人教版高中英语新教材选择性必修一Unit 5课文文本和翻译
A PIONEER FOR ALL PEOPLE
造福全人类的先驱者
Yuan Longping, known as the “father of hybridrice”, is one of China’s most famous scientists. Yet, he considers himself a farmer because he continually works the land in his research. Indeed, his slim but strong body is just like that of millions of Chinese farmers, to whom he has devoted his life.
  袁隆平，被誉为“杂交水稻之父”，是中国最著名的科学家之一。然而，他认为自己是个农民，因为他不断地在田间耕作，进行科学研究。确实，他瘦削但结实的身躯看起来和他为之奉献了一生的千百万中国农民一样。
Yuan Longping was born in 1930 in Beijing. His parents wanted him to pursue a career in science or medicine. However, what concerned him most was that farmers often had poor harvests and sometimes even had a serious shortage of food to eat. To tackle this crisis, he
chose to study agriculture and received an education at Southwest Agricultural College in Chongqing.
  袁隆平1930年出生于北京。他的父母希望他从事科学或医学方面的工作。然而，最让他担心的是，农民经常歉收，有时甚至严重缺乏食物。为了应对这一危机，他选择了学习农业，并在重庆的西南农学院接受教育。
After graduating in 1953, he worked as a researcher. Yuan Longping realised that larger fields were not the solution. Instead, farmers needed to boost yields in the fields they had. How this, could be done was a challenging question at the time. Yuan was convinced that the answer could be found in the creation of hybrid rice. A hybrid is a cross between two or more varieties of a species. One characteristic of hybrids is that they usually attain a higher yield than conventional crops. However, whether it was possible to develop a hybrid of self-pollinating plants such as rice was a matter of great debate. The common assumption then was that it could not be done. Through intense effort, Yuan overcame enormous technical difficulties to develop the first hybrid rice that could be used for farming in 1974. This hybrid enabled farmers to expand their output greatly.
    1953年毕业后，他从事研究工作。袁隆平意识到，解决问题的办法并不是扩大农田面积，而是农民们需要提高他们已有土地上农作物的产量。如何做到这一点在当时是一个具有挑战性的问题。袁隆平坚信，可以在杂交水稻的培育中到答案。杂交植物是一个物种的两个或多个变种之间的杂交。杂交作物的一个特点是它们的产量通常比常规作物高。然而，是否有可能培育出如水稻等自花授粉植物的杂交种，这是一个充满争议的问题。人们普遍认为这是不可能做到的。通过不懈的努力，袁隆平克服了巨大的技术难题，于1974年研制出了第一批可用于农业生产的杂交水稻。这种杂交植物使农民能够大幅度增加他们的水稻产量。
Today, it is estimated that about 60 percent of domestic rice consumption in China is comprised of crops generated from Yuan’s hybrid strains, and his strains have allowed China’s farmers to produce around 200 million tons of rice per year. Yuan’s innovation has helped feed not just China, but many other countries that depend on rice as well, such as India and Vietnam. Because of his invaluable contributions, Yuan Longping has received numerous awards both in China and abroad.
  据估算，现在中国国内消费的稻米有大约60%来自袁隆平的杂交水稻品种形成的作物，这
些品种(形成的作物)让中国农民每年能够生产出大约两亿吨稻米。袁隆平的创新不仅帮助养活了中国，也养活了许多其他依赖大米的国家，如印度和越南。因为他做出了不可估量的贡献。袁隆平在国内外获得了无数奖项。
Given that Yuan’s hybrids have made him quite wealthy, one might think he would retire to a life of leisure. However, this is far from the case. Deep down, Yuan is still very much a farmer at heart. As a man of the soil, he cares little for celebrity or money. Instead, he makes large donations to support agricultural research.
  考虑到杂交水稻使袁隆平变得相当富有，人们可能认为他会退休享受闲适的生活。然而，事实远非如此。实际上，袁隆平在内心深处仍然是一位农民。作为一个土生土长的人，他不太在乎名利。相反，他大量捐款支持农业科学研究。
What impresses people most about Yuan Longping is his ongoing ability to fulfill his dreams. Long ago, he envisioned rice plants as tall as sorghum, with each ear of rice as big as a broom, and each grain of rice as huge as a peanut. He succeeded in producing a kind of rice that could feed more people at home and abroad. His latest vision for “seawat
er rice” has also become a reality, and potentially opened up nearly one million square kilometres of salty land in China for rice production. Despite his advanced years, Yuan Longping is still young at heart and full of vision, and everyone is waiting to see what he will dream up next.
  袁隆平给人印象最深的是他不断实现梦想的能力。很久以前，他设想水稻高至高粱，稻穗大如扫帚，而每粒稻谷大如花生。他成功地种植出一种可以养活国内外更多人口的水稻。他对“海水稻”的最新设想也已成为现实，并可能在中国开辟近100万平方公里的盐碱地，用于水稻生产。尽管年事已高，袁隆平的内心仍然年轻，富有远见，每个人都在等着看他下一步的梦想。
CHEMICAL VERSUS ORGANIC FARMING
化学耕作和有机耕作
Chemical pesticides and artificial fertilisers have been in widespread use in farming since the middle of the 20th century. When they were first introduced, many farmers welcomed them as a great way to fight crop disease and increase production. Over time, however, w
hat some scientists have found is that their long-term use can sometimes harm both the land and people’s health.
自20世纪中期以来，化学农药和人工化肥在耕作中得到了广泛使用。当它们第一次被引进时，很多农民喜欢使用农药和化肥，把它们作为防治农作物病虫害和提高产量的重要手段。然而，随着时间的推移，一些科学家发现长期使用农药和化肥会造成土地受损，对人们的健康造成危害。
For example, pesticides can damage the land by killing not only harmful bacteria and insects, but also helpful ones. In addition, these chemicals can stay in the soil and underground water sources for a long time. This affects the crops grown on the land and, in turn, the animals and humans who digest them. Many people worry that these chemicals may make them ill and even cause cancer. In fact, some pesticides like DDT have been prohibited in most countries because of the damage they cause to people and the environment. As for chemical fertilisers, crops grown with them usually grow too fast to be rich in nutrition. They may look beautiful on the outside, but inside there is usually more water than essential minerals, and they often have less flavour as well.