1. At War with the Planet
Barry Commoner

2. CONTENTS Warming-up Activity Cross-culture Background
Structure and Content
Text Appreciation and Writing Devices
Interpretation of Difficult Sentences
Assignments
Go to The Author

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About the author
Barry Commoner ( ):
◆ American biologist, college professor, and politician. He was a leading ecologist and among the founders of the modern environmental movement.
◆ Bachelor's degree in zoology from Columbia University in 1937 and master's and doctoral degrees from Harvard University in 1938 and 1941, respectively.
◆ He was a third-party candidate for U.S. president in 1980 and won 233,052 votes (0.27% of the total).
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◆ His warnings, since the 1950s, of the environmental threats caused by modern technology (including nuclear weapons, use of pesticides and other toxic chemicals, and ineffective waste management) in such works as his classic Science and Survival (1966) made him one of the foremost environmentalist spokesmen of his time.
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◆ Commoner's activist career can be defined as an attempt to weave together a larger vision of social justice. Since the 1960s, he has called attention to parallels between the environmental, civil rights, labor, and peace movements, and connected environmental decline with poverty, injustice, exploitation, and war, arguing that the root cause of environmental problems was the American economic system and its manifestations.
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7. “Paul Revere of Ecology”
◆ An American silversmith, early industrialist, and a patriot in the American Revolution.
◆ He is most famous for alerting Colonial militia of approaching British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, as dramatized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, "Paul Revere's Ride."
◆ Revere helped organize an intelligence and alarm system to keep watch on the British military.
Go to Background Notes—Three Mile Island

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Cultural Notes
Three Mile Island:
◆ The accident at the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2, a pressurized-water reactor (压水核反应堆), it was a partial core meltdown) nuclear power plant near Harrisburg, capital of Pennsylvania, on March 28, 1979, was the most serious in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history, even though it led to no deaths or injuries to plant workers or members of the nearby community.
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◆ But it brought about sweeping changes involving emergency response planning, reactor operator training, human factors engineering (人因工程学), radiation protection, and many other areas of nuclear power plant operations.
◆ It also caused the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (美国核管理委员会，NRC) to tighten and heighten its regulatory oversight. Resultant changes in the nuclear power industry and at the NRC had the effect of enhancing safety.
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10. Three Mile Island nuclear power plant
Current
status
Go to Chernobyl Disaster

11. The Chernobyl Disaster
◆ The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear reactor accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union.
◆ It is considered to be the worst nuclear power plant disaster in history and the only level 7 instance on the International Nuclear Event Scale.
◆ It resulted in a severe release of radioactivity into the environment following a massive power excursion （反应堆功率失常激增） which destroyed the reactor.
◆ Two people died in the initial steam explosion, but most deaths from the accident were attributed to radiation.
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12. The Chernobyl Disaster
◆ The 2005 report prepared by the Chernobyl Forum, led by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and World Health Organization (WHO), attributed 56 direct deaths, and estimated that there may be 4,000 extra cancer deaths among the approximately 600,000 most highly exposed people.
◆ Although the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and certain limited areas remain off limits, the majority of affected areas are now considered safe for settlement and economic activity.
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13. The nuclear reactor after the disaster.
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14. The abandoned city of Pripyat with Chernobyl plant in the distance
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After the disaster, four square kilometers of pine forest directly downwind of the reactor turned reddish-brown and died, earning the name of the "Red Forest".
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16. Go to Bhopal Gas Accident
Mutations in both humans and other animals increased following the disaster. On farms in Narodychi Raion of Ukraine, for instance, in the first four years of the disaster nearly 350 animals were born with gross deformities such as missing or extra limbs, missing eyes, heads or ribs, or deformed skulls; in comparison, only three abnormal births had been registered in the five years prior.
Piglet with Dipygus (双臀畸体) on exhibit at the Ukrainian National Chernobyl Museum.
Go to Bhopal Gas Accident

