英语听力：自然百科 智能电网（下）

In Part I of the Electric InterGrid , we saw how consumers and utility companies could both save money and liberate² much less carbon into the atmosphere, if our power network became intelligent and self-aware. 

But for this idea to work, every team that makes electricity and most things that use it must interact with one another. Like the Internet, devices on the InterGrid must be "Plug-and- Play", so that any device can hear or speak to any other. And like the Internet, the InterGrid will grow a little with each clever new gadget³. 

Now, the downside of the power grid¹ that works just like a web is that it's exposed to hacker⁴ attacks, not only by pranksters, but also from organized and well-funded terrorists. Soon, every smart meter in every home and business will be something akin⁵ to computer virus protection. 

The InterGrid must also defend against assaults from Planet Earth itself. Let’s say one day maybe 10 years from now, a monster hurricane comes ashore⁶, knocking out power. The intelligent InterGrid instantly begins matching energy sources to critical needs, places like hospitals and fire stations must be back online first. 

But this InterGrid isn’t depending only on utility power from power plants far away. After all, lines may be down over a large area. It’s also intelligently hunting for a local energy sources: the solar panels on your neighbor's roof, the plug-in hybrid⁷ car in your drive lane, the fuel cells at your daughter’s school – every little bit helps. 

Smartly switching power to vital local services like a phone system or a police station is called "Islanding". And it can keep whole communities afloat in times of trouble. To keep power flowing, operators must know what the grid is doing, at every level from local streets to international transmission lines, to keep small failures from cascading⁸ out of control. This is a prototype for a system to do just that. It’s called VERDE – Visual Energy Resources Dynamically on Earth. It overlays different kinds of real-time information on Google Earth, cleaning weather data, showing which specific power lines are out, and who owns what wires, and how much of the population is affected⁹. It can even pull up webcams of traffic, and evacuation routes. 

But even when everything is completely normal, utility managers still want to know as much as they possibly can, because, frankly¹⁰, they prefer to produce only as much power as customers are willing to pay for. Electricity moves essentially¹¹ at the speed of light. If it is not used, as soon as it’s generated, it goes to waste. But the alternative, a black-out, is obviously unacceptable. So, the current grid depends on what utility companies call “Peaker Plants.” Nobody likes them. Peakers cost money to build and maintain. They run on fuel that isn’t bought at the best market prices. So “Peak Power” becomes expensive power. Yet “Peaker Plants” sit idle most of the time. 

This new intelligent InterGrid could eliminate most “Peakers” by anticipating consumers’ demands through interactive¹² price signals. As engineers say, “If you can measure it, you can manage it.” Utimately the InterGrid will be judged on how well it does 4 things:

　　· Keeping money in consumer’s pockets

 

　　· Making communities safer, more secure and increasingly self-reliant

 

　　· Supporting stable power utilities running on sustainable domestic resources

 

　　· Protecting and improving earth environment.

 

So, what will it cost to do all this? Estimate for the total investment needed here in the United States at about 1.5 trillion dollars over 20 years, beginning 2010, but amazingly, that’s just about the amount of money needed anyway, just to keep the lights on, whether we make the grid smarter, cleaner and safer, or just simply keep it working alone.

 

1 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

2 liberate   

v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由

参考例句：

• They did their best to liberate slaves.他们尽最大能力去解放奴隶。
• This will liberate him from economic worry.这将消除他经济上的忧虑。

3 gadget   

n.小巧的机械，精巧的装置，小玩意儿

参考例句：

• This gadget isn't much good.这小机械没什么用处。
• She has invented a nifty little gadget for undoing stubborn nuts and bolts.她发明了一种灵巧的小工具用来松开紧固的螺母和螺栓。

4 hacker   

n.能盗用或偷改电脑中信息的人，电脑黑客

参考例句：

• The computer hacker wrote that he was from Russia.这个计算机黑客自称他来自俄罗斯。
• This site was attacked by a hacker last week.上周这个网站被黑客攻击了。

5 akin   

adj.同族的，类似的

参考例句：

• She painted flowers and birds pictures akin to those of earlier feminine painters.她画一些同早期女画家类似的花鸟画。
• Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.听他的人生故事犹如阅读一本精彩的冒险小说。

6 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

7 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

8 cascading   

流注( cascade的现在分词 )； 大量落下； 大量垂悬； 梯流

参考例句：

• First of all, cascading menus are to be avoided at all costs. 首先，无论如何都要避免使用级联菜单。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Her sounds began cascading gently. 他的声音开始缓缓地低落下来。

9 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

10 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

11 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

12 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。