常春藤解析英語 80 Planet Mechanics 環(huán)保達人

Planet Mechanics 環(huán)保達人

by Matthew Brown

A dynamic duo travel around and come up with some bright ideas.

精力充沛的兩人到處旅行，絕妙點子一籮筐。

It's good to keep in mind that people are working hard on exciting possibilities for solutions to the problems of global warming and environmental destruction. This month on the National Geographic Channel, the series Planet Mechanics follows two eco-engineers, Dick Strawbridge and Jem Stansfield, as they travel around Europe and the UK. They meet up with various people along the way and help them come up with ways to make their technology environmentally friendly.

In the town of Bath in England, Dick and Jem hang out with a sandwich shop owner who is looking for a good way to deliver sandwiches around town. The hills and cobblestone roads of Bath present a bit of a challenge, so Dick and Jem need to create something small and agile. Motorcycles are convenient, but most of them cause pollution. Their solution: an air-propelled motorbike. Sounds like a great idea, but for it to work, they must manage to fit 5,000 litres of air into a tank that will fit on a bike. At normal pressure, this amount of air would take up the space of an elephant, so the task is tricky—and dangerous. That much compressed air could cause an explosion in a collision. Be sure to watch "Air-Propelled Sandwich" to see if it works out, and watch Jem testing the idea by catapulting himself and his bike from an air-powered cannon!

Another episode in the Planet Mechanics series is "Surf Power." In this episode, Jem and Dick travel to the coast of Ireland. Here they attempt to harness the tremendous power of the ocean waves. Their goal is to use the energy of the waves to power a "surf shack" for two surfers who travel around in their portable home.

These episodes and others will lift your spirits and remind you that change is not just possible; it is necessary. And it can be fun.

1. Which of the following best describes the Planet Mechanics series?

(A) It is about finding ways to get things done without causing pollution.

(B) It is about changing pollution into things we can use.

(C) It is about fighting against factories and products that cause pollution.

(D) It is about using only air and waves to power the world.

2. The episode "Air-Propelled Sandwich" shows Jem and Dick _____.

(A) using air to produce cannons that power bikes

(B) trying to find a way to use air to power a bike factory

(C) working on a bike powered by highly pressurized air

(D) producing a bike that would only work in Bath

3. What difficulty do Jem and Dick face with their goal for the bike?

(A) No bike could ever be used on the cobblestones of Bath.

(B) They have to make a bike that will never crash.

(C) It is hard to find so much air for a container.

(D) A container filled with air at a high pressure is quite dangerous.

4. In the episode "Surf Power," Jem and Dick _____.

(A) learn from two surfers how waves create energy

(B) teach two surfers to attach a small surf house to the ocean's waves

(C) try to provide electricity for the mobile home belonging to two surfers

(D) try to give a mobile surf home enough power to deliver sandwiches

單字小鋪

1. mechanics n. 機械學;技術;技巧

2. destruction n. 破壞;毀滅

3. eco-engineer n. 生態(tài)工程師

4. environmentally friendly　　環(huán)保的

5. cobblestone n. 鵝卵石

6. agile a. 靈活的，敏捷的

7. air-propelled a. 以空氣推進的

propel vt. 推進，使前進

8. tricky a. 棘手的，難處理的

9. compressed a. 壓縮的

10. collision n. 碰撞

11. catapult vt. 彈射;發(fā)射

12. cannon n. 大炮

13. episode n.(電視連續(xù)劇、電影等的)一集

14. harness vt. 控制，駕馭

15. shack n.(作某種用途的)小屋;簡陋木屋

16. pressurized a. 耐壓的

highly pressurized　　耐高壓的

17. container n. 容器

18. mobile a. 可移動的

詞組小鋪

1. meet up with...　　偶然遇見……

2. a bit of...　　一點點……

3. lift one's spirits　　提振某人的精神

4. belong to...　　屬于……

精解字詞詞組

1. keep/bear in mind + that 子句　　牢記……

keep/bear...in mind　　將……牢記在心

例: Keep in mind that you have to drive home. Don't drink alcohol at the party.

(記住你得開車回家。在派對上千萬別喝酒。)

例: I always keep my father's advice in mind.

(我始終牢記父親的忠告。)

2. come up with...　　想出……

例: Susan came up with a great title for her novel.

(蘇珊為自己的小說想了一個很棒的書名。)

3. hang out with...　　和……閑混在一起

例: It's nice to hang out with friends after being gone for so long.

(離開這么久后，能和朋友在一起閑晃是件不錯的事。)

4. manage to V　　設法(做到)……

例: Regardless of how busy she is, Lulu always manages to find time to go shopping with her friends.

(不管她有多忙，露露總會設法找時間和朋友們去購物。)

5. fit A into B　　將 A 裝進 B

例: I don't think I can fit all my clothes into this suitcase.

(我覺得這個手提箱裝不進我全部的衣服。)

6. take up...　　占據(jù)……

例: The work took up most of his time.

(那項工作占去了他大部分的時間。)

7. work out　　有好結果，成功

work out...　　解決……

例: For fear that things might not work out, Amy didn't even try.

(唯恐事情不會有圓滿的結果，所以愛咪連試都不試。)

例: I hope both of you will eventually work out your problems.

(我希望你們之間的問題最后能順利解決。)

8. attempt to V　　企圖(做)……

例: Jenny attempted to take credit for work her colleague had actually done.