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Bhopal Gas Accident
◆ On the night of Dec. 2nd and 3rd, 1984, a Union Carbide (碳化物) plant in Bhopal, India, began leaking 27 tons of the deadly gas (pesticide). None of the six safety systems designed to contain such a leak were operational, allowing the gas to spread throughout the city of Bhopal.
◆ The first official immediate death toll was 2,259. A more generally accepted figure is that 8,000-10,000 died within 72 hours, and it is estimated that 25,000 have since died from gas-related diseases.
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◆ More than 120,000 people still suffer from ailments caused by the accident and the subsequent pollution at the plant site. These ailments include blindness, extreme difficulty in breathing, and many others.
◆ The site has never been properly cleaned up and it continues to poison the residents of Bhopal.
◆ The Bhopal disaster is frequently cited as the world's worst industrial disaster.
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19. Union carbide MIC plant
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20. Go to Pre-class Questions
Bhopal Gas Disaster
Go to Pre-class Questions

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Pre-class Questions
1. What is environmentalism?
◆ Environmentalism is a broad philosophy and social movement centered on a concern for the conservation and improvement of the environment. Environmentalism is associated with the color green.
◆ Environmentalism can also be defined as a social movement that seeks to influence the political process by education in order to protect natural resources and ecosystems. In recognition of humanity as a participant in ecosystems, the environmental movement is centered on ecology, health, and human rights.
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2. What is an environmentalist?
◆ An environmentalist is a person who may advocate the sustainable management of resources and stewardship (管理工作) of the natural environment through changes in public policy or individual behavior.
◆ In various ways, environmentalists and environmental organizations seek to give the natural world a stronger voice in human affairs.
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3. What is the difference between an environmentalist and a conservationist?
◆ A "conservationist" is seen as a person wishing to preserve both natural and physical amenities such an archeological site.
◆ An "environmentalist" is concerned to keep the environment as free as possible from pollution.
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24. Go to Disasters in Technosphere
◆ Generally speaking, conservationists promote a "wise use" policy, while environmentalists promote a policy of protectionism.
◆ A conservationist looks at a forest as says "we can log 50% of this forest and let it re-grow.“ An environmentalist says "leave the forest untouched and find another way."
◆ The difference might also be that an environmentalist would not be as concerned to preserve an opera house or similar as would be a conservationist.
Go to Disasters in Technosphere

25. Disasters in Technosphere
Dust storm, disafforestation, desertification, global warming, acid rain, melting glacier, storm, drought, flood, mudslide, heat waves, red tides, earthquake, tsunami, pollutions (air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, white pollution, …)
Go to Sever environmental problems

26. Severe Environmental Problems
Mammals are facing extinction
Freshwater fish are on the edge of extinction
Tree species are facing the danger of extinction
Primitive forests are seriously damaged
People don’t have Safe drinking water
Go to Environmental crisis in vision

27. Environmental Crisis in Vision
Garbage Knoll
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28. Drought & Desertification To be continued on the next page

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Dust Storm
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Flood
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31. Go to Outline of the Essay
Hurricane
Go to Outline of the Essay

32. Tsunami

33. Electronic wastes

34. white pollution

35. Acid Rain

36. Automobile Engine Emission

37. Melting Glacier

38. Mudslide

39. Red Tides With Fish Killed

40. water pollution

41. Air pollution--Smog

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Structure
Part I
◆ Introduction: people live in two worlds–the natural world and the world of human creation.
Part II
◆ Why the two worlds are at war.
Part III
◆ The first law of the ecosphere and the law governing the relationship between man-made objects and the surroundings.
(para. 1)
(paras.2-5)
(paras.6-9)
Gore
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(paras.10-11)
Part IV
◆ Second law: The closed cyclical process of ecosphere and the linear process of techno-sphere.
Part V
◆ Third law: The consistent and harmonious nature of ecosphere as contrasted to the rapid change and variation of the techno-sphere.
Part VI
◆ Fourth law: The consequences of failure of the ecosphere and the techno-sphere.
(paras.12-14)
(paras.15-16)
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44. Go to Questions on the Content & Appreciation
Part VII
◆ The danger for us to take sides in the war between the two worlds.
Part VIII
◆ The importance of understanding the interplay of the two worlds.
(paras.17-21)
(paras.22-23)
Go to Questions on the Content & Appreciation

