【VOA新闻 慢速】VOA NEWS 慢速 2010年2月11 （新东方在线论坛推荐）

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Breathing Easier:The Art of Stove Making

This is the VOA Special English Development Report. 
StoveTec wood stove
More than three billion people are at risk from indoor air pollution because of the heating or cooking fuels they use. Most live in Africa, India and China. They use biomass fuels like wood, crop waste, animal waste or coal. These solid fuels may be the least costly fuels available. But they are also a major cause of health problems and death.

For more than thirty years, the Aprovecho Research Center has been designing cleaner, low-cost cooking stoves for the developing world. Dean Still is the director of the group which is based in the United States. He notes a World Health Organization estimate that more than one and a half million people a year die from breathing smoke from solid fuels.

DEAN STILL: "And half of the people on planet Earth every day use wood or biomass for cooking. These are the people on Earth who have less money, and the richer people use oil and gas. It's been estimated that wood is running out more quickly than oil and gas. And so it is very important for the poorer people to have very efficient stoves that protect their forests and that protect their health."

Every year Aprovecho holds a "stove camp" at its testing station in Cottage Grove, Oregon. Engineers, inventors, students and others come together to design and test different methods and materials for improving stoves.

Over the years, the group has made stoves using mud, bricks, sheet metal, clay, ceramics and old oil drums. Most of the stoves look like large, deep cooking pots. They have an opening at the bottom for the fire and a place on top to put a pot.

In the late nineteen seventies, Aprovecho produced a popular stove called the Lorena. The Lorena was very good at reducing smoke and warming homes. But new tests years later found that it was not very efficient. The Lorena used twice as much wood as an open fire, and took much longer to heat food.

Since then, Dean Still says they have experimented with countless other designs.

DEAN STILL: "Our goal is to make a very inexpensive stove -- let's say five dollars -- that makes very, very little smoke, so it's safe for health, diminishes global warming and diminishes deforestation. And so it's an ongoing problem to work on."

Aprovecho has now partnered with a stove manufacturer in China. The company is making Aprovecho's first mass produced stoves. They are said to use forty to fifty percent less wood than an open fire, and produce fifty to seventy-five percent less smoke. A company called StoveTec is selling them through its Web site for less than ten dollars. Dean Still says that more than one hundred thousand have been sold so far.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by June Simms. I'm Howard Neuberg.

这里是VOA特别英语发展报道。

由于所使用的加热或烹饪燃料，超过30亿人处于室内空气污染的危险中。其中大多数人居住在非洲，印度和中国。他们使用木材，作物废料，动物废料或煤炭等生物燃料。这些固体燃料可能是成本{zd1}的燃料。但是它们都是导致健康问题和死亡的主要原因。

30多年来，Aprovecho研究中心一直致力于为发展中国家设计更清洁，成本更低的烹饪炉具。Dean Still是位于美国的这个组织的负责人。他指出，世界卫生组织估计，每年超过150万人因吸入固体燃料的烟雾而死亡。

Dean Still：“地球上一半的人口每天使用木材或生物燃料来煮饭。他们是相对来说没钱的人，有钱的人都使用石油或天然气。据估计，木材消耗的速度比石油和天然气更快。所以，让相对贫穷的人们拥有更加高效的炉子，保护森林，保护他们的健康，这是非常重要的。”

每年，Aprovecho在俄勒冈果园村的试验站举行“火炉训练营” 。工程师，发明家，学生和其他人是都前来参加，设计和测试改善火炉效率的不同方法和材料。

多年来，改组织制造出了使用泥，砖，钢铁，粘土，陶器和旧油桶的炉子。大部分炉子看上去都是非常大，非常深的烹饪罐。炉子底部有一个开口，供火来燃烧，顶部一个位置用来放置水壶。

70年代末，Aprovecho研制出一个叫做Lorena的非常受欢迎的炉子。Lorena能够很有效的减少烟，并为家庭提供热量。但是几年后，新的测试发现，这种炉子不是非常的高效。Lorena耗费的燃料是露天篝火的两倍，加热食物所耗费的时间更长。

Dean Still表示，自那时起，他们尝试了无数的其他设计。

Dean Still：“我们的目标是设计一个价格便宜的炉子——大约5美元——产生的烟非常非常少，对健康有利，减少全球变暖和森林退化的。所以，这是我们一直要进行的一项工作。”

