Unit 5A - Silent Spring

Silent Spring

Rachel Corson

There was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings. The town lay in the midst of prosperous farms, where, in spring, white clouds of bloom drifted above the green fields. In autumn, oak and maple and birch set up a blaze of color that flamed and flickered across a background of pines. Then foxes barked in the hills and deer silently crossed the fields.

Along the roads, laurel, great ferns and wildflowers delighted the traveler's eye through much of the year. Even in winter the roadsides were places of beauty, where countless birds came to feed on the berries and on the seed heads of the dried weeds rising above the snow. The countryside was, in fact, famous for the abundance and variety of its bird life, and when the flood of migrants was pouring through in spring and fall people traveled from great distances to observe them. Others came to fish the streams, which flowed clear and cold out of the hills and contained shady pools where trout lay. So it had been from the days many years ago when the first settlers raised their houses, sank their wells, and built their barns.

Then some evil spell settled on the community: mysterious diseases swept the flocks of chickens; the cattle and sheep sickened and died. In the town the doctors became more and more puzzled by new kinds of sickness appearing among their patients. There had been several sudden and unexplained deaths, not only among adults but even among children.

There was a strange stillness. The birds, for example—where had they gone? The feeding stations in the backyards were deserted. The few birds seen anywhere trembled violently and could not fly. It was a spring without voices. On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of scores of bird voices there was now no sound; only silence lay over the fields and woods and marsh.

The roadsides, once so attractive, were now lined with browned and withered vegetation as though swept by fire. These, too, were silent, deserted by all living things. Even the streams were now lifeless. Anglers no longer visited them, for all the fish had died.

Some weeks before a white powder had fallen like snow upon the roofs and the lawns, the fields and streams.

No witchcraft, no enemy action had silenced the rebirth of new life in this stricken world. The people had done it themselves.

This town does not actually exist. I know of no community that has experienced all the misfortunes I describe. Yet every one of these disasters has actually happened somewhere, and many real communities have already suffered a substantial number of them, and this imagined tragedy may easily become a harsh reality we all shall know.

What has already silenced the voices of spring in countless towns in America? This book is an attempt to explain.

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—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-1940s over 200 basic chemicals have been created for use in killing insects, weeds, and other organisms described as "pests"; and they are sold under several thousand different brand names.

These chemicals are now applied almost universally to farms, gardens, forests, and homes, killing every insect, the "good" and the "bad," to still the song of birds and the leaping of fish, to coat the leaves with a deadly film, and to linger on in soil—all this though the intended target may be only a few weeds or insects.

Can anyone believe it is possible to lay down such a large number of poisons on the surface of the earth without making it unfit for all life? They should not be called "insecticides," but "biocides."

The whole process of spraying seems caught up in an endless spiral. This has happened because insects, in Darwin's principle of the survival of the fittest, have evolved super races immune to the particular insecticide used, hence a deadlier one has always to be developed and then a deadlier one than that. It has happened also because destructive insects often undergo a "flare-back," or resurgence, after spraying, in numbers greater than before. Thus the chemical war is never won, and all life is caught in its violent crossfire.

How could intelligent beings seek to control a few unwanted species by a method that contaminated the entire environment and brought the threat of disease and death even to their own kind? Yet this is precisely what we have done.

All this is not to say there is no insect problem and no need of control. I am saying, rather, that control must be geared to realities, and that the methods employed must be such that they do not destroy us along with the insects.

Under primitive agricultural conditions the farmer had few insect problems. Nature has introduced great variety into the landscape and holds the species within bounds by the built-in checks and balances.

参考译文——寂静的春天

寂静的春天

雷切尔·卡森

从前，在美国中部有一个小城镇，那儿的一切生命看起来都与周围的环境和谐相融。那个小城的周围是生机勃勃的农场。春天，那儿的繁花如白云般点缀在绿色的原野上。秋天，在屏风般的松林之间，橡树、枫树和白桦树闪烁着火焰般的光辉？狐狸在小山上鸣叫着，小鹿静悄悄地穿过了原野。

沿途的月桂树、巨大的蕨类植物还有野花在一年中大部分时间里都可以让旅人觉得赏心悦目。即使在冬天，路边也很美，无数的鸟飞来啄食浆果和露出雪面的干草籽。事实上，那儿正是以其鸟类的数量繁多、种类各异而闻名。当迁徙的候鸟在春秋两季蜂拥而至时，观鸟者会经过长途跋涉来这里观看。还有人会到小溪边钓鱼，这些清澈而冰冷的小溪从山中流出，汇成了绿荫掩映的池塘，那里生活着鳟鱼。那个小镇一直是这个样子，自从很多年前的某一天，第一批居民来到这儿盖房、挖井、筑仓时。

后来，某种不祥的魔咒就降临到了村落里：神秘的疾病袭击了鸡群；牛羊也或死或病。镇里的医生越来越对病人中出现的新的病症疑惑不解。不仅仅在成年人中，甚至在儿童中也出现了很多突发的无法解释的死亡现象。

