科技英语 extended reading.docx
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科技英语 extended reading.docx
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科技英语extendedreading
Requirements:
1.Forpassages2-4,summarizethegeneralideaofeach.(Selectonefromthesethree)
2.Translatethebluedsentences.
3.Answerthequestionsforpassages1,5and6.(Selectonefromthesethree)
4.TranslateandeditthenewsinPassage7intoChinese.
Passage1
Questions:
1.Whattechniquesofharnessing治理,利用solarenergyarementionedinthisarticle?
2.Whatdrawbacks缺点ofsolarenergyarethereaccordingtothisarticle?
solarenergy
EveryhourthesunbeamsontoEarthmorethanenoughenergytosatisfyglobalenergyneedsforanentireyear.Solarenergyisthetechnologyusedtoharnessthesun'senergyandmakeituseable.Today,thetechnologyproduceslessthanonetenthofonepercentofglobalenergydemand.
Manypeoplearefamiliarwithso-calledphotovoltaiccells硒电池,光电池,orsolarpanels太阳电池板,foundonthingslikespacecraft,rooftops,andhandheldcalculators.Thecellsaremadeofsemiconductor半导体materialslikethosefoundincomputerchips.Whensunlighthitsthecells,itknockselectronsloosefromtheiratoms.原子能Astheelectrons 电子flowthroughthecell,theygenerateelectricity.
Onamuchlargerscale等级;级别,solarthermalpower太阳能热动力plants发电厂]全厂工人employvarioustechniquestechniquetoconcentratethesun'senergyasaheatsource.Theheatisthenusedtoboilwatertodriveasteamturbine蒸汽轮机thatgenerateselectricityinmuchthesamefashionascoalandnuclearpowerplants,supplyingelectricityforthousandsofpeople.
Inonetechnique,longtroughs槽ofU-shapedmirrorsfocussunlightonapipeofoilthatrunsthroughthemiddle.Thehotoilthenboilswaterforelectricitygeneration.Anothertechniqueusesmoveablemirrorstofocusthesun'sraysonacollectortower,whereareceiversits.Moltensaltflowingthroughthereceiverisheatedtorunagenerator.
Othersolartechnologiesarepassive.Forexample,bigwindowsplacedonthesunnysideofabuildingallowsunlighttoheat-absorbentmaterialsonthefloorandwalls.Thesesurfacesthenreleasetheheatatnighttokeepthebuildingwarm.Similarly,absorbentplatesonaroofcanheatliquidintubesthatsupplyahousewithhotwater.
Solarenergyislaudedasaninexhaustiblefuelsourcethatispollutionandoftennoisefree.Thetechnologyisalsoversatile多用途的,多功能的.Forexample,solarcells太阳电池generateenergyforfar-outplaceslikesatellitesinEarthorbitandcabins船舱deepintheRockyMountains落基山脉aseasilyastheycanpowerdowntownbuildingsandfuturistic合于未来的;极新潮的;非传统的cars.
Butsolarenergydoesn'tworkatnightwithoutastoragedevicesuchasbatteries,andcloudyweathercanmakethetechnologyunreliableduringtheday.Solartechnologiesarealsoveryexpensiveandrequirealotoflandareatocollectthesun'senergyatratesusefultolotsofpeople.
Despitethedrawbacks,solarenergyusehassurgedatabout20percentayearoverthepast15years,thankstorapidlyfallingpricesandgainsinefficiency.Japan,Germany,andtheUnitedStatesaremajormarketsforsolarcells.Withtaxincentives,solarelectricitycanoftenpayforitselfinfivetotenyears.
Passage2
Solarenergy
Partytime!
Dec30th2008
FromE
Metallisedballoons金属气球maybethebestwaytomakesolarelectricity
CoolEarthSolar
Boffins科学工作者preparingtomakelight
SOLARcellsareexpensive,soitmakessensetousethemefficiently.Onewayofdoingsoistoconcentratesunlightontothem.Thatmeansasmallerareaofcellcanbeusedtoconvertagivenamountoflightintoelectricity.This,though,bringsanothercost—thatofthemirrorsneededtodotheconcentrating.Traditionally,thesehavebeenlargepiecesofpolishedmetal,steeredbyelectricmotorstokeepthesun’sraysfocusedonthecell.However,CoolEarthSolarofLivermore,California,hascomeupwithwhatithopeswillbeabetter,cheaperalternative:
balloons.
Anyonewhohaschildrenwillbefamiliarwithaluminisedpartyballoons.Suchballoonsaremadefrommetal-coatedplastic.CoolEarth’sinsightwasthatifyoucoatonlyonehalfofaballoon,leavingtheothertransparent,theinnersurfaceofthecoatedhalfwillactasaconcavemirror凹透镜.Putasolarcellatthefocusofthatmirrorandyouhaveaninexpensivesolar-energycollector.
CoolEarth’sballoonsareratherlargerthantraditionalpartyballoons,havingadiameterofabouttwo-and-a-halfmetres(eightfeet),butotherwisetheylookquitesimilar.Thesolarcellapart,theyareridiculouslycheap:
thekilogramofplasticfromwhicheachballoonismadecostsabout$2.Thecell,whosecostisamorecloselyguardedsecret,is15-20cmacrossandiswater-cooled.Thatisnecessarybecausetheballoonconcentratessunlightupto400times,andwithoutthiscoolingitwouldquicklyburnout.Likeamoreconventionalmirror,asolarballoonofthissortwillhavetobeturnedtofacethesunasitmovesthroughthesky,andCoolEarthisnowtestingvariouswaysofdoingthis.However,thefocusofthelightonthesolarcellcanalsobefine-tunedbychangingtheair-pressurewithintheballoon,andthusthecurvatureofthemirror.
