1、Unit 1 1.在历时四年的研究中，科学家调查了地球上的许多生境、物种以及将它们联系起来的生态体系。 For four years the scientists examined the planets many habitats and species and the systems that bind them together. 2.千年生态系统评估综合报告为人们提供了认识生态系统经济价值的全新视角，也为人们尊重和保护地球的生命支持体系提供了新的论据。 The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Synthesis Report gives people a
2、 new insight into the economic importance of ecosystem services and some new and additional arguments for respecting and conserving the Earths life-support system. 3.科学家认为，水文系统的改变可能导致破坏性洪灾的发生更加频繁和严重。 According to the scientists, changes to water systems may increase the frequency and severity of des
3、tructive floods. 4.从经济角度看，与那些被用于商业开发的生态系统相比，很多原始生态系统的价值更高。 From an economic perspective, compared with the ecosystems altered for commercial use, many intact ones are more valuable. 5.如何在利用地球生态系统提高人类生活水平的同时，缓解该系统所承受的压力，完全取决于人类社会。 It lies within the power of human societies to ease the strain we are
4、putting on the nature services of the planet, while continuing to use them to bring better living standards to all. Unit 2 1.地球上的石油和天然气供应能维持多久，科学家和企业界人士对此各持己见。Scientists and industry experts may disagree over how long the worlds supply of oil and nature gas will last. 2.一般来说，再生能源比传统生产的能源要贵些，然而替代能源有助
5、于减少污染，保护矿物燃料。 While renewable energy is generally more expensive than conventionally produced supplies, alternative power helps to reduce pollution and to conserve fossil fuels. 3.如今在市场上，传统的光感太阳能装置能把 11%至 13%的阳光转化成能源。 Most traditional photovoltaic solar units on the market today convert between 11 a
6、nd 13 percent of the suns light into energy. 4.与其他可再生能源相比 风力产生的能源比传统能源每千瓦时便宜 4 美分。 Compared to other renewable energy sources, wind power competes with conventional energy at a price less than 4 cents per kilowatt-hour. 5.虽然在美国几乎没有家庭利用风力发电，但许多能源公司允许消费者选择风力发电厂或其他再生能源产生的电力。 While few homes generate th
7、eir own wind power in the U.S., many power companies allow consumers to opt for power generated at a wind plant or other renewable source. Unit 3 1.当温度低于零摄氏度或高于 43 摄氏度时，大多数的植被都会受到伤害甚或死亡。If it falls below 1Celsius or rise above 43Celsius,serious injury or death results for most vegetation.2.从树和灌木的枝和叶
8、我们就可以看出它们对环境的适应性。这种适应性使之能获得最大限度的光和空气。The stems and leaves of trees and shrubss show us some of the adaptations that enable a plant to get the maximum amount of light and air.3.它们没有叶绿素，靠其他动物或植物产生的有机物来生存，凡是在菌类植物茂盛的地方都可以找到这些有机物。They have no chlorophyll,but subsisit on organic matter, produced by animal
9、s or other plants, that may be found wherever the fungi flourish.4.在海洋深处和湖泊，水潭底部的植物接受的阳光也是最少的，因为这些地方的光照很弱，甚至没有阳光。Plants also receive a minimum of light in the depths of the sea or at the bottom of lakes and pools, since sunlight is weak or absent there.5.人们认为它们在吸收了光之后，就把光能转化成了叶绿素，再进行光合作用。It is suspe
10、cted that after they absorb light,they transmit the energy from this light to chlorophyll,for photosynthesis.Unit 41.植物蒸腾作用消耗一部分降水，将它返回大气中。部分水分保存在土壤或其他植物生长媒介中，其余部分则徐徐进入城市排水系统，减少大量降雨突至时城市水系承受的压力，而扩展城市水系则需要很高的费用。Some of that water is lost when the vegtation transpires,or“exhales”the water back into th
11、e atmosphere. Some water is retained in the soil or other growing medium. The rest enters the urban rainwater drainage system in a slow,controlled flow,a process that helps dampen high-volume rainwater surges in urban water systems, which are expensive to expand.2.绿色屋顶能在多大程度上降低能源支出，这取决于屋顶的类型以及所在地区的气