(珍妮企圖從同事完成的工作中居功。)

9. remind vt. 提醒;使想起

remind sb + that 子句　　提醒某人……

remind sb to V　　提醒某人做……

remind sb of sth　　提醒某人某事;使某人想到某事物

例: You have to remind Jane to take out the garbage or she'll forget.

(你得提醒珍把垃圾拿出去，要不然她會忘記。)

例: This photo reminds me of the time I went traveling in Spain.

(這張照片使我想起在西班牙旅行的時光。)

10. change A into B　　將 A 改變∕轉變成 B

= turn A into B

= transform A into B

例: The witch transformed the princess into a parrot.

(巫婆把公主變成了鸚鵡。)

11. work on...　　致力于……;從事……

例: After spending hours working on that math problem, John finally gave up.

(在花了好幾個小時解那道數(shù)學題后，約翰最后放棄了。)

12. attach A to B　　使 A 附著于 B 之上

例: The serviceman attached a label to each piece of luggage.

(服務生在每件行李上都系上標簽。)

13. provide A for B　　提供 A 給 B

= provide B with A

例: The Red Cross provided earthquake victims with blankets, tents, and food.

(紅十字會提供毛毯、帳蓬和食物給地震災民。)

中文翻譯&標準答案

每個人都要隨時記得，大家正在努力尋找令人耳目一新的方法，來解決全球暖化與環(huán)境破壞的問題。在這個月的國家地理頻道《環(huán)保達人》系列中，跟隨兩位生態(tài)工程師狄克?史卓畢奇與詹姆?史坦斯費爾德的腳步踏遍歐洲與英國。兩人一路上遇見形形色色的人，并幫助他們想出讓科技更貼近環(huán)保的方法。

在英國的巴斯，狄克與詹姆和一家三明治店老板混在一起，這位老板正在尋找一個外送三明治到鎮(zhèn)上各地的好方法。巴斯的山坡與布滿鵝卵石的道路具有一點挑戰(zhàn)性，因此狄克與詹姆必須制作出小而敏捷的東西。機車很方便，但大多會制造污染。他們的解決之道是：一輛以空氣為動力的機車。這主意聽起來很不錯，但為了讓它真正可行，他們必須將 5 千公升的空氣打進一個裝在機車上的空氣槽中。在一般的氣壓下，這么大量的空氣與一只大象的體積相當，因此這項任務不僅困難，還很危險。這么多壓縮的空氣在撞車時可能導致爆炸。務必鎖定《空氣動力機車》，看看這項發(fā)明究竟會不會成功，也瞧瞧狄克利用空氣動力炮臺將自己和機車發(fā)射出去，藉以測試空氣動力機車的想法吧!

《環(huán)保達人》系列的另一個節(jié)目是 "Surf Power"。在本單元中，狄克與詹姆旅行到愛爾蘭海岸。在這里他們試圖駕馭海浪的巨大力量。他們的目標是利用海浪的力量來發(fā)電，以提供兩位沖浪客的沖浪小屋來使用，這兩位沖浪客就是搭乘這間可移動的小屋四處旅行。

本系列單元將使人精神大振，提醒你改變不僅可能，而且勢在必行，并且也可以非常有趣。

1. 下列何者最能描述《環(huán)保達人》系列節(jié)目?

(A) 關于尋找不制造污染，就能解決事情的方法。

(B) 關于將污染轉變成我們可利用的東西。

(C) 關于對抗制造污染的工廠與產品。

(D) 關于只使用空氣與海浪來提供世界的能源需求。

題解: 本文一開頭便指出，人們正努力尋找全球暖化與環(huán)境破壞的解決之道，文中并提及一種以空氣為動力的環(huán)保機車，故 (A) 應為正選。

2. 《空氣動力機車》單元中，詹姆與狄克 _____。

(A) 利用空氣來制作發(fā)動機車的大炮

(B) 試著找出以空氣為機車工廠提供動力的方法

(C) 研發(fā)一種以高壓空氣為動力的機車

(D) 制造一種只有在巴斯才能使用的機車

題解: 根據(jù)第二段，狄克與詹姆嘗試一種以空氣為動力的機車，方便三明治店老板外送三明治，故選 (C)。

3. 詹姆與狄克制造機車時遇到何種困難?

(A) 沒有機車能騎在巴斯的鵝卵石路上。

(B) 他們必須制作出不會發(fā)生相撞的機車。

(C) 很難找到這么多空氣來裝進容器里。

(D) 裝滿高壓空氣的容器相當危險。

題解: 根據(jù)第二段，5 千公升的壓縮空氣與一只大象的體積相當，因此這個任務不僅困難，還很危險，它在撞車時可能會導致爆炸，故選 (D)。

4. 在 "Surf Power" 單元中，詹姆與狄克 _____。

(A) 向兩位沖浪好手學習海浪如何產生能源

(B) 教導兩位沖浪者將沖浪小屋固定在海浪上

(C) 試著為兩位沖浪好手的移動式小屋提供電力

(D) 試著給予沖浪小屋足夠的動力以便外送三明治

題解: 根據(jù)第三段，狄克與詹姆的目標是利用海浪的力量來發(fā)電，以提供兩位沖浪好手的沖浪小屋來使用，故選 (C)。

標準答案: 1. (A) 2. (C) 3. (D) 4. (C)