To attract tourism to one’s country was once thought of as an unqualified success; there seemed to be no negative aspects to it. However, today we are coming to realize that tourism is a mixed blessing: it has advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, it can bring money to parts of the world that very much need it. People can earn a great deal through tourism. And this income can help to preserve the environment. Anything that helps to protect the ecosystem, the interrelated community of plants and animals that makes up the earth, is, of course, positive.
　　A recent worry, however, is the fact that tourism can cause serious damage to the fragile environments they love to visit. Ecosystems are delicate and easily damaged. Around the world, areas are endangered by the large numbers of tourism who visit them. On every continent, tourism threatens the environment. Even trekkers who take difficult journeys on foot can cause damage.

　　There are, then, serious dangers that come with the promise of tourism. Every advantages bring with it real disadvantages. This dilemma makes planning difficult for nations trying to decide what to do. Countries can make a good deal more money from the tourist industry than they need to put into attracting tourists. This financial profit can help nations protect habitats where endangered animals and plants live. It also may be that tourism can help strengthen local culture by encouraging awareness of traditions and ceremonies. Historic buildings thrive on tourism. These cultural locations enjoy great success with the money and respect brought by tourism.
　　But there is a down side to all this. Because cultural sites are becoming too crowded, Disneyland-like reproductions are being created. These are not authentic cultural sites but copies of something that may or may not have ever really existed. Some people say, “what’s the value of tradition if it’s kept alive for profit, and bears little relation to real life?”
　　Taken together, the negative effects of tourism grow larger over time. The cumulative effects of tourism are great because every time we use cars or planes to travel we contribute to one of the greatest disruptions in the history of the planet: global warming and climate change are interrupting what has been the normal climate pattern for centuries.
　　New approaches to the problem are also being developed. One initiative has been the development of tourist opportunities in which the tourists both give and receive through working vacations. This kind of personal, small-scale tourism is meant to be a positive response with its large-scale organizing. Working tourism may not be for everyone, but the hope is that some kinds of travel can become more planet friendly.
　　參考譯文:
　　吸引游客到某個國家旅游曾一度被認為是絕對成功的，因為這種做法似乎沒有什么負面效應。然而，今天我們開始意識到旅游業是福也是禍;它既能給我們帶來有利的一面，也會給我們帶來不利之處。一方面，它可以為急需資金的國家帶來財富。人們可以從旅游業賺到很多錢，這些收入足夠用來保護環境。當然，任何有助于保護生態系統——這個構成我們賴以生存的世界、由動物和植物組成的生物群落，都是值得肯定的。
　　然而，最近令人們擔心的一個事實是：游客會對自己鐘愛的脆弱環境千萬嚴重破壞。生態系統非常脆弱，容易遭到破壞。全世界范圍內游客云集的地區都面臨著危險。無論在哪個洲，游客們都危脅著那里的環境。就連喜歡艱苦跋涉的步行愛好者們也會對環境贊成危害。
　　那就是說旅游業給人們帶來希望的同時，也給人類帶來了危險。每個優點都伴隨著缺點。這種兩難境地使得那些國家在做規劃時難以抉擇。這些國家從旅游業掙到的錢遠比他們為吸引游客而投入的獎金多得多。這部分財政收入可以幫助這些國家保護瀕危動物和植物的棲息地。通過鼓勵人們保持傳統和風俗的意識，旅游業還可以起到促進當地文化的作用。歷史景點需要旅游業的支持才能得以繁榮。旅游業帶來的獎金和人們對歷史的尊重會使這些文化景點越來越興旺。
　　但是，除此以外，旅游業也有負面影響。因為文化景點變得越來越擁擠，類似迪尼斯樂園的娛樂場所越來越多。而這些并不是真正的文化景點，只是可能存在或是可能不存在的某種東西的翻版而已。有些人會問：“如果傳統的存在只是為了盈利，而與真實生活無關，那么傳統的價值又何在呢?”
　　歸結起來，旅游業帶來的負面效應隨著時間的推移會越來越大。旅游業的累積效應是巨大的，因為每次我們駕車或乘飛機出游，都會對我們所生活的星球造成破壞：全球氣溫升高和氣候變化會打亂幾世紀以來一直正常的氣候模式。
　　解決問題的新辦法也正在陸續出臺。其中一個首創就是在旅游者工作休假期間給其提供度假機會。這種個人的、小規模旅游被認為是那種典型的、已經產業化的大規模旅游業的積極反應。工作旅游并非對所有人適用，但是給人希望的是：有些旅游形式能夠更有益我們生活在這個星球。