Text 10

People all over the world today are beginning to hear and learn more and more about the problem of pollution. (1) Pollution is caused either by the released by man of completely new and often artificial substances into the environment, or by releasing greatly increased amounts of a natural substance, such as oil from tankers into the sea.

(2) The whole industrial process which makes many of the goods and machines we need and use in our daily lives, is bound to create a number of waste products to upset the environment balance, or the ecological balance as it is also known. Many of these waste products can be prevented or disposed of sensibly, but clearly while more and more new goods are produced and made complex, there will be new, dangerous wastes to be disposed of, for example, the waste products from nuclear power stations. Many people, therefore, see pollution as only part of a larger and more complex problem, that is, the whole process of industrial production and consumption of goods. (3) Others again see the problem mainly in connection with agriculture, where new methods are helping farmers grow more and more on their land to feed our ever-increasing populations. However, the land itself is gradually becoming worn out as it is being used, in some cases, too heavily, and artificial fertilizers cannot restore the balance.

(4) Whatever its underlying reasons, there is no doubt that much of the pollution cause could be controlled if only companies, individuals and governments would make more efforts. In the home there is an obvious need to control litter and waste. Food comes wrapped up three of four times in packages that all have to be disposed of; drinks are increasingly sold in bottles or tins which cannot be reused. This not only causes a litter problem, but also is a great waste of resources, in terms of glass, metals and paper. (5) Advertising has helped this process by persuading many of us not only to buy things we neither want nor need, but also throw away much of what we do buy. Pollution and waste combine to be problem everyone can help to solve by cutting out unnecessary buying, excess consumption and careless disposal of the products we use in our daily lives.

参考译文

1. 污染的形成，是由于人类向环境中排放一些全新的、通常是人造的物质；或者是由于向环境中大量排放天然物质，如油轮中的石油排放到海洋中。

2. 工业生产的整个过程制造出许多日常生活所需要和使用的东西，同时，必然产生大量的废弃物，从而破坏环境平衡，即人们常说的生态平衡。

3. 有的人则把环境污染问题主要看成是农业中的问题，农业中采用新的生产方式，使得农民能够从地里收获更多的粮食以养活不断增长的人口。

4. 不管形成污染的潜在原因是什么，只要公司、个人，以及政府做出进一步的努力，毫无疑问，许多污染问题都能够得到控制。

5. 广告助长了这种浪费，因为广告不但诱使人们购买他们既不想要也不需要的东西，而且使人们扔掉许多已经买到手的东西。