伊甸园计划

 　　伊甸园计划的所在地为康沃尔的一个粘土坑，计划包括了两个巨型的圆屋顶及一个户外区，而参观者可学会如何与环境和谐共处。

　　The Eden Project

　　

　　by Mike Rayner

　　We are stardust

　　We are golden

　　And we've got to get ourselves

　　Back to the garden

　　Joni Mitchell (Woodstock)

　　According to the Bible, the Garden of Eden was the home of the first two humans, Adam and Eve. In the story, the Garden provided everything the couple needed, and they lived there in peace and happiness until they were banished¹ for breaking the rules. In 1999, Tim Smit, an ex-rock musician and record producer, borrowed the name of the biblical garden for a collection of space-age domes² in a corner of southwest England - the Eden Project.

　　

　　Rock and Activism

　　It is not unusual for people involved in the music business to alert us to environmental and political issues. Bob Geldof (the singer from British punk band The Boomtown Rats) raised a huge amount of money to help feed millions of starving people in Africa in 1985, Bono from U2 has been successful in campaigning for the reduction of debts which developing countries owe to rich nations, and the music festival at Woodstock in 1969 is seen by many as the culmination³ of the civil rights marches and anti-war protests of the 1960's. Tim Smit’s Eden Project was created to highlight the relationship between humans and the environment, and through information, research and education lead the way to a brighter future.

　　

　　The Problem

　　The modern world is a far cry from the balance and harmony of the Garden of Eden. By-products of a typical modern lifestyle such as overfishing, deforestation and intensive farming are destroying natural habitats, and creating a world with less biodiversity. These activities are not sustainable, that is the planet is unable to survive if we continue to take more from the Earth than it can replace. Recent research by the World Wildlife Fund suggests that we will have to colonise two planets the same size as the Earth by 2050 unless people in rich countries change the way they live.

　　

　　The Solution

　　The Eden Project is in on the site of an abandoned clay pit in Cornwall, and consists of two enormous domes, or biomes, and an outdoor area. The first biome houses a humid tropical zone representing Malaysia, West Africa and South America, and is the biggest greenhouse in the world. The second biome is a warm temperate⁴ zone which contains the type of environment found in Mediterranean⁵ countries, California and South West Australia. The outdoor area displays a collection of plants and landscapes typical of temperate climates like those in Britain, parts of North America, Russia and India.

　　As visitors to the domes walk past lakes and waterfalls, through rainforests and over deserts, they discover how the ecosystems⁶ in each zone operate, learn how people have damaged each environment, and find out how people native to the different areas can learn to live in harmony with their environment, and have a positive and beneficial effect on it.

　　Science, Horticulture, Creative, Marketing⁷, Media and Human Resources researchers at the site are constantly investigating ways of combining science, art, technology and communication in new ways to find solutions to the problem of living a modern lifestyle in harmony with the natural world. The researchers form part of a new green movement, which is discovering new uses for plants including plant plastics, medicines and oils.

　　

　　Success

　　The Eden Project has been enormously successful in the two years it has been open. Millions of people have flocked to the site, and the biomes also attracted the attention of the director of the James Bond film ‘Die Another Day’, in which the domes featured as the lair⁸ of the villain⁹, Gustav Graves. In 2002 the biomes were also the venue¹⁰ for a music festival featuring Pulp¹¹, Spiritualized, Doves and other major acts who performed amongst the foliage¹². Works of art from around the world are also on display, and one summer the events included a play based on a story by Monty Python’s Terry Jones.

　　

　　The Future

　　But the Eden Project is no Disneyland, “If this place becomes no more than an upmarket theme park, it will all have been a gigantic waste of money” Tim Smit writes in the visitor’s guide (the domes cost 86 million pounds.) After a day spent walking around the biomes in Cornwall, he hopes that visitors will be inspired find out more about ecology, look at ways of changing their lifestyles, and participate in trying to get the human race back into the Garden of Eden.

1 banished   

v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was banished to Australia, where he died five years later. 他被流放到澳大利亚，五年后在那里去世。
• He was banished to an uninhabited island for a year. 他被放逐到一个无人居住的荒岛一年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 domes   

n.圆屋顶( dome的名词复数 )；像圆屋顶一样的东西；圆顶体育场

参考例句：

• The domes are circular or ovoid in cross-section. 穹丘的横断面为圆形或卵圆形。 来自辞典例句
• Parks. The facilities highlighted in text include sport complexes and fabric domes. 本书重点讲的设施包括运动场所和顶棚式结构。 来自互联网

3 culmination   

n.顶点；最高潮

参考例句：

• The space race reached its culmination in the first moon walk.太空竞争以第一次在月球行走而达到顶峰。
• It may truly be regarded as the culmination of classical Greek geometry.这确实可以看成是古典希腊几何的登峰造级之作。

4 temperate   

adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的

参考例句：

• Asia extends across the frigid,temperate and tropical zones.亚洲地跨寒、温、热三带。
• Great Britain has a temperate climate.英国气候温和。

5 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

6 ecosystems   

n.生态系统( ecosystem的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are highly sensitive and delicately balanced ecosystems in the forest. 森林里有高度敏感、灵敏平衡的各种生态系统。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Madagascar's ecosystems range from rainforest to semi-desert. 马达加斯加生态系统类型多样，从雨林到半荒漠等不一而足。 来自辞典例句

7 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

8 lair   

n.野兽的巢穴；躲藏处

参考例句：

• How can you catch tiger cubs without entering the tiger's lair?不入虎穴，焉得虎子？
• I retired to my lair,and wrote some letters.我回到自己的躲藏处，写了几封信。

9 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。

10 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

11 pulp   

n.果肉，纸浆；v.化成纸浆，除去...果肉，制成纸浆

参考例句：

• The pulp of this watermelon is too spongy.这西瓜瓤儿太肉了。
• The company manufactures pulp and paper products.这个公司制造纸浆和纸产品。

12 foliage   

n.叶子，树叶，簇叶

参考例句：

• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage.小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。
• Dark foliage clothes the hills.浓密的树叶覆盖着群山。