Few creations of big technology capture the imagination like giant dams. Perhaps it is humankind’s long suffering at the mercy of flood and drought that makes the ideal of forcing the waters to do our bidding so fascination. But to be fascinated is also, sometimes, to be blind. Several giant dam projects threaten to do more harm than good.
The lesson from dams is that big is not always beautiful. It doesn´t help that building a big, powerful dam has become a symbol of achievement for nations and people striving to assert themselves. Egypt´s leadership in the Arab world was cemented by the Aswan High Dam. Turkey´s bid for First World status includes the giant Ataturk Dam.
But big dams tend not to work as intended. The Aswan Dam, for example stopped the Nile flooding but deprived Egypt of the fertile silt that floods left - all in return for a giant reservoir of disease which is now so full of silt that it barely generates electricity.
And yet, the myth of controlling the waters persists. This week, in the heart of civilized Europe, Slovaks and Hungarians stopped just short of sending in the troops in their contention over a dam on the Danube. The huge complex will probably have all the usual problems of big dams. But Slovakia is bidding for independence from the Czechs, and now needs a dam to prove itself.
Meanwhile, in India, the World Bank has given the go ahead to the even more wrong headed Narmada Dam. And the bank has done this even though its advisors say the dam will cause hardship for the powerless and environmental destruction. The benefits are for the powerful, but they are far from guaranteed
Proper, scientific study of the impacts of dams and of the cost and benefits of controlling water can help to resolve these conflicts. Hydroelectric power and flood control and irrigation are possible without building monster dams. But when you are dealing with myths, it is hard to be either proper, or scientific. It is time that the world learned the lessons of Aswan. You don’t need a dam to be saved.
譯文
在重大技術所創造的東西中，很少有能像大型水壩這樣能體現人的想象力的。或許是因為人類長期遭受洪澇和干旱的襲擊，使得人類制服洪水的愿望更加令人興奮不已。但是令人著迷，有時也會使人盲目。有些巨型大壩的項目就有著弊大于利的危險。
建造大壩的教訓是：大的并不一定總是美的。但是這無法阻止想要修建高大雄偉的大壩來顯示那些力爭得到自我肯定的國家和人民當作偉大成就的象征。埃及在阿拉伯世界的領導地位由建造阿斯旺大壩而鞏固。土耳其為了力爭成為世界一流的國家，也包括修建了巨大的阿塔特克大壩。
但是大壩并沒有如預期的那樣發揮作用。例如阿斯旺大壩，它阻止了尼羅河洪水的泛濫，但也使得埃及失去了洪水離去后所留下的肥沃土壤——換回來的是一個疾病滋生的大水庫。現在整個水庫填滿了淤泥，幾乎不能發電。
然而控制水的不切實際的想法仍在繼續。本周，在文明的歐洲中心，斯洛伐克人和匈牙利人為了多瑙河上的一處水壩引發爭端，幾乎差點動用了軍隊。這個大型的工程可能會出現所有大壩上的常見問題。但斯洛伐克正在力圖從捷克脫離而獨立，現在它需要建一個大壩來證明自己的實力。
與此同時，在印度，世界銀行已經貸款來建造問題繁多的納爾黙達大壩。盡管世界銀行的顧問指出，該大壩將給百姓帶來苦難，并且也會破壞周邊的環境，但銀行已經這樣實行了。這些利益歸有權勢者所有，但是這種利益也是沒有保障的。
對于水壩的影響以及水壩治水的成本和收益進行正確而科學的研究，能夠有效地解決這些沖突。即使不興建大型水壩，水利發電、治理洪水以及灌溉也是可能的，不一定非得建大壩。但是當你面對那些不切實際的神話時，你就很難做到合理和科學了。現在該是世界吸取阿斯旺大壩教訓的時候了。我們未必非要通過大壩來拯救自己。
詞匯
assert vt. 主張, 堅稱, 斷言
例句：You must assert yourself or they will continue to bully you. 你必須維護自己的權利，否則他們還會欺負你。
詞組：assert oneself 堅持自己的權利; 表現自己的權威
同義詞：affirm declare insist on pronounce state
Advisor n. 顧問, 勸告者, 指導教師
例句：His amiability condemns him to being a constant advisor to other people's troubles.他那和藹可親的性格使他成為經常為他人排憂解難的開導者。
bidding n. 命令, 邀請, 出價
例句：He was bidding他在設法爭取大眾的支持。 for popular support.
