研究生英语精读教程课文原文+翻译+短文unit5

The End Is Not at Hand

The environmental rhetoric overblown.

The planet will survive

Robert J. Samuelson

Whoever coined the phrase "save the planet" is a public relation genius. It conveys the sense of impending catastrophe and high purpose that has wrapped environmentalism in an aura of moral urgency.It also typifies environmentalism's rhetorical excesses, which, in any other context, would be seen as wild exaggeration or simple dishonesty.

无论是谁杜撰了“拯救地球”这一说法，他都是一位公共关系方面的天才。这一说法既表达了对即将来临的灭顶之灾的意识，也满怀着使环境保护论带有道义紧迫感这一大的目标。同时这种说法也表明环境保护论言过其实，这种夸大在其他任何场合都会被视为是在危言耸听或愚蠢的欺骗。

Up to a point, our environmental awareness has checked a mindless enthusiasm for unrestrained economic growth.We have sensibly curbed some of growth's harmful side effects. But environmentalism increasingly resembles a holy crusade addicted to hype and ignorant of history.Every environmental ill is depicted as an onrushing calamity that—if not stopped will

end life as we know it.

就某种程度而言，我们的环境意识遏制了对自由经济增长所表现出的盲目热情。我们已明智地抑制了增长中所出现的一些有害的副作用，但是环境保护论却越来越像一场沉缅于狂热的宣传与对历史一无所知的圣战。每一由环境问题引发的不幸都被描绘成一场势不可挡的灾难。这场灾难如不加以制止，正像我们所知晓的那样，就会摧毁生命。

Take the latest scare: the greenhouse effect. We' re presented with the horrifying specter of a world that incinerates itself.Act now, or sizzle later. Food supplies will wither. Glaciers will melt. Coastal areas will flood. In fact, the probable losses from any greenhouse warming are modest: 1 to 2 percent of our economy's output by the year 2050, estimates economist William Cline.The loss seems even smaller compared with the expected growth of the economy (a doubling) over the same period.

以最近出现的恐慌——温室效应——为例。展现在我们面前的是一个自我焚毁、可怕的幽灵般的世界。即刻行动，否则世界将咝咝烧焦。食品供应即将枯竭。冰川即将溶化。沿海地区即将淹没。事实上，任何温室热效应可能造成的损失都是有限的：经济学家威廉·克莱恩估计，到2050年只占我们经济产出的1%到2%。与预想的同期经济增长(翻

一番)相比，这一损失更显得微不足道。

No environmental problem threatens the "planet" or rates with the danger of a nuclear war.No oil spill ever caused suffering on a par with today's civil war in Yugoslavia, which is

a minor episode in human misery. World WarⅡleft more than

35 million dead. Cambodia's civil war resulted in 1 million to 3 million deaths.The great scourges of humanity remain what they have always been: war, natural disaster, oppressive government, crushing poverty and hate. On any scale of tragedy, environmental distress is a featherweight.

没有任何环境问题威胁这颗“星球”，任何环境问题无法用核战争所带所来的危害来衡量。任何石油溢出造成的危害也无法同今日南斯拉夫内战——它不过是人类苦难中的一段小插曲——相比拟。第二次世界大战导致3 500 多万人死亡。柬埔寨内战导致100至300万人死亡。人类的巨大祸患一如既往：战争、自然灾害、暴虐政府、极度的贫困与仇恨。在悲剧的任何尺度上，环境问题造成的痛苦都轻如鸿毛。

This is not an argument for indifference or inaction. It is an argument for perspective and balance. You can believe (as I do) that the possibility of greenhouse warming enhances an already strong case for an energy tax.A tax would curb ordinary air