地理学英文 (1)

“地理学英文”分栏导读：这是第一个用专业地理英文和专业地理知识来交流和阐释英语语言学习的栏目！英文学习者将在重温或补足地理知识的同时习得大量的基础英文词汇、语法并能打下扎实的英文基本功！

“学习英文就是学习全世界！”的倡导者、提倡“用学科学英语”的第一人杨斯毅指出了外语学习与学科学习之间的“互通互利”关系，因为学科英文中隐藏了很多基础英文词汇与内容；更重要的是，学科英文的用词和语境往往深刻地揭露了某些基础英文词汇的专业用法和原始内涵。在渗入英文基础知识的过程中，学习者能够在过去用母语学习学科的基础上换用一套新的文化思维渠道来巩固学科的基础知识。又由于学科的基础内容在全球各国的教育范围内都是大同小异的，这就为学习者的理解带来了极大的便利。例如，地理学英文系列能帮助英文学习者理解我们所处的地理环境，它包含的自然环境和文化环境以及这些环境下产生的各种现象是如何影响我们过去、现在和未来的生活的。地理学英文系列还有助于学习者提高环境保护观念、关注全球环境问题并建立人口、资源、环境、社会相互协调的可持续发展意识与观念。

Introduction to geography

In the first part of the series, I will introduce you to geography, some key geographic concepts and the skills you will need to understand geographic concepts. 【在《地理学英文系列》的第一部分，我将为大家介绍什么是地理、一些关键的地理概念以及掌握地理概念所需要的学习技能。】

Geography is the study of environments as the home of people. It brings together a whole range of other subjects (including geology, biology, economics, sociology, urban studies and technology) and helps us make sense of what is happening in the world. Then, what do we mean by “environment”? Geographers define an environment as “an area with distinctive natural and/or cultural characteristics that interact”. 【地理是研究人类赖以生存的环境的学科。它不但与整一连串的学科有着密切的关系（包括地质学、生物学、经济学、社会学、城市学和工艺与技术），还能帮我们了解自然界中发生的事情。 那么，究竟如何理解这里所指的“环境”呢？地理学家们把环境定义为“一个具有独特的自然特征和/或文化特征、并且特征之间有互动影响的区域”。】

Geographers study the relationships and connections between people and both natural and cultural environments. These interactions often cause environments to change. For example, what in the past can be a natural environment of forested hills, mangrove swamps and abundant marine and bird life may now turn into a highly urbanized cultural environment with houses, motorway, airports, business districts and recreational areas. Some elements of the old natural environment may still be there, but most can have been removed or changed. Extreme natural events like floods or earthquakes also change natural and cultural environments. 【地理学家们研究人类与自然文化环境之间的关系——这些互动关系往往可导致环境变化。例如，过去可能曾经是森林覆盖的山区、红树沼泽区以及富有海洋生物与鸟类的自然环境带现在也许已经变成遍布房子、高速公路、机场、商业区和娱乐区的全都市环境。一些旧的自然环境特征也许仍保留着，但它们中的大部分也许已被移除或改变。极端的自然现象例如洪水或者地震也能改变自然与文化环境。】

Key geographic concepts and skills

On the face of it, geographers have a huge task. They have to make sense of what happens in all the different environments where the Earth’s 7 billion people live. They also try to understand what was happening in the past and what is likely to happen in the future. 【表面上看，地理学家们任务艰巨。他们要解释地球上70亿人所居住的不同地理环境的各类现象；他们还得尝试理解过去发生的以及未来很可能会发生的自然现象。】

Luckily, we have two groups of tools to help us. They are: 【幸运的是，我们可用两组工具来协助理解，它们包括：】

Geographic concepts (or ideas) that help us understand our world and

Geographic skills that help us manipulate the information we get.

Geographic concepts are important ideas that help geographers understand our world. While there are many different geographic concepts, the key ones include: 【地理概念是帮助地理学家理解我们周围的世界的要点。虽然有很多不同的地理概念， 最关键的包括：】

Accessibility: how easy it is to move from one place to another 【可接近性】

Change: how things are altered by natural or human actions 【变化】

Culture: the shared value of people who belong to certain groups 【文化】

Distance: how far apart places are 【距离】

Environment: an area with similar spatial patterns and processes 【环境】

Interaction: how different elements in an environment affect each other 【互动】

Location: where something is found 【位置】

Pattern: how inter-related features are arranged on the Earth’s surface 【模式】

Perception: how people view and interpret the environment 【观念】

Process: a sequence of related actions that can alter an environment 【过程】

Sustainability: looking after resources now so that they are there in the future 【可持续性】

Geographic skills are not unique to geography - you will already be using many of them in other subjects. There are five sets of geographic skills, including resource interpretation skills, resource construction skills, fieldwork skills, social skills and communication skills.【地理技能并非为地理学所独有——你应该会在其他学科也使用着这里的许多技能。有五组地理技能，包括资料解释技能、资料建设技能、野外作业技能、社交技能以及沟通技能。】

Short-answer questions

What is geography?

What is an environment?

What features are included in natural and cultural environments, respectively?

Please describe the eleven geographic concepts and five geographic skills in your own words.