The Power of Wind
美音、自然拼读、分级阅读与词汇复习
Table of Contents The First Sailor.
内容表·第一航海家号.
4 What Is Wind?
风是什么?
5 Sailboats.
5艘帆船。
7 Windmills.
7个风车.
9 Electricity from Wind.
9 从风而来电.
11 Wind Farms.
11 风地农场.
12 Cleaner Energy.
12 清洁能源。
13 Problems with Wind Power.
13 风能问题.
14 Wind Power’s Future.
14 风能未来.
15 Glossary.
15 词汇。
16 The First Sailor More than five thousand years ago, a person took cloth and attached it to the mast of a boat.
16 第一艘帆船 五千年多前,有人取取出布来并附入一船桅上.
The wind caught the sail.
被风吹倒了
It pushed the ship forward, sending it across the water.
它把飞船推向了前方,将其送入了水中.
For the first time, people had harnessed the power of wind.
人们第一次利用了风的力量。
It was just the beginning.
这只是开始。
Today, we use wind to power just about everything, from computers to cars.
今天,我们用风来为一切提供动力, 从电脑到汽车。
An ancient marble carving from around 200 bce found at Carthage (modern-day Tunisia, North Africa) shows a small Roman ship with two masts.
在迦太基(现代突尼斯,北非)发现的约200bce上出土的一出古老大理石雕刻出一出有两根桅杆的小罗马船.
When air flows from high- to low-pressure areas, it forms wind.
当空气从高气压区流向低气压区后会形成风.
How Wind Forms What Is Wind?
风是怎样的?
The wind can be our friend.
风能作相.
It cools us off on hot summer days and allows us to fly kites high in the sky.
它让我们在炎热的夏天冷却下来 并让我们在天空中高飞风筝。
The wind can also cause great damage, downing power lines, trees, and even buildings.
风也可能造成巨大破坏,降下电线,树木,甚至建筑物.
This moving air is mainly caused by differences in air pressure, which in turn are due to differences in temperature.
这种可移动的空气主要是由气压差异所引起,而气压差异又由温度差异所造成.
Warm air rises and spreads out.
暖气起而散出.
This is known as low pressure.
这被称为低压.
Cold air, on the other hand, sinks and compresses.
另一方面,冷空气会沉入和压缩。
This is known as high pressure.
这被称为高压.
Air moves from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure across the planet.
空气从高压地区移动到整个星球的低压地区.
This creates wind.
这造出风来
The air in a balloon, for example, is under higher pressure than the air outside it.
例如,气球中的空气所承受的压力高于其外层的空气.
When you let air out of a balloon, the air rushes out into the area of lower pressure.
当你从气球中放出空气时,空气会冲出低压区域.
That’s wind!
这是风!
Areas of high and low pressure are always moving and changing as Earth spins and moves around the Sun.
高压和低压地区总是随着地球旋转并围绕太阳移动而移动和变化.
Usually, the greater the difference in pressure between two areas, the faster the wind blows.
平时,两个区域的压力差异越大,风吹得越快.
Pressure differences are most extreme during tornadoes and hurricanes.
在龙卷风和飓风期间,压力差异最大。
These storms can create unbelievably powerful winds.
这些风暴可以产生令人难以置信的强风.
Hurricanes can produce winds that blow more than 322 kilometers per hour (200 mph).
飓风可以产生时速超过322公里(200 mph)的阵风.
Tornado winds can reach 483 kilometers per hour (300 mph)!
旋风风能达到每小时483公里(300 mph)!
Sailboats Sailboats were the first important use of wind power.
帆船是风能的第一个重要用途.
Early sailboats were simple ships with a single sail.
早期的帆船是一帆一帆的简单船.
Wind power only helped people travel in one direction—the direction the wind was blowing.
风能只帮助人们朝一个方向行走——风向正在吹起.
In time, people learned to use sailboats to travel against the wind.
及时,人们学会了用帆船来逆风出行.
They built ships with many sails that could travel long distances.
他们造出许多能长途航行的帆船.
People used sailboats for fishing, trading, exploration, and war.
人们使用帆船进行捕鱼,贸易,勘探和战争.
Sails powered the battleships of ancient Greece.
赛尔斯为古希腊的战列舰提供动力.
They helped the Vikings travel to Europe, Africa, and North America.
他们帮助维京人前往欧洲,非洲和北美.
The Vikings, who ruled Scandinavia for almost three hundred years, were warriors of the sea.
统治斯堪的纳维亚近三百年的维京人是出海勇士.
