B2U7 Nature's gifts
课文¶
Reading 1¶
Let there be dark
1 When I was a child, I knew real darkness.
1 当我还是个孩子的时候，我见过真正的一片漆黑。
2 At my family's cabin on a Minnesota lake, I knew woods so dark that my hands disappeared before my eyes. I knew night skies in which meteors left smoky trails across sugary spreads of stars. But now, when eight of ten children born in the United States will never know a sky dark enough for the Milky Way, I worry we are rapidly losing night's natural darkness before realizing its worth. This winter solstice, as we cheer the days' gradual movement back toward light, let us also remember the irreplaceable value of darkness.
2 我家的小屋坐落在明尼苏达州的一个湖畔，在那儿，我见过漆黑一片、伸手不见五指的树林；也见过被细砂糖般的繁星点缀的夜空。彗星扫过，在那里留下烟雾般的痕迹。可如今，在美国，每十个孩子中就有八个将永远也不会知道那种黑到足以看到银河的夜空是什么样子的，因此，我担心，在我们还未意识到夜晚的自然黑暗的价值之前，就已经在快速地失去它了。今年冬至，当我们为黑夜逐渐缩短、白天逐渐变长而欢呼时，让我们也记住黑夜不可替代的价值。
3 All life evolved to the steady rhythm of bright days and dark nights. Today, though, when we feel the closeness of nightfall, we reach quickly for a light switch. And too little darkness, meaning too much artificial light at night, spells trouble for all.
3 所有生物进化以适应昼夜节律。而今，当我们感觉到夜幕降临时，便急忙去打开灯。夜晚的黑暗过少意味着人工光亮过多，这会对所有生物产生不利影响。
4 Already the World Health Organization identified working the night shift as a probable cause of cancer and the American Medical Association has voiced its support for "light pollution reduction efforts at both the national and state levels." Our bodies need darkness to produce the hormone melatonin, which keeps certain cancers from developing, and our bodies need darkness for sleep. Sleep disorders have been linked to diabetes, obesity, heart disease and depression, and recent research suggests one main cause of "short sleep" is "long light." Whether we work at night or simply take our smartphones to bed, there isn't a place for this much artificial light in our lives.
4 世界卫生组织已将上夜班认定为可能导致癌症的一个因素，美国医学会发声支持“在国家和州范围内努力减少光污染”。我们的身体需要黑暗来制造遏制某些癌症发展的褪黑素这种激素，我们的身体也需要黑暗来保证睡眠。睡眠紊乱会导致糖尿病、肥胖、心脏病和抑郁症。最近的研究也显示，引起“短睡眠”的主要原因之一是“长照明”。无论我们在夜晚工作，抑或只是在床上看智能手机，我们的生活中不应该有如此多的人工光亮。
5 The rest of the world depends on darkness as well, including certain species of birds, insects, and fish. Some examples are well known — the 400 species of birds that migrate at night in North America, the sea turtles that come on shore to lay their eggs — and some are not, such as the bats that save American farmers billions in pest control. Light pollution is like the bulldozer of the night, wrecking habitat and disrupting ecosystems which are several billion years in the making. Simply put, without darkness, Earth's ecosystems would collapse.
5 地球上的其他生物物种也离不开黑夜，如一些鸟类、昆虫和鱼类。有些例子我们耳熟能详：在北美，有400种鸟类在夜晚迁徙，海龟在夜晚游到岸上产卵；有些例子不太为人所知：美国农民利用蝙蝠控制害虫，节约了数十亿美元。光污染就像推土机，它打破了黑夜，捣毁了栖息地，扰乱了几十亿年造就的生态系统。简言之，假如黑夜消失，地球的生态系统就会崩塌。
6 Darkness shapes our lives in less dramatic ways as well. Consider how it brings us together with those we love, how we illuminate our most intimate experiences with flame or moonlight. What would a winter evening's stroll through the park be without it? Or a candlelight dinner? It's only with night's natural darkness that we appreciate the lights of the city and of the season. No one thinks much of these lights at noon.