一种诡异的寂静笼罩了这个地方。比如，小鸟们都到哪儿去了？后院的喂鸟台已经荒废破败。偶尔还能看到的几只鸟儿也颤抖得厉害，飞不起来。这是一个悄无生息的春天。曾经的每个清晨随着破晓开始的鸟儿大合唱已不复存在；只有一片寂静笼罩着田野、树林和沼泽地。

曾经拥有迷人景色的道路两旁，现在满是焦黄、枯萎的植物，好像被大火烧过一样。这些地方也是寂静无声，了无生机。甚至小溪也失去了生命；钓鱼的人不再来了，因为鱼已经死光了。

几星期前，一些白色的粉末像雪花般落到了屋顶、草坪、田野和溪流中。

不是魔法，也不是敌人的破坏阻止了这个受灾地方新生命的繁衍生息，而是人类自己造成了这一切。

这个城镇实际上并不存在。我并不知道哪一个地方经受过我所描述的所有不幸。但其中我所描述的每一种灾难实际上都在某个地方发生过，并且确实有许多地方已经遭受了巨大的灾难，这个想象中的悲剧很可能变成一个我们将面对的残酷现实。

是什么使美国无数城镇的春天变得如此寂静？这本书试图为你解释这个问题。

地球生命的历史一直是生物体和它周围环境相互作用的历史。在很大程度上，地球上植物和动物的自然形态和习性都是由环境塑造的。就地球的整个历史而言，生命改造环境的反作用实际上是相对微小的。但在本世纪，一个物种——人类——获得了改造自然界的非凡能力。

在过去的25年里，这种能力不仅在不断地增长，而且性质也发生了变化。在所有人类对环境的亵渎行为中，最令人担忧的当属空气、土地、河流以及大海受到的危险的、甚至是致命物质的污染。这种污染在很大程度上是不可逆转的。在当前这种对环境的普遍污染中，化学物质变成了辐射的邪恶帮凶，它们改变着世界的本质——生命的本质。被洒在农田、森林或者花园里的化学物质将长期潜伏在土壤中，或进入生物体内部，并在中毒和死亡的连锁反应中不断传递迁移。它们或者随着地下水流神秘地转移，直到它们显现并结合成新的化学物质，毒害植物和家畜，并且使那些曾经饮用纯净井水的人们不知不觉遭受伤害。正如一个科学家所说，“人类甚至辨认不出自己制造的恶魔了”。

今天，寄居在地球上的生命是经过上亿年进化而来的。生物适应所需的时间不是以年计算的，而是以千年来计算的。生命体不断适应，才能达到一种平衡状态。但是现代世界的变化太快已经来不及适应了。

这种快速的变化追随着人类轻率的步伐而非大自然的从容步态。辐射是人们干预原子时违背自然的创造。化学物质是人们依靠聪明的头脑所创造的人工合成物，而这些东西在自然界是找不到对等物质的。

调整以适应这些化学物质不仅需要一代人很多年的努力，甚至需要几代人的努力。即便如此，如果没有奇迹发生，这些努力也是徒劳的，因为我们的实验室会源源不断地生产出新的化学物质，仅在美国，每年就有将近500种化学合成物投入使用。

这些化学品中，很多是被人类用于对抗自然的。自20世纪40年代中期以来，人类制造出了超过200种基本化学物质，用来杀虫、灭草和其他一些被称之为“害虫”的有机生命体；这些化学物质是以几千种不同的商品形式被出售的。

这些化学物质现在被广泛用于农田、园子、森林和家庭生活之中，用来杀死那些不管是“好的”还是“有害的”昆虫，这致使鸟儿不再歌唱，鱼儿不再跳跃，树叶上蒙上一层致命的薄膜，化学物质将长期留存在土壌里——尽管使用它的最初目的是除掉少量的野草和昆虫。

谁能相信在地表投放如此大量的毒药不会危害别的生命呢？它们不应该叫“杀虫剂'而应该叫作“杀生剂”。

喷洒化学物质的过程似乎陷入了一个没有尽头的螺旋中。之所以会这样是因为根据达尔文的适者生存理论，昆虫已经进化成高级物种了，它们对已使用的各种杀虫剂具有免疫力。因此，人们必须发明更加致命的化学药品，然后是比这些还要致命的。这也是因为喷洒化学品后，具有破坏性的昆虫经常进行“反击”或者复活，数量变得比以前更多。因此，化学物质之战从未取胜，所有的生命都会在激烈的交火中遭殃。

