marine是什么意思新视野读写教程4第三版课文UNIT 7

2021年1月26日发(作者：林阴道)
TEXT A

The coming energy crisis
日益逼近的能源危机


1
Two
hundred
years
ago,
the
world
experienced
an
energy
revolution
that
launched
the
Industrial Age. Ever since then, with the rapid increase of population density, the industrialized
world's
thirst
for
energy
has
more
than
tripled.
Petroleum
and
natural
gas
are
exploited
as
versatile and high quality energy products. Uranium is also tapped to fuel nuclear reactors and
provide atomic energy.
两百年前，
全球经历了一 场能源革命，由此引发了工业时代的到来。从那时起，随着人口密
度的迅速增加，
工业国家对于 能源的需求成倍成倍增加。
石油和天然气被看作是用途多、
质
量好的能源产品而得到开 发，而铀也得以开发，为核反应堆提供燃料并供应原子能源。


2 Cheap energy is the lifeblood of human society. But there is a dark side to the near monopoly of
non-renewable
fossil
fuels
like
coal,
oil
and
natural
gas,
along
with
controversial
uranium,
to
supply our growing energy demands. The supply of these fuels is physically limited, and their use
threatens
our
health
and
environment.
Multiple
international
treaties
have
been
proposed
to
limit the use of fossil fuels for this very reason. Fears of global warming aside, burning fossil fuels
releases chemicals and particulates that can cause breathing problems, cancer as well as brain
and
nerve
damage.
Nuclear
energy,
once
hailed
as

cheap
to
meter
has
never
been
economically successful when all costs are factored in. Furthermore, public opinion polls show
nuclear energy is too closely associated with disasters like the Chernobyl reactor meltdown and
the Fukushima explosion, and with the danger that rebel insurgents could do damage with the
toxic waste. Inexpensive and seemingly abundant non-renewable energy from dead plants and
extinct
animals
fueled
the
20th
century
economy,
but
geologists,
climatologists,
environmentalists, and many others are warning that the honeymoon may soon be over.
廉价能源是人类社会 的命脉。但是，
对煤炭、石油、
天然气这些不可再生的矿物燃料及有争
议的铀进行近乎 垄断地使用以满足我们日益增长的对能源的需求的做法有其危险的一面。
这
些燃料的供应实际上 是有限的，
并且，
使用这些燃料对我们的健康和环境都造成威胁。
正因
如此，
人们制定了众多的国际条约，
以限制对矿物燃料的使用。除了造成全球变暖之外，矿
物 燃料在燃烧过程中还会释放出某些化学物质和微粒，
引发呼吸系统疾病、
癌症，
并造成 对
大脑和神经的损伤。
如果把所有代价都考虑进来的话，曾经被称颂为“便宜到无法计量”的< br>核能从经济效益上来说则从未获得过成功。
而且，
民意调查显示，
核能总被认为 与灾难密切
相关，
例如切尔诺贝利核反应堆熔毁事件及福岛核电站爆炸事件。
同时，< br>核能还具有一种危
险，
就是叛乱分子可能利用其有毒废物制造伤害。
死去的植物 和动物所产生的价格低廉且看
似充足的非再生能源推动了
20
世纪的经济发展，但地理 学家、气候学家、环境学家以及其
他许多人都在警告我们：这样美好的时光很快就要结束了。


3 At some indefinite time in the near future, the last drop of oil, lump of coal or wisp of natural
gas will be collected from the earth. The eventual depletion of fossil fuels that hitherto proved so
reliable
has
left
us
with
no
choice
but
to
prepare
for
a
new
age
of
energy
synthesis.
Most
certainly, human demand for energy will not decrease or plateau but surge as world population
grows
to
nine
billion
over
the
next
50
years.
By
the
year
2020,
world
energy
consumption
is
projected to show a linear increase of 50 percent.

在不久的将来的某个时候，地球上最后一滴石油、最后一块煤或最 后一缕天然气将被开采。
迄今为止一直被证明是稳定可靠的矿物燃料终将消失，这让我们别无选择，只能 作好准备，
迎接新的能源综合利用时代的到来。
可以肯定，
人类对能源的需求不会趋于 减少或保持稳定，
而是会随着世界人口在未来
50
年增长到
90
亿而 迅速增加。据预测，到
2020
年，全球的能
源消耗将直线增长
50%
。


4
How
will
we
meet
the
sky-rocketing
energy
demands
of
the
future?
Until
we
perfect
the
technology of cold fusion, we'll have to focus on the development and increased production of
energy from renewable energy source
—

sun, wind, water, and so on. While renewable energy
sources
are
promising,
an
international
confederation
of
scientists
and
engineers
is
working
feverishly to overcome the various obstacles associated with these
The
major
challenge
is
to
develop
efficient
and
economically
workable
versions
of
these
technologies.
我们怎样才能满足未来急剧增长的能源需 求呢？在我们完善冷聚变技术之前，
我们只能专注
于开发太阳能、
风能、
水电 能之类的可再生能源，
并提高其产量。
虽然可再生能源前景乐观，
一个由科学家和工程 师组成的国际联盟却正在积极工作，
努力克服与这些
“新兴能源”
技术
相关的 各种障碍，其中最大的挑战就是如何使这些技术变得既高效又经济。


