不少国家大搞核电，以解决电力供应不足问题。是的，没有电，难以想象人们的生活将是一个什么景致？但是，核电，彷如一把双刃剑，既可以缓和能源紧缺，但又给生态和人类带来毁灭性灾害。去年日本的核电爆炸对生态影响如何？从这只变异了的蝴蝶身上略见一斑。
    雅思都曾touch过这样的题材，要不要搞核电或其他形式的核能开发？根据我的理解，雅思的命题总是看似矛盾对立，却可以和谐共处。建议考生始终从两方面去论述，左右逢源，方可智胜。单边倒的做法，总是使人有江郎才尽的感觉。尽管考试对你的思想不做考核，但有了点子，就容易把语言发挥极致。

Radiation辐射 from Japan's leaking泄漏 Fukushima nuclear plant has caused mutations变异 in some butterflies and damaged the local environment破坏了当地环境, though humans seem relatively unaffected未受影响的, researchers say.

The mutations - including dented eyes and stunted wings - are the first evidence the radiation following last year's tsunami海啸 has caused genetic changes基因改变 in living organisms生物.

The catastrophic meltdowns灾难性的辐射增强 in three reactors反应炉 of Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant after it was damaged by the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011 prompted a public backlash 引起公众强烈反应 against nuclear power, and forced the government to reassess resource-scarce Japan's entire energy strategy对资源紧缺的日本能源总战略进行重新审核.

They said the threat to humans was unclear.

"Our findings suggest that the contaminants传染源 are causing ecological damage生态破坏. I do not know its implication to humans," said Joji Otaki of the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, a member of the team that conducted the research从事研究.

A separate study, released公布 this week, found very low levels of radioactivity辐射 in people who were living near the Fukushima plant when it suffered the meltdowns.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, measured caesium铯 levels in 8066 adults and 1432 children and found average doses剂量 of less than 1 millisievert毫西弗特, a level considered safe.

It was the first such study measuring internal exposures to 暴露在 caesium in a large number of people.

The research shows contamination传染 decreased over time, particularly among children, in part because more precautions预防 were taken with their food, water and outdoor activity.

"No case of acute health problems has been reported so far. However, assessments of the long-term effect of radiation requires ongoing monitoring of exposure and the health conditions of the affected communities," the report said.

So far, the actual radiation doses inflicted just after the accident are not exactly known, though exposure is thought to be very small, said David Brenner, a radiation physicist at Columbia University, who was not part of the research.

"We do need improved estimates of the radiation dose that people in and near Fukushima prefecture县 actually received," he said.

"Right now our estimates are based on very, very rough calculations."

The research on the butterflies was published in Scientific Reports, an open-access online journal by the Nature publication group, which provides faster publication and peer review by at least one scientist.

It says pale grass blue butterflies, a common species in Japan, collected from several areas near the Fukushima plant showed signs of genetic mutations基因变异迹象.

Other experts said they viewed the research as被看做 significant.

To study the genetic changes, the scientists raised培养 the new generations of the butterflies in Okinawa, which has not been affected by the radiation releases, mating交配 each abnormal非正常的 butterfly with one unaffected by such changes.