengers found the woman's words disgusting but she looked pleased with herself as she wouldn't have to sit beside such a "sickening" person.A few minutes later the stewardess came back and said to the woman, "I'm sorry, but there is a vacant seat in the first class compartment. I've consulted the captain, who has agreed to make some rearrangement about the seat." The woman was very much elated and was ready to leave her seat when the stewardess said to the black man sitting beside the woman, "Would you please follow me to your new seat, sir?" The other passengers were stupefied for a moment but soon gave a round of warm applause to the stewardess.第十篇Harvesting Our Own Sowing?Narrow living spaces and poor hygienic conditions contributed to the wide spread of smallpox in history. Such problems have not been tackled at the root though people's living conditions have been greatly improved. The high population density in central urban districts and the closely built high-risings with narrow space in between are favorable for the spread of viruses. The height inside the rooms is also a problem: It becomes difficult to dispel the polluted air inside the room timely when the height of a room is less than 2.5 meters. But both designers and builders often neglect this in order to save building materials.The greedy demands of human beings have damaged the harmonious natural bio-system. They are paying the price for what they have done. As the resources people rely on are getting exhausted, human beings are exposing themselves to strange viruses and bacteria.。