45. Questions on the Content & Appreciation Para.1
1. What are the two worlds we live in?
◆ The natural world
◆ The world of human creation
Para.1
2.What is the common, unthinking attitude towards the two worlds?
◆ The attitude is: we are responsible for events of our own world, but not for what occurs in the natural world.
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3. What is the function of the first sentence in Para.2?
Para.2
◆ Transition.
◆ It also leads to further explanation of the interaction between the two worlds.
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4. Why does the author say that on a planetary scale, the division between the two worlds has been breached?
◆ Globally, the two worlds are no longer separated, having nothing to do with each other.
◆ What humans do in the technosphere will have effect on the ecosphere.
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5. Why does the author say that we have been behaving like the Sorcerer’s Apprentice?
Para.3
◆ This is because we have been doing things without knowing that they may have serious effects on the planet Earth.
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6. Why does the author say that the image of the Earth we are accustomed to is misleading?
Para.4
◆ Because it fails to show human damage to the Earth.
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7. What is the author’s definition of the ecosphere?
Para.5
◆ It refers to the air, water, and soil that cover the Earth and the plants and animals that live in it.
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8. Why does the author begins paragraph 8 with “defined so narrowly”?
Para.8
◆ Transitional, it links up with the last sentence of the previous paragraph which says that crowded streets have been afflicted with automobiles designed to please the buyer and profit the producer.
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9. What are the four laws of ecology?
◆ Everything is Connected to Everything Else. (p.6)
Every component is related to other components, thus forming an elaborate network.
◆ Everything Must Go Somewhere. (p.10)
There is no "waste" in nature and there is no “away” to which things can be thrown.
◆ Nature Knows Best. (p.12)
Humankind has fashioned technology to improve upon nature, but such change in a natural system is “likely to be detrimental to that system.”
◆ There Is No Such Thing as a Free Lunch. (p.15)
Everything comes from something. There's no such thing as spontaneous existence.
Paras.6-16
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10. What are the laws that govern the technosphere?
◆ Everything is produced solely for sale, with little regard for either sphere. (p.7)
◆ Dominated by linear processes. (p.11)
◆ Objects in the technosphere reflect a rapid change and great variation. (p.13)
Paras.6-16
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11. How does the author define “environmental crisis”?
◆ It is a product of the conflict between the ecoshpere and the technosphere.
Paras.17
12. What is the role of para.17?
◆ A summing-up of the war between the two worlds.
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13. What are the questions raised in Para.20?
Para.20
◆ Is the ecosphere to be protected at the expense of human welfare?
◆ How should we define “welfare”?
◆ Is the technosphere always environmentally hostile?
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14. What is the author’s view on the questions raised in para.20?
◆ The ecosphere can be protected without depriving people of the useful and necessary facilities they now enjoy.
◆ And there are some technologies in the technosphere which are compatible with the ecosphere.
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15. What does the author want to prove in para.21?
◆ The extreme cases of taking sides:
◇ If the interests of the technosphere are ignored, some of the proposals of ecologists may become nonhumanist or even antihumanist.
◇ If the interests of the ecosphere are ignored, people will pursue the values of modern production technology at the expense of environmental protection, which will be potentially suicidal.
Para.21
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58. Go to Detailed Study of the Text
16. What is the function of para.22?
◆ It serves as a summing-up of conflicting interpretations and points out that as long as we fail to understand the causes and nature of the conflict, we will fail to find ways to resolve the conflict.
◆ It then leads to the proposal of the author in the last paragraph.
Para.22
Go to Detailed Study of the Text

59. Detailed Study of the Text
1. What is the function of the first sentence in paragraph one?
◆ A topic sentence.
◇ The author raises the theme that people live in two worlds.
◆ It keeps the readers in suspense.
◇ Why do people live in two worlds, what kind of worlds are they, this world and the next?
◇ Could we live in them at the same time?
Para.1
Go to 2

60. Para.2 2. Now, on a planetary scale, …has been breached.
Explain the meaning of the sentence.
Para.2
◆ Globally, the division between the two worlds has been broken. They are no longer separated.
◆ The implied meaning is that what humans do in the technosphere will have effect on the ecosphere.
Go to 3

