牛津高中英语模块1-5课文及译文

was set up in 1989. This project resulted in farmers replacing their crops with trees or grass. It has already been a success because it has helped improve the local environment and the land around the river.

The second project includes nature reserves for white-flag dolphins, one of the rarest animals in the world. The number of white-flag dolphins in China has dropped because of pollution in the Yangtze River. The white-flag dolphin was last seen several years ago, though scientists are still hopeful that the animal has survived.

We still have a long way to go to solve all the problems in regard to the Yangtze River. However, people have finally realized that it is their responsibility to protect this great river. Because of this, the situation on the Yangtze River is improving. The efforts of the Chinese government and people to protect this much-loved river will be appreciated for years to come.

Climate change and a low-carbon life

There is no doubt that the world climate has been changing in recent years. Many people blame this change on gases such as carbon dioxide. Animals and humans produce carbon dioxide when they breathe. However, many other human activities also let off carbon gases. Anytime something is burnt, carbon is put into the atmosphere. Cars and other vehicles burn petrol in their engines, and electrical power plants most often burn fuels such as coal and oil in order to produce electricity. Therefore, the more petrol and electricity we consume, the more carbon we are letting off.

One thing we can all do to help solve this problem is to walk or use a bicycle when possible. Although we produce carbon when we breathe, the carbon we produce is much less than that produced by a car. Of course, there are times when we need to travel long distances. In this case, public transport such as buses and the underground are always much better choices than a private car or a taxi. If you must drive a car, it is never good to travel alone—you should try to find other people to travel with you.

At home, you should use as little energy as possible. Turn off the lights and anything else electrical when not in use. Since factories use a lot of energy and also let off carbon gases, it is important to recycle as much as possible. In particular, metal products and paper products require a lot of energy to produce, so you should find ways to use these again without throwing themaway.

Last but not least, you can plant a tree, because trees absorb the carbon dioxide in the air to produce oxygen. Planting a small tree is cheap and easy, and two decades from now, when you look at what will have become a large tree, you will find a sense of satisfaction knowing that you did your part to help solve the problem of climate change.

翻译

保护长江

作为世界上第三长的河流，长江的环境问题已经引起了国内外的关注。飞速的经济发展和人口增长意味着取自长江的水量不断上涨，而排回到长江中的废物也在不断增加。这对依赖长江用水的人来说是个不好的消息，对生活在江中或沿岸的大量鱼类和野生生物来说也是个不好的消息。

许多人已经认识到保护长江的重要性，他们已经成立组织和设立项目，来解决这个问题。例如，绿色江河组织教育人们，让他们了解保护这条大河的重要性。该组织还监视长江，阻止非法捕捞。非法捕捞已经威胁到野生动物的数量。

政府的两个特别项目也在实施中。第一个项目是水土保持项目，启动于1989年。这个项目使得农民退耕还林或退耕还草。这个项目已经取得成功，因为它有效地改善了当地的环境和江边的土地情况。

第二个项目是白鳍豚自然保护区。白鳍豚是世界上最稀有的动物之一。由于长江的污染，中国白鳍豚的数量急剧下降。尽管科学家还在期盼着白鳍豚不会绝种，但人们最后一次看到白鳍豚已经是在好几年前了。

要解决有关长江的所有问题，我们还有很长的一段路要走。但是，人们终于认识到他们有责任来保护这条大河。因此，长江的环境正在改善。中国政府和人民为保护这条深受人们热爱的河流所做出的努力会在未来得到赏识。

气候变化和低碳生活

毫无疑问，最近几年世界气候一直在发生着变化。许多人将这一变化归咎于二氧化碳等气体。动物和人类在呼吸时会排出二氧化碳。然而，人类的许多其他活动也会释放出二氧化碳。每当物体燃烧时，碳就会排放进大气中。小汽车和其他车辆燃烧汽油来发动引擎，发电站通常靠燃烧诸如煤和油之类的燃料来发电。因此，我们消耗的汽油和电能越多，我们释放出的碳就越多。

我们能做的有助于解决这一问题的方法之一就是尽量步行或使用自行车。尽管我们呼吸时产生碳，但所排出的碳要比小汽车产生的碳少很多。当然，有时候我们也需要长途旅行。这种情况下，与私家车或出租车相比，公共交通工具如公共汽车和地铁是更好的选择。如果你必须开车，独自出行永远不是最佳选择——你应该试着找人与你同行。

在家你应该尽可能少地消耗能量。不用电灯以及其他电器时，应该关掉。由于工厂消耗大量能源，也排放出大量碳化气体，尽量多地回收利用是非常重要的。尤其是金属产品和纸质产品需要消耗大量能源来生产，因此你应该找到重复使用这些产品的方法，而不是把它们扔掉。