NORTH AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA AFRICA AUSTRALIA ASIA EUROPE Spain PACIFIC OCEANPACIFIC OCEAN ATLANTIC OCEAN INDIAN OCEAN In the 1500s, explorers used massive ships with sails to travel the globe.
北美 南-澳大利亚 西班牙 太平洋 印度洋 印度洋 在1500年代,探险家们使用有帆的大型船只来行走全球.
People coming to the Americas also used these types of ships.
来美洲的人也使用这些类型的船只.
In time, engines replaced sails as the main way to power ships.
随着时间的推移,发动机取代了帆作为动力船的主要途径.
Today, people still sail for fun.
今天,人们仍然为乐趣而航行。
Magellan’s Journey The Magellan expedition, the first to sail around the world, left Spain in 1519 and returned in 1522.
麦哲伦的旅程 麦哲伦探险队是第一个环游世界的远征军,于1519年出走西班牙,于1522年回国.
Magellan did not complete the voyage himself, but his expedition set the stage for future exploration.
麦哲伦虽然没有亲自完成航行,但他的远征为未来的探索奠定了基础.
Windmills Windmills allowed people to use the wind’s incredible power on land as well.
风车也让人们在陆地上使用风力。
People from Persia (modern-day Iran) were probably the first to invent windmills well over a thousand years ago.
来自波斯(现代伊朗)的人可能是一千多年前第一个发明风车的人.
Windmill sails were first made from cloth and later from wood.
风车起帆先用布作,后用木作.
They would catch the wind and begin to turn.
他们会赶上风并开始转向。
This turning spun a shaft.
这个转弯会转弯
The turning shaft moved a stone that ground grain into flour.
转弯道把一块地上谷物的石头移到面粉上。
The main purpose of the earliest windmills was to grind grain and pump water.
最早的风车的主要目的是磨制谷物和泵取水.
Windmills spread across Asia and Europe, and later to the Americas.
风车分布于亚洲和欧洲等地,后又分布到美洲.
In addition to grinding grain, they also powered pumps that drew water from the ground.
除了打磨谷物外,他们还给从地上取出水的水泵提供动力.
Using wind pumps helped people settle dry areas of the American West.
使用风泵帮助人们安顿了美国西部的干地.
By the end of the nineteenth century, millions of windmills were in use around the world.
到十九世纪末,全世界有上百万个风车投入使用.
Windmill power helped people cut wood at sawmills and pump water for homes, animals, and crops.
风车电能帮助人们在锯木厂砍伐木头,并为家庭、动物和作物泵取水。
Windmills provided water for steam engines.
风车为蒸汽机提供取水.
The trains had to refill their water tanks as they traveled across the country.
列车在越野行驶时需要重新填充水箱.
The historic Canon Ranch Eclipse Windmill in Pecos County, Texas, USA, was built in 1898.
美国德克萨斯州佩克斯县有历史意义的Canon Ranch Eclipse风车于1898年建成.
Electricity from Wind In the late 1880s, people came up with an even better way to use the wind’s power: the wind turbine.
风电 在1880年代后期,人们想出一个更好的方法来利用风力:风力涡轮.
The blades of a wind turbine catch as much wind as possible.
风力涡轮机的叶片尽可能多地捕取出风.
As the blades turn, they power an electric generator and make electricity.
随着刀片的转动,它们为一台发电机提供动力并发电.
The ability to generate electricity makes wind turbines even more useful than simple windmills.
发电能力使得风力涡轮机比简单的风车更有用.
Instead of doing just one task, wind turbines can be used to power just about anything.
风力涡轮机不是只做一项工作,而是可以用来为任何事提供动力。
Wind Turbine The rotor of a wind turbine is connected to a shaft that spins the generator to make electricity.
风涡 风力涡轮机的转子与旋转发电机来发电的轴相接。
Wind Farms Today, hundreds or even thousands of wind turbines are built in groups.
今日的风地农场,成群地建造了上千个甚至上千个风地轮机.
These wind farms can produce huge amounts of electricity.
这些风能农场可以生产出大量的电力.
Most wind farms are on land, but some are built on water.
大部分风力农场在陆地上,但有的是在水上建造.
Strong, steady winds at sea make it the perfect place for turbines to generate electricity.
强烈而稳定的海上风能使它成为涡轮发电的完美之地.
An offshore wind farm sits in the Baltic Sea near Copenhagen, Denmark.
一个近海风能农场坐落于丹麦哥本哈根附近的波罗的海.
The Gansu Wind Farm in China is the largest in the world.
