Nowadays,leaders the world over are busy mapping out blueprints for a new age withenvironmental protection high on their agenda. Sustainable development hits headlines almostevery day. It is of utmost importance to restore the harmonious balance between man andnature,given the damage we've already done to it.

　　First of all, we must realize that man and nature are interactive.To begin with, we deriveeverything fromnature. Among other things,I'm sure you've all tasted natural produce that isotherwise known as green food. And you must have noticed that nearly all beautifying productsboast of being natural creams,natural lotions or natural gels. For man,nature has an irresistibleappeal.

　　But on the other hand we must also realize that nature can be unruly.Nature is indeed like ariddle,some areas of which are beyond the reach of science and technology,at least in theforeseeable future. Nevertheless,the advancement of science and technology will stillcharacterize the next millennium. The coming new age will provide many opportunities,but itwill be likewise run of challenges. For instance,United Nations'demographers predict that globalpopulation could soar from its current 5.9 billion to as many as 11.2 billion by 2050.This willaggravate the current scarcity of natural resources caused by environmentaldegradation.More conflicts over this scarcity may occur with the ghost of nuclear wars alwayshiding in the background. To prevent this nightmare from coming true,governments need towork closely with each other and back up their verbal commitment by actions. However, it isnot enough only to ask what governments can do toachieve the harmony between man andnature. We must ask ourselves what we as individuals can do.

　　Can we all be economical with food,water,electricity or other resources? Can we,or rather,somegreedy ones among us,stop making rare plants and animals into delicious dishes? Can we stopusing the unrecyclable style of lunch boxes? If not,one day they may bury us in an ocean ofwhite rubbish.After all,the earth is not a dustbin;it's our common home.

　　如今世界各地的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人都在忙于規(guī)劃新時(shí)代的藍(lán)圖，在這個(gè)時(shí)代，環(huán)境保護(hù)是他們?nèi)粘瘫砩蟽?yōu)先考慮的項(xiàng)目。幾乎每天都有關(guān)于可持續(xù)發(fā)展的報(bào)道。考慮到我們?nèi)祟?lèi)已經(jīng)給大自然造成了巨大傷害，恢復(fù)人類(lèi)與自然的和諧與平衡就至關(guān)重要了。

　　首先，我們必須明白，人與自然是相互作用的。本來(lái)，我們的一切都來(lái)自于大自然。[1]別的不說(shuō)，我敢說(shuō)你們都曾經(jīng)品嘗過(guò)自然生長(zhǎng)的農(nóng)產(chǎn)品，它們又被稱(chēng)作“綠色食品”。[2]你們也一是注意到，幾乎所有美容產(chǎn)品都標(biāo)榜是天然面霜、天然乳液或者天然膠。對(duì)人類(lèi)來(lái)說(shuō)，自然具有無(wú)法抗拒的魅力。

　　可是另一方面，我們一定也要認(rèn)識(shí)到，大自然是無(wú)法駕馭的。大自然確實(shí)像是一個(gè)謎，有些領(lǐng)域是科學(xué)與技術(shù)鞭長(zhǎng)莫及的，至少在可以預(yù)見(jiàn)的未來(lái)都是如此。[3]然而，科技的進(jìn)步依然將會(huì)是下一個(gè)千年的主要特征。即將到來(lái)的新時(shí)代將會(huì)提供許多機(jī)會(huì)，但同樣也會(huì)帶來(lái)一連串的挑戰(zhàn)。舉例來(lái)說(shuō)，聯(lián)合國(guó)人口統(tǒng)計(jì)學(xué)家預(yù)計(jì)，[4]全球人口將會(huì)急劇增加，從目前的59億增加到2050年的112億。這會(huì)使目前因環(huán)境惡化帶來(lái)的自然資源匱乏的問(wèn)題更加嚴(yán)重。資源匱缺將導(dǎo)致更多的沖突，核戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)的陰影總是揮之不去。為了防止這種夢(mèng)魘變成現(xiàn)實(shí)，各國(guó)政府需要緊密地相互合作。以實(shí)際行動(dòng)支持他們口頭做出的承諾。然而，要獲得人與自然的和諧，僅僅要求政府采取行動(dòng)是不夠的。我們必須自問(wèn)，我們每個(gè)人都能夠做些什么。

　　我們能不能節(jié)約使用糧食、水電以及其他資源?我們，或者更確切地說(shuō)，我們當(dāng)中那些貪心不足的人們，能不能夠不再把珍稀動(dòng)植物當(dāng)作美味? [5]我們能不能停止使用不可回收利用的午餐盒?如果不能的話(huà)，總有一天我們會(huì)被掩埋在白色垃圾的海洋里。畢竟，地球不是個(gè)垃圾桶，它是我們共同的家園。

　　1."Green food"is a name we give to______________________.

　　2.Beautifying products boast of being natural because___________________.

　　3.What will the next millennium be characteristic of,according to the author?

　　4.The current scarcity of natural resources will be aggravated by_______________.

　　5.If we don't give up using the unrecyclable lunch boxes,they may accumulate tobe__________________.