最后但并不是最不重要的一点是，你可以植树，因为树能够吸收空气中的二氧化碳，释放氧气。种植一棵小树很便宜也很简单，但二十多年之后，当你看到它们都长成大树时，会有一种满足感，因为你知道自己为帮助解决气候变化问题尽了你的一份力。

The perfect copy

Scientists have announced that they have cloned the first human embryo. This has caused much debate round the world. On the one hand, some scientists point out that if you clone an embryo, you can produce valuable human tissues—such as bone or lung tissue—that could be used to save human lives.On the other hand, many people, including some scientists, disagree and are afraid that, if mankind toys with nature in this way, we may be on our way to producing a real-life Frankenstein’s monster.

Cloning is producing an exact copy of a plant or an animal using its cells. The first mammal to be cloned successfully from an adult cell was Dolly the sheep. She was born in 1996 and died in early 2003, at a much younger age than normal. When she was born, many people were worried that cloning would lead to more diseases in the animal world. However, in general the scientists were praised for their wonderful scientific advance.

Ian Wilmut, the Scottish scientist who created Dolly, is shocked that some scientists are now considering cloning human beings. Although he researches cloning, his intention has never been to create copies of humans. Instead, he thinks research efforts should concentrate on creating new tissues and organs that can be used to cure diseases like cancer. However, some people believe that cloning human embryos with the intention of destroying them shows no respect for human life.

Even though human cloning is causing a lot of anxiety, it is good news for Faye Wilson, a 41-year-old saleswoman who cannot have a baby. ‘I am anxious to have a child of my own,’ she says. ‘I don’t want to adopt someone else’s child— if I had the chance, I would have a cloned baby right now.’

While cloning human embryos is not legal in many countries, some scientists are already pushing ahead with research in order to produce a cloned human baby. SeverinoAntinori, an Italian physician, has declared that he wants to be the first to clone a human being.

In China, scientists have focused their efforts on cloning animals, as well as cloned tissues to be used in medical treatment. China has succeeded in producing clones of cows and goats, and continues to research ways in which cloning can benefit mankind.

Dear Editor

I believe that human cloning is wrong. If we toy with nature, we will have to deal with the consequences. Who knows what could happen? Human life would just become a crop to be harvested or a product for sale.

The human race is using up the Earth’s natural wealth. We should be having fewer babies in order to reduce the Earth’s population, not cloning more.

I feel sorry for the lady who cannot have a baby, but I would like to point out that there are many children in the world with no parents who would be delighted to have a mother.

Pauline Carter Dear Editor

I would like to comment on your article, ‘The perfect copy’. I think the scientific advances mentioned in your article are fantastic! I am in complete agreement with human cloning. After all, scientists have been challenging moral ideas for centuries. Why should we stop them now?

On a personal note, cloning would totally transform my life. Seven years ago, my 10-year-old daughter died of heart failure. She was beautiful, cheerful and bright. I miss her every single day. If I had the chance, I would clone her immediately so that I could be with her again.

Colin Jake

翻译 完美的复制

科学家们宣布他们已经克隆出第一个人类胚胎。这引起了世界范围内的很多争论。一方面，一些科学家指出如果克隆人类胚胎，你就可以制造出宝贵的人体组织——如骨组织或肺组织——它们可以用来拯救人类的生命。另一方面，包括一些科学家在内的许多人持不同意见，他们担心人类如果如此戏弄自然，我们可能将制造出一个现实生活中的弗兰肯斯坦怪物。

克隆是用某种植物或动物的细胞制造出一模一样的植物或动物。第一个成功地用成年动物细胞克隆出的哺乳动物是多利羊。她1996年被克隆出来，2003年初死亡，寿命要比普通的羊短很多。当她被克隆出来的时候，许多人担心克隆会导致动物世界中更多的疾病。然而，总体来说，这些科学家还是因为其杰出的科学进展获得人们的赞誉。

克隆出多利的苏格兰科学家伊恩 ? 威尔莫特对于有些科学家正在考虑克隆人类感到非常震惊。尽管他研究克隆技术，但他的目的从来就不是制造人类的复制品。相反，他认为克隆研究应该注重创造用于治疗的新组织和器官，这些新组织或器官能被用来治疗像癌症这样的疾病。但是，有些人认为怀着摧毁人类胚胎的意图来克隆人类胚胎是对人类生命的不尊重。

尽管克隆人类引起了很多不安，但对于不能生育的41岁女销售员费依 ? 威尔逊来说却是个好消息。“我渴望有一个我自己的孩子，”她说，“我不想领养别人的孩子——如果我有这个机会，我会立即要一个克隆婴儿。”

