第 1 單元，第 1 課

Natural Resources自然資源

這課一眼看

1How humans depend on Earth人類如何依賴地球

A natural resource is something on Earth that living things use to meet their needs. Almost everything you use comes from natural resources.自然資源是地球上生物用來滿足需求的東西。你使用的幾乎每一樣東西都來自自然資源。
Energy resources, such as sunlight, flowing water, and fossil fuels, power lights, machines, and vehicles. Nearly all manufactured products are made using energy resources.能源資源（例如陽光、流水和化石燃料）為電燈、機器和交通工具提供動力。幾乎所有工業產品的製造都要用到能源資源。
Petroleum, natural gas, propane, and coal are fossil fuels. Ancient plants stored the Sun’s energy as chemical energy; over millions of years, geologic processes turned the remains of plants and animals into concentrated fuels.石油、天然氣、丙烷和煤都是化石燃料。古代植物把太陽的能量儲存成化學能；經過數百萬年，地質作用把動植物遺骸變成能量高度集中的燃料。

Land resources provide space to live, soil to grow food, forests for timber, and minerals. An ore is a deposit of minerals large enough to be mined for a profit; copper is used in wiring and quartz in glass.土地資源提供居住空間、種植糧食的土壤、生產木材的森林和礦物。礦石是含量足以有利可圖地開採的礦物礦床；銅用於電線，石英用於製造玻璃。
Air and water are resources you cannot live without. Water is used for drinking, farming, industry, power, transportation, and food from fisheries.空氣和水是沒有它就活不下去的資源。水用於飲用、農業、工業、發電、交通運輸，以及漁業所提供的食物。
About 97% of Earth’s water is salt water, and most freshwater is frozen, leaving less than 1% for people to use. Desalination removes salt from seawater, often by reverse osmosis: high pressure forces water through a membrane that blocks the salt. It uses a lot of energy, so it is expensive.地球上約 97% 的水是鹹水，淡水大多又被冰凍，可供人使用的不到 1%。海水淡化是除去海水中的鹽分，常用逆滲透法：用高壓把水壓過一層會擋住鹽的膜。這個過程很耗能，所以成本很高。

2How long resources will last資源能用多久

A renewable resource can be replaced by natural processes in a relatively short time, such as air, water, living things, and solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, and biomass energy.再生資源是能在相對短的時間內被自然作用補充的資源，例如空氣、水、生物，以及太陽能、風能、地熱、水力和生質能。
A nonrenewable resource is used up faster than natural processes can replace it. Fossil fuels and minerals form over millions of years, so if we use them faster than they form, they will run out.非再生資源被用掉的速度比自然作用補充的速度快。化石燃料和礦物要花數百萬年才能形成，如果使用得比形成得快，終究會用完。
Most electricity in the United States still comes from nonrenewable resources such as coal and natural gas. Managing these resources wisely helps them last for future generations.美國大部分的電仍然來自煤、天然氣等非再生資源。妥善管理這些資源，才能留給後代使用。

Renewable vs. nonrenewable resources可再生 vs. 不可再生資源

	Renewable可再生	Nonrenewable不可再生
Replaced by nature自然補充	Relatively quickly相對很快	Over millions of years需數百萬年
Will it run out?會用完嗎？	Lasts if used wisely善加利用就能持續	Yes, if used faster than it forms會，若使用比形成快
Examples例子	Air, water, living things, solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, biomass空氣、水、生物、太陽能、風能、地熱、水力、生質能	Coal, oil, natural gas, minerals煤、石油、天然氣、礦物

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