大学英语综合教程4Unit 1
Text A
人在自然界
|亚历山大·斯伯金
Nature nurtures mankind unselfishly with its rich resources. Yet, man is so carried away in his transformation of nature that he is unaware that it also has limitations and needs constant care. Now worn by the excessive demands of mankind, nature is unable to maintain the ecological balance needed. Humanity is faced with the problem of how to stop, or at least to moderate, the destruction of Mother Nature.
人类生活在大自然的王国里。他们时刻被大自然所包围并与之相互影响。人类呼吸的空气、喝下的水和摄入的食物，无一不令人类时刻感知到大自然的影响。我们与大自然血肉相连，离开大自然，我们将无法生存。
Human beings live in the realm of nature. They are constantly surrounded by it and interact with it. Man is constantly aware of the influence of nature in the form of the air he breathes, the water he drinks, and the food he eats. We are connected with nature by "blood" ties and we cannot live outside nature.
人类不仅生活在大自然之中，同时也在改变着大自然。人类把自然资源转变为各种文化，社会历史的财富。人类降服并控制了电，迫使它为人类社会的利益服务。人类不仅把各种各样的动植物转移到不同的气候环境，也改变了他生活环境的地貌和气候并使动植物因之而发生转变。
Man is not only a dweller in nature, he also transforms it. Humanity converts nature's wealth into the means of the cultural, historical life of society. Man has subdued and disciplined electricity and compelled it to serve the interests of society. Not only has man transferred various species of plants and animals to different climatic conditions, he has also changed the shape and climate of his environment and transformed plants and animals.
随着社会的发展，人类对大自然的直接依赖越来越少，而间接的依赖却越来越多。我们远古的祖先生活在大自然的威胁及破坏力的恐惧之中，他们常常连基本的生活物资都无法获取。然而，尽管工具不甚完备，他们却能同心协力，顽强工作，并总是有所收获。在与人类的相互作用中，大自然也发生了改变。森林被破坏了，耕地面积增加了。大自然及其威力被看成是和人类敌对的东西。譬如，森林被认为是野性的和令人恐惧的，因此人类便想方设法使其面积缩小。这一切都是打着“文明”的旗号进行的，所谓“文明”，就是人类在哪里建立家园，耕耘土地，哪里的森林就被砍伐。
As society develops, man tends to become less dependent on nature directly, while indirectly his dependence grows. Our distant ancestors lived in fear of nature's destructive forces. Very often they were unable to obtain the merest daily necessities. However, despite their imperfect tools, they worked together stubbornly , collectively, and were able to attain results . Nature was also changed through interaction with man. Forests were destroyed and the area of farmland increased. Nature with its elemental forces was regarded as something hostile to man. The forest, for example, was something wild and frightening and people tried to force it to retreat . This was all done in the name of civilization , which meant the places where man had made his home, where the earth was cultivated, where the forest had been cut down.
然而，随着岁月的流逝，人类越来越关注的是在何处得到和如何得到生产所需的不可替代的自然资源的问题。科学与人类改变大自然的实践活动已经使人类意识到了工业在改变地球的进程中对地质产生的重大影响。
