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1、1,工程硕士研究生英语基础教程,Unit 3,2,Table of Contents,1. Text2. Exercise3. Part B: Grammar4. Part C,3,Text A: Preserving our planet,4,1 Despite decades of scientific research, no-one yet knows how much damage human activity is doing to the environment. Humans are thought to be responsible for a large number of
2、 environmental problems, ranging from global warming to ozone depletion. What is not in doubt, however, is the devastating effect humans are having on the animal and plant life of the planet.,5,1尽管科学研究进行了几十年，但仍然没有人知道人类活动对环境的破坏究竟有多大。人类被认为应读为一系列环境问题负责，从全球温度上升到臭氧大大减少。然而有一点是毫无疑问的，即人类正对地球上的动、植物的生活产生极大的破坏
3、作用,6,2 Currently, an estimated 50,000 species become extinct every year. If this carries on, the impact on all living creatures is likely to be profound, says Dr Nick Middleton, a geographer at Oxford University. All species depend in some way on each other to survive. And the danger is that, if you
4、 remove one species from this very complex web of interrelationships, you have very little idea about the knock-on effects on the ecosystem, So, if you lose a key species, you might cause a whole flood of other extinctions.,7,2目前，估计每年大约有50,000物种绝迹。牛津大学的地理学家尼克密德尔顿博士说道，如果这种情况继续下去，它对所有生物的影响将可能是深远的。所有物种
5、都以某种方式互相依赖以生存因此危险就在于，如果你从这个互相联系的非常复杂的网络上除掉一个物种，你很难预料这对生态系统造成的连锁影响。所以，如果你失去了一个重要物种，那也许会引起大量其他物种的绝迹。”,8,3 Complicating matters is the fact that there are no obvious solutions to the problem. Unlike global warming and ozone depletion - which, if the political will was there, could be reduced by cutting
6、 gas emissions - preserving bio-diversity remains an intractable problem.,9,3麻烦的是对这些问题还没有明显的解决办法。和全球气温度上升以及臭氧大大减少这些问题不一样，如果政府进行干预，这两种情况可以通过减少废气的排放得以减弱，而保护生物的多样性却依然是一个十分棘手的问题,10,4 The latest idea is sustainable management. This means humans should be able to use any species of animal or plant for the
7、ir benefit, provided enough individuals of that species are left alive to ensure its continued existence.,11,4最新的想法是“可持续管理”，即指人类应该在保证每一物种有足够的个体存活下来以确保读物种得以延续的条件下，才能够利用动、植物种为自己谋利益。,12,5 Sustainable management is seen as a practical and economical way of protecting species from extinction. Instead of
8、depending on largely ineffective laws against illegal hunting, it gives local people a good economic reason to preserve plants and animals. In Zimbabwe, for instance, there is a sustainable management project to protect elephants. Foreign tourists pay large sums of money to kill these animals for sp
9、ort. This money is then given to the inhabitants of the area where the hunting takes place. In theory, locals will be encouraged to protect elephants, instead of hunting them illegally - or allowing others to do so - because of the economic benefit involved.,13,5人们把可持续管理梗为一种保护物种使之免于绝迹的实用而又经济的办法，这种办法
10、使当地人们可以为了经济上的原因而去保护动、植物，而不是依靠在很大程度上难以奏效的反对非法偷猎的规章制度。例如，在津巴布韦就有可持续管理项目来保护大象。外国游客为娱乐而杀这些动物要付高额费用。这些钱随后再交给发生射猎的地区居民。从理论上讲，由于牵涉到当地居民的经济利益，他们会受到激励去保扩大象而不是去非法偷猎或允许其他人去偷猪大象。,14,6 This sounds like a sensible strategy, but it remains to be seen whether it will work. With corruption popular in many developing
11、 countries, some observers are suspicious that the money will actually reach the people it is intended for. Others wonder how effective the locals will be at stopping illegal hunters.,15,6这听起来像是一个明智的策略，但它能否起作用还有待于观察。由于许多发展中国家普遍存在腐败，一些观察家对这些钱财实际上是否能到达应该接受这笔财物的人们手中表示怀疑。而另一些人则想知道当地居民在制止非法偷猎者方面究竟有多大效果。,
12、16,7 There are also questions about whether sustainable management is practical when it comes to protecting areas of great bio-diversity such as the worlds tropical forests. In theory, the principle should be the same as with elephants - allow logging companies to cut down a certain number of trees,
13、 but not so many as to completely destroy the forest.,17,7当涉及到保护多生物地区，如世界热带森林时，可持续管理是否仍然切实可行，人们也有一些疑问。理论上讲，原则应该和处理大象一样允许伐木公司砍伐一定量的树木，但这个量不应该多到会完全摧毁整个森林的程度。,18,8 Sustainable management of forests requires controls on the number of trees which are cut down, as well as investment in replacing them. Bec
14、ause almost all tropical forests are located in countries which desperately need income from logging, there are few regulations and incentives to do this. In fact, for loggers, the most sensible economic approach is to cut down as many trees as quickly as possible.,19,8森林的可持续管理需要种植新树以取代被砍伐的树木，也需要对被砍
15、伐树木的数量进行控制由于几乎所有的热带森林都位于那些迫切需要从伐木中得到收入的国家，因此在那里很少有规章制度和奖励措施来控制伐木数量及鼓励种植新树。事实上，对伐木者来说，最明智最合算的办法是尽快砍伐尽可能多的树木。,20,9 One reason is the stable price of most commercial tree species in tropical forests. Typically, they rise in value annually by, at most, four to five per cent. Contrast this with interest
16、rates in most developing countries, where investors can typically expect returns of 15 per cent or more. Clearly, it makes no economic sense to delay harvests.,21,9原因之一是热带森林的大多数商业树种的价格平稳少变。一般来讲，价格每年至多增加百分之四到百分之五。试将这个递增率和大多数发展中国家的利率作一比较，显然推迟砍伐从经济上来说是不明智的。在这些地区，投资者每年一般有百分之十五或更多的回报率。,22,10 One solution
17、 might be to verify wood which comes from sustainably managed forests. In theory, consumers would buy only this wood and so force logging companies to go green or go out of business. Unfortunately, unrestricted logging is so much more profitable that wood prices from managed forests would cost up to five times more - an increase that consumers, no matter how green , are unlikely to pay.,
