要两篇英文小文章和翻译

Food and Health
The food we eat seems to have profound effects on our health. Although science has made enormous steps in making food more fit to eat, it has, at the same time, made many foods unfit to eat. Some research has shown that perhaps eighty percent of all human illnesses are related to diet and forty percent of cancer is related to the diet as well, especially cancer of the colon. Different cultures are more prone to contract certain illnesses because of the food that is characteristic in these cultures. That food is related to illness is not a new discovery. In 1945, government researchers realized that nitrates and nitrites, commonly used to preserve color in meats, and other food additives, caused cancer. Yet, these carcinogenic additives remain in our food, and it becomes more difficult all the time to know which things in the packaging labels of processed food are helpful or harmful. The additives which we eat are not all so direct. Farmers often give penicillin to beef and poultry, and because of this, penicillin has been found in the milk of treated cows. Sometimes similar drugs are administered to animals not for medicinal purposes, but for financial reasons. The farmers are simply trying to fatten the animals in order to obtain a higher price on the market. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has tried repeatedly to control these procedures, the practices continue.
食品与健康
我们所吃的食物似乎对我们的健康有深远的影响. 尽管科学上已取得许多进展,使食物更适合我们食用,但与此同时它也使许多食物不宜食用了. 一些研究已经表明,人类大概有80%的疾病与饮食有关,40%的癌症,特别是结肠癌,也与饮食有关. 不同的文化会使人们更易患某些疾病,这是由这些文化的人们喜好的食物所致. 食物与疾病有关并不是新发现. 1945年,*部门的科研工作者了解到,被广泛用于肉类以保持肉类色泽的硝酸盐、亚硝酸盐和其他的添加剂可诱发癌症. 可是这些致癌物质依然存在于我们的食物之中. 与此同时,要想知道加工食品标签上的哪些成分对健康有利,哪些成分对健康不利,变得更加困难了. 我们吃到的这些添加物并非都是如此直接的. 农民常给牛和家禽注射青霉素,因而在受过注射的牛所产牛奶里发现青霉素. 有时让家禽服用这类药物并非是为了治病,而是为了经济上的缘故. 农民们只是想使家畜长得更肥壮可以上市场上卖到好价钱. 虽然食物和药品管理局已一再设法控制这种情况的发生,但是这种行为仍在继续.
Pottery
Ancient people made clay pottery because they needed it for their survival. They used the pots they made for cooking, storing food, and carrying things from place to place. Pottery was so important to early cultures that scientists now study it to learn more about ancient civilizations. The more advanced the pottery in terms of decoration, materials, glazes and manufacture, the more advanced the culture itself.
The artisan who makes pottery in North America today utilizes his or her skill and imagination to create items that are beautiful as well as functional, transforming something ordinary into something special and unique.
The potter uses one of the Earth's most basic materials, clay. Clay can be found almost anywhere. Good pottery clay must be free from all small stones and other hard materials that would make the potting process difficult. Most North American artisan potters now purchase commercially processed clay, but some find the clay they need right in the earth close to where they work.
The most important tools potters use are their own hands; however, they also use wire loop tools, wooden modeling tools, plain wire, and sponges. Plain wire is used to cut away the finished pot from its base on the potter's wheel.
After a finished pot is dried of all its moisture in the open air, it is placed in a kiln and fired. The first firing hardens the pottery, and it is then ready to be glazed and fired again.
For areas where they do not want any glaze, such as the bottom of the pot, artisans paint on melted wax that will later burn off in the kiln. They then pour on the liquid glaze and let it run over the clay surface, making any kind of decorative pattern that they want.
陶器
古代人制作陶器是因为他们的生存需要它. 他们用这些自制的盆盆罐罐来做饭、装食物、储运东西. 陶器在早期文化中占据了如此重要的地位,以致于科学家们现在通过研究陶器来获取对古代文明的更多的了解. 因为陶器的装饰、材料、釉彩、制作等工艺越发达就说明这种文明越发达. 今天,北美的陶艺匠人运用他们的技艺和想象力创造出了既美观又实用的陶艺制品,把日常用品变为独特的艺术品. 制陶匠人使用大地上最基本的原材料--粘土. 粘土几乎随处可见,但好的制陶所用的粘土必须不含小沙粒或任何硬物,否则会给制陶过程带来不便. 现在大多数北美制陶艺人买现成的专用陶土,也有些陶匠乐于就地取材,在作坊附近自己挖粘土. 制陶器最重要的工具是工匠们自己的双手,但有时他们也用些别的工具,如绳圈、木模、素线、海绵等. 素线的作用是当一件陶器完成后用它把陶器从转盘上的基座上切下来. 陶器成形后,首先要在空气中自然风干,再放到窑中焙烧. 第一遍焙烧使得陶器变得坚硬,下一步就是给它上釉彩,然后再焙烧. 陶器上有些地方不需上釉彩,像罐子底部,匠人们就在这些部位涂上蜡,一加热就会化掉. 然后匠人们把釉彩液体浇上陶器表面,绘制他们想要的任何图案.