（翻一番）。我们可以改用节水的灌溉系统，停止耕种（停止使用）3最贫瘠、最陡峭的土地，再种植耗水量较低的植物（这可能会要求改变政府对某些农作物的津贴额）；采取适当的农业土地排水及土壤管理办法；减少化肥和杀虫剂的使用4。 通常（一般而言），政府以很高的津贴优惠向大户的商业性农民供水，这5就削弱了节水的必要性，鼓励了浪费行为。这种做法已导致农民广泛使用浪费水资源的灌溉设备（农民对浪费性的灌溉设备的广泛使用）6。研究表明，农业灌溉用水中只有35~50%真正用在农作物上。大部分的水通过沒有铺衬里的灌溉渠道浸入土壤，或从水管泄漏出来，或在到达农田之前就蒸发掉了。尽管从低效的灌溉系统中损失的部分水，会重新返回可再次利用的（可再次抽取的）河流或地下蓄水层中，但其水质因杀虫剂、化肥和盐份的渗入却不可避免地下降了7。这实际上就是商业性农业“使用”水的另一种方式：对水造成污染，使水无法再安全饮用。在商业性农业盛行的地区，从农田中流出的水8已经污染生活供水，使得水中的有毒物质达到危险的程度（从农田中流出的水由于含有达到危险程度的有毒物质使得生活供水受到污染）9。 Modified Agricultural Practices （2） Poorly planned and poorly built irrigation systems not only harm water quality， but can also irreparably1 harm the crop-growing capability of the land through salinization. Especially in arid areas， salts that occur naturally accumulate in irrigated soils. Poorly drained irrigation water can pollute water supply， and raise the groundwater table until it2 reaches the root zone， waterlogging and drowning crops. Globally， some 80 million hectares of farmland have been degraded by a combination of salinization and waterlogging. Switching to conserving irrigation systems has the biggest potential to save water used for agriculture3 （experts say drip irrigation could potentially 4save 40-60 percent of water now used for agriculture）. The most common water-conserving irrigation systems are some form5 of drip irrigation （also called micro-irrigation）. Conventional sprinklers spray water over crops， not only irrigating more land than is needed to grow the crop but also losing much6 to evaporation. Drip irrigation， however， supplies water directly to the crop?s root system in small doses7， where it can be used by the plant?s roots. Water is delivered through emitters 8that drip water at each plant， or perforated piping， installed on the surface or below ground. This keeps evaporation losses low， at an efficiency rate of 95 percent. Although by 1991 some 1.6 million hectares were using drip irrigation worldwide， this is still less than one percent of all irrigated land worldwide. Some countries have made drip irrigation a serious national priority9， such as Israel， which uses drip irrigation on 50 percent
of its total irrigated area. But clearly it is the exception， and most dry countries have a long way to go.
改良的农业耕作
计划不周或建造不好的灌溉系統不仅会破坏水质，还会由于土壤碱化而损害土壤的作物生长能力，而且这是不可恢复的1。尤其是在干旱地区，天然生成的盐会在灌溉过的土壤中越积越多（累积）。排放不畅的灌溉用水会污染供水，提高地下水位，直到地下水位2达到作物的根区，浸透土壤，淹死农作物。全球约有8千万公顷农田因土壤碱化和浸透而退化。
转而使用节水的灌溉系统可以最大限度的节省农业用水3（专家声称，水滴灌溉的潜力可以4节省40~60%现在所用的农业用水）。最常使用的节水灌溉系统是某种5水滴灌溉系统（也称作“微灌溉”）。传统的洒水裝置在农作物上方喷水，不仅灌溉了农作物生长所需的土地范围以外的土地（不仅使得到灌溉的土地超出了农作物生长所需的土地范围），而且使得大量水分6蒸发（而且由于水分蒸发而损失了更多的水）。然而，水滴灌溉是直接向植物的根系提供少量的水（一点一点地提供水分）7，植物的根部能够吸收到这些水。水通过滴水裝置8传递到每株植物，或通过安裝在地表或地下的穿洞管道进行传递。这将水分蒸发的损失控制在较低量，从而用水效率提高到95%。
尽管到1991年之前，世界各地已有约160万公顷农田采用水滴灌溉，但这仍不到全世界灌溉土地面积的1%。一些国家已正式将水滴灌溉列为全国重点推广事项（全国优先考虑的事项）9，例如以色列总灌溉面积的50%都采用水滴灌溉。但是很明显，这只是个特例，大多数干旱的国家还有很长的一段路要走。
Biotech Crops
Biotech crops bring higher yields with solid environmental benefits： less use of energy， better soil conservation， less fertilizer employed and therefore less polluting runoff into groundwater. But the voices opposed are also loud. Prof. Bruce Chassy， an American expert in the field， was recently in Beijing for an international conference； our journalist took the opportunity to interview him on the subject.
Q： The people who denounce biotechnological crops say they are worried about the possibility of the alien genes in genetically modified crops spreading to other species. For example， suppose herbicide-tolerant cotton transmits its genes to weeds - then the weeds could become “superweeds”. Do you think this concern is justified？
A： Before a new biotech crop can be grown in the USA， it must be approved by the US Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency. They require
developers to provide evidence that there will be no unexpected or damaging environmental consequences if the crop is planted. The questions require an examination of the potential for gene flow and any consequences that would ensue， including issues such as superweeds and the impact on a variety of non-target species such as birds， butterflies， earthworms and frogs. Resistance to the herbicides used in conventional agriculture does occur from time to time， and there is no reason to believe that biotech crops will produce any different kind of herbicide-resistant weeds than we already see in agriculture. In fact， after six years of planting herbicide-resistant crops in the US， we have not seen the emergence of herbicide-resistant weeds.