61. 3. With the appearance…acts of man.
What is the meaning of this statement?
◆ Both the hole in ozone layer and global warming are consequences of human deeds. They in turn will cause other natural disasters like droughts, floods and heat waves.
◆ In this sense, what people do in the technosphere may unintentionally have adverse effects on the ecosphere.
◆ Do you think it is a correct statement? If yes, could you give an example of this kind?
◇ loess plateau(黄土高原)
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62. Para.3 Paraphrase: 4. Like the Creation… the sun.
◆ Like the Creation of the universe, events that happen in this world may have vast effects, especially on the relationship between the planet Earth and the sun.
Go to 5

63. 5. Translate the following sentences into Chinese.
(1) Solar radiation… season to season.
◆ 太阳能——主要是可见光和紫外线——是淋浴着大地表层且取之不尽、用之不竭的能量，这种能量随昼夜交替、四季轮回而不断波动。
(2) We have been tampering…our actions.
◆ 我们一直在滥用这股强大的力量，就像传说中魔术师的徒弟一样，我们并没有意识到，这种行为很可能会导致灾难性的后果。
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64. Para.4 6. But this image…is misleading.
Explain the meaning of this sentence.
Para.4
◆ The Earth we see in photos, posters, and ads, which appears so beautiful, is not the true reflection of the world we live in; such image lulls us into complacency.
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65. ◆ 即使全球变暖这种灾难永不发生，即使臭氧空洞仍然只是一种深奥的极地现象，人类活动业已极大地改变了全球条件，这些也许是照相机拍不出来的。
7. Even if the global…on the camera.
Translate the sentence into Chinese:
◆ 即使全球变暖这种灾难永不发生，即使臭氧空洞仍然只是一种深奥的极地现象，人类活动业已极大地改变了全球条件，这些也许是照相机拍不出来的。
Go to 8

66. Explain the literal and implied meaning of the sentence.
8. …carcinogenic synthetic pesticides have been detested in mother’s milk all over the world…
◆ Tests of mother’s milk all over the world show the existence of synthetic pesticide.
◆ This indicates that mothers have eaten food with residues of synthetic pesticide.
Explain the literal and implied meaning of the sentence.
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67. 9. grandiose:
◆ impressive because of unnecessary largeness or grandeur;
◆ used to show disapproval (=grand)
e.g.
◇ He’s always producing grandiose plans that never work.
Para.5
Go to 10

68. 10. Paraphrase the following two sentences.
(1) The technosphere… the ecosphere.
◆ Human activities have taken place over such large areas and with such intensity that they have already caused disastrous effects on ecology.
(2) …catastrophically…basic human needs.
◆ Frequent natural disasters (caused by or worsened by human disruption of the ecological system) have reduced our ability to satisfy the needs of people on earth.
Go to 11

69. ◆ It sums up the arguments in the previous paragraphs.
11. The human attack on the ecosphere has instigated an ecological counterattack. The two worlds are at war.
◆ Theme of the essay.
◆ It sums up the arguments in the previous paragraphs.
(1) What is role of these two sentences?
(2) Rhetorical device
◆ Metaphor
◇ the response of the ecosphere→ counterattack
Go to 12

70. 12.The fish is not only…defines its functions.
(1) Explain the meaning of the sentence.
◆ The function of the fish is determined by the role it plays in the ecological network.
Para.6
(2) Translate the sentence into Chinese.
◆ 鱼不仅仅是生存意义上的一条鱼, 还是这一系统中的一个成分/分子，系统决定着它扮演各种角色，发挥不同的作用。
Go to 13

71. 13. …the fish, which could establish itself… the preexisting system.
Explain the meaning of the sentence.
◆ The fish could play its role because it became a necessary link with the processes proceeding it and the processes following it in the ecological system.
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72. 14. A car, for example, imposes itself on the neighborhood rather than being defined by it…
◆ A car does not respond to its environment but insists on its own needs being met...
◆ In other words, a car is independent of its surroundings.
Para.7
Explain the meaning of the sentence.
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73. Para.8 15. Defined so narrowly…to their environment. Paraphrase:
◆ When cars are produced to serve such narrow purposes, it is not surprising that some of their characteristic qualities are harmful to the environment.
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74. 16. Yields rose, but not in proportion to the rate of fertilizer application…
◆ The farmers applied more and more chemical fertilizer, but production did not increase at the same rate.
◆ Or: The farmers used ever more chemical fertilizer, but the production did not increase ever more.
Explain the meaning of the sentence.
Para.9
Go to 17

