公共英語一級閱讀文章《火力發(fā)電廠》

　　火力發(fā)電廠或稱化石燃料發(fā)電廠，是通過燃燒諸如煤、天然氣及石油等來發(fā)電的發(fā)電廠，被設(shè)計成可以持續(xù)地大量發(fā)電，在許多國家，大部分電能均由火力發(fā)電廠提供。下面，通過這篇公共英語一級閱讀文章，讓我們來初步了解一下火力發(fā)電廠。

　　Coal-fired Power Plants

　　The invention of the incandescent light bulb by Thomas A. Edison in 1879 created a demand for a cheap, readily available fuel with which to generate large amounts of electric power. Coal seemed to fit the bill, and it fueled the earliest power stations (which were set up at the end of the nineteenth century by Edison himself). As more power plants were constructed throughout the country, the reliance on coal increased. Since the First World War, coal-fired power plants have accounted for about half of the electricity produced in the United States each year. In 1986 such plants had a combined generating capacity of 289, 000 megawatts and consumed 83 percent of the nearly 900 million tons of coal mined in the country that year. Given the uncertainty in the future growth of nuclear power and in the supply of oil and natural gas, coal-fired power plants could well provide up to 70 percent of the electric power in the United States by the end of the century.

　　Yet, in spite of the fact that coal has long been a source of electricity and may remain one for many years (coal represents about 80 percent of United States fossil-fuel reserves), it has actually never been the most desirable fossil fuel for power plants. Coal contains less energy per unit of weight than natural gas or oil; it is difficult to transport, and it is associated with a host of environmental issues, among them acid rain. Since the late 1960's problems of emission control and waste disposal have sharply reduced the appeal of coal-fired power plants. The cost of ameliorating these environmental problems along with the rising cost of building a facility as large and complex as a coal-fired power plant, have also made such plants less attractive from a purely economic perspective.

　　Changes in the technological base of coal-fired power plants could restore their attractiveness, however. Whereas some of these changes are evolutionary and are intended mainly to increase the productivity of existing plants, completely new technologies for burning coal cleanly are also being developed.

　　火力發(fā)電廠

　　托馬斯·愛迪生1879 年發(fā)明的白熾燈導(dǎo)致對便宜、易得、可生產(chǎn)大量電能的燃料的需求。煤似乎符合這個要求，并成為第一批電廠的燃料(正是愛迪生本人在 19 世 紀(jì)末建造了第一批電廠)。全國到處興建電廠時，對煤的依賴加深了。自第一次世界大戰(zhàn)以來，美國每年約有一半的電力是以煤為燃料的電廠提供的。1986 年這些電廠的總發(fā)電能力達(dá)到28，900 千瓦并且消耗了當(dāng)年全國開采的九億噸煤的83%�？紤]到核能發(fā)展以及石油、天然氣供應(yīng)中的不確定因素，到本世紀(jì)末，火力發(fā)電廠仍可能為美國提供多達(dá)70%的電力。

　　然而，盡管煤長期以來一直是電力的原料之一并且可能會繼續(xù)如此(煤占美國化石燃 料儲量的 80%)，它卻不是電廠的理想燃料。煤的單位能量含量低于石油和天然氣，而且會導(dǎo)致包括酸雨在內(nèi)的一系列環(huán)境問題。從 1960 年以來，排放控制和垃圾處理的問題極大地削弱了燃煤電廠的魅力。由于減輕這些環(huán)境問題需要大量資金，而且建造龐大復(fù)雜的燃煤電廠的費用不斷上漲，也使得這些電廠從經(jīng)濟角度上不具備吸引力。

　　改變火力發(fā)電廠的基礎(chǔ)技術(shù)卻可能恢復(fù)它們的吸引力。雖然某些技術(shù)改進(jìn)是漸進(jìn)的，其目的只是提高現(xiàn)有電廠的生產(chǎn)率，但人們正在開發(fā)全新的清潔燃煤的技術(shù)。

　　附：公共英語一級解題技巧：

　　1.細(xì)節(jié)題

　　這種題目是針對文章的某些情節(jié)而設(shè)置的，以考查考生理解具體細(xì)節(jié)的能力。其所使用的句型和詞語與原文相同或基本相同，因此在文中很容易找到答案。

　　2.是非題

　　這種題目是針對文中具體的某個句話而設(shè)置的，考查形式為：對所選的句子進(jìn)行同義或反義的轉(zhuǎn)換。對于此類題目只要考生理解所選的句子，一般都能選出正確的答案。

　　3.推理題

　　這種題目有一定的難度，往往不能直接從文中找到答案，而必須根據(jù)上下文及其相互間的關(guān)系或?qū)φ�篇文章進(jìn)行深層的理解以后，才能得出答案。

　　4.釋義題

　　此類題目并非單純考查考生的詞匯，而是考查考生根據(jù)上下文猜測單詞詞義及某個單詞在具體語境中的具體含義。對于此類題目只要考生理解其所在句子所要表達(dá)的意思，就能很容易地推出該單詞的含義。

　　5.主旨題

　　要求考生在閱讀和理解全文的基礎(chǔ)上對文章做出歸納、概括或評價等。體現(xiàn)形式通常為：文章的標(biāo)題(ti-de)、主題(main idea)、結(jié)論(conclusion)等。

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