The history of life on earth has been a history of interaction between living things and their surroundings. To a large extent, the physical form and the habits of the earth's vegetation and its animal life have been molded by the environment. Considering the whole span of earthly time,the opposite effect, in which life actually modifies its surroundings, has been relatively slight. Only in the present century has one species man acquired significant power to alter the nature of his world.

　During the past quarter century this power has not only become increasingly great but it has changed in character. The most alarming of all man's assaults upon the environment is the contamination of air, earth, rivers, and sea with dangerous and even lethal materials. This pollution is for the most part irrecoverable. In this now universal contamination of the environment, chemicals are the sinister partners of radiation in changing the very nature of the world the very nature of its life. Chemicals sprayed on croplands or forests or gardens lie long in soil,entering into living organisms, passing from one to another in a chain of poisoning and death. Or they pass mysteriously by underground streams until they emerge and combine into new forms that kill vegetation, sicken cattle, and work unknown harm on those who drink from once pure wells. Man can hardly even recognize the devils of his own creation, as a scientist has said.

　It took hundreds of millions of years to produce the life that now inhabits the earth. Given time not in years but in millennia life adjusts, and a balance has been reached. But in the modern world there is no time.

　The rapidity of change follows the impetuous pace of man rather than the deliberate pace of nature. Radiation is now the unnatural creation of man's tampering with the atom. The chemicals are the synthetic creations of man's inventive mind, having no counterparts in nature.

　To adjust to these chemicals would require not merely the years of a man's life but the life of generations. And even this, were it by some miracle possible, would be futile,for the new chemicals come from our laboratories in an endless stream; almost five hundred annually find their way into actual use in the United States alone. Among them are many that are used in man's war against nature. Since the mid 1940's over 200 basic chemicals have been created for use in killing insects, weeds, and other organisms described as pests.

　譯文：

　地球上生命的歷史一直就是一部生物與其環境相互作用的歷史。在很大程度上，地球上動植物的形態以及習性都是由外部環境所塑造的�？紤]到地球上生命存在的整個時間，相反作用，即生命對其周圍環境的實際改變作用，卻相對很小。只有在當前這個世紀(指20世紀)才有一個物種——人類，獲得了強大的力量，改變了其所生存的世界的自然狀態。

　在過去的1/4世紀中，這種力量不僅日趨強大，而且其性質也發生了變化。在人類破壞環境的種種行為中，比較令人擔憂的是人類向大氣、土壤、河流以及海洋中排放危險甚至致命物質，而當今這種污染在很大程度上是無法挽救的。在當今這種對環境的普遍污染中，化學制品與輻射狼狽為奸，改變著地球的自然狀態，也就是改變著地球上生命的自然狀態。噴灑到農田、森林或者花園里的化學物質長期滯留于土壤中，滲入有機體內，并彼此相傳，形成了一個中毒與死亡的鏈條�；瘜W物質還神秘地通過地下水傳遞，比較終以新的形式出現并結合，使植物毒死，牲畜害病，并使飲用一度純凈的井水的人遭受了不明之害。正如一位科學家所言：“人類甚至對自己創造的惡魔都不認識。”

　地球歷經了許多億年才創造了棲息其上的生命。經過了一定時間——不是以若干年計而是以若干千年計的時間——生命開始適應環境，并形成了一種與環境的平衡。但是在現代世界中，時間這一因素已經沒有了。

　環境改變的速度不再順從大自然從容不迫的節奏，而是順從人類急切匆匆的步伐。輻射是當今人類通過支配原子而得到的一種非自然的創造物。化學制品則是人類有發明創造力的頭腦創造出來的合成物，在自然界本無相應的東西。

　為了適應這些化學制品，人類需要付出的時間不會只是一個人一生的時間，而是幾代人的時間。而即使這樣，就算出現奇跡成為可能，這種適應也是徒勞的，因為新的化學制品從我們的實驗室中源源不斷地涌出。僅在美國，每年就有大約500種化學制品投入使用，其中許多是用于人類對自然的戰爭中。從20世紀40年代中期起，人類已經創造了200多種基本化學制品用來消滅昆蟲、野草以及其他所謂的“有害生物”。

　重點詞匯：

　1、character(人的)品質，性格；(事物的)性質、特性；

　例句：He has a changeable character.

　他性格多變。

　2、assault攻擊，襲擊

　例句：They made a strong assault on the town.

　他們猛烈攻擊這個鎮子。

　3、spray浪花，水花，噴液

　例句：Did you bring along some insect spray？

　你帶來殺蟲劑了嗎？

　4、impetuous性急的，魯莽的，

　例句：It was impetuous of her to do that.

　她竟做那種事，真是魯莽。

　5、deliberate不慌不忙的，從容的

　例句：He is delibertate in his speech.

　他說話從容不迫。

　4、5兩詞的詞義可從上下文中體會出來

　The rapidity of change follows the impetuous pace of man rather than the deliberate pace of nature.

　可見由than相連，必然是兩個反義詞。

　6、futile無益的，無效的，無希望的

　例句：His efforts to save the business were futile.

　他挽救公司的努力未能奏效。