外研版选修三册第五单元阅读讲解

Unit 5 Learning from nature

第50页阅读讲解

Nature in Architecture
建筑中的自然元素

1 Trees, plants and flowers are all around us and we enjoy their beauty every day. In fact, we are so used to them that we may even take them for granted without realising how much inspiration they have given us. When we look at a pine cone, we might think how much it looks like the tiles on a roof. An open flower might make us think how closely it resembles an umbrella. It is natural to think in this way, but of course it wasn't the umbrella that inspired the flower or the roof that inspired the pine cone.
我们身边都有花、草、树木，并且每天都能欣赏到它们的美。事实上，我们已经习惯了它们的存在，甚至可能把它们视为理所当然，却没有意识到它们给了我们多少灵感。看到一个松果，我们可能会想它看起来多么像屋顶上的瓦片；看到一朵绽开的花，我们可能会觉得它和雨伞是多么相似。以这种方式思考是很自然的，但当然不是雨伞给了花朵灵感，也不是屋顶给了松果灵感。

2 Nature has inspired many of the most fascinating designs around us, including those in architecture. From Barcelona's forest-like Sagrada Familia to the modern style of Beijing's Water Cube, nature is presented in various architectural designs. Today, architects continue to explore ways to capture the beauty of natural forms, to mimic the way nature works or even to make natural organisms part of a building.
我们身边许多最迷人的设计，包括建筑设计，它们的灵感都来自大自然。从巴塞罗那的森林般的圣家族大教堂到现代风格的北京水立方，在各式各样的建筑设计中都能发现自然元素。如今，建筑师不断探寻捕捉自然形态之美的方法，模仿自然运行的方式，或者让自然生物融为建筑的一部分。

ArtScience Museum, Singapore
新加坡艺术科学博物馆

3 People whose interest is exploring the relationship between art and science will enjoy Singapore's ArtScience Museum. The building was designed to show the connection between nature and the modern city environment in which it sits. Shaped to resemble a lotus flower, it appears to float above the waterfront promenade and the water that surrounds it. Its roof collects rainwater and channels it 35 metres down to a waterfall in the centre of the space. The water is then recycled through the building's plumbing system. Visitors are often amazed to find themselves in an urban building that so truly captures the beauty of natural forms.
对探索艺术与科学的关系感兴趣的人会乐于参观新加坡的艺术科学博物馆。该建筑旨在展示自然和现代城市环境之间的联系。它的形状像一朵莲花，漂浮在海滨长廊上，四周被水环绕。它的屋顶可收集雨水，雨水顺着管道向下35米到！达博物馆中心的瀑布。然后，水通过建筑的管道系统循环使用。当置身于这样一座真实地捕捉到自然形态之美的城市建筑中时，参观者常常叹为观止。

The Eastgate Centre, Harare
哈拉雷东门大厦

4 Harare's Eastgate Centre is a superb example of biomimicry. To use biomimicry is to create structures based on natural forms and processes. Zimbabwean architect Mick Pearce was inspired to create the Centre while watching a nature documentary in which termites were constructing their nests. The insects built mounds covered in little holes designed to allow air to move freely in and out of the mounds. In a similar way, the Eastgate Centre has a “skin” covered in holes. During the day, warm air is drawn into the building through the holes, cooling as it reaches the middle of the building. At night, the heat absorbed by the wall during the day warms the cool air, creating a comfortable temperature inside. The design reduces the need for traditional air conditioning and heating systems, so the building uses less energy and costs less to run.
哈拉雷东门大厦是极好的仿生学范例，利用仿生技术，在自然形态和过程的基础上创造建筑结构。津巴布韦建筑师米克·皮尔斯在一部大自然纪录片中看到白蚁筑造蚁穴，从中得到启发，从而设计了东门大厦。这种昆虫搭建表面覆有小洞的蚁丘，以保证蚁丘内外部的空气流通。东门大厦也用了相似的方法，大厦的“皮肤”上设计了很多洞。白天，暖空气通过洞口引入建筑内部，在流向建筑中部的过程中冷却下来。夜间，墙壁吸收的热量使冷空气变暖，创造着适宜的内部温度条件。该设计减少了对传统空调和供暖系统的需求，因此建筑运行能耗和成本都较低。

The Algae House, Hamburg
汉堡藻屋

5 The world's first algae-powered building is in Hamburg, Germany. The surface of the apartment building is covered in panels that contain algae. The algae are fed with liquid nutrients and carbon dioxide to encourage them to grow. In bright sunshine, they grow faster and provide shade. The panels also capture heat from the sun and convert it into energy that powers the building. And that's not all – the algae inside the panels can be harvested and used to produce fuel. The building therefore not only responds to its environment and uses less energy, but also reduces damage to the environment by generating its own renewable energy.
世界上第一座藻类能源建筑位于德国汉堡。公寓楼表面的面板上覆盖着藻类。藻类以液体营养素和二氧化碳为养料，促进自身生长。阳光明媚的时候，它们长得更快，可以遍阴。这些面板还可以吸收太阳的热量，并转化为电能，给建筑物供电。除此之外，面板内的藻类可以收集起来，做燃料用。因此，该建筑不仅能够适应环境，减少能耗，而且自身可以产生可再生能源，减少对环境的危害。