75. 1) How does fertilizer cause pollution?
17. … year by year, less and less of the applied fertilizer … and water supplies.
1) How does fertilizer cause pollution?
◆ When the soil is saturated with nitrogen fertilizer, it cannot take in any more.
2) Where does the extra amount of fertilizer go?
◆ The excess fertilizer finds its way into underground water, thus causing water pollution.
Go to 18

76. 18. How does the author illustrate the closed cyclical processes in the ecosphere?
◆ Again using the fish as an example.
◆ He tries to show that in a closed circular system, everything produced in one part of the cycle goes somewhere and is used in a later step. So there is no such thing as “waste”.
Para.10
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77. Para.11 19. …their waste is flushed …aquatic ecosystem.
Explain the meaning of the statement.
◆ People, after digestion, excrete the waste which is flushed into the sewer system. The sewage gets to a treatment plant which modifies it, but it is still waste after being processed. The residue of the waste will go into rivers, oceans and will have harmful effect on the aquatic ecosystem.
◆ The human waste does not reenter the life cycle but disturbs the natural processes wherever it is dumped.
◆ The red tides & green algae
Para.11
Go to 20

78. 20. ineffectually thus far:
◆ so far nuclear waste has not been effectively treated to avoid long-term risks of contaminating the environment.
Go to 21

79. Para.12 21. trial and error（反复试验、尝试错误法）:
◆ A method of reaching a correct solution or satisfactory result by trying out various means or theories until error is sufficiently reduced or eliminated.
Examples:
◆ He learned technical skills by trial and error 他通过不断摸索掌握技能。
◆ I finally found the right key after lots of trial and error.
经过反复试验，我终于找到了正确的方法。
Para.12
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80. 22. Left to their own…are conservative…
Paraphrase:
◆ If the ecosystems are not upset/ disturbed by outside intrusion, they will remain the same with very little change.
◆ That is, it takes a long time for any change in the nature to take place.
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81. 23. In contrast to the ecosphere…process of change and variation.
◆ The characteristics of the objects and materials in the technosphere are of rapid change and great variety which are continually severe.
Paraphrase:
Para.13
Go to 24

82. 24. Model T Ford: = Ford Model T
Background
◆ The Ford Model T was an automobile produced by Henry Ford's Ford Motor Company from 1908 through The model T set 1908 as the historic year that the automobile came into popular usage. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, the car which "put America on wheels“.
Go to Model T Ford

83. To be continued on the next page
Model T Ford
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84. To be continued on the next page

85. Go to 25

86. ◆ 例如尼龙，它不会像植物纤维那样的天然聚合物一样可以进行生物分解——也就是说，在现存的有机生物中还没有发现能哪种酶可以分解尼龙。
25. Nylon, for example…can break it down.
Translate the sentence into Chinese:
◆ 例如尼龙，它不会像植物纤维那样的天然聚合物一样可以进行生物分解——也就是说，在现存的有机生物中还没有发现能哪种酶可以分解尼龙。
Quill Pen
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87. Para.14 26. Since they are based .. and attack it.
◆ Since these products are produced on the basis of patterns of carbon chemistry, they are easily accepted by the natural biochemical process. In this way they can harm the ecosystem from within.
In what way are the petrochemical products dangerous and harmful to the ecosystem?
Para.14
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88. Explain the meaning of the sentence.
27 … like the fantasies of human society invaded by look-alike but dangerous aliens..
Explain the meaning of the sentence.
◆ Science fantasy often describes how our world is attacked by aliens who look very much like human beings so it is difficult to detect them.
Go to 28

89. Para.15 28. What is meant by “there is no such thing as a free lunch”?
◆ Background:
◇ In 19th century Chicago, bars posted signs that offered a free lunch, but the customers had to buy beer to get their lunch.
◆ It means that any activity in the ecosphere will have its cost.
◆ It indicates that there are always hidden costs even when something appears at first to have no cost.
Para.15
Go to 29

