新世纪大学英语综合教程4课文A原文.doc

Unit1 Man in the Realm of Nature Human beings live in the realm of nature. They are constantly surrounded by it and interact with it. Man is constantly aware of the influence of nature in the form of the air he breathes, the water he drinks, and the food he eats. We are connected with nature by “blood ties” and we cannot live outside nature. Man is not only a dweller in nature, he also transforms it. Humanity converts nature’s wealth into the means of the cultural, historical life of society. Man has subdued and disciplined electricity and compelled it to serve the interests of society. Not only has man transferred various species of plants and animals to different climatic conditions, he has also changed the shape and climate of his environment and transformed plants and animals. As society develops, man tends to become less dependent on nature directly, while indirectly his dependence grows. Our distant ancestors lived in fear of nature’s destructive forces. Very often they were unable to obtain the merest daily necessities. However, despite their imperfect tools, they worked together. stubbornly, collectively, and were able to attain results. Nature was also changed through interaction with man. Forests were destroyed and the area of farmland increased. Nature with its elemental forces was regarded as something hostile to man. The forest, for example, was something wild and frightening and people tried to force it to retreat.This was all done in the name of civilization, which meant the places where man had made his home, where the earth was cultivated, where the forest had been cut down. But as time goes on mankind becomes increasingly concerned with the question of where and how to obtain irreplaceable natural resources for the needs of production.Science and man’s practical transforming activities have made humanity aware of the enormous geological role played by the industrial transformation of the earth. At present the previous dynamic balanc