5
Take
solar
energy
for
example.
It
is
a
good
option
because
there
is
an
unlimited
supply
of
glittering
sunlight.
Making
it
work
on
a
large
scale,
however,
is
much
easier
said
than
done.
It
would be cost prohibitive to take the intricate gadgets of solar energy from the fringe of
society to the mainstream for major world consumption. The solar apparatus itself is ready for
many
new
business
and
consumer
applications,
but
it
is
way
too
expensive
to
replace
the
old
combustion machinery of gears and motors with new electronic technology of semiconductors
and transistors on a global or even a national scale.
以太阳能为例。
由于耀眼的太阳光能够提供 源源不断的能源，
所以它是个不错的选择。
但是，
大规模地使用太阳能却是说起来容易 做起来难。把制造太阳能所需要的复杂零件从“环保”
社会的边缘推广到主流社会，使之成为世界主要的 消费性能源，其代价之高让人望而却步。
太阳能设备本身已是技术成熟，
可以使商业和消费者进 行许多新型应用，
但是，
在全球或者
即便是在全国范围内，
用新型的半导体和 晶体管电子技术取代老式的用齿轮和发动机驱动的
燃烧设备，其成本实在太高。


6
Wind
power,
which
has
been
used
effectively
in
some
places
for
generations,
is
also
rapidly
growing
in
the
energy
market.
The
principle
behind
it
is
that
wind
converts
rotary
force
into
electricity
by
turning
the
blades
of
the
turbine
clockwise
or
counterclockwise
around
an
axis.
Unfortunately, wind power is very unreliable and its strength depends on local weather patterns,
temperature, time of year, and location. In addition to this unreliability, wind power equipment is
very expensive compared with other energy sources and won't become a viable alternative until
we
can
slash
the
costs
significantly.
Also,
a

farm
requires
enormous
land
clearing
to
produce significant amounts of energy.
风能在一些地方已经被几代人有效利用，
目前在能源 市场中也发展迅速。
风能的原理是：
风
通过驱动涡轮机叶片按顺时针或逆时针方向绕着 一个轴旋转，
从而把转动时所产生的力转换
成电能。
不幸的是，
风能非常不稳 定，
其强度取决于当地的天气模式、
温度、
季节以及地域。
除了不稳定的因素 之外，
和其他能源相比，
风能设备造价昂贵。
除非我们能将其成本大大降
低， 否则风能就不会成为一个可行的替代能源。而且，一个“风能农场”需要大片空旷的土
地才能生产大量能 源。


7 Hydroelectric power is another source of clean and renewable energy. It can be harnessed by
controlling
the
natural
outflow
of
water
with
different
methods.
The
most
popular
is
through
dams,
which,
unfortunately,
are
no
longer
considered
environmentally
friendly.
Most
of
the
hydroelectric
dams
in
the
world
are
historically
recent,
but
all
reservoirs
eventually
will
fill
up
with mud and require very expensive excavation to clear them up to become useful again.
水力电能是另外一种既干净又能再生的能源。
人 们可以通过不同方法来控制自然水流以进行
发电。
最普遍的方法是通过水坝，但不幸的是，建水 坝已被认为是对环境不利的方法了。世
界上大多数用于水力发电的大坝建造历史都不长，
但是所 有的水库最终都会被淤泥填塞，
需
要耗资巨大进行清淤才能使它们重新得到利用。


8 Biomass energy derived from plant and animal matter is still another renewable source being
considered
as
a
standby replacement
for
fossil
fuels. Organic
waste
in
the
form of
dead
trees,
leaves,
animal
corpses
and
food
processing
waste
exists
in
abundance
and
can
be
used
to
produce
energy.
However,
there
is
no
way
to
ventilate
the
direct
burning
of
biomass
as
fuel
without diffusing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. These gases
can pose a risk to the ozone layer, increasing overall exposure of human beings to harmful UV
rays from the sun. Besides, it takes time and money to collect and transport biomass in its raw
form
to
a
central
point
for
processing
into
fuel,
and
the
automation
of
such
a
process
is
too
difficult.
So,
for
the
time
being,
biomass
has
too
many
costly
drawbacks
to
be
a
workable
alternative to fossil fuels.
动植物物质所产生的生物能源也是一种可再生能源，
且被 认为是矿物燃料的备用替代品。
以
死树、
枯叶、
动物尸体以及食品加工废料的 形式存在的有机废物十分充足，
可以被用来制造
能源。
然而，
将生物质作为燃 料直接燃烧，
通风时必然会将二氧化碳及其他温室气体排放到
大气中。这些气体会对臭氧层造成 威胁，增加人们受到来自太阳的有害紫外线照射的危险。
除此以外，
将生物质以原始形态进行收 集，
并将它们运送到某个中心站加工处理成燃料，
这
一过程既耗时又耗财，而且对这一 过程实现自动化非常困难。
所以，在目前，
生物质能源有
太多高成本方面的缺点，不能 成为矿物燃料可行的替代品。


9 Although renewable energies are not yet economically competitive with fossil fuels, their price
becomes
more
attractive
when
compared
with
the
health
and
environmental
costs
associated
with burning coal and oil. Perhaps the best solution to our growing energy challenges comes in a
bulletin from the Union of Concerned Scientists:
one single solution. The answer instead must come from a family of diverse energy technologies
that
share
a
unified
purpose
—

they
do
not
deplete
our
natural
resources
or
destroy
our
environment.
Despite
the
difficulties,
it
is
important
to
remember
that
an
energy
crisis
is
approaching at supersonic speeds and will soon be upon us. In order to inaugurate a new era in
energy,
we
must
act
quickly
and
work
toward
international
collaboration
to
find
the
most
effective solutions to our energy problems.

虽然从经济实惠 方面来说，
可再生能源没有矿物能源有竞争力，
但是，
与燃烧煤和石油所带
来 的健康及环境代价相比，
它们的价格又变得较有吸引力了。
也许，
对于日益紧迫的能源 挑