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新视野大学英语 读写教程第二册 unit2-c

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Section C

Earth — a Living Planet

Earth looks like a big blue marble(玻璃球); from high above the Earth and from the moon, the planet gleams1 and shines. The blue water in the oceans and seas of the Earth makes a dramatic image. The white clouds above the Earth add beauty to the picture. Water is the source of this beauty and the source of life on Earth. It is the reason people can live on this planet. Water is everywhere. It is in the air that people breathe. It is in the soil, the ground that grows the food. Water is in rock deep under the ground, in natural holding areas — in storage. In a real sense, water keeps Earth alive.
Nature has an unchanging amount of water. Nature has a perfect system for recycling water. Water is used again and again. It falls as rain. Then it goes to one of three places. It might sink slowly through the soil into the natural holding areas in the rock. It might disappear into the air quickly — by becoming vapor2, or gas. It might run off into streams, rivers and oceans. By itself, nature can keep the balance and provide plenty of clean water for us. Nature recycles water.
However, people cause problems for this natural recycling system. Nature's recycling system can work well only if people work with the system and not against it. Some ways that people upset nature are easy to understand. For example, dirty sewage (污水沟系统) water from homes and factories must not mix with drinking water. People get sick from drinking contaminated3 water. Sometimes water from factories goes into streams and rivers. It enters into the groundwater. It can flow into lakes too. This kind of contamination4 from industry (waste water from factories) can be dangerous for people. If water contains poisons and chemicals, it is poison. Poison makes people sick; some poisons kill people as well as birds and animals. Without knowing, people can upset nature's recycling system.
Lakes and rivers add beauty to the world. People enjoy water for entertainment purposes, too. People enjoy swimming and playing in the cool water of a lake in the summer. They like to ride on boats on rivers. Many people enjoy catching5 fish in the rivers. They fish for food and for sport. However, in some places, the water of the lakes and rivers is no longer safe. These rivers and lakes are contaminated. The fish are dying because of the chemicals from farms and factories. People cannot swim in the polluted water.
There are other ways that people disturb nature. Some of these ways are not easy to understand. For example, of what use is a wetland? No one can plant crops on it. No one can build a house on it. Therefore, engineers have removed the water from some wetlands in order to make useful land. Many shopping centers stand on dry land today, land that was once wet and full of marshes7. Yet the soft and wet ground of a marsh6 serves an important purpose in nature. In a marsh, the surface water can sink slowly down through the soil into the rock below. Nature's holding area fills slowly with that clean, filtered water.
Housing developments and shopping centers cover much of the Earth with paved8 and concrete surfaces. Water cannot sink through these hard surfaces. Rainwater cannot sink into the ground because of the buildings, roads, and parking lots. So it floods parking lots and flows into basements. Engineers build huge storm pipes or sewers9 (污水沟) to carry the storm water away, but these cause another problem. They carry all of the water away. Not much water can sink into the holding areas under the ground. The once unlimited10 supply of fresh, clean water is now limited. Nature's recycling system is in danger.
Because of water, Earth is a living planet. People can live here because of water. They build large dams to store water in huge man-made lakes. The water in these lakes can water farmland and provide water for cities. Water from the dams can make electricity, called hydroelectricity since it is made from water power. These hydroelectric (水电的) projects produce electricity for the people of nearby cities and towns. However, these dams also cause problems. In some places, the holding areas behind the dams have destroyed the environment for animals, birds, and plants.
One thing is certain — the balance of nature on this water planet is easily upset. And upsetting the natural water cycle (循环) on Earth makes significant problems for its inhabitants. All of us share these problems. Water gives life to our planet. We must learn to live in balance with nature, or our shining planet Earth will die.
Words: 796


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1 gleams 17b68f076d050e7f12a786a18a1699b3     
闪光( gleam的名词复数 ); 闪现; 流露
参考例句:
  • A few faint gleams of sunshine lit up the gloomy afternoon. 几束隐约的阳光使阴暗的下午有些明亮。
  • GLEAMS model was introduced to calculation of nitrate leaching in an agricultural catchment in Southeast China. 应用GLEAMS模型估算我国东南亚热带地区农业小流域硝态氮的渗漏淋失。
2 vapor DHJy2     
n.蒸汽,雾气
参考例句:
  • The cold wind condenses vapor into rain.冷风使水蒸气凝结成雨。
  • This new machine sometimes transpires a lot of hot vapor.这部机器有时排出大量的热气。
3 contaminated 050cdd7ea65320380d17c2374b70c142     
把…弄脏,污染( contaminate的过去式 ); 玷污,毒害,腐蚀(人的思想或品德)
参考例句:
  • The drinking water has become contaminated with lead. 饮用水被铅污染了。
  • The site was found to be contaminated by radioactivity. 发现此地受放射线污染。
4 contamination fpHzN     
n.污染
参考例句:
  • We must ensure our children against contamination by bad ideas. 我们必须保护我们的儿童不受坏思想的侵蚀。
  • There is a danger of serious contamination from radioactive waste. 放射性废弃物有严重污染的危险。
5 catching cwVztY     
adj.易传染的,有魅力的,迷人的,接住
参考例句:
  • There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
  • Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。
6 marsh Y7Rzo     
n.沼泽,湿地
参考例句:
  • There are a lot of frogs in the marsh.沼泽里有许多青蛙。
  • I made my way slowly out of the marsh.我缓慢地走出这片沼泽地。
7 marshes 9fb6b97bc2685c7033fce33dc84acded     
n.沼泽,湿地( marsh的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Cows were grazing on the marshes. 牛群在湿地上吃草。
  • We had to cross the marshes. 我们不得不穿过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 paved ea3a5881afb55ec285ac278f45d11836     
v.铺( pave的过去式和过去分词 );为…铺平道路
参考例句:
  • a paved area near the back door 后门旁一块石板地
  • The wide paved road degenerated into a narrow bumpy track. 铺好的宽阔道路渐渐变窄,成了一条崎岖不平的小径。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 sewers f2c11b7b1b6091034471dfa6331095f6     
n.阴沟,污水管,下水道( sewer的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The sewers discharge out at sea. 下水道的污水排入海里。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Another municipal waste problem is street runoff into storm sewers. 有关都市废水的另外一个问题是进入雨水沟的街道雨水。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
10 unlimited MKbzB     
adj.无限的,不受控制的,无条件的
参考例句:
  • They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
  • There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。
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