90. 29. Yet nearly every…on the environment.
What is the meaning of this statement?
◆ The fault of most modern technology is not with its failure to meet the designed purpose but with its adverse effect on the environment.
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30. Even the spectacular…with cancer.
(1) What, according to the author, is the most serious effect of nuclear disasters?
◆ The radioactivity released on humans and environment.
(2) Paraphrase “Regarded only failure…that destroyed the plant.”
◆ If you regard the disaster at Chernobyl as a technical matter, then the disaster can be seen as the destruction of the nuclear plant by a fire.
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92. ◆ 但随之释放出来的辐射，却使整个欧洲数以千计的人面临患上癌症的威胁。
(3) Translate “But the resultant…cancer.”
◆ 但随之释放出来的辐射，却使整个欧洲数以千计的人面临患上癌症的威胁。
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93. To be continued on the next page
31. Regard only as a failure in the plant’s function, the accident at Chernobyl amounts to a serious but local fire that destroyed the plant.
◆ Notice the position of the word “but”.
◆ Normally we can say “…amount to merely a serious local fire that…”. If so, the tone is rather flat and pale.
◆ Here the author employs the writing skill-- “anticlimax”（突降法）to achieve the sarcastic tone.
What is the tone of the sentence? Please make a comment on it.
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94. To be continued on the next page
anticlimax
◆ Anticlimax is the arrangement of successive words, phrases, clauses or sentences in such a way that the content becomes less interesting or important as it proceeds.
◆ It may also be expressed by the sudden appearance of an absurd or trivial idea following one or more significant or elevated ideas.
◆ Anticlimax is usually comic in effect. It is often used to ridicule or satirize.
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anticlimax
1) Where shall I find hope, happiness, friends, cigarettes?
2) We often joked about his passionate love for his little daughter, his cat and his ash-tray.
3) The duties of a soldier are to protect his country and peel potatoes.
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96. anticlimax
4) There were no heroic deeds to do, no lions to face, no judges to defy, but a few rooms to tidy up.
5) “Seldom has a city gained such world renown, and I am proud and happy to welcome you to Hiroshima, a town known throughout the world for its--oysters.” (Jacques Danvoir—Mayor of Hiroshima)
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97. Para.16 32. Paraphrase the following sentence:
In the technosphere, debts…canceled.
Para.16
◆ In the economic field, debts are repaid with the production of goods. In this sense, they are repaid within the system. Debts are required to be repaid, unless they are canceled. It is nothing difficult to do so, at least in theory.
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98. To be continued on the next page
33. In contrast…damage is unavoidable.
(1) Explain the meaning of the sentence.
◆ When the debts are created by the technosphere and transformed to the ecosphere in the form of environmental pollution, they could never be canceled once they are created. And they can always cause damages to the ecosphere.
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99. ◆ 相反，当债务以技术圈制造的环境污染的形式出现，然后又转嫁到生态圈时，这种债务将永远无法消除。造成破坏是不可避免的。
(2) Translate the sentence into Chinese.
◆ 相反，当债务以技术圈制造的环境污染的形式出现，然后又转嫁到生态圈时，这种债务将永远无法消除。造成破坏是不可避免的。
Go to 34

100. 34. These debts were…sicken and die.
Who, according to the author, would pay the debt created by technosphere? In what way they would pay the debt?
◆ The victims, that is, those people who suffered from radioactivity or toxic chemicals would pay the debt.
◆ They paid the debt with sickness or even death.
Go to 35

101. Para.18 35. But this is done at the cost of understanding. Paraphrase:
◆ If we take sides in the war of the two worlds, we are doing so at the risk of failing to have a clear understanding of the nature and cause of the war. Thus, we lose the chance to really solve the grave environmental crisis.
Go to 36

102. ◇ Playing on the different meaning of “good” and “goods”.
36. Then, for example, one can…things that are not only useless but often deadly.
◆ Pun
◇ Playing on the different meaning of “good” and “goods”.
◇ “goods” →“good goods”
◇ “bads” →“bad goods”
Rhetorical device:
Go to 37

103. 37. If the technosphere is ignored, how will the environmental crisis be approached?
◆ The solution will be to reduce the human population, to limit their share of natural resources and to give all other species “rights” to protect themselves.
◆ In other words, human beings should go back to the primitive society and live just as other animals live.
Para.19
Go to 38