Q： In the US what percentage of people support biotech crops？ And do those who support biotech crops also eat biotech crops？ What percentage of food on the market has genetically modified ingredients？
A： US consumers have been subjected to a very effective anti-biotechnology propaganda campaign for the last few years， but according to polls over 70% support biotechnology. For example， in a recent referendum in Oregon， voters rejected a proposal to require special labels on all products containing biotech ingredients by an overwhelming 73% to 27%. That?s probably because consumers know that we have an effective regulatory system. Many may also know that 70-80% of the processed food products on supermarket shelves contain one or more ingredients derived from biotech crops. All Americans eat biotech crops unless they deliberately seek out products that are labeled otherwise. Evidence suggests that this is less than 5% of consumers. （601）
转基因农作物
采用生物技术的转基因农作物不仅产量高，对环境也有很大益处，如能量消耗少、对土壤保护有利、化肥用得少因而汇入地下水的污流也随之减少。但是反对生物技术的呼声也很高。最近，转基因领域的美国专家布鲁斯·沙西教授来到北京参加国际会议，本报记者就此问题采访了他。
问：指责生物技术的人们说，他们担心转基因农作物中的外来基因会扩散到其他物种中。比如，倘若抗除草剂的棉花把“抗除草剂基因”传给了杂草，那就会出现超级杂草。您觉得这种担心有道理吗？
答：在美国，一种新的采用转基因技术的农作物在种植前，必须经过美国农业部与环保局的批准。他们要求研制者提供证明，证明该农作物种植后不会对环境产生预料不到的或是有害的后果。这些问题要求对基因转移以及任何由此产生的后果的可能性，包括超级杂草、对于非目标性物种如鸟类、蝴蝶、蚯蚓、青蛙等各物种的影响进行检验。
对传统农业使用的除草剂产生抵抗力在自然界时有发生，因此没有理由认为采用生物技术的农作物会产生出与我们在农业中已经见到的那些抗除草剂杂草所不同的杂草。实际上，美国种植了六年的抗除草剂作物，我们并没有看到抗除草剂杂草的出现。
问：美国人当中有多大比例支持利用生物技术种植作物？支持生物技术的人也吃这种农产品吗？市场上的食品有多大比例含有转基因成分？
答：过去几年中，美国消费者遭遇到很有声势的反生物技术的宣传运动，但根据问卷调查，有超过70%的人支持生物技术。比如，在最近俄勒冈州的一次全民公决中，选民们以73%对27%的压倒多数否决了在含转基因成分的食品上贴特殊标签的提议。这可能是因为消费者知道我们拥有有效的法规体系，很多人也可能知道超市货架上70%至80%的加工食品都含有一种或多种源于转基因作物的成分。几乎所有的美国人都吃转基因农产品，除了那些刻意寻找标明没有转基因成分的人。有证据表明，这样的人不到全体消费者的5%。
Robot
Even before1 the first robot was built， the subject of robotics was controversial. The word “robot” was coined in 1921 by a Czech playwright who wrote about a colony of 2machines endowed with artificial intelligence that eventually turned against3 their human creators4. Although that account was fictional， the first industrial robots were in use by the early 1960s. Today， we continue to be intrigued by robots and their potential 5for both good and evil. Basically， a robot is any machine that performs work or other actions normally done by humans6. Most robots are used in factories to make products such as cars and electronics. Others are used to explore underwater， in volcanoes and even on other planets. Robots consist of three main components： a brain， which is usually a computer； actuators and mechanical parts such as motors， wheels and gears； and sensors for detecting images， sound， temperature， motion and light. With these basic components， robots can interact with their environment and perform the tasks they are designed to carry out.
The advantages are obvious ―robots can do things humans just don?t want to do， and they are usually more cost effective. Robots can also do things more precisely than humans and7 allow progress in medical science and other useful advances. But， as with any machine， a robot can break down and even cause disaster. There?s also the possibility that wicked people will use robots for evil purposes. Yet this is also true with8 other forms of technology such as weapons and biological material.
Robots will probably be used even more in the future. They will continue to do tasks where danger， repetition， cost or the need for precision prevents humans from performing9. As to whether they will be used for good or evil， that depends on the nature of the humans who create them.
机器人
早在第一个机器人制造出来之前1，机器人学就已是个颇有争议的话题。“机器人”这个词是由一名捷克的剧作家于一九二一年创造的。他在作品中描写了一群2被赋予人工智慧的机器逐渐与它们的创造者──人类反目为敌（反目成仇）3。虽然这个故事是虚构的，但在二十世纪六十年代初期，第一批工业用机器人真的诞生了。直至今日，我们依然对机器人及其正、反两面的潜质5（及其亦善亦邪的可能性）具有高度的好奇心（显示出极大的兴趣）。
基本而言，机器人是指任何能代替人工作业的机械6。大多数的机器人是用来在工厂里制造汽车与电子产品，其它的运用于海底、火山、甚至其他星球的探测。
机器人主要由三部分组成：脑部──通常是一部计算机；驱动装置和机械零部件──如马达、轮子和传动器；感应器──用于侦察图像、声音、温度、位移和动作，以及光线。藉助这些基本零件，机器人便能与其所处的环境交互，并且执行它们被设计完成的任务。
机器人的优点是显而易见的，它们可以做人类不愿做的事，而且往往比较经济实惠（而且往往用起来比较划算）。机器人做事也比人要更精确，因此7促进了医学及其它各方面的有益发展（所以对医学以及其它方面，促成了很大的进展）。
然而，就像其它的任何机器一样，机器人也会出故障，甚至造成灾害。坏人也可能会利用机器人为非作歹。其他科技，如武器和生物材料，也可能出现同样的情况8（同样的情形，也可见证于其他科技上，如武器和生物材料等科技）。