Theresult,accordingtoRobLamkin,CoolEarth’sboss,isadevicewhoseinstallationcostsonly$1perwattofgeneratingcapacity.Thatisaboutthesameasalargecoal-firedpowerstation.Ofcourse,balloonsdonotlastaslongasconventionalpowerstations(eachisestimatedtohaveaworkinglifeofaboutayear).Ontheotherhand,thefuelisfree.Whenallthesumsaredone,MrLamkinreckonsthefirmwillbeabletosellelectricitytoCalifornia’sgridfor11centsakilowatt-hour,thestate’stargetpriceforrenewableenergy,andstillturnatidyprofit.Thatbeliefwillsoonbeputtothetest.CoolEarthplanstoopena1-megawattplantthissummer.Ifitworks,morewillfollowand,inthedesertsofCaliforniaandelsewhere,itwillbepartytimeforsolar-energyenthusiasts.
Passage3
Seeingred
Jan8th2009
FromTheEconomistprintedition
Tomakesolarcellsmoreefficient,sprinklethemwithsilver
MAKERSofsolarcellsfaceadilemma.Purifiedsilicon,thebasicmaterialofsuchcells,isexpensive.Thetemptation,therefore,istouselessofit.Asaresult,themakershavedevelopedagenerationofcellswhosesiliconlayersareonlyamicronortwodeep,asopposedtotheusualthicknessof200-300microns.Thethinnerthecell,however,thelessefficientitis.Inparticular,thincellsfailtocapturemuchlightattheredendofthespectrum.Thatmeanstheyproduceupto20%lesselectricitythanstandardcellsofequivalentarea.Andthatnegatessomeoftheadvantageoftheirinitialcheapness.
Toremedythisproblem,KylieCatchpoleoftheAustralianNationalUniversityinCanberraandAlbertPolmanoftheInstituteforAtomicandMolecularPhysicsinAmsterdamhavebeentryingtoredirectthelightthatfallsontothesurfaceofacellinsuchawaythatallcoloursareefficientlyabsorbed.Theirchosentoolsforthistaskaretinyparticlesofsilver.
Whenstruckbylight,theelectronsinanatomofsilvervibrateinawaythatcausesthemtoradiatesmallamountsoflightthemselves.Iftheatominquestionisinasmallparticleonthesurfaceofapieceofsilicon,theresultiswhatisknownasasurfaceplasmon.Thisisatypeofelectromagneticwave(ie,thesametypeofwaveasalightwave).However,asitsnamesuggests,itrunsparalleltothesurfaceofthematerialthatispropagatingit,ratherthanpenetratingthismaterial.
Bytravellinghorizontallyinthisway,aplasmonpassesthroughmoreofthesolarcell’ssiliconthananyincidentbeamfromthesuncould.Ineffect,thecellhasbeenturnedonitssideandmademuchthicker.Thatgivesittheopportunitytoabsorb,andthusconvertintoelectricity,mostoftheredlightfallingonit,aswellastheblue.Indeed,DrCatchpoleandDrPolmanreportinOpticsExpressthattheirsystemincreasestheabsorptionofredlighttenfold—bringingtheefficiencyofthincellsmuchclosertothatofthetraditionalsort.
Ofcourse,silverisexpensive.Butsolittleisusedthatthenewtechniquewouldaddonlyafewcentstothepriceofasolarpanel.Anditwouldbringthedaycloserwhensolarelectricityisascheapasthatgeneratedfromcoal.
Passage4
Biodiesel
Oilinyourcoffee
Feb4th2009
FromE
Anewsourceoffuelproduction
RUNNINGadieselengineonaplant-basedfuelishardlyanewidea.Indeed,oneoftheearlydemonstrationsshownbyRudolphDiesel,theGermanengineerwhoinventedtheenginesattheendofthe1800s,operatedonpurepeanutoil.Dieselfuelmadefromcrudeoileventuallywonthedaybecauseitwaseasiertouseandcheapertoproduce.Nownewformsofbiodieselarestartingtochangethepictureagain.Andoneofthelatestsourcescomesfromtheremainsofadrinkenjoyedtheworldover:
coffee.
Biodieselsarebecomingincreasinglypopular.InAmerica,Minnesotahasdecreedthatalldieselsoldinthestatehastocontain2%biodiesel(muchofitfromthecropsgrownbythestate’ssoyafarmers).Biodieselcanalsobefoundblendedintothefuelusedbypublicandcommercialvehiclesandbytrainsinanumberofcountries.Aircraft-enginemakersarealsotestingbiofuelblends.Becausebiodieselscanbemadefrommaterialsderivedfromplants,whichusecarbondioxidetogrow,theypotentiallyhaveamuchlowercarbonfootprintthanpetroleum-basedfuels.
Coffeeisalsoaplantproduct,butoncethebeansaregroundandusedtheyendupbeingthrownawayorputongardensascompost.NarasimharaoKondamudi,SusantaMohapatraandManoranjanMisraoftheUniversityofNevadaatRenohavefoundthatcoffeegroundscanyieldbyweight10-15%ofbiodieselrelativelyeasily.Moreover,whenruninanenginethefueld
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