VOA慢速英语2016 太阳能灶可降低烟气污染导致的死亡

Solar Cooker Reduces Smoke Pollution Deaths 太阳能灶可降低烟气污染导致的死亡

Solar power technology could help to reduce deaths caused by household pollution.

太阳能科技有助于降低由家庭污染造成的死亡。

Pollution trapped 1 inside homes and other buildings kills more than 4 million people each year.Most of these deaths are in the developing 2 world, mainly in Africa.

每年都有400万人死于室内污染以及其他建筑污染。死亡大部分发生在发展中国家，主要是在非洲。

Many people die as a result of breathing smoke or from cooking over wood- or coal-powered stoves.

很多人的死亡都是呼吸烟气导致，或者由于使用燃木及燃煤炉灶造成。

One way to reduce the number of deaths is through cooking equipment powered by the sun.

使用太阳能炊具是降低死亡人数的方法之一。

Crosby Menzies is a solar power expert with SunFire Solutions, a South African company.He described his latest solar cooker, called the ‘Sol-4.’

Crosby Menzies是南非公司SunFire Solutions的太阳能专家。他描述了最新的太阳能灶，即Sol-4。

“It is four square meters of mirrors, six to eight meters in length.It is quite a large cooker.We are very pleased to have built the first one in South Africa.”

“这个是4平方米的镜片，长6米至8米。这是非常大的太阳灶。我们很高兴制成了南非第一个太阳能灶。”

Solar cookers work by reflecting light from the sun off large mirrors.The mirrors direct 4 the light at a cooking pan 3.Then the light heats the pan with solar energy.

太阳灶的工作原理是大镜片反射太阳光。将太阳光聚焦在锅上。随后利用太阳能对锅进行加热。

At SunFire’s office in Johannesburg, reflected sunlight 5 heated up a cooking pan.Within two minutes, the pan was hot enough to cook sausages and onions.

约翰尼斯堡SunFire办公室，利用了反射的太阳光为锅加热。不到2分钟，锅的温度就足以用来烤肠和烤洋葱了。

Crosby Menzies said the solar cooker can boil water in just four minutes.That is as fast as cooking with natural gas or electricity.He said the cooker is also much “friendlier” than other models because people do not have to stand in the sun to use it.

Crosby Menzies表示太阳灶四分钟就可以将水煮沸。其速度与使用天然气或者电力一样快。他表示，与其他模式相比，太阳灶更加“友好”，因为人们使用时，不必站在烈日下。

Menzies said SunFire has sold hundreds of the solar cookers in South Africa.He said the company is exploring new projects in Mali, Ethiopia and Uganda.

Menzies表示SunFire公司已经在南非卖出数百套太阳能灶。他表示该公司正在马里、埃塞俄比亚以及乌干达开发新项目。

He added 6 that many people do not believe that solar cookers will work until they see the cooking results with their own eyes.

他补充道，很多人直到亲眼看到才相信太阳能灶可以工作。

“The technology really is viable 7.A lot of people still do not know that it works 8, and we are working as hard as we can to change that.”

“这项技术非常可行。很多人还不知道太阳灶能够工作，我们也在尽力改变这种状况。”

Menzies noted 9 that people can prepare meals without having to collect firewood 10 or spend money on coal.Such individuals would be less likely to develop breathing disorders 11 from harmful smoke.

Menzies注意到，人们做饭时不再需要准备柴火或者花钱买煤了。因呼吸有害气体造成的呼吸紊乱在这些人群的发病率也较低。

Since the Sol-4 is so large, it is not the kind of model that you want to move around too often.It is best set up in a permanent 12 place where large groups gather, like a school or home for older adults.

由于Sol-4比较大，不能经常随便移动。因此应当将其安装在群体聚集的固定地点，比如在学校或者养老院。

At present, the cooker only works when the sun is shining.But engineers are working on a way to make it work without sunlight.

目前，只有有太阳时太阳灶才能工作。但工程师们正在努力，试着让太阳灶在没有太阳的时候也能够工作。

Each cooker costs about $2,000, which is a large amount of money for most Africans.

每个太阳灶的价格是2000美元，对于很多非洲人来说，这都是笔巨资。

To solve that problem, Crosby Menzies has created a non-governmental organization called Solar Cookers for Africa.It plans to raise money through donations 13 to provide poor people with solar cooking equipment.

为了解决这个问题，Crosby Menzies成立了非政府组织“为非洲提供太阳灶”（ Solar Cookers for Africa）。该组织打算通过募捐，为穷人提供太阳能炊具。

Menzies also is partnering with a Finnish company to give free help to communities wanting to build their own solar cookers.

Menzies还与一家芬兰公司合作，为希望建立自己太阳能灶的社区免费提供帮助。

Words in This Story

solar – adj. relating to or determined 14 by the sun

reflect – v. to throw something (light, heat, sound, etc.) back from a surface

mirror – n. a piece of glass that reflects images

stove – n. a piece of cooking equipment; a device 15 that burns fuel for cooking or heating 16

boil – v. to become so hot that bubbles form in a liquid and rise to the top