Aprovecho现在与中国的一个炉具生产商合作。该公司正在生产Aprovecho首批批量生产的炉具。据说，这些炉子比露天烧火节约40%到50%的燃料，产生的烟则少50%到75%。一个叫做StoveTec的公司在网上以低于10美元的价格进行销售。Dean Still表示，目前为止，这种炉子已经售出超过10万台。

1.indoor a.户内的,室内的

例句：This factory manufactures indoor textile wallcovering.
这家工厂制造室内布质墙面装饰。

室外的：outdoor

例句：It is important to health to have outdoor activities.
户外活动对健康很重要。

open air

例句：This open-air terrace is really spacious.
这露台很宽敞。

2.biomass n.生物量

3.costly a.昂贵的,豪华的,价值高的

例句：Young drivers face costly car insurance.
年轻的司机们要面对昂贵的车险。

Language barriers cause costly delays in some courts.
语言障碍会引起一些法庭休庭，以免造成重大损失。

4.estimate v.估计,估价;评价,判断

例句：The medicare cost is estimated to be one billion dollars.
老年医疗保健费用估计为十亿美元。

名词形式：estimate n.估价,估价

例句：I'll give you a rough estimate of the costs.
我给你大致估计一下费用。

5.countless a.数不尽的,无数的

例句：They weary of countless restrictions and fetters.
他们对种种清规戒律感到很厌烦。

6.inexpensive a.便宜的,不贵重的

例句：I come to the store frequently for its inexpensive commodities.
这家商店很便宜，我经常去。

7.diminish v.(使)减少,(使)变小

例句：The medical expenses diminished his savings.
医疗费耗去了他的积蓄。

8.ongoing a.前进的,进行的

例句：Our success demands an ongoing pursuit of perfection.
我们在追求尽善尽美的过程中不断取得了{zy1}的成就。

1.More than three billion people are at risk from indoor air pollution because of the heating or cooking fuels they use.

at risk在危险中,在危急时

例句：The whole future of the company is at risk.
这家公司的整个前途都处在危险之中。

处于……的风险中，用at risk of，相当于 in danger of

例句：He is at the risk of failing because of his low scores.
他因为低分而有不合格的危险。

2.It's been estimated that wood is running out more quickly than oil and gas.

run out耗尽

例句：The hotel has run out of beer .
这饭店的啤酒已全部售完了。

类似的词组：

fall short不足,缺乏;达不到,不符合

例句：This month we may fall short of our goals.
这个月我们可能无法达到我们的目标。

3.The Lorena was very good at reducing smoke and warming homes.

be good at善于,擅长于

例句：The captain is good at helping one be at one's ease.
队长善于助人稳定心情。

4.The Lorena used twice as much wood as an open fire, and took much longer to heat food.

twice as much倍数的比较

表示三以上的倍数用times，但表示两倍（汉语中的一倍实际上也指两倍）时则用twice, double, duple, twofold, as…again as表示。译为

“翻一番”或“为…的两倍”。3倍常用three times, triple, threefold表示，译为“增加2倍，增至三倍”或“为…的3倍”。4倍用

quadruple，基数词＋times，基数词＋fold表示，译为“增加3倍，增至4倍”或“为…的4倍”。例如：
He earned double the usual wage in holiday. 他在假期里挣了比平时多1倍的工资。
This bridge is as long again as that bridge. 这座大桥的长度是那座大桥的2倍。
They have produced four-fold as many laptops as they did last year.他们今年生产的笔记本电脑相当于去年的4倍。
Their grains have trebled (tripled) this year. 他们的粮食今年增加了2倍（是…的三倍）。

1) 主语 谓语 X times as adj. as
这个句型译为：① A…是B的X倍（或净增加X－1倍）.
例如：This pen (A) is twice as expensive as that pen (B).
这只钢笔(A)的价格是那只钢笔(B)的2倍。（即A比B贵一倍）
I have three times as many as you.　我有你三倍那么多。（我的比你的多两倍）
This box is four times as heavy as that box. 这个盒子比那个盒子重4倍。

2)主语 谓语 X times the size (amount, width, breadth, level, value, velocity, length&hellip of…
这个句型表示净增加“1倍，是…的2倍”例如：
The earth is 49 times the size of the moon.　地球是月球大小的49倍。

3)主语 谓语 X times 形容词（副词）比较级 than…
这个句型表示的数为净增加数。例如：
The grain output is one time higher this year than that of last year.
　今年比去年粮食产量增加一倍。

4)还可以用by 倍数，表示增加多少倍
　The production of grain has been increased by four times this year.
　今年粮食产量增加了4倍。