2023年高考英语新课标Ⅰ卷 - 阅读理解B

When John Todd was a child, he loved to explore the woods around his house, observing how nature solved problems. A dirty stream, for example, often became clear after flowing through plants and along rocks where tiny creatures lived. When he got older, John started to wonder if this process could be used to clean up the messes people were making.
当约翰·托德还是个孩子的时候，他喜欢探索房子周围的树林，观察大自然如何解决问题。例如，一条肮脏的溪流在流经植物和微小生物居住的岩石后，往往会变得清澈。当他长大后，约翰开始怀疑这个过程是否可以用来清理人们制造的混乱。

After studying agriculture, medicine, and fisheries in college, John went back to observing nature and asking questions. Why can certain plants trap harmful bacteria? Which kinds of fish can eat cancer-causing chemicals? With the right combination of animals and plants, he figured, maybe he could clean up waste the way nature did. He decided to build what he would later call an eco-machine.
在大学里学习了农业、医学和渔业之后，约翰又开始观察大自然并提出问题。为什么某些植物能捕获有害细菌？哪些鱼类可以吃致癌化学物质？他想，如果动物和植物的正确结合，也许他可以像大自然一样清理垃圾。他决定建造一台他后来称之为生态机器的机器。

The task John set for himself was to remove harmful substances from some sludge. First, he constructed a series of clear fiberglass tanks connected to each other. Then he went around to local ponds and streams and brought back some plants and animals. He placed them in the tanks and waited. Little by little, these different kinds of life got used to one another and formed their own ecosystem. After a few weeks, John added the sludge.
约翰为自己设定的任务是清除一些污泥中的有害物质。首先，他建造了一系列相互连接的透明纤维玻璃罐。然后，他来到当地的池塘和溪流，带回了一些动植物。他把它们放在玻璃罐里等着。渐渐地，这些不同种类的生命相互适应，形成了自己的生态系统。几周后，约翰加入了污泥。

He was amazed at the results. The plants and animals in the eco-machine took the sludge as food and began to eat it! Within weeks, it had all been digested, and all that was left was pure water.
他对结果感到惊讶。生态机器里的动植物把污泥当作食物开始吃！几周内，它全部被消化掉了，剩下的只有纯水。

Over the years, John has taken on many big jobs. He developed a greenhouse-like facility that treated sewage from 1,600 homes in South Burlington. He also designed an eco-machine to clean canal water in Fuzhou, a city in southeast China.
这些年来，约翰承担了许多重要的工作。他开发了一种类似温室的设施处理来自南伯灵顿1600户人家的污水。他还设计了一台生态机器来清洁中国东南部城市福州的运河水。

“Ecological design” is the name John gives to what he does. “Life on Earth is kind of a box of spare parts for the inventor,” he says. “You put organisms in new relationships and observe what’s happening. Then you let these new systems develop their own ways to self-repair.”
“生态设计”是约翰给他的工作起的名字。“对于发明者来说，地球上的生命就像一盒零配件，”他说，“你把生物体置于新的关系中，观察发生了什么。然后你让这些新系统发展出自己的自我修复方式。”