104. Para.21 38. What does the author want to prove in para.21?
◆ The extreme cases of taking sides:
◇ If the interests of the technosphere are ignored, some of the proposals of ecologists may become nonhumanist or even antihumanist.
◇ If the interests of the ecosphere are ignored, people will pursue the values of modern production technology at the expense of environmental protection, which will be potentially suicidal.
Para.21
Go to 39

105. 39. Viewed in this way…that ended it.
Translate the sentence into Chinese.
◆ 从这一点上看，我们既没有理由反对全球变暖，也没有理由对上一个冰川世纪以及使之终结的全球气温上升表示不快。
To be continued on the next page

106. 比较以下各句的意思： not more ... than = 不如 no more ... than = 和......一样不(否定两者)
not less ... than = 不如......不（即指不如 less 后形容词的反面）
no less ... than = 和......一样(肯定两者)
比较以下各句的意思：
You are more careful than he is. 你比他仔细。
You are not more careful than he is. 你不如他仔细。
You are no more careful than he is. 你和他一样不仔细。
You are less careful than he is. 你不如他仔细（你比他粗心）。
You are not less careful than he is. 你比他仔细（你不如他粗心）。
You are no less careful than he is. 你和他一样仔细。
Go to 40

107. Para.22 40. What is the main idea of this paragraph?
◆ The wrong interpretations of the relationship between the two worlds show that we have not yet understood how the two worlds have come into conflict and, as a result, are unable as yet to resolve that conflict.
Para.22
Go to 41

108. 41. as yet
◆ used in a negative statement to describe a situation that has existed up to this point or up to the present time (= thus far, till now, yet)
Examples:
◆ We are as yet unable to say when the train will arrive. 我们还说不上火车什么时候到达。
◆ We should be responsible for the generation as yet unborn. 我们应该对下一代负责。
Go to 42

109. Para.23 42. The purpose is less… can be prevented. Paraphrase:
◆ The purpose is not to find a culprit for the damage that has been inflicted on the environment but to find a way to avoid future damage.
Para.23
Go to 43

110. The end of Detailed Study of the Text.
43. It is not so much…with the planet.
Paraphrase:
◆ The purpose is not to support the ecosphere or the technosphere but to find a way to end the war and to allow peaceful coexistence of the two worlds and to maintain the natural order.
The end of Detailed Study of the Text.

111. Someday people will go out this way

112. We have only one earth

113. Sorcerer’s Apprentice
◆ The Sorcerer's Apprentice is the English name of a poem by Goethe, Der Zauberlehrling, written in The poem is a ballad in fourteen stanzas.
◆ The poem begins as an old sorcerer departs his workshop, leaving his apprentice with chores to perform. Tired of fetching water by pail, the apprentice enchants a broom to do the work for him — using magic he is not yet fully trained in. The floor is soon awash with water, and the apprentice realizes that he cannot stop the broom because he does not know how.
To be continued on the next page

114. ◆ Not knowing how to control the enchanted broom, the apprentice splits it in two with an axe, but each of the pieces becomes a new broom and takes up a pail and continues fetching water, now at twice the speed.
◆ When all seems lost, the old sorcerer returns, quickly breaks the spell and saves the day.
◆ The poem finishes with the old sorcerer's statement that powerful spirits should only be called by the master himself.

115. Four Laws of Ecology -- One of Commoner’s lasting legacies
◆ Everything is Connected to Everything Else. There is one ecosphere for all living organisms and what affects one, affects all.
◆ Everything Must Go Somewhere. There is no "waste" in nature and there is no “away” to which things can be thrown.
◆ Nature Knows Best. Humankind has fashioned technology to improve upon nature, but such change in a natural system is, says Commoner, “likely to be detrimental to that system.”
◆ There Is No Such Thing as a Free Lunch. Everything comes from something. There's no such thing as spontaneous existence.
--Adopted from The Closing Circle (1971)
To be continued on the next page

116. 版权声明
本课件由中国药科大学外语系刘江老师设计制作（PPT模板除外），仅供本人所教班级学生学习参考使用，未经允许不得擅自传播与使用，违者追究相关法律责任，特此声明！
声明人：刘江