Throughout history man has changed his physical environment in order to improve his way of life. With the tools of technology  he  has  altered many physical features of the earth.  He  has  transformed woodlands and prairies into farms and made lakes and reserviors out of rivers for irrigation purposes or hydroelectric power. Man has also modified the face of the earth by draining marshes and cutting through mountains to build roads and railways.

 

　　However, man‘s changes to the physical environment have not always had beneficial results. Today, pollution of the air and water is an increasing danger to the health of the planet. Each day thousands of tons of gases come out of the exhausts of motor vehicles. Smoke from factories pollutes the air of industrialized areas and the surrounding areas of the countryside. The pollution of water is equally harmful. The whole ecological balance of the sea is being changed and industrial wastes have already made many rivers lifeless.

 

　　Now environmental protection is more pressing than ever before. As we know, massive destruction of environment has brought about negative effects and even poses a great threat to man‘s existence. Indifference to these problems will mean committing suicide. Therefore, effective measures should be taken and laws passed to conserve environment. Otherwise,man is certain to suffer from the serious consequences caused by this lack of care for his living surroundings.

 

　　人類有史以來(lái)不斷改變自然環(huán)境，以改善自己的生活方式。人類借助技術(shù)工具改變了地球的許多自然特征。他將林地和草原改造成為農(nóng)田，使江河變成湖泊和水庫(kù)，用于灌溉或用于水力發(fā)電。人類還通過(guò)給沼澤地排水、鑿石劈山、修建公路和鐵路等方式，改變了地球的面貌。

 

　　然而，人類改變自然環(huán)境并不總是帶來(lái)有益的結(jié)果。今天，空氣和水的污染給地球的健康造成越來(lái)越嚴(yán)重的危害。每天機(jī)動(dòng)車輛的排氣管排出成千上萬(wàn)噸廢氣。工廠釋放的煙霧污染了工業(yè)區(qū)和周圍鄉(xiāng)村的空氣。水污染同樣有害，海洋的整個(gè)生態(tài)平衡正在受到破壞，工業(yè)廢水已使許多河流的生物死亡。

 

　　現(xiàn)在，環(huán)境保護(hù)比以往任何時(shí)候都更為緊迫。我們知道，對(duì)環(huán)境的大規(guī)模破壞已經(jīng)帶來(lái)負(fù)面影響，甚至嚴(yán)重威脅到人類的生存。對(duì)這些問(wèn)題漠不關(guān)心將意味著自我毀滅。因此，應(yīng)采取有效措施并通過(guò)法律來(lái)保護(hù)環(huán)境。不然的話，人類勢(shì)必遭受因其不關(guān)心生存環(huán)境而引起的嚴(yán)重后果之苦。