世界节假日博览 第70期:珍惜树木日

April 14 is Plant Appreciation Day (PAD). This is when you appreciate just how important plants are to us. Few of us ever stop to think just how vital plants are to our survival. Without them, we wouldn’t be here. Plants change the CO2 in the air into oxygen. No plants, no oxygen. Plants also improve our daily lives. Most of us have a plant or many plants we like to look after. Some of us even talk to our plants. On PAD, say some nice things to the plants in your life, or treat them to some plant food. The PAD website has a few other suggestions, such as growing your own vegetables and giving them to the poor. Another idea is to plant a tree for every year you’ve been on the planet. Plants are so important for our future.
4月14日为珍惜树木日。认识到树木对人类的重要性。很少有人会意识到树木对于人类生存的重要性。没有它们，就不会有人类。植被能够吸入二氧化碳，释放氧气。没有植物就没有氧气。植物还能改善我们的日常生活。许多人种植植物。有些人甚至与植物讲话。在这天，你可以向植物说些“好话”，或是给它们加点肥料。在“珍惜树木日”网站上还有一些其它建议，例如种植蔬菜，赠予穷人。另一个是每年种一棵树。树木对我们的未来至关重要。


What are plants exactly? They don’t all grow in pots. Plants are living organisms belonging to the Plantae kingdom. They include trees, bushes, vines, ferns, grasses, herbs, mosses, and green algae. People who study plants are called botanists. They say there are 350,000 species of plants in the world. Plants are important for all of our food. We eat fruit, vegetables and grains, and the animals we eat also eat plants. We also need plants to breathe. Plants have a system called photosynthesis which provides us with oxygen. Plants also provide us with materials for building things, like wood; and medicines. Even the energy we use is from plants. Oil is a fossil fuel from plants that died millions of years ago. We really need to appreciate plants more.
究竟什么是树木？它们不全长在花盆里。植物是植物王国中的生命体。它们包括树木、灌木、藤本植物、蕨类植物、草、草本植物、苔藓以及绿藻类植物。研究植物的人被叫作植物学家。他们认为全球有35万种植物。植物是重要的食物来源。我们需要食用水果、蔬菜、谷物，我们所食用的家禽也需要植物。我们还需要植物来呼吸。植物有一个名叫“光合作用”的系统，它能够产生氧气。植物还能为建筑提供材料，例如木头；以及药品。我们所需要的能源甚至也来源于植物。数千年前的植物形成了化石燃料。我们真的需要珍惜植物。