外研版高中英语新教材(第一册)课文（Unit 6 | Understanding ideas)
英汉对照 Longji Rice Terraces 龙脊梯田 Imagine mountains wrapped in silver water, shining in the spring sun. Summer sees the mountains turn bright green with growing rice. During autumn, these same mountains are gold, and in winter they are covered in sheets of white frost. These are the colours of the Longji Rice Terraces. 想象一下：春日，群山被银白色的水包裹着，在阳光下闪闪发光；盛夏，佳禾吐绿，将群山染成一片青翠。秋收，满山黄金，而隆冬，它们又披上了冰霜做成的雪白毛毯。这，就是绚丽多彩的龙脊梯田。 These terraces were built by the local Zhuang and Yao people, to whom Guangxi is home. Starting in the Yuan Dynasty, work on the terraces took hundreds of years, until its completion in the early Qing Dynasty. Reaching as far as the eye can see, these terraces cover tall mountains, often from the bottom to the very top. 龙脊梯田的建造者是广西当地的壮族和瑶族居民。梯田从元朝开始修建，历经数百年，直到清初才完工。目之所及，梯田包裹着巍峨的高山，往往从山脚一直盘绕到山顶。 So why did these people go to so much trouble to turn the entire mountains into terraces? Firstly, there are few large, flat areas of land in the region. Building the terraces therefore meant that they could increase the areas in which they could grow rice. Secondly, although the region has plenty of rain, the mountains are steep and the soil is shallow. The flat terraces catch the rainwater and prevent the soil from being washed away. 为什么当地人要如此大费周章，把整片山区变成梯田呢？首先，这里缺乏大面积的平原，建造梯田意味着他们可以扩大水稻的种植面积。其次，尽管该地区雨水充沛，但山地坡度大，土层浅薄。水平的梯田能够储存雨水，防止土壤被冲走。 But perhaps what is most significant is the way in which people have worked in harmony with nature to make these terraces and grow rice. The terraces are cleverly designed, with hundreds of waterways that connect with each other. During the rainy season, it is along these waterways that rainwater moves down the mountains and into the terraces. The sun heats the water and turns it into vapour.This forms clouds from which rain falls down onto the mountain terraces once again. These terraces also provide a perfect environment for birds and fish, some of which feed on insects that can harm the rice crops. 但也许最令人惊叹的还是人们与自然和谐相处建造梯田和种植水稻的方式。梯田设计巧妙，其间有数百条相互连接的水渠。在雨季，雨水会沿着这些水渠从山上流入梯田。水分经太阳蒸发成水蒸气，水蒸气形成云，而雨水又从云中再次落到山上的梯田里。这些梯田还为鸟类和鱼类提供了绝佳的栖息地，而一部分鸟和鱼又以危害水稻作物的昆虫为食。 Although modern technology could help produce more crops, these terraces still mean a lot to the people for whom traditions hold much value. This knowledge is passed down through families, which means that new generations continue to use ancient methods of agriculture to maintain the terraces. Today, the Longji Rice Terraces attract thousands of visitors who come to admire this great wonder created by people and nature working together. 尽管现代技术可以帮助提高农作物产量，但这些梯田对珍视传统的当地人来说仍然意义重大。这种知识通过家庭代代相传，后代子孙一直沿用古老的农耕方法来维持着梯田的运作。今天，成千上万的游客慕名前来欣赏这由人与自然共同创造的壮丽奇观。
外研版高中英语新教材(第二册)课文（Unit 6 | Developing ideas)
英汉对照 What’s really green? 哪些才是真正的环保做法？ Most of us are aware that we must take care of the environment, and the majority of us take steps to save energy and reduce waste and pollution. But recently, some “green truths” have been shown to be only half true, or even completely false. Here are some common ones. Which are really green? 我们大多数人都意识到要保护环境，也采取了各种行动节约能源，减少浪费和污染。但是近来，一些“绿色环保真相”被证实并非完全是正确的，甚至是无稽之谈。下面列举了一些常见的环保观念，其中哪些是真正的环保做法？ ? Paper shopping bags are better than plastic ones. 纸质购物袋比塑料袋好？ Plastic bags cause litter and are a danger to wild animals, which mistake them for food. It takes hundreds of years for plastic to break down, but much less time for paper. Because of this, people think paper bags are the better environmental choice. 塑料袋会变成垃圾，被野生动物误食后会对其造成伤害。塑料的分解需要数百年的时间，而纸的降解时间要短得多。因此人们认为纸袋是更为环保的选择。 However, making a paper bag uses four times as much energy as making a plastic bag and up to three times the amount of water. The process also produces more greenhouse gases. 然而，生产纸袋所消耗的能源是塑料袋的四倍，而耗水则多达三倍。其生产过程也会产生更多的温室气体。 In fact, both kinds of bags are bad for the environment. So, take a reusable bag with you when you go shopping. 事实上这两种袋子都不够环保，所以出门购物时请带上一个可重复使用的袋子。 ? When you turn off a device, it stops using power. 关掉的电器不耗电？ When we turn off a device, such as television, it goes into stand-by mode. Devices in this mode still use power, and older devices in stand-by mode can use even more. This happens because electricity continues to leak from the device, even when it is turned “off”. To make sure your appliance is in fact off, remove the plug from its power supply. 当我们关掉电视等电器时，它会进入待机状态。这种状态下的电器仍然耗电，而且越旧的电器耗电越多。这是因为电器即使已经被“关掉”了，却依然有电流从电器中流失。为确保电器设备彻底关闭，请从电源上拔下电器插头。 ? Eating local food is good for the environment. 吃本地食物更有利于环保？ It seems like common sense: eating local food should be better for the environment, because it does not need to be transported long distances and kept cold during transport. Unfortunately, it is not that simple. It is the production of food, not its transport, that uses most of the energy and produces most of the greenhouse gases. In some cases, local produce might have used more energy and produced more greenhouse gases than produce grown a long way away—even taking into account its transport. 这似乎是常识：吃本地产的食物更环保，因为不需要长途低温运输。然而事实没有那么简单。相比于运输，食物的生产过程才是消耗大部分能源及生产大部分温室气体的原因。在有些情况下，即使将运输因素考虑在内，本地的农产品也可能比距离遥远的外地种植的农产品耗能更多，产生的温室气体也更多。 ? It’s better to take a shower than a bath. 淋浴比泡澡更好？ It depends on how long you spend in the shower and how large your bath is. If you spend more than eight minutes in a shower, you’ll use as much water as in a bath—about 50 litres of water. Therefore, the key is to keep your shower time as short as possible. 这取决于你淋浴的时间和你浴缸的大小。如果淋浴超过八分钟，那么耗水量就和泡澡一样多——大约为五十升水。所以，节水的关键在于尽量缩短淋浴的时间。 Environmental awareness is now part of daily life. But it’s worth checking common ideas and opinions to see what’s really green. 环保意识已经融入了人们的日常生活，但我们仍需仔细辨别我们已经习以为常的理念和观点中哪些才是真正“绿色环保”的。
