Freed by warming, /waters once locked beneath ice are gnawing（咬、侵蝕） at coastal settlements（村落）/around the Arctic Circle（北極圈）.

　　In Bykovsky（）, a village of 457 people on Russia's northeast coast, the shoreline is collapsing, /creeping（爬行） closer and closer to houses and tanks（大容器） of heating oil（采暖用油）, /at a rate of 15 to 18 feet a year.

　　"It is practically all ice – permafrost（永久凍土） - and it is thawing（融化）." For the four million people /who live north of the Arctic Circle, a changing climate presents new opportunities. But it also threatens their environment, their homes and, for those /whose traditions rely on the ice-bound wilderness, /the preservation of their culture.

　　A push to develop the North, /quickened by the melting of the Arctic seas, carries its own rewards and dangers for people in the region. The discovery of vast petroleum（石油） fields in the Barents and Kara Seas /has raised fears of catastrophic accidents /as ships loaded with oil and, soon, liquefied（液化的） gas churn（作動(dòng)詞－攪動(dòng)翻騰） /through the fisheries off Scandinavia, /headed to markets in Europe and North America. Land that was untouched could be tainted by pollution /as generators（發(fā)電機(jī)）, smokestacks（大煙囪） and large vehicles sprout（發(fā)芽、發(fā)展） to support the growing energy industry.

　　Coastal erosion is a problem in Alaska （阿拉斯加）as well, forcing the United States to prepare to relocate several Inuit（因紐特人/愛(ài)斯基摩人） villages /at a projected（計(jì)劃的） cost of $100 million or more for each one.

　　Across the Arctic, indigenous（本地的） tribes with traditions /shaped by centuries of living in extremes of cold and ice are noticing changes in weather and wildlife. They are trying to adapt, but it can be confounding（不知所措、困惑）.

　　In Finnmark（）, Norway's northernmost province, the Arctic landscape unfolds in late winter /as an endless snowy plateau（高原）, silent but for the cries of the reindeer /and the occasional whine（鳴叫） of a snowmobile（摩托雪橇） herding（放牧） them.

　　A changing Arctic is felt there, too. "The reindeer are becoming unhappy," said Eira, a 31-year-old reindeer herder.

　　Few countries rival Norway /when it comes to protecting the environment and preserving indigenous customs. The state has lavished（過(guò)分慷慨、浪費(fèi)） its oil wealth on the region, /and Sami（薩米人） culture has enjoyed something of a renaissance（文藝復(fù)興）.

　　And yet no amount of government support can convince Eira that his livelihood, /intractably（strongly） entwined(使纏繞) with the reindeer, is not about to change. Like a Texas cattleman, he keeps the size of his herd secret. But he said warmer temperatures in fall and spring were melting the top layers of snow, /which then refreeze as ice, making it harder for his reindeer to dig through /to the lichen（地衣） they eat.

　　"The people who are making the decisions, they are living in the south and they are living in towns," said Eira, sitting inside his home /made of reindeer hides（獸皮）. "They don't mark the change of weather. It is only people /who live in nature and get resources from nature /who mark it."

　　參考答案：

　　隨著天氣變暖，北極圈的冰層開(kāi)始融化，海水涌上來(lái)開(kāi)始侵蝕沿岸村落。

　　拜考夫斯凱村位于俄羅斯東北部沿海地區(qū)，居住著457個(gè)村民，這里的海岸線已經(jīng)遭到破壞，海水正以每年15－18英尺的速度向內(nèi)陸的房屋和采暖用油桶逼近。

　　“這里本來(lái)全都是冰，我們稱之為永久凍土，但是現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)開(kāi)始融化了�！睂�(duì)于居住在北極圈里的四百萬(wàn)人來(lái)說(shuō)，氣候變化給他們帶來(lái)了新的機(jī)遇。但是，這也威脅著他們賴以生存的環(huán)境和家園，而對(duì)于那些祖祖輩輩生活在冰雪荒原的人們來(lái)說(shuō)，這還關(guān)乎他們能否保住自己的文化。

　　對(duì)北部地區(qū)的進(jìn)一步開(kāi)發(fā)隨著北冰洋的融化加快了腳步，給當(dāng)?shù)厝嗣駧��?lái)了利益，也帶來(lái)了危險(xiǎn)。在巴倫支海和卡拉海發(fā)現(xiàn)了廣闊的油田，但人們擔(dān)心先裝滿石油然后很快就是液化天燃?xì)獾妮喆�發(fā)生災(zāi)難事故，這些船將卷起海浪，穿過(guò)斯堪地那維亞半島近海的捕魚區(qū)，一直開(kāi)往歐洲和北美州市場(chǎng)。當(dāng)越來(lái)越多的發(fā)電機(jī)、大煙囪和各種重型車輛進(jìn)入這個(gè)地區(qū)幫助發(fā)展能源工業(yè)時(shí)，也會(huì)使這片處女地受到污染。

　　阿拉斯加州也存在著海岸侵蝕的問(wèn)題，這迫使美國(guó)政府打算遷移數(shù)個(gè)因紐特人的村莊，每個(gè)村莊的預(yù)計(jì)搬遷費(fèi)用高達(dá)一億多美元。

　　在北極區(qū)，在極端冰冷環(huán)境里生存了幾百年的本地部落注意到了氣候和野生動(dòng)物的變化，他們想去適應(yīng)這種變化，但常常不知所措。

　　在挪威最北面的芬馬克省，每到冬末，北極的大片土地一望無(wú)際，好像冰雪高原，萬(wàn)籟俱寂，偶爾只會(huì)聽(tīng)見(jiàn)幾聲馴鹿的鳴叫和摩托雪橇放牧馴鹿的轟鳴。

　　但是即使在那里，人們也感受到了北極的變化�！榜Z鹿越來(lái)越不開(kāi)心。”31歲的養(yǎng)鹿人埃拉說(shuō)道。

　　其實(shí)談及保護(hù)環(huán)境和本土習(xí)俗，沒(méi)有什么國(guó)家可以與挪威相提并論。政府把開(kāi)發(fā)石油獲得的財(cái)富都用在了北極地區(qū)，薩米人的文化也因此得到了某種意義上的復(fù)興。

　　但是無(wú)論有多少來(lái)自于政府的支持都無(wú)法讓埃拉相信，他以鹿為生的日子將會(huì)和以往一樣。象德克薩斯州的養(yǎng)牛人，他對(duì)自己放養(yǎng)的馴鹿數(shù)量守口如瓶，但是他說(shuō)，春秋兩季氣溫上升，導(dǎo)致表層雪融化，天冷后結(jié)成冰，馴鹿就更難于刨食到地表的植物。

　　“那些制定政策的人都住在南方的城市里，”埃拉坐在用鹿皮搭建的家里說(shuō)，“那些決策者注意不到天氣的變化。只有真正住在大自然里、從大自然獲得生活資源的人才能注意到這一切�！薄