聪明的人类怎么可以仅仅为了控制少数不为人类所需的物种，就去污染整个环境，甚至给自己造成疾病和死亡的威胁呢？然而，这恰恰就是我们所做的。

这一切并不是说没有害虫问题，没有控制的必要。我的意思是，对昆虫的控制必须符合现实，使用的方法必须保证不会将我们和昆虫一起毁灭掉。

在原始农业的条件下，农民很少遇到虫害问题。自然赋予土地多样性，通过内部的控制和平衡把物种控制在有限的范围内。

Key Words:

mysterious     [mis'tiəriəs]    

adj. 神秘的，不可思议的

unexplained         

adj. 未经解释的；未经说明的；不清楚的

settled    ['setld]   

adj. 固定的；稳定的 v. 解决；定居（settle

cattle      ['kætl]    

n. 牛，家畜，畜牲

variety    [və'raiəti]

n. 多样，种类，杂耍

puzzled         

adj. 困惑的；搞糊涂的；茫然的

blaze      [bleiz]    

n. 火焰，烈火

vi. 燃烧，发光

     

abundance    [ə'bʌndəns]   

n. 丰富，充裕

observe  [əb'zə:v] 

v. 观察，遵守，注意到

v. 评论，庆

oak  [əuk]      

n. 橡树，橡木

experienced   [iks'piəriənst] 

adj. 有经验的

describe  [dis'kraib]      

vt. 描述，画(尤指几何图形)，说成

violently  ['vaiələntli]     

adv. 猛烈地，激烈地，极端地

powder   ['paudə] 

n. 粉，粉末，细雪，火药

vt. 洒粉于，使

attractive        [ə'træktiv]     

adj. 有吸引力的，引起注意的

silence    ['sailəns] 

n. 沉默，寂静

vt. 使安静，使沉默

harsh      [hɑ:ʃ]     

adj. 粗糙的，使人不舒服的，刺耳的，严厉的，大约的

substantial     [səb'stænʃəl] 

adj. 实质的，可观的，大量的，坚固的

chorus    ['kɔ:rəs]  

n. 合唱队，歌舞队，齐声说道，副歌部分，

community    [kə'mju:niti]   

n. 社区，社会，团体，共同体，公众，[生]群落

extent     [iks'tent] 

n. 广度，宽度，长度，大小，范围，范围，程度

slight      [slait]     

adj. 轻微的，微小的，纤细的，脆弱的

species   ['spi:ʃiz]  

n. （单复同）物种，种类

combine        [kəm'bain]     

v. 结合，联合，使结合

n. 集团，联合企业

alter        ['ɔ:ltə]     

v. 改变，更改，阉割，切除

cattle      ['kætl]    

n. 牛，家畜，畜牲

universal        [.ju:ni'və:səl]   

adj. 普遍的，通用的，宇宙的，全体的，全世界的

emerge   [i'mə:dʒ] 

vi. 浮现，(由某种状态)脱出，(事实)显现出来

span       [spæn]   

n. 跨度，跨距，间距

vt. 横跨，贯穿，估

earthly    ['ə:θli]     

adj. 地球的，俗世的，可能的

inventive        [in'ventiv]      

adj. 善于创造的，发明的

intended        [in'tendid]     

adj. 故意的，有意的；打算中的 n. 已订婚者 v.

impetuous     [im'petjuəs]   

adj. 冲动的，猛烈的，轻率的

synthetic [sin'θetik]      

adj. 综合的，合成的，人造的

n. 人工制

radiation [.reidi'eiʃən]   

n. 辐射，放射线

      

merely    ['miəli]    

adv. 仅仅，只不过

linger      ['liŋgə]   

vt. 消磨，无所事事

vi. 逗留，消磨，徘

miracle   ['mirəkl] 

n. 奇迹

stream    [stri:m]   

n. (人，车，气)流，水流，组

v. 流动，

produce  [prə'dju:s]      

n. 产品，农作物

violent    ['vaiələnt]

adj. 暴力的，猛烈的，极端的

threat     [θret]     

n. 威胁，凶兆

vt. 威胁, 恐吓

spiral      ['spaiərəl]

n. 旋涡，螺旋形之物

adj. 螺旋形的，盘

landscape      ['lændskeip]  

n. 风景，山水，风景画

v. 美化景观

primitive ['primitiv]      

adj. 原始的

n. 原始人，文艺复兴前的艺

insecticide      [in'sektisaid]  

n. 杀虫剂

particular       [pə'tikjulə]     

adj. 特殊的，特别的，特定的，挑剔的

unwanted      ['ʌn'wɔntid]   

adj. 不必要的，空闲的

principle ['prinsəpl]      

n. 原则，原理，主义，信念

crossfire  ['krɔsfaiə]

n. 交叉火力

参考资料：

1. 现代大学英语精读(第2版)第三册:U5A Silent Spring(1)_大学教材听力 - 可可英语
2. 现代大学英语精读(第2版)第三册:U5A Silent Spring(2)_大学教材听力 - 可可英语
3. 现代大学英语精读(第2版)第三册:U5A Silent Spring(3)_大学教材听力 - 可可英语
4. 现代大学英语精读(第2版)第三册:U5A Silent Spring(4)_大学教材听力 - 可可英语
5. 现代大学英语精读(第2版)第三册:U5A Silent Spring(5)_大学教材听力 - 可可英语