维尼yuan
As the railroads and the highways shaped the American West in the past centuries, a new electrical generating and transmission system for the 21th century will leave a lasting mark on the West, for better or worse. Much of the real significance of railroads and highways is not in their direct physical effect on the scenery, but in the ways that they affect the surrounding community. The same is true of big solar plants and the power lines that will be laid down to move electricity around. 在过去的几个世纪里，随着美国西部铁路和高速公路的发展，21世纪一种新的电力发电运输系统应运而生，无论好坏，都将在西方留下持久的印记。铁路和公路的真正意义不在于它们对风景的直接物理影响，而在于它们对周围社区的影响。大型太阳能发电厂和将铺设的输电线路也是如此。 The 19th century saw land grants offered to railroad companies to build the transcontinental railroads, leaving public land in between privately owned land. In much of the West, some of the railroad sections were developed while others remained undeveloped, and in both cases the landownership has presented unique challenges to land management. With the completion of the interstate highway system, many of the small towns, which sprang up as railway stops and developed well, have lost their lifeblood and died. 19世纪政府拨地给铁路公司建造横贯大陆的铁路，将公共土地置于私有土地之间。在西部大部分地区，一些铁路路段已经开发，而另一些尚未开发，在这两种情况下，土地所有权对土地管理提出了独特的挑战。随着州际公路系统的建成，许多作为铁路车站而兴起并发展良好的小城镇已经失去了生命力，继而消逝。 Big solar plants and their power lines will also have effects far beyond their direct footprint in the West. This is not an argument against building them. We need alternative energy badly, and to really take advantage of it we need to be able to move electricity around far more readily than we can now. 大型太阳能发电厂及其输电线的影响也将远远超出它们在西部的直接影响。这不是反对建造它们的理由。我们迫切需要替代能源，要真正利用它，我们需要比现在更容易地输送电力。 So trade-offs will have to be made. Some scenic spots will be sacrificed. Some species will be forced to move, or will be carefully moved to special accommodations. Deals will be struck to reduce the immediate effects. 因此，必须做出权衡。一些景点将被牺牲，一些物种将被迫搬家，或被小心地转移到特殊地点。将达成协议以减少直接影响。 The lasting effects of these trade-offs are another matter. The 21th century development of the American West as an ideal place for alternative energy is going to throw off a lot of power and money in the region. There are chances for that power and money to do a lot of good. But it is just as likely that they will be spent wastefully and will leave new problems behind, just like the railroads and the highways. 这些权衡的持久影响是另一回事。21世纪，作为替代能源的理想之地美国西部开发将给本地区带来大量的电力和资金。这种权力和金钱有可能带来很多好处，但也有可能被浪费掉，并留下新的问题，就像铁路和公路一样。 The money set aside in negotiated trade-offs and the institutions that control it will shape the West far beyond the immediate footprint of power plants and transmission lines. So let's remember the effects of the railroads and the highways as we construct these new power plants in the West. 通过谈判达成的交易和控制交易的机构所预留的资金，将远远超出发电厂和输电线路的直接影响范围，开发西部。所以，让我们记住在西部建设这些新发电厂时对于铁路和公路的影响。
雁归来无痕
When I was a boy growing up in New Jersey in the 1960s we had a milkman delivering milk to our doorstep. His name was Mr. Basil. He wore a white cap and drove a white truck. As a 5-year-old boy I couldn't take my eyes off the coin changer fixed to his belt. He noticed this one day during a delivery and gave me a quarter out of his coin changer. 我生长于上世纪60年代的美国新泽西，当时我们有一个送奶工巴塞尔先生，他戴着一顶白帽子，驾驶着一辆白卡车。作为一个5岁的男孩，我目不转睛地盯着固定在他腰带上零钱袋。有一天他送货的时候注意到了，于是取下一只零钱袋送给我。 Of course he delivered more than milk. There was cheese eggs and so on. If we needed to change our order my mother would pen a note-"Please add a bottle of buttermilk next delivery"-and place it in the box along with the empty bottles. And then the buttermilk would magically appear. 