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1人类生活在大自然的王国里。他们不仅是大自然的居民，也是大自然的改造者。随着社会的进步和经济的发展，人们对大自然的直接依赖越来越少，而对其间接的依赖却越来越多。人类与大自然血肉相连，谁都无法生存于大自然之外。然而，人与自然之间原来存在的动态平衡已经出现崩溃的迹象。人口爆炸、生态失衡、资源匮乏等问题已成为阻碍人类社会进步的主要因素。斯伯金教授认为，要解决这一问题，人类唯一的选择就是明智地协调好生产和对大自然的关爱之间的关系。Humanbeingsliveintherealmofnature.Theyarenotonlydwellersinnature,butalsotransformersofit.Withthedevelopmentofsocietyanditseconomy,peopletendtobecomelessdependentonnaturedirectly,butindirectlytheirdependencegrows.Humanbeingsareconnectedwithnatureby“blood”ties.Noonecanliveoutsidenature.However,thepreviousdynamicbalancebetweenmanandnaturehasshownsignsofbreakingdown.Problemssuchasthepopulationexplosion,ecologicalimbalanceandtheshortageofnaturalresourceshavebecomemajorfactorskeepinghumansocietyfrombeingfurtherdeveloped.ProfessorSpirkinholdsthattheonlychoiceforhumanbeingsisthewiseorganizationofproductionandcareforMotherNature.3许多人都想出名，因为声誉能带给他们公众的赞扬和敬意。在大多数情况下，声誉还会帮助名人获取财富。可是，真正能过成名的人毕竟是少数，而大多是人，包括大多数艺术家，出名的可能性都不大。诚然，有些人在一生中某些时刻遭遇的失败的确能激发他们更加努力奋斗，从而取得最终的成功。譬如，美国发明家托马斯.爱迪生在发明电灯泡时，就是在尝试了几百种材料之后才最终找到适用于灯泡的熔丝的。然而，遗憾的是，对于大多数人来说，失败往往就是他们奋斗的结果。所以，在我看来，成功是一回事，出名是另一回事。不管你是否出名，只要你尽力了，你就算成功了。Manypeoplewanttobefamousbecausefamecanbringthembothhonorandrespectfromthepublic.Inmostcases,famecanalsohelpthemgainwealth.But,afterall,veryfewpeoplecanreallybecomefamouswhilemostpeople,includingmostartists,areunlikelytobecomefamous.Itistruethatsomefailureforsomepeopleatcertaintimesintheirlivesdoesmotivatethemtostriveevenhardersoastoachievefinalsuccess.Forexample,ThomasEdison,thefamousAmericaninventor,hadtriedhundredsofmaterialsbeforehefinallyfoundthesuitablefusefortheelectricbulb.However,unfortunately,formostpeoplefailureistheendoftheirstruggle.Therefore,inmyopinion,successisonethingandfameisanother.Aslongasyouhavetriedyourbest,you’realreadysuccessfulwhetheryouarefamousornot.5萨拉和迈克尔本来是一对双双从业的夫妻，有一套房子，两部汽车，还带了一大笔款，买了一艘大船。俩人都忙于各自的工作，又是周末还要到外地出差。所谓的家庭生活仅局限于下班后的几个钟头。他们的确挣钱不少，可是他们厌烦了这样快节奏的生活方式。所以，女儿出生不久，他们便决定改变自己的生活方式。他们把两份全职工作换成了两份兼职工作，努力缩减消费。他们卖掉了他们原有的那幢富丽堂皇的房子，搬进了自己亲手设计的、既漂亮又节能的小住宅。他们减缩了家当，把那些昂贵但长期闲置的杂物都处理掉了。他们还卖掉了那艘大船，和另一家人共享一艘小船，照样能享受海上航行的乐趣。他们处理了一辆多余的汽车和职业装，也放弃了一些昂贵的嗜好；他们很少在外面吃饭，由此也减少了许多开支，如今他们不再冲动购物，只把钱花在最基本的必需品上。人们可能意味他们自己太吝啬了，其实不然。他们选择这种简单节省的生活方式完全是自愿的行为。这样做绝不是因为物质匮乏。他们认为，简朴的生活无论是对生活还是对个人都有好处。