Reflect on our relation with nature

UK physicist Isaac Newton once said,“Nature is pleased with simplicity and nature is no dummy.” Indeed, Mother Nature can provide almost everything human beings need if we follow her rules. But if we break the rules, she is likely to be cruel and lash out at us.
英国物理学家艾萨克·牛顿曾说：“大自然喜欢简单，大自然也不是傀儡。”的确，如果我们遵循自然法则，大自然能为人类提供几乎一切所需。但如果我们违背了规则，她就有可能残忍地向我们发起猛攻。

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) in China and some other countries at the beginning of this year is an example. According to Xinhua News Agency, the new coronavirus is similar to a virus found in a bat in 2017 and probably has an intermediate host. It’s believed that the virus originated from the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, Hubei province, where live wild animals were sold.
今年年初，在中国及一些国家爆发的新型冠状病毒肺炎便是个例子。据新华社报道，这种新型冠状病毒与2017年在蝙蝠身上发现的一种病毒相似，或许还存在着中间宿主。病毒被认为源于湖北武汉的华南海鲜市场，该市场有野生动物出售。

The Wall Street Journal reported that Dr Peter Daszak, president of the US based health organization EcoHealth Alliance, said, “This outbreak is a lesson for us. On a global scale, human population density, wildlife diversity, and land use change are what drive new pandemics.”
据《华尔街日报》报道，美国健康组织“生态健康联盟”主席皮特·达萨克博士称，“此次疫情爆发对我们而言是个教训。在全球规模下，人口密度、野生生物多样性以及土地使用的变化都导致了新流行病的产生。

In the ancient times, people needed to rely on nature to survive so they held it in awe. For example, the American Indians believed that humans are a part of nature and nature is a part of humans. Chinese ancients always pursued the harmony between nature and human beings.
在古代，人们需要依靠自然才能生存，对自然充满敬畏。比如，美洲印第安人认为，人类是自然的一部分，而自然也是人类的一部分。中国古人也一向追求天人合一。

However, as human beings master more knowledge and make more advanced tools, people try to change and even conquer nature. They use more land to make buildings, genetically modify plants, capture some wild and odd animals to suit their own needs. In this process, humans gradually lose contact with nature and even throw it out of balance.
然而，随着人类掌握了更多知识，制造出更先进的工具，人们便试图改变，甚至征服自然。他们占用了更多土地建造高楼，改造植物的基因，猎捕奇异的野生动物从而满足一己私欲。在这一过程中，人类渐渐失去了与自然的联系，甚至令其失去平衡。

Although we don’t know for sure what first caused the NCP outbreak, Brian Lamacraft at Medium said it’s time for people to “reflect on our relationship with our planet” and “reconnect with this world and everything that we’ve been given”. After all, according to US poet Gary Snyder, “Nature is not the place to visit. It’s our home.”
尽管我们尚未查明新型冠状病毒肺炎爆发的最初原因，但Medium网站的布莱恩·拉玛克拉夫特认为，人们是时候“反思我们与地球的关系”并“与这个世界以及我们被赋予的一切重新建立起联系”了。毕竟，美国诗人加里·斯奈德曾说道：“大自然不是旅游景点，而是我们的家。”

以上文章内容选自《21世纪学生英文报高中版》，详情请见《21世纪学生英文报高中版》高三707期