中石油职称英语2013版（60课全）

6、Carbon-based Alternative[adj.非传统的,不同的] 碳基替代燃料

1.Although[conj.尽管，虽然] recent[adj.最近的；近来的] years have seen substantial[adj.可观的,重大的]

reductions[(reduction):n.减少,降低] in noxious[adj.有害的,有毒的] pollutants[(pollutant):n.污染物质] from individual[n.个人,个体] motor vehicles[(vehicle):n.机动车辆], the number of such vehicles[(vehicle):n.机动车辆] has been steadily[ad.稳定地；稳固地] increasing[(increase):vt.增加；繁殖]. Consequently[ad.因此,因而,所以], more than 100 cities in the United[(unite):vi.&vt.联合，States[(state):n.国家；still have levels[(level):n.水平线；of carbon[n.碳] monoxide[n.团结] (美国的)州] 水平]

一氧化物], particulate[n.微粒 a.微粒的] matter, and ozone[n.新鲜的空气,臭氧] (generated[(generate):v.发生] by

photochemical[a.光化学的] reactions[(reaction):n.反应] with hydrocarbons[(hydrocarbon):n.碳化氢] from vehicle[n.机动车辆] exhaust[vt.使筋疲力尽;用尽]) that exceed[v.超过] legally[(legal):adj.法律(上)的,合法的,法定的] established[(establish):v.使人接受(信仰、风俗、要求等)] limits[(limit):vt.限制；减少]. There is a growing realization[n.意识到,领悟] that the only effective[adj.有效的] way to achieve[vt.完成；达到] further[ad.更远地；进一步地] reductions[(reduction):n.减少,降低] in vehicle[n.机动车辆] emissions-short of a massive[adj.巨大的] shift[v.移动] away from the private[a.私人的] automobile- is to replace[vt.取代] conventional[a.传统的,符合习俗的] diesel[n.柴油] fuel[n.燃料] and gasoline[n.(美)汽油] with

cleaner-burning fuels[(fuel):n.燃料] such as compressed[a.压缩的] natural[adj.自然的；天然的] gas[n.煤气；汽油；天然气]. liquefied[adj.液化的] petroleum[n.石油] gas[n.煤气；汽油；天然气], ethanol[n.乙醇,酒精], or methanol[n.甲醇].

1.尽管近几年来私人机动车辆排放的有害污染物已有相当程度的减少，但这类车辆的数量却仍在稳定地增长。因此，美国100多个城市仍然存在着超过法律限定的一氧化碳、悬浮颗粒物和臭氧（由于车辆排出气体中碳氢化合物经过光化反应产生）。人们逐渐认识到实现车辆尾气排放更进一步减少的唯一有效方法--大规模消减私人小汽车除外--是用燃烧更为清洁的燃料，如压缩天然气、液化石油气、乙醇或甲醇代替传统的柴油和汽油。

2.All of these alternatives[(alternative):adj.非传统的,不同的] are carbon-based fuels[(fuel):n.燃料] whose molecules[(molecule):n.分子,克分子] are smaller and simpler than those of gasoline[n.(美)汽油]. These molecules[(molecule):n.分子,克分子] burn more cleanly than gasoline[n.(美)汽油], in part because they have fewer, if any, carbon-carbon bonds[(bond):n.债券] and the hydrocarbons[(hydrocarbon):n.碳化氢] they do emit[vt.散发;发射;发表] are less likely to generate[v.发生] ozone[n.新鲜的空气,臭氧]. The combustion[n.燃烧,氧化] of larger molecules[(molecule):n.分子,克分子], which have multiple[a.多重的,多样的] carbon-carbon bonds[(bond):n.债券]

involves[(involve):v.使(某事)成为必要条件或结果] a more complex[adj.难于理解或解释的;复杂的] series[n.系列] of reactions[(reaction):n.These reactions[(reaction):n.反应] increase[vt.增加；the probability[n.可能性] of incomplete combustion[n.反应]. 繁殖]

燃烧,氧化] and are more likely to release[v.释放] uncombusted and photochemically[(photochemical):a.光化学的] active[a.积极的；主动的] hydrocarbon[n.碳化氢] compounds[(compound):v.增加,加重 n.化合物] into the atmosphere[n.氛围]. On the other hand, alternative[adj.非传统的,不同的] fuels[(fuel):n.燃料] do have drawbacks[(drawback):n.不利条件,缺点,弊端].

Compressed[a.压缩的] natural[adj.自然的；天然的] gas[n.煤气；汽油；天然气] would require[vt.需要；要求] that vehicles[(vehicle):n.机动车辆] have set of heavy fuel[n.燃料] tanks- a serious liability[n.不利条件] in terms of performance[n.演出；表演] and fuel[n.燃料] efficiency-and liquefied[adj.液化的] petroleum[n.石油] gas[n.煤气；汽油；天然气] faces fundamental[a.基本的,根本的] limits[(limit):vt.限制；减少] on supply[vt.供给，供应].