6 黑暗也以它温和的方式改变着我们的生活。想一想黑暗如何让我们与我们爱的人团聚，火光或月光如何照亮了我们最温馨的体验。如果没有黑暗，在冬夜的公园漫步，享用烛光晚餐，那还会是同样的体验吗？唯有夜的自然黑暗才让我们珍惜城市的灯光和季节的明媚。在正午，没有人会对这些光亮有深刻体会。
7 In today's crowded, louder, more fast-paced world, night's darkness can provide solitude and quietness, qualities increasingly in short supply. Darkness has always been considered invaluable for a soulful life, and the chance to witness the universe in the dark has inspired artists and philosophers since time began. In a world flooded with artificial light, how would Vincent van Gogh have given the world his Starry Night? Who knows what this vision of the night sky might inspire in each of us, in our children or grandchildren?
7 如今的社会越来越拥挤，越来越嘈杂，越来越快节奏，夜的黑暗能带给我们日益匮乏的独处和宁静。对于情感丰富的人而言，黑暗极为宝贵，而在时间的长廊中，黑暗中的宇宙给艺术家和哲学家们带来了无尽的灵感。假如文森特・凡・高生活在这样一个处处都是人造光的世界，他怎能留给我们《星空》这幅画作？而又有谁知道，画作中对夜空的遐想会在我们、我们下一代以及下下一代身上激发怎样的想象呢？
8 Yet all over the world, our nights are getting brighter. In the United States and Western Europe, the amount of light in the sky increases an average of about six percent every year. Computer images of the United States at night, based on NASA photographs, show that what was a very dark country in the 1950s is now nearly covered with a blanket of light. Much of this light is wasted energy, which means wasted dollars. Those of us over 35 are perhaps among the last generation to have known truly dark nights. Even the lake where I was lucky to spend my summers during my childhood has seen its darkness diminish.
8 然而，全世界的夜空越来越明亮。在美国和西欧，夜空的亮度每年平均增加约6%。根据美国国家航空航天局的照片生成的计算机图像显示，二十世纪五十年代，美国夜空非常黑暗，如今却几乎笼罩在一片明亮的灯光下。这些灯光很大一部分是能源浪费，也意味着金钱浪费。超过35岁的人恐怕是见过真正黑夜的最后一代人。小时候，我有幸在漆黑一片的湖边度过夏天，但连笼罩那片湖的黑暗也在慢慢消失。
9 It doesn't have to be this way. Light pollution is readily within our ability to solve, by using new lighting technologies and turning off some existing lights. Already, many cities and towns across North America and Europe are changing to LED streetlights, which offer dramatic possibilities for controlling wasted light. Other communities are finding success by simply turning off some of their public lighting after midnight. Even Paris, the "city of light," which already turns off its monument lighting after 1 a.m., will this summer start to require its shops, offices, and public buildings to turn off lights after 2 a.m. Though primarily designed to save energy, such reductions in the amount of light will also go far in addressing light pollution. But we will never truly address the problem of light pollution until we become aware of the irreplaceable value and beauty of the darkness we are losing.
9 情况并非不可改变。通过应用新的照明技术，关掉一部分现有的灯光，我们完全可以解决光污染这个问题。北美和欧洲许多城镇已经开始改用LED街灯，为控制灯光浪费提供了巨大的可能性。其他社区仅仅通过在午夜后关掉部分公共照明，就成功减少了浪费。甚至有“灯光之城”美誉的巴黎也已经于凌晨一点关掉历史建筑的照明，并从今年夏天开始，要求商店、办公室、公共建筑在凌晨两点以后关灯。虽然减少这类照明的主要目的是节约能源，但是这在解决光污染方面也将大有可为。然而，除非我们意识到我们正在失去的黑夜具有无可替代的价值和魅力，否则，我们永远无法真正解决光污染问题。
10 This winter solstice, this longest night of the year, let us begin.
10 今年冬至，即今年黑夜最长的一天，让我们开始行动吧。
Reading 2¶
For this big fish, there's no place like home
1 Search "salmon crossing the road" on the Internet and you'll find dozens of videos of me and my pals skittering across wet streets and highways like windup toys on a mission. Cars slow and stop to let us cross, water spraying from our flicking tails as we navigate this long journey and flop back into the river on the other side.