12、候条件。在气候比较温暖的地区节省开支的可能性最大。因为绿色屋顶的降温效率要高于采暖效率。How much a green roof lowers energy costs depends on the type of roof and the climate in which it is installed. Warmer climates offer the greatest saving opportunities, since green roofs are more efficient at reducing air conditioning costs than they are a
13、t lowering heating bills.3.虽然绿色屋顶的成本较传统常规屋顶的成本高出 1.5 至 2 倍，但支持者认为，即使不考虑节能因素，从长远经济利益懒，屋顶绿化仍很划算。While the costs of green roofs are one-and-a-half to twice that of conventional roofs,advocates say green roofs make long-term economic sense,even without factoring in energy savings.4.“即使在城市屋顶这样的环境下，我们也能够通
14、过植物的季节变化感受到自然的规律” 。他们在给国家地理新闻的电子邮件中写到， “从设计角度看，屋顶绿化可以大大提升美化效果，创造显著生态效益。 ”“Natures rhythm is made visible by seasonal changes in the vegetation,even in an urban roof environment,”they wrote in an e-mail to National Geographic News.“In terms of design,roof planting represents a considerable aesthetic
15、improvement and altogether a significant ecological benefit.”5.芝加哥绿色技术中心举办屋顶绿化技术示范园，向开发商、建筑商甚至学生展示相关产品。该中心同时还是研究中心，邀请主要供应商们到此装配各种各样的绿色屋顶以供观测与比较。At the Chicago Center for Green Technology, demos showcase green-roof technology to everyone from developers and builders to schoolchildren. The center also
16、 serves as a research center, where leading suppliers are invited to install different green-roof plots that are monitored and compared.Unit 5 1.除此之外还有迅速增加的嵌入式电脑（即那些用于移动电话、加油泵和零售点计价系统中的电脑） ，其功能和复杂性迅速接近台式电脑。Add to this the exploding number of embedded computersthe kind found in mobile phones,gas pump
17、s and retail point-of-sale systems-which are fast approaching the power and complexity of desktop PCs.2.这种情景与几年前形成了鲜明的对比，那时计算机大多是摆在书房或者客厅一角的被动的电器。This scenario is in sharp contrast to the computers of just a few years ago, which were still mostly passive appliances that sat in the corner of the den
18、or living room.3.当人们发现了更多的方法将这些价格低廉、灵活而且可以按各种需要定制的设备融入他们的生活时，计算机本身就将逐渐消失在我们的生活之中了。As people find more ways to incorporate these inexpensive,flexible and infinitely customisable devices into their lives,the computers themselves will gradually “disappear”into the fabric of our lives.4.现在我们离充满五行的智能化的世界
19、还很遥远，但是十年之后计算机的使用将变得如此自然，我们可能会越来越难以注意到它。We are still a long way from a world full of disembodied intelligent machines,but the computing experience of the coming decade will be so seamless and intuitive that-increasingly-we will barely notice it.5便宜、灵活的显示器、小如指甲但却容量达上千 G 的 MEM 芯片，这些新的技术将会使计算机更加普及。The
20、pervasiveness and near-invisibility of computing will be helped along by new technologies such as cheap,flexible displays,fingernail-sized MEMs chips capable of storing terabytes of data. Unit 6 1.其中一个机器人的移动效率如此之高,也许将来它可以连续行走一天,而不像现在大多数的机器人每隔二、三十分钟就得充电或添加燃料。 One of the robots moves so efficiently th
21、at in the future it may be able to amble along for a day, not the 20 or 30 minutes most robots now manage without recharging or refueling. 2.波士顿力学研究所是一家专门从事人工模仿的软件工程公司。该研究所的所长说，被动力学设计原则对将来的机器人的开发将是很重要的。President of Boston Dynamics,a software engineering company that specializes in human simulation,s
22、aid that the principles of passive-dynamic design would be important for future robot generations. 3.如果人们能够正确处理好机械结构，比如调整腿的上、下两部分的重量和长度来模仿自然行走的力学原理，那么机器人的腿就会按照物理原学的规律正确运动。 If you make the mechanical structures right, for example, adjusting the mass and length of the upper and lower legs to mimic the
