When John Todd was a child, he loved to explore the woods around his house, observing how nature solved problems. A dirty stream, for example, often became clear after flowing through plants and along rocks where tiny creatures lived. When he got older, John started to wonder if this process could be used to clean up the messes people were making.
当约翰·托德还是个孩子的时候，他喜欢探索房子周围的树林，观察大自然是如何解决问题的。例如，一条肮脏的溪流流经植物和微小生物居住的岩石后，往往变得清澈。长大后，约翰开始思考这个过程是否可以用来清理人们制造的垃圾。
After studying agriculture, medicine, and fisheries in college, John went back to observing nature and asking questions. Why can certain plants trap harmful bacteria (细菌)? Which kinds of fish can eat cancer-causing chemicals? With the right combination of animals and plants, he figured, maybe he could clean up waste the way nature did. He decided to build what he would later call an eco-machine.
在大学学习了农业、医学和渔业之后，约翰又回到了观察自然和提出问题的生活中。为什么某些植物能捕获有害细菌?哪些鱼类会食用致癌化学物质?他认为，通过正确的动植物组合，也许他可以像大自然那样清理废物。他决定建造一个他后来称之为生态机器的东西。
The task John set for himself was to remove harmful substances from some sludge (污泥). First, he constructed a series of clear fiberglass tanks connected to each other. Then he went around to local ponds and streams and brought back some plants and animals. He placed them in the tanks and waited. Little by little, these different kinds of life got used to one another and formed their own ecosystem. After a few weeks, John added the sludge.
约翰给自己定的任务是从污泥中去除有害物质。首先，他建造了一系列相互连接的透明玻璃纤维罐。然后他去了当地的池塘和溪流，带回了一些植物和动物。他把它们放在罐子里，等待着。渐渐地，这些不同种类的生命相互适应，形成了自己的生态系统。几个星期后，约翰把污泥加了进去。
He was amazed at the results. The plants and animals in the eco-machine took the sludge as food and began to eat it! Within weeks, it had all been digested, and all that was left was pure water.
他对结果感到惊讶。生态机器里的动植物把污泥当成了食物，开始吃起来!几周之内，它就被消化了，只剩下纯净水。
Over the years, John has taken on many big jobs. He developed a greenhouse — like facility that treated sewage (污水) from 1,600 homes in South Burlington. He also designed an eco-machine to clean canal water in Fuzhou, a city in southeast China.
这些年来，约翰承担了许多重大工作。他开发了一个类似温室的设施，可以处理来自南伯灵顿1600户家庭的污水。他还设计了一种生态机器来清洁中国东南部城市福州的运河水。
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