1 在互联网上搜“三文鱼过马路”，可以找到几十段视频，拍的是我和我的伙伴们欢快地游过有水的街道和高速公路，那场面就像一堆发条玩具去执行命令一样。车辆会放慢车速，停下来让我们穿过。我们轻快地甩落尾巴上的水珠，啪嗒啪嗒扭动身子，长途跋涉，游回到马路对面的河流。
2 The videos capture me after I've been away at sea for up to five years, navigating thousands of miles. To guide me on this journey, I use my unique inner GPS (which taps into the Earth's magnetic field) to get me closer to my birthplace. Then I begin to sniff out the specific river where I was born. I head home to lay eggs and, alas, usually to die — possibly after crossing a road or two.
2 当视频拍摄到我的时候，我已经游过几千英里，在海里呆了五年之久。我用体内独特的GPS导航（利用了地球的磁场）指引我的行程，慢慢游近我的出生地。然后，我通过嗅觉找到我出生的那条河，游回家产卵。呜呼！我常常在半路上丧命——可能才游过了一两条马路。
3 When your local fish merchant or waiter distinguishes me as "wild," you should know that it is not a very strict classification. Of the eight living species of me, seven live in the Pacific. Pacific salmon are more closely tied to West Coast rainbow trout than to Atlantic salmon, while the Atlantic salmon is actually more closely related to a trout from the Northeast than to a salmon from the Pacific.
3 如果本地的鱼贩子或者餐厅服务员说我是“野生的”，你就应该知道所谓的“野生”是一个不太严格的分类。我有八个种类，其中七个生活在太平洋。太平洋三文鱼与西海岸的虹鳟的关系比与大西洋三文鱼的关系更密切，而大西洋三文鱼实际上与美国东北部的鳟鱼的关系比与太平洋三文鱼的关系更密切。
4 More to the point, I am so exquisitely adjusted to the very river I was born in that my size, my shape, and maybe even how I taste are specific to — and determined by — that place. If I'm born far up the Yukon River, for example, I will grow much larger and fatter than a salmon born in a small stream a mile away. After all, I will need enough strength and fat to swim home against the Yukon's strong current and lay my eggs in its rocky bottom. And fishermen know this, preferring to catch me precisely at the Yukon's mouth, when my fat stores — the silky, rich Omega-3 that makes me delicious for eating and good for the heart — are in the best condition for a long swim up the river.
4 更重要的一点是，我已完全适应我出生的那条河流，以至于我的大小、体型，也许甚至连我的口感都是我出生的那条河特有的，也是由那条河决定的。比如，如果我的出生地在育空河上游，我就会长得比一英里以外的小溪里的三文鱼更大更肥，毕竟我需要足够的力气和脂肪迎着育空河的激流逆流而上，才能游回家，在布满岩石的河床产卵。渔夫们了解这一点，喜欢精准地守在育空河口捕获我，因为这个时候，我储存的脂肪——那丝滑、丰富的奥米伽3，使我不仅吃起来美味可口，而且还能强健心脏——正处于逆流而上的漫漫长路前的最佳状态。
5 I've been a North American staple forever, in large part because of these unusual spawning habits. I'm the size of an ocean-grown fish, yet my return to local rivers has allowed fishermen to catch me without bothering to head out to sea the way they have to for cod and tuna. Such accessibility has backfired against me: While my Atlantic pals were once native to almost every coastal river northeast of the Hudson, they are now found in just eight lonely rivers in Maine, and thus protected. Word to the wise: If you see "wild Atlantic salmon" on a menu in North America, you're getting illegal fish, or false information.
5 长久以来，我是北美人的主食，主要是由于我与众不同的产卵习性。我与海鱼个头相近，而渔夫又能在我回家的路途中捕到我，无需像捕鳕鱼和金枪鱼那样出海捕捞。因为容易捕捞，我深受其害。我的大西洋伙伴原产于哈得孙河东北的几乎每一条沿海河流，而现在仅在缅因州的八条河流中才能找到它们的踪迹，并因此被列入了保护名录。给聪明的消费者一点忠告：假如你在北美餐馆的菜单上看到“野生大西洋三文鱼”几个字，那么要么你吃到了非法捕捞的三文鱼，要么得到了虚假信息。
6 Even as they've become endangered in the wild, Atlantic salmon have however thrived in open-ocean net pens, giving me an advantage in the fish-farming business. Tuna and cod, by contrast, have been successfully farmed only recently and with difficulty. As a result, I've become the second-most-popular seafood in the United States, with 70 percent of the salmon that Americans eat coming from the farms along sheltered coasts.
