【一起听英语】绿色出行

扫码单车现在正在流行着，越来越大的交通压力，越来越拥挤的街道，路上越来越多的车辆让人们越来越倾向于自行车灯绿色出行方式。

Callum: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English, I'm Callum Robertson and with me

today is Rosie, hello Rosie.

Rosie: Hello Callum

Callum: Now today we're going to be talking about two of my favourite pastimes

Rosie: And what are they?

Callum: Well cycling and eating. We're going to be looking at the language of story

about a new scheme in Denmark which features a strong connection between

those two activities.

Before we start though, as always, a question for you Rosie. A very difficult

one I think. It's about cycling in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. There

are many many cyclists there, it's a very cycle-friendly city. According to the

Copenhagen government's statistics how many kilometres are cycled in total,

every day by people living and working in Copenhagen?

 a: 1.2 million km

 b: 1.6 million km

 c: 2.1 million km

 

 I can give you a clue if you like.

Rosie: Yes please! 

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Callum: The clue is - the population of Copenhagen is about 1.6 million

Rosie: Right, well I know that cycling is very popular in Copenhagen and I'm sure if

people cycle, they're going to cycle more than 1km a day. So I'm going to go

for 2.1 million km

Callum: Ok, c: 2.1 milion km. We'll find out if you're right at the end of the programme.

So what is the connection between Denmark, cycling and food? Well a hotel in

Copenhagen has started offering guests a free meal if they make electricity for

the hotel by cycling. Do you like that idea Rosie?

Rosie: I think that's brilliant. I might have to go to this hotel! How far do you have to

cycle to get a meal then?

Callum: That's a very good question. And we're going to find the answer by listening to

part of a report by the BBC's Sean Fanning. How long does someone need to

cycle to get a main course?

Sean Fanning

Guests will have to produce at least ten watt¹ hours of electricity, roughly fifteen minutes of

cycling for someone of average fitness, to qualify for a main course.

Callum: So Rosie, how long will it take to earn a meal?

Rosie: About 15 minutes, apparently²/

Callum: That doesn't sound too bad does it, it's not long to be cycling to get a free meal.

Rosie: No, not long at all.

Callum: Why do you think the hotel's doing this? 

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Rosie: I think they might be doing it as a publicity³ stunt⁴ or a gimmick⁵.

Callum: That's a good expression, a publicity stunt or a gimmick. Could you explain a

little bit more about what you mean by those terms?

Rosie: I suppose I mean that they're trying to get noticed by the media, because they'll

be written about or be on TV or the radio, and then they'll get free advertising⁶.

Callum: Well indeed, we're talking about them, aren't we?

Rosie: Exactly, yea.

Callum: So, it is a new hotel so it does sound like a special opening offer. 15 minutes,

you're not going to make a lot of electricity in that time, I would've thought.

Let's listen to some more of the report to find out why the hotel is doing this. In

this section we hear that the hotel agrees that not much energy will be produced.

But we do hear what the point is, what the reason is. Listen out for that. Here's

Sean Fallon again.

Sean Fallon

The hotel management concedes that each cyclist will only produce enough to power a couple

of light bulbs, but says the point is to encourage guests to think about their consumption of

energy.

Callum: So the guests will only make enough electricity for a couple of light bulbs, so

what is the point?

Rosie: According to the report the point is "to encourage guests to think about their

consumption of energy" – which means to make them think about how much

energy they use. It sounds more like an environmental message really. 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010

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Callum: Yea, it does. I wonder if that would work. If I were sitting on that bicycle

pedalling away I don't know if I would be thinking about how much energy I

use. I think I'd be thinking about what I was going to have.

But to be fair this hotel does want to be green and environmentally-friendly.

Apparently the outside of the hotel is also covered in solar panels. So they

make energy from the sun.

Denmark itself is a very environmentally-aware country. As we'll hear now in

the last part of today's report Sean Fallon talks about another form of

renewable energy used in Denmark. Listen out for this information – what

other form of renewable energy does Sean mention and how much of

Denmark's energy does it provide.

Sean Fallon

The idea of getting guests to cycle to generate electricity chimes with heightened awareness⁷

of green issues in Denmark, which boasts one of the most cycle-friendly capital cities and

heavy investment in renewable energy, including wind farms which generate a fifth of the

country's electricity.

Callum: Well Rosie, what other renewable energy source does he mention and how

much of Denmark's energy does it provide?

Rosie: He mentions wind power which provides a fifth of their energy or 20%.

 

Callum: Right, now that seems to be quite a lot. A very high percentage of energy

provided there by wind power.

Well, it's nearly the end of the programme, just time to answer the question

from the beginning. According to the Copenhagen government's statistics how

many kilometres are cycled in total, every day by people living and working in

Copenhagen? 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010

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a: 1.2 million km

 b: 1.6 million km

 c: 2.1 million km

 Rosie, you said …

Rosie: I said c: 2.1 million km

Callum: Well the correct answer is actually 1.2 million km. Although the population is

1.6 million they don't all cycle every day.

Well that's all from us today, do join us next time for another 6 Minute English.

Goodbye.

Rosie: Goodbye 

1 watt   

n.瓦，瓦特

参考例句：

• The invention of the engine is creditable to Watt.发动机的发明归功于瓦特。
• The unit of power is watt.功率的单位是瓦特。

2 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

3 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

4 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。

5 gimmick   

n.(为引人注意而搞的)小革新，小发明

参考例句：

• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。
• It is just a public relations gimmick.这只不过是一种公关伎俩。

6 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

7 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。