当然他不仅仅送牛奶，还送奶酪、鸡蛋等。如果我们需要修改订单，我的母亲会写下一张纸条“下次送货时增加一瓶脱脂奶”，然后把纸条放在装有空牛奶瓶的盒子里。下次脱脂奶就会魔术般地出现了。 All of this was about more than convenience. There existed a close relationship between families and their milkmen. Mr. Basil even had a key to our house for those times when it was so cold outside that we put the box indoors so that the milk wouldn't freeze. And I remember Mr. Basil from time to time taking a break at our kitchen table having a cup of tea and telling stories about his delivery. 一切都很方便，每一家与他们的送奶工都保持着良好的关系。巴塞尔先生甚至有我们家的钥匙，因为室外太冷我们把牛奶箱放在了室内，这样牛奶就不会冻住。我记得很多次看见巴塞尔先生在我家的厨房桌子旁休息，喝着茶聊着他的送奶经历。 There is sadly no home milk delivery today. Big companies allowed the production of cheaper milk thus making it difficult for milkmen to compete. Besides milk is for sale everywhere and it may just not have been practical to have a delivery service. 现在家庭送奶业很不景气，大公司生产的牛奶更便宜，这使得送奶工很难与之竞争。而且牛奶到处都可以买到，渐渐地就不需要送奶服务了。 Recently an old milk box in the countryside I saw brought back my childhood memories. I took it home and planted it on the back porch. Every so often my son's friends will ask what it is. So I start telling stories of my boyhood and of the milkman who brought us friendship along with his milk. 最近，我在乡下看见了一个旧牛奶箱，勾起了我童年的回忆，我把它带回家把它放在后门廊上。每次我儿子的朋友问起这是什么，我就开始讲述我的童年生活，关于送奶工因为牛奶和我们结下的友谊。
布川依夫
Cassandra Feeley finds it hard to manage on her husband’s income. So this year she did something more than a hobby: She planted vegetables in her yard. For her fist garden, Ms Feeley has put in 15 tomato plants, and five rows of a variety of vegetables. The family’s old farm house has become a chicken bourse, its residents arriving next month. Last year, Ms.Rita Gartin kept a small garden. This year she has made it much larger because, she said, “The cost of everything is going up and I was looking to lose a few pounds too; so it’s a win-win situation all around.” 卡桑德拉·费利发现靠她丈夫的收入很难维持生活，因此，今年她做了一些业余爱好以外的事：在院子里种菜。在她的第一个花园里，费利女士种植了15株西红柿和5排各种蔬菜。家里的旧农舍已经变成了养鸡场，居民们下个月就会入住。去年，丽塔·加廷女士经营着一个小花园。今年花园变得更大了，她说，“所有的东西都在涨价，我正好也希望减点肥，所以这是一个双赢的事情。” They are among the growing number of Americans who, driven by higher living costs and a falling economy, have taken up vegetable gardening for the first time. Other have increased the size of their existing gardens. Seed companies and garden shops say no since the 1970s have there been such an increase in interest in growing food at home. Now many gardens across the country had been sold out for several months. In Austin, Tex., some of the gardens have a three-year waiting list. 在生活成本上升和经济下滑的推动下，越来越多的美国人开始第一次种菜，另一些人则增加了现有花园的面积。种子公司和花园商店表示，自20世纪70年代以来，人们对在家种植的兴趣从未如此高涨。现在，全国各地的许多花园已经卖光了好几个月。在德克萨斯州奥斯汀，一些花园甚至要等上三年。 George C.Ball Jr, owner of a company, said sales of vegetable seeds and plants are up by 40%, over last year, double the average growth of last five years. Mr.Ball argues that some of the reasons have been building for the last few years. The big one is striking rise in the cost on food like bread and milk, together with the increases in the price of fruit and vegetables. Food prices have increase of higher oil price. People are driving less, taking fewer vacations, so there more time to garden. 一家公司的老板乔治·C·鲍尔说，蔬菜种子和植物的销售额比去年增长了40%，是过去五年平均增长率的两倍。鲍尔先生认为，过去几年来积累了一些原因。最大的原因是面包和牛奶等食品的成本大幅上升，以及水果蔬菜价格的上涨。食品价格随着油价的上涨而上涨。人们开车越来越少，休假越来越少，所以有更多的时间种菜。