6 虽然大西洋三文鱼在野生环境中濒临灭绝，但在公海的围栏中却能茁壮地生长，这让我在养鱼业中占了些许优势。相比之下，金枪鱼和鳕鱼是在历经重重困难后，才在近期成功养殖。于是，我便成了美国第二受欢迎的海鲜，美国人吃的70%的三文鱼来自有防护带的海边养殖场。
7 That easy, relatively inexpensive abundance is a blessing for diners and cooks. My fattiness makes me moist even if you overcook me — that's why you see me at restaurants, weddings, and your neighbor's dinner party. Few fish lend themselves to such a variety of ways of cooking: I can be eaten smoked, roasted and grilled. And of course, I'm excellent raw.
7 因为我容易养殖，价格不太昂贵，数量充足，对食客和厨师而言，实乃一大幸事。即使烹饪时间过长，我的脂肪也能让我保持口感滑嫩，因此，你在餐馆里、婚宴上、邻居家的晚宴上都能见到我。很少有鱼类像我这样适合不同的烹饪方式，比如烟熏、烘烤、烧烤，当然生吃也是极佳的。
8 On that last point, an unusual fish story: The Japanese considered eating raw salmon to be unacceptable until the 1990s. That's when the Norwegians, trying to find a way to sell their surplus of farmed salmon, persuaded Japanese consumers to incorporate my raw flesh into their sushi-eating customs. That's right: Your salmon-avocado roll is in fact the product of a smart marketing campaign of Scandinavia.
8 关于最后一点有一个不寻常的故事。二十世纪九十年代之前，日本人认为生吃三文鱼是无法接受的。当时，挪威人试图给养殖过多的三文鱼找到销售渠道，便劝说日本消费者将我的生肉放入他们传统的寿司中。没错，你吃的三文鱼牛油果卷实际上是斯堪的纳维亚人精明的营销活动的产物。
9 Developments like this have done wonders for my popularity, but with unintended consequences. Some farmers looking to cut corners give me too many antibiotics that tend to leave me with environmental toxins.
9 这类新的吃法让我大受欢迎，然而也带来了意想不到的后果。有些渔民为了图省事，给我喂食太多抗生素，这会在我身上留下环境毒素。
10 There's another risk I should mention. It's to the Pacific wild salmon. In 2017, about 300,000 Atlantic salmon escaped their pen in Washington State's Puget Sound. This caused concern that my Atlantic version might overtake my Pacific version, endangering my already fragile oceangoing population. When in 2018 a fisherman caught a live Atlantic salmon in Washington's Skagit River with a belly full of fish bones, the worry increased: Was my domesticated breed surviving out in the wild and threatening my wild population?
10 我应该提一下太平洋野生三文鱼面临的另一个风险。2017年，大约30万条大西洋三文鱼从华盛顿州皮吉特湾的养殖围栏逃脱，这让人们开始担心大西洋三文鱼的数量会超过太平洋三文鱼，使已经濒危的野生鱼群数量更少。2018年，一位渔民在华盛顿州的斯卡吉特河抓到一条满肚子鱼骨头的鲜活的大西洋三文鱼，人们因此更加担心，养殖的三文鱼如果在野生的环境存活了，是否会威胁到真正野生的三文鱼群？
11 The risk led to Washington's decision to phase out Atlantic salmon farming by 2022. That's an important measure in my book. I'd like to stay wild, and take a joyride on the open road, for as long as I can.
11 这一风险使华盛顿下定决心，在2022年之前，逐步取缔大西洋三文鱼的养殖。在我看来，这可是一个重要的措施。我想继续做一条野生三文鱼，在开阔的水域自由地游来游去。