6 Creating buildings such as these enables us to live in closer harmony with our environment. To meet the needs of today while protecting the world of tomorrow may be a challenge, but even the simplest organisms can help teach us how to achieve this.
创造这样的建筑物能够使我们与我们的环境更和谐地相处。保护明天的世界，同时满足当下的需求，这可能是一项挑战，但即使是最简单的生物也能帮忙，教我们如何实现目标。

第56页阅读讲解

Back to Nature
回归大自然

1 Tao Yuanming and Henry David Thoreau were both poets, but one lived in Ancient China and the other in 19th century America. Superficially, these two men, whose lives were separated in time by nearly 1,500 years, were polar opposites. And yet they shared an intense respect for nature, which made them each an influential figure of their time.
陶渊明和亨利·大卫·梭罗都是诗人，但是一位生活在古代中国，另一位生活在19世纪的美国。表面上看，这两个人生活在不同的时代，相隔近一千五百年，迥然不同。然而，他们都非常尊重自然，这使得他们在各自的时代都成为有影响力的人物。

2 Both men made dramatic transformations to their lives in order to reconnect with nature. As an official in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Tao felt conflicted over life at court. In 405, he quit the service of the court for good, expressing his unhappiness in the now famous line that he would not “bow like a servant in return for five dou of grain”. He spent the next 22 years until his death, working the land in a poor, rural area. From his poetry, we can learn that although his life was arduous, he succeeded in finding contentment in its simplicity and in drawing pleasure from nature.
为了重归自然，两人的生活都发生了戏剧性的转变。陶渊明是东晋的官员，但是对官场生活感到困惑。公元405年，陶渊明辞去了官职，以表达他对仕途的不满，用今天的一句名言形容就是“不为五斗米折腰”。在之后的22年里，直到生命的尽头，他躬耕于田野，生活在清贫的农村。我们可以从他的诗歌中看出，尽管生活艰苦，但他从这种简单的生活中成功获得了满足感，并从大自然中获得了乐趣。

3 While Tao's return to nature was a reaction to a lifestyle he was opposed to, Thoreau's was a personal decision to transform the way he lived. He had a decent quality of life, but he wanted to live in a simpler way. For two years, two months and two days, he lived in a cottage in the forest on the edge of Walden Pond, focusing on himself and his writing. He explained his reason for doing so in Walden: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life.” Both men were happy to withdraw from contemporary life, seeking a harmonious relationship with nature in the quietness of their lives.
陶渊明回归大自然是对自己反对的生活方式做出的一种反应，而梭罗则是出于个人的决定而改变自己的生活方式。虽然梭罗过着体面的生活，但他希望活得更简单些。两年两个月零两天，他住在瓦尔登湖边森林里的一间小屋里，专注于自身和写作。他在《瓦尔登湖》中解释了这样做的原因：“我步入丛林，是因为我希望自由地生活，只面对生活中的基本事实。”两个人都乐于从当下的生活中抽身而退，在平静的生活中寻求与自然和谐的关系。

4 Although Tao and Thoreau do not treat nature in quite the same way, their works show its beauty and value. Tao's nature is a place of fields and villages, in other words, rural, and his animals are domestic ones, such as chickens and dogs. The calm and peaceful life he wrote about is in contrast to and critical of the depressive court life:
尽管陶渊明和梭罗对待自然的方式不同，但他们的作品都展现了自然的美丽和价值。陶渊明的自然是田野和村庄，换句话说，是田园。他的动物们都是家养的，比如鸡和狗。他描写的平静祥和的生活，与压抑的官场生活形成鲜明对比，是对压抑的官场生活的批判：

Beyond the dark and distance lies a village,
The smoke above reluctant to depart.
A dog is barking somewhere down the lane,
And chickens sit atop the mulberry tree.
暖暖远人村，
依依墟里烟。
狗吠深巷中，
鸡鸣桑树颠。

5 Thoreau's descriptions of nature emphasised the beauty and purity of the wild areas around him. Devoting himself to observations of the natural phenomena, he recorded his detailed findings in his journals. Thoreau's writing aimed to convince people that animals and plants had a right to live and prosper, as we do. We should live with them in harmony and enjoy nature's gifts, as he describes in his journals:
梭罗在描述自然时，重点描绘了他周围原野的美丽与纯粹。他全身心投入到观察自然现象中，并在日记中详细地记录了自己的发现。梭罗的写作意在使人们信服，动物和植物就像我们人类样都有生存和繁荣的权利。我们应该与它们和谐共处，受大自然的恩赐，正如他在日记中描述的那样：

Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each. Let them be your only diet, drink and botanical medicines.
好好度过每一个季节，呼吸新鲜的空气，畅饮美酒，品尝水果，尽情受这一切。让生活中只有饮食和草药。

6 It takes considerable courage to reject the easy and familiar and instead try to live closer to nature, as both Tao and Thoreau did. Their choices led them to quiet and reflective lives with fewer material desires. In today's modern world, their ideas about living simply and being at ease with nature may take us a step closer to attaining personal well-being and fulfilment.
像陶渊明和梭罗那样，拒绝简单熟悉的事物，转而尝试亲近大自然，这需要相当大的勇气。他们的选择使他们过上了平静而沉思的生活，物质欲望减少了。在今天这个现代世界，他们关于简单生活和与自然和谐相处的想法，可能会让我们离获得个人幸福和满足感更近一步。