詞組：at one's bidding/at sb.'s bidding 依囑,遵命do one's bidding/do sb.'s bidding 照……的命令做, 照……的話辦
barely ad. 幾乎不
例句：He has barely enough money to live on. 他的錢僅夠勉強維持生計。
詞組：barely enough勉強夠be barely of age剛成年a barely furnished room陳設簡陋的房間
同義詞：hardly just scarcely
capture n. 抓取, 戰利品, 捕獲之物vt. 抓取, 獲得, 迷住
例句：They would offer a bounty of $100,000 for the capture of the murderer. 他們愿出十萬元賞金捉拿兇手。
同義詞：apprehend arrest imprison seize
反義詞：release
civilized a. 文明的, 有禮的
例句：His new theory has caused a sensation throughout the civilized world. 他的新理論轟動了整個文明世界。
反義詞：barbarous; uncivilized; wild
dam n. 水壩, 障礙vt. 控制, 筑壩vi. 控制, 筑壩
例句：The mouth of the river is dammed and a freshwater lake created behind the dam.河口筑起了攔河壩，壩后便形成了淡水湖。
詞組：devil's dam 鬼婆娘(罵婦女的話)
deprived a. 窮困的, 喪失了受良好教育權利的, 貧窮的
例句：These misfortunes almost deprived him of his reason. 這些不幸的事情幾乎使他失去理智。
詞組：deprived children失學的孩子們
drought n. 干旱, 缺乏
例句：Soon afterward drought不久之后又發生了干早。 set in.
反義詞：wet
environmental a. 周圍的, 環境的
派生：environment n. 周圍環境. environmentalist n. 環境保護者
例句：Living creatures must be adaptable to environmental change. 生物必須能適應環境的變化。
詞組：an environmental factor環境的因素
fascination n. 令人著迷的事物, 入迷, 魅力
例句：Old churches have a certain strange fascination for me. 舊教堂對我具有某種奇特的魅力。
guarantee n. 擔保, 抵押品, 保證書vt. 保證, 擔保
例句：Blue skies are not always a guarantee of fine weather. 蔚蘭的天空并不永遠保證晴朗的天氣。
詞組：stand guarantee for ... 替……擔任保證人
同義詞：assure back certify endorse pledge promise secure sponsor stand for swear underwrite warrant
反義詞：guarantor
hydroelectric a. 水力電氣的
詞組：a hydroelectric power station水力發電站
Imagination n. 想像, 聽覺, 想像力
例句：Dragons are creatures of Chinese fancy. 龍是中國人幻想出來的動物。
詞組：beyond(all) imagination (完全)出乎意料地draw on (one's) imagination 杜撰, 編造
irrigation n. 灌溉, 沖洗
例句：Public irrigation is the heart of cotton farming. 公共水利設施是棉花生產的命脈。
詞組：an irrigation channel (canal) 灌溉渠bring the farmland under irrigation使農田水利化
myth n. 神話, 虛構的事, 虛構的人
例句：He was a myth that had been created out of desperation and poverty and despair. 他是從絕境、貧困和失望中創造出來的一個神話般的人物。
meanwhile n. 其時, 其間ad. 同時, 于此時
例句：Meanwhile, two other actors had carried two large food baskets to a shady spot under some trees. 與此同時,另外兩位演員把兩個盛著食物的大籃子拿到樹下蔭涼的地方。
symbol n. 符號, 象征, 代號, 信條
例句：The private car was still a cherished status symbol. 私人小汽車仍然是一種地位高貴的標志。
詞組：a chemical symbol化學符號
status n. 狀態, 情形, 地位, 要人身份
例子：We celebrate our regained status as a sovereign and independent nation. 我們為重新取得了主權和獨立國家的地位而歡欣鼓舞。
詞組：the status of affairs事態, 形勢status nascendi (nascens) 初生態class status階級成分a status seeker想往上爬的人
同義詞：class condition division grade position rank standing state station
silt n. 淤泥vt. 使淤塞vi. 淤塞
例句：The cadres were digging up river silt干部同社員們一起在挖河泥。 with the commune members.
詞組：silt content/ the total volume of silt淤泥含量
scientific a. 科學的, 系統的, 符合科學規律的
例句：Scientific科學技術統計數字為2000年北京市科技資源清查數字。 statistical figures are from Beijing scientific resources check 2000.
詞組：scientific experiment科學實驗scientific point of view科學觀點
反義詞：unscientific
troop n. 軍隊, 裝甲部隊, 騎兵隊, 部隊vi. 群集, 結隊, 成群而行
例句：There were troops of friends to see him off. 有很多友人為他送行。
詞組：get one's troop 升任騎兵連長household troops 王室禁衛軍
同義詞：band body bunch company crew crowd gang group mob party unit
招生服務平臺始創于1999年
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