章村中学  周波    

Good morning judges, ladies and gentlemen,

   Today, I want to talk with you about how to find harmony in a new age between man and nature? About science and technology, I have to say, I am only a layman. But living in this "new age", seeing my dear ones suffering from diseases from time to time, finding the beautiful colors of green and blue are being replaced by that of gray and pale, and realizing that our mother planet is getting more and more unhealthy; I can't help trying to offer my idea and my best to look for the answer of the question.

Some people may proudly say: we are the masters of nature. It is true that the idea of "man can conquer nature" has been in people's mind for years, and it is true, man has kept acting like a master and doing whatever things he wants for thousands of years. However, as the result of this kind of "leadership", now the "master" faces to the problems that are far beyond his control. Facts are really very enough. The green house effect leaves islands and cities along the coast, such as the oriental pearl-Shanghai, in danger of the disaster of being drowned; the holes of the ozone layer make the earth less suitable to live for some animals including human beings; the phenomena of EL Nino and La Nina leave the land with serious flood and drought, and the diseases, caused by pollution, are increasing at a surprising speed... Seeing all these facts, can we still ignore the counterattack of nature? We are not the masters of nature. Facing all the disasters made by ourselves, we, mankind should realize that we are just a normal member of the big family of nature. Any action that destroy nature will meet only with the revenge from her.

By saying so, I do not mean we should give a sudden stop to any development. Because that will result in a threat to the human society. I mean we should treat nature equally, leaving the chance of existence and development to nature as we are looking for the same thing, and thus we will get the situation of win-win.

I want to end my speech by words from Mr. Nixon. "Our destiny offers, not the cup of despair, but the cup of chance." Of course，the future is not ours to see. However, by taking the chance, by knowing clearly about ourselves, we, human beings, can keep the real harmony with nature!