23、 natural dynamics of walking , the legs do the right thing from physics. 4.康奈尔大学制造的机器人在前进时用的能量非常少，主要是因为其被动力学设计强调重力和惯性的自然相互作用，而将控制和驱动力降至最低限度。 Cornells robot uses very little energy to walk forward, mainly because its passive-dynamic design emphasizes the natural interaction of gravity and inertia and
24、 minimizes the role of control and actuation. 5,科林斯先生希望能把从开发康奈尔机器人所获得的灵感用于他所从事的肢体修复的工作。 Mr. Collins hopes to use the insights gained in building the Cornell robot in work he is doing on prostheses. Unit 71.然而该技术目前已经运用到了几乎所有生物领域，出现了能在紫外线下发光的宠物，能够预防 HIV 病毒的“生态安全套” ，含菠萝基因的转基因猪，甚至还有能产出蛛丝般纤维的山羊。But the t
25、echnology has now been applied to almost all forms of life, from pets that glow under UV light to bacteria which form HIV-blocking “living condoms”, and from pigs bearing spinach genes to goats that produce spider silk .2. 人类系统地进行良种选育已有数千年历史，而基因工程技术则可以大大加快这种耗时费力的工序，并可将毫不相干的物种基因特征引入作物。 The human race
26、 has methodically improved crop plant through selective breeding for many thousands of years, but genetic engineering allows that time-consuming process to be accelerated and exotic traits from unrelated species to be introduced. 3. 更令人担心的是转基因作物可能发展成可怕的超级无敌草，或者意外地与野草或其他作物杂交，从而导致基因环境污染。More plausible
27、 threats are that modified crops could become insidious supersedes, or that they could accidentally breed with wild plants or other cropsgenetically polluting the environment. 4. 环保者还认为转基因作物会影响农村的生物多样性。但迄今为止就此进行的实地测试得出的结论却莫衷一是，有些研究显示转基因作物实际上提升了生物的多样性。 Environmentalists also argue that growing GM cro
28、ps affects farmland biodiversity. Field trials to test for this have produced mixed resultssome suggesting that GM crops actually boost biodiversity. 5. “驱魔者”技术保护体系则更加巧妙，该系统允许作物产生有繁殖能力的种子，但其中异体转基因 DNA 已被完全破坏并摧毁。A clever genetic variation on that theme, the Exorcist system, allows the production of f
29、ertile seeds, but with any foreign GM DNA spliced out and destroyed. Unit 81.消息之所以如此令人兴奋不已，原因其实很简单，多数病变都有自己的基因构成，基因疗法为治愈诸多疾病而不仅仅是缓解病痛带来了希望，其中包括遗传性疾病。The reason for the excitement was simple:Most diseases have a genetic component and gene therapy holds of curing,not merely treating,a broad range of a
30、ilments,including inherited diseases.2.吉尔辛格开朗乐观、不计个人得失，为了推经科学研究、最终找到能够治愈所患疾病的疗法而远赴费城。然而，医学实验却夺去了他的生命。An optimistic,altruistic Gelsinger went to Philadelphia to help advance the science that might eventually cure his type of illness.Instead,the experiment killed him.3该消息对临床医学研究界不啻一声惊雷，立即产生了广泛的影响，甚至危及
31、未来的研究工作。The news hit the clinical trial community like a thunderclap.The consequences have been immediate and wide-ranging,and may threaten future research.4.诚然，迄今还未看到奇迹般的疗效，但有初步迹象显示，重大突破或许已指日可待。Its sure that dramatic cures have not been seen to date,but there are tantalizing signs that important ad
32、vances may be just around the corner.5.然而，一些科学家对首例基因疗法案例不以为然，因为患病的女孩儿们在接受基因疗法之前已经接受一种新药的治疗，以替代她们自身所短缺的酶，其后也一直在持续服用该药。不过基因疗法研究的先驱安德森认为：既然 10 年来女孩儿们服用药物的剂量一直没有变化，而她们的身体却持续显著恢复，可以断定该药物的疗效微乎其微。Scientists,however,have discounted the benefit of the first gene therapies because the girls began receiving a new drug treatment that replaces the missing enzyme just before receiving the genetic therapy pioneer Anderson argues that since the drug dose has remained the same while their bodies have grown substantially over the decade,it makes a negligible contribution to their well-being.