中国甘肃风能农场规模最大.
Its goal is to produce enough electricity to power a city of two million people by 2020.
其目标是到2020年发电量足够为200万人的城市提供电力.
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind William Kamkwamba grew up in a poor village in Malawi, Africa.
"利用风力的男孩"(The Boy who Harnessed the Wind William Kamkwamba)在非洲马拉维的一个贫困村庄长大.
The area suffered from drought, so farming was difficult, and no one in his village had electricity.
该地区遭受了干旱,因此耕作困难,他所在村庄没有人有电.
At age fourteen, William decided to change the situation.
14岁时,威廉决定改变这种状况.
He’d read about wind turbines in a library book and set out to build one.
并开始建造一台。
He used scrap metal and parts from tractors and bikes.
他使用从拖拉机和自行车中取出废金属和零件.
Soon, William’s wind turbine gave his family electricity for lights and a radio.
不久后,威廉的风力涡轮机为他的家人提供电灯和收音机.
He also made a wind pump so his family would have water for farming.
他还制造了风泵,以便他的家人有水去耕作。
Cleaner Energy More and more of the world’s energy is from wind power.
世界越来越多的能源来自风能。
Experts predict that by 2050, more than one-third of the world’s electricity may be generated by wind.
专家预测,到2050年,世界三分之一以上的电力可能由风力发电.
Why is the use of wind power growing?
为什么风能的使用会增长?
Wind is a renewable resource, meaning it is a natural resource that can produce energy endlessly without being used up.
风能是一种可再生资源,意味着它是一种自然资源,可以无穷无尽地产生能量而无需被消耗.
Wind power is also far cleaner than coal, gas, or oil.
风能也远比煤炭,天然气,或石油更清洁.
A windmill that William made still stands in Malawi, Africa.
威廉制造的风车仍然在非洲马拉维
William Kamkwamba Problems with Wind Power Wind power provides clean electricity, but no energy resource is perfect.
威廉·坎克万巴 风能问题 风能提供清洁电能,但没有能源资源是完美的.
Living next to a giant wind farm isn’t always fun.
住在大型风能农场旁边并不总是好玩。
Wind turbines can be noisy because of their huge, spinning blades.
风力涡轮由于其巨大而旋转的叶片而可能很吵.
Because of the noise, wind farms are often built far away from where the electricity they generate is needed.
由于噪音,风力发电场常常被建造在远离需要它们发电的地方.
In some cases, this can make the electricity more expensive.
在某些情况下,这会使电费更昂贵.
Some people think wind farms are ugly and that they ruin the view.
有些人认为风地农场很丑陋,他们破坏了风景.
Still others object because the blades can kill birds that fly into them.
还有其他人反对 因为刀片可以杀死飞入它们的鸟类
How Loud Is a Wind Turbine?
风铃是多大声?
Source: GE Global Research; National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD part of NIH) Sound is measured in units called decibels (dB).
资料来源:GE全球研究;国家聋人和其他通信障碍研究所(NIH的NIDCD部分)。 声音的测量单位叫分贝(分贝).
A wind turbine that is 500 meters (547 yd.)
风力涡轮500米(547 yd.
from a home, or about five soccer fields away, produces roughly the same amount of noise as a refrigerator—38 dB.
从家中,或大约5个足球场外,产生的噪音与冰箱38分贝大致相同。
Wind Power’s Future Wind power makes needed energy and helps create a cleaner planet.
风能的未来风能制造出需要的能量,并有助于创造一个更清洁的星球.
The future holds even greater promise.
未来的希望更大。
Wind-powered inventions include everything from cars to streetlights.
由风力驱动的发明包括从汽车到街灯等一切.
People are even building wind turbines to harness hurricanes.
人们甚至正在建造风力涡轮机来利用飓风.
In the future, these turbines may capture the strong winds these storms produce.
未来,这些涡轮机可能会捕捉这些风暴产生的强风.
By catching their winds, the turbines might even weaken these dangerous storms.
涡轮甚至可能削弱这些危险的风暴
This could reduce damage and save lives.
这可以减少破坏并拯救生命。
Inventions from wind power are only limited by human imagination.
来自风能的发明只受人类想象力的限制.
Many years from now, people will keep thinking of new ways to use it.
许多年后,人们会不断思考新的使用方法.
The Greenbird, a wind- powered land and ice vehicle, broke the land speed world record at 203 kilometers per hour (126 mph).
"绿鸟"是风能发电的陆地和冰上车辆,以每小时203公里(126 mph)打破了陆地速度世界纪录.