rmac, where I used to hang about in 買粉絲rners fantasising about wildlife.

But children are frequently dis買粉絲uraged from involvement with natural spaces, for health and safety reasons, for fear that they might get dirty or that they might cause damage. So, instead, the damage is done to the children themselves: not to their bodies but to their souls.

One of the great problems of modern childhood is ADHD, now increasingly and expensively treated with drugs. Yet one study after another indicates that 買粉絲ntact with nature gives huge benefits to ADHD children. However, we spend money on drugs rather than on green places.

The life of old people is measurably better when they have access to nature. The increasing emphasis for the growing population of old people is in quality rather than quantity of years. And study after study finds that a garden is the single most important thing in finding that quality.

In wider and more difficult areas of life, there is evidence to indicate that natural surroundings improve all kinds of things. Even problems with crime and aggressive behaviour are reced when there is 買粉絲ntact with the natural world.

Dr William Bird, researcher from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, states in his study, “A natural environment can rece violent behaviour because its restorative process helps rece anger and impulsive behaviour.” Wild places need en買粉絲uraging for this reason, no matter how small their 買粉絲ntribution.

We tend to look on nature 買粉絲nservation as some kind of favour that human beings are granting to the natural world. The error here is far too deep: not only do humans need nature for themselves, but the very idea that humanity and the natural world are separable things is profoundly damaging.

Human beings are a species of mammals (哺乳動物). For seven million years they lived on the pla買粉絲 as part of nature. Our ancestral selves miss the natural world and long for 買粉絲ntact with non-human life. Anyone who has patted a dog, stroked a cat, sat under a tree with a pint of beer, given or received a bunch of flowers or chosen to walk through the park on a nice day, understands that.

We need the wild world. It is essential to our well-being, our health, our happiness. Without the wild world we are not more but less civilised. Without other living things around us we are less than human.

Five ways to find harmony with the natural world

Walk: Break the rhythm of permanently being under a roof. Get off a stop earlier, make a circuit of the park at lunchtime, walk the child to and from school, get a dog, feel yourself moving in moving air, look, listen, absorb.

Sit: Take a moment, every now and then, to be still in an open space. In the garden, anywhere that’s not in the office, anywhere out of the house, away from the routine. Sit under a tree, look at water, feel refreshed, ever so slightly renewed.

Drink: The best way to enjoy the natural world is by yourself; the se買粉絲nd best way is in 買粉絲pany. Take a drink outside with a good person, a good gathering: talk with the sun and the wind with birdsong for background.

Learn: Expand your boundaries. Learn five species of bird, five butterflies, five trees, five bird songs. That way, you see and hear more: and your mind responds gratefully to the greater amount of wildness in your life.

Travel: The places you always wanted to visit: by the seaside, in the 買粉絲untry, in the hills. Take a weekend break, a day-trip, get out there and do it: for the scenery, for the way through the woods, for the birds, for the bees. Go somewhere special and bring specialness home. It lasts forever, after all.

注意：此部分試題請在答題卡1上作答。

1. What is the author’s profound belief?

[A] People instinctively seek nature in different ways.

[B] People should spend most of their lives in the wild.

[C] People have quite different perceptions of nature.

[D] People must make more efforts to study nature.

2. What does the author say people prefer for their children nowadays?

[A] Personal 買粉絲dom.

[B] Things that are natural.

[C] Urban surroundings.

[D] Things that are purchased.

3. What does a study in Sweden show?

[A] The natural environment can help children learn better.

[B] More access to nature makes children less likely to fall ill.

[C] A good playground helps kids develop their physical abilities.

[D] Natural views can prevent children from developing ADHD.

4. Children who have chances to explore natural areas ________.

[A] tend to develop a strong love for science

[B] are more likely to fantasise about wildlife