尽管克隆人类胚胎在很多国家还不合法，但一些科学家已经在加紧研究，以制造出克隆的人类婴儿。一位名叫塞韦里诺 ? 安蒂诺里的意大利医生宣称他想成为第一个克隆人类的人。

在中国，科学家们把精力集中在研究克隆动物上，以及用于医疗的克隆组织上。中国已经成功克隆出牛和山羊，将继续研究能够造福人类的克隆方式。

亲爱的编辑：

我坚信克隆人类是错误的。如果我们戏弄自然，我们就会不得不处理其后果。谁知道会发生什么呢？人类生命将变得像可以收割的庄稼或可供买卖的产品一样。

人类正在耗尽地球的自然资源。为了减少地球的人口数量，我们应该少生孩子，而不是克隆出更多的人。

我为那位不能生育的女士难过，但是我要指出的是世界上有许多没有父母的孩子，如果能有一位妈妈，他们一定非常高兴的。波琳 ? 卡特

亲爱的编辑：

我想谈谈我对你们的《完美的复制》一文的看法。我想文章中提到的科技进步是了不起的。我完全赞同克隆人类。毕竟，几个世纪以来科学家们一直在挑战道德的问题。为什么我们现在要阻止他们呢？

就我个人而言，克隆将彻底改变我的生活。七年前，我十岁的女儿死于心脏病。她漂亮、快乐而聪明。我每天都在思念她。如果我有机会，我愿意立即克隆她，那样我就又可以和她在一起了。科林 ? 杰克

Man and nature

For a long time, our environment has been damaged because humans have been careless. People have harmed nature through agriculture, fishing, hunting and tourism. We further damage the Earth by building new channels in

the sea and factories on the land, and by creating pollution with chemical waste. We will some day destroy the planet we live on if we continue in this way.

However, if we focus only on conservation, then people may suffer. Not everything that is best for nature is good for people. Would anyone say that development should be stopped in favour of nature? From the point of view of some people, we are only doing what humans have always done, using nature to meet our own needs. Other people argue that such thinking may cause a catastrophe, unless we start to look around and understand how a clean environment benefits us all.

After decades of destroying nature and using up natural resources, many developed nations are now concerned about saving nature rather than developing or destroying it. However, many poorer nations must focus on meeting the everyday needs of their people. In doing so, they are using up natural resources at a fast pace. They have not yet seen the effects of the careless use of the environment like many wealthy nations have. Often they do not realize that the choices they make are bad for the environment. Should they be blamed for destroying hundreds of thousands of acres of rainforest if it means a better income for their people? The developed and developing countries of the world need to work together to make sure that people enjoy healthy and happy lives, without the environment around them suffering.

It should not be a question of humans winning and nature losing. Humans can only really win by protecting nature. After all, food has to be produced in a healthy, natural system, and we all need clean air to breathe and pure water to drink. It is mankind’s responsibility to find answers that are good for everyone, and everything.

GM food: hope or danger?

In recent years, there has been great progress in the study of genetics. With this progress, doors have been opened up to technologies that never existed before. While many people are excited about these new technologies, these same technologies frighten others. Nowhere is this truer than with genetically modified (GM) food.

There are two ways in which a plant or an animal can be genetically modified. First, new material can be inserted into its DNA to give the plant or animal qualities which it would never have in nature. Second, material can be taken from the DNA of a plant or an animal in order to remove qualities which are not desired.

One aim of GM research is to produce food which will make us healthier. So far, this technology has been used to produce plants which are better able to defend themselves against pests and disease. Supporters of GM food argue that GM plants are healthier and have larger harvests. While there has been research in GM animals such as pigs, no GM meat is being sold at present.

Many questions have been raised about GM food. No one really knows whether it is safe for animals or humans to eat. Scientists admit that more tests should be done on GM food. Research has been limited to increasing production profits, rather than making sure that GM foods are safe. GM food could therefore be dangerous to eat.

There is also a question as to whether GM plants are safe for the environment. Since GM crops are planted outside, they are part of the food chain—insects and other animals eat them or use their products, and these insects and animals will be eaten by yet other animals. No one knows what effects the GM material might have on the food chain.

Since no one really knows whether GM food is safe, many countries have hesitated to give permission for the production of GM foods, as they would rather be cautious with this new technology. 人类与自然

长期以来，由于人类的漠不关心，我们的环境遭受了严重破坏。人类因农业、渔业、狩猎以及旅游业已经损害了自然。我们在海里修建新的通道，在陆地建造工厂，产生的化学废物污染环境，这些都变本加厉地