SaraandMichaelusedtobeatwo-careercouplewithahomeoftheirown,twocarsandalargeboatboughtwithalargeloan.Theywerebothbusywiththeirrespectiveworkandsometimestheyhadtomakebusinesstripsatweekend.Theonlytimefortheirso-calledhomelifewasrestrictedtothefewhoursafterwork.Indeed,theyhadmadealotofmoney,buttheygotfedupwithsuchafast-pacedlifestyle.Sosoonaftertheirdaughterwasborn,theydecidedtochangetheirlifestyles.Theytradedtheirtwofull-timecareersfortwopart-timejobs,andtriedhardtocurtailtheirconsumption.Theysoldtheirsplendidhouseandmovedintoasmallerbutprettyandenergy-efficienthomedesignedbythemselves.Theydownsizedtheirpossessionsanddiscardedalltheexpensiveclutter.Theyalsosoldtheirbigboatandsharedasmalleronewithanotherfamilysothattheycouldstillenjoysailingonthesea.Theygaveuptheextracarandtheirprofessionalwardrobes.Theyalsogaveupexpensivehobbies.Theyseldomateout,therebyreducingalotofexpenses.Nowtheynolongerpurchasethingsonimpulseandonlyspendmoneyonthebarenecessities.Onemaythinkthattheyaretoostingytowardthemselves.Butthatisnotthecase.Forthemitisavoluntaryacttohavechosenthissimpleandfrugallifestyle.Itisbynomeansdeprivation.Theybelievethatafrugallifeisbeneficialtobothsocietyandtheindividual.7林语堂是我国近代著名的文学家。他在“读书的艺术”中告诉我们读书可以让人有风韵，富有风味，只有抱着这个目标去读书的人，才知道什么是读书的艺术，如果一个人为了心智进步去读书，那么读书的乐趣就丧失殆尽了。林语堂认为，世上没有人人必读的书。即便有，也需在某一特定的时间去读它，当一个人的思想和经验还没有到达可读某一本经典名著的时候，勉强去读它，只会觉得其味不佳，。他还认为，世上虽没有人人必读的书，却有在某一时段、某一地点、某一环境、某一时代必读的书。在他看来，读书是有作者和读者两方面构成的行为，凭借着自己的悟性和经验，从书中悟出道理，读者的贡献合作者一样大。所以，林语堂认为，发现自己爱好的作家是读者智力发展过程中最关键的事情。LinYutangwasafamousmanoflettersinmodernChina.InhisTheArtofReading,hetellsusthatreadinggivesamanacertaincharmandflavorandonlythosewhoreadwiththisobjectinmindcanunderstandwhatismeantbytheartofreading.Whenonebeginstothinkofimprovinghismind,allthepleasureofreadingisgone.LinYutangholdsthattherearenobooksthatoneabsolutelymustread.Evenifthereisacertainbookthateveryonemustread,thereisagiventimeforit.Whenone’sthoughtsandexperiencehavenotreachedacertainpointforreadingaclassic,thebookwillleaveonlyabadflavoronhispalateifheforceshimselftoreadit.Healsobelievesthatalthoughtherearenobooksinthisworldthateverybodymustread,therearebooksthatapersonmustreadatacertaintime,inagivenplace,undergivencircumstances,andatagivenperiodofhislife.Tohim,readingisanactconsistingoftwosides,theauthorandthereader.Thenetgaincomesasmuchfromthereader’scontributionthroughhisowninsightandexperienceasfromtheauthor’sown.Therefore,LinYutangbelievesthatthediscoveryofareader’sfavoriteauthoristhemostcriticaleventinhisintellectualdevelopment.