2.所有这些替代物都是碳基燃料，它的分子要比汽油的小而简单。这些分子要比汽油燃烧得更为清洁，部分是因为他们碳-碳键较少，而且即使会释放出碳氢化合物，也不太可能会成为臭氧。较大分子的燃烧，由于它们具有多重碳-碳，伴随着更为复杂的一系列反应。这些反应增加了不完全燃烧得可能性并且易于放出未燃烧的、易起光化反应的碳氢化合物释放到大气中。从另一方面来说，替代燃料也有缺点。压缩天然气要求车辆有一套沉重的燃料箱--在外观和燃料效率方面有严重的不利之处--并且液化石油气面临着基本的供应量限制。

3.Ethanol[n.乙醇,酒精] and methanol[n.甲醇], on the other hand, have important advantages[(advantage):n.

over other carbon-based alternative[adj.非传统的,不同的] fuels[(fuel):n.燃料]: they have higher energy[n.优点；好处]

精力；能量] content[adj.甘愿的；满意的 n.内容] per[prep.每；一] volume[n.数量,总额] and would require[vt.需要；要求] minimal[adj.最in the existing[(exist):vi.存在] network[n.网络系统] for distributing[(distribute):v.分发,分配] motor 低限度的,最小的] changes

fuel[n.燃料]. Ethanol[n.乙醇,酒精] is commonly used as a gasoline[n.(美)汽油] supplement[n.增刊,副刊], but it is currently[(current):adj.当前的;现今的] about twice as expensive as methanol[n.甲醇], the low cost of which is one of its attractive[adj.有吸引力] features[(feature):v.给某物显著地位,将?特写]. Methanol's[(methanol):n.甲醇] most

attractive[adj.有吸引力] feature[v.给某物显著地位,将?特写], however[然而；可是；尽管如此], is that it can reduce[vt.减少；缩减] by about 90 percent[n.百分之?] the vehicle[n.机动车辆] emissions[(emission):n.发出物,散发物;发出,散发] that form ozone[n.

新鲜的空气,臭氧]

, the most serious urban[adj.市镇的] air pollutant[n.污染物质].

3.从另一个方面来看，乙醇和甲醇具有由于其他碳基替代燃料的重要优势：它们在单位容量下有更高的能量含量，并且只需要在现存的配送燃料的网络中做很小的变更。乙醇通常用作汽油的补充燃料，但它现在的价格是甲醇的两倍，后者的低成本是具有吸引力的特征之一。不过，甲醇最吸引人的特征是它能够将形成臭氧的车辆尾气这一严重的城市空气污染减少90%。

4.Like any alternative[adj.非传统的,不同的] fuel[n.燃料], methanol[n.甲醇] has its critics[(critic):n.批评家]. Yet much of the criticism[n.批评] is based[(base):n.根据地；基地] on the use of \[n.(美)汽油] clone[v.无性繁殖,克隆]\[(vehicle):n.机动车辆] that do not incorporate[v.使?并入] even the simplest design[vt.&n.设计；绘制] improvements[(improvement):n.改进,改善] that are made possible with the use of methanol[n.甲醇]. It is true, for example, that a given volume[n.数量,总额] of methanol[n.甲醇] provides[(provide):vt.提供] only about one-half of the energy[n.精力；that gasoline[n.(美)汽油] and diesel[n.柴油] fuel[n.燃料] do; other things being equal[adj.能量]

the fuel[n.燃料] tank[n.储水容器] would have to be somewhat[adv.有些] larger and heavier. However[然平等的；均等的],

而；可是；尽管如此], since melhanol-fueled vehicles[(vehicle):n.机动车辆] could be designed[(design):vt.&n.设计；绘制] to be much more efficient[adj.(指人)有能力的] than \[n.(美)汽油] clone[v.无性繁殖,克隆]\[(vehicle):n.机动车辆] fueled[(fuel):n.燃料] with methanol[n.甲醇] they would need comparatively[(comparative):a.比较的,相对的] less fuel[n.燃料]. Vehicles[(vehicle):n.机动车辆] incorporating[(incorporate):v.使?并入] only the simplest of the engine[n.引擎；发动机] improvements[(improvement):n.改进,改善] that methanol[n.甲醇] makes feasible[a.可行的;可能的] would still

contribute[v.导致] to an immediate[a.立即的;直接的] lessening[(lessen):v.减少] of urban[adj.市镇的] air pollution[n.污染].

4.像任何替代燃料一样，甲醇也有对其的批评意见。然而，大部分批评都是针对“克隆汽油车”的，这些车并没有为使用甲醇而做出哪怕最简单的设计上的改进。这些批评意见是对的，举例来说，一定容量的甲醇只能供给汽油和柴油燃料所能供给的能力的一伴。在其他条件相同时，不得不将车辆的燃料箱做的较大和较沉些。然而，因为烧甲醇的车辆可以被设计成比烧甲醇的“克隆汽油车”更有效率的车辆，所以它们只需要比较少的燃料。车辆只要包含为使用甲醇而作的发动机方面最简单的改进，也将为迅速减轻城市空气污染做出贡献。

7、Automatic Auto: A Car That Drives Itself

汽车技术的发展真是日新月异，在即将到来的九月份，奥迪品牌旗下的一款无人驾驶汽车即将面世，据它的研发者称，这种汽车有很多优点，下面我们就一起看看吧。

In September a driverless Audi TTS will speed to the top of Colorado's Pikes Peak at just under 100 kilometers per hour—that's right, no driver. It is an early step toward a robo-car that can drive itself, perhaps better than you can.

The World Health Organization projects traffic fatalities to be the third leading cause of mortality worldwide by 2020. And drivers themselves are responsible for 73 percent of these deaths. So automakers are looking at ways they could make cars safer by taking driving out of human hands. Self-driving cars could offer other benefits: TNO, an international research firm based in the Netherlands, says that they could reduce the time lost to traffic jams by up to 50 percent, and reduce CO2 emissions and fuel consumption by 5 percent.

The Pikes Peak run is a joint project of the Stanford University Dynamic Design Laboratory, the Electronics Research Lab (ERL) for the Volkswagen Group (which owns

Audi), and software-maker Oracle Corp. The rough, part-gravel road to the top of Pikes Peak

is the route of the annual International Hill Climb rally, an annual auto and motorcycle race. The TTS run will demonstrate whether the car can take curves as fast as a human driver—without driving off a cliff.

The U.S. Department of Defense has been testing autonomous vehicles for years, in particular through its November 2007 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

(DARPA) Urban Challenge at the decommissioned George Air Force Base in Victorville, Calif. During the contest, driverless cars needed to successfully navigate an urbanlike 96-kilometer course (complete with traffic merges and stop signs) in less than six hours. Only six of 11 teams were able to accomplish this, and another ERL vehicle, a Volkswagen Passat named \

\autonomous driving up to the speed limits,\Ideally, the vehicle will accomplish the kind of drifting, fast turns that race car drivers make.

The car's sporty hatchback houses two computers in its trunk, both using Oracle's Java Real-Time System to run algorithms that keep the car on the road and at the limits of its handling ability on the varying surfaces and conditions.

\mind, coupled with a robotic driver that's continually trying to push the car to the limits,\Chris Gerdes, director of the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford. The thinking is that a self-driving car would have to be as good as a professional race car driver for normal folks to accept it.

The car will be guided by a differential GPS system that corrects errors arising in global positioning satellite signals as they travel through the ionosphere and troposphere. It is exact enough to keep the car within 1.5 centimeters of its course. A similar technology is in the pilot stage for national deployment by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration, although the crew is using an off-the-shelf radio transmitter to broadcast exact location data to be used for the corrections.

The autonomous vehicle

There are several components to what the auto industry calls autonomous driving. First, the car must be able to distinguish things in its environment, such as roads, buildings, intersections and other cars. Second, it needs to be able to avoid collisions. Beyond these basics, an intelligent vehicle would obey the rules of the road while getting to the destination as quickly and safely as possible. The Pikes Peak run will test the Audi's ability to meet this goal.

Some of these capabilities have already hit the street, and others have been

demonstrated in tests. For example, in Europe Volkswagen Passats can park themselves, and collision warning is available in high-end models from most major manufacturers, including Toyota, Mercedes and Volvo.

The University of Oxford is working on an autonomous navigation system that takes in information from onboard sensors, radar, cameras, lasers and Internet servers. And GM

envisions a system called the Mobility Internet that connects intelligent cars to each other and to remote servers in a vast, moving peer-to-peer network that would let them travel efficiently and in sync. Someday, autonomous driving could offer the ultimate in comfort, letting the driver chat on the phone, e-mail or watch TV on the way to work. How much control you want to turn over to the car may depend on your age and where you are going, according to Marcial Hernandez, senior engineer at ERL. \want to turn around and talk to the kids. People in their 30s may want to drive to San Francisco, stop in front of the bar, and tell the car to go park itself.\

Says Huhnke, \—we'd like to help people enjoy driving. But they should make the decision if they want to drive or press the autopilot button.\