VOA慢速英语2011--A Soccer Ball That Gives You Energy -- Really

Technology Report - A Soccer Ball That Gives You Energy -- Really

 

科技报道 - 足球型发电机

This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。

Have you ever heard the expression "a ball of energy"? People often use the term to describe very active children. But today we tell about an invention called the sOccket, that is a real ball of energy. Julia Silverman explains.

你听说过"a ball of energy"这种说法吗？人们通常用这个词来形容非常活跃的孩子。但今天我们将谈及一项被成为sOccket的发明，这是一个真正的能量球。朱莉娅·西尔弗曼（Julia Silverman）解释道。

JULIA SILVERMAN: "The sOccket is a cutting-edge portable generator¹ in the form of a soccer ball."

西尔弗曼：“sOccket是一种足球型的尖端便携式发电机。”

Julia Silverman and Jessica Matthews developed the sOccket as part of a group project for an engineering class at Harvard University.

西尔弗曼和杰西卡·马修斯（Jessica Matthews）研制了sOccket作为哈佛大学工程类团队项目的一部分。

To better understand what a sOccket is, you first need to understand how it works.

为了更好地了解什么是sOccket，你首先必须了解它的工作原理。

JULIA SILVERMAN: "When you play with the ball, there is all this energy being transferred to the ball -- even any normal soccer ball. Basically, what we're trying to do is instead of letting that energy dissipate into the environment or just be lost, we're harnessing it inside using these mechanisms², this technology that essentially³ tries to capture everything with the movement. Everything that is harnessed is then stored in a battery of sorts."The sOccket collects and stores this energy with every kick, hit or throw of the ball.

西尔弗曼：“当你在玩球的时候，所有能量都被传递到球上，即便是普通足球。总的来说，我们试图做的就是使用机械装置把这些能量利用起来而不是让它消散在环境中或直接损失掉。这种技术本质上是试图捕捉一切运动，所利用到的一切随后储存到各种电池中。”sOccket在每一次踢球、击球或扔球的过程中收集和储存能量。

The sOccket ball can store up to twenty-four hours' worth of power

JULIA SILVERMAN: "Then the user can plug any accessory directly into the ball, like a lamp to study, or a cell phone charger. We're developing a water purifier and hopefully some other things that might be beneficial."

西尔弗曼：“然后用户可以将任何配件直接插到足球上，像学习用的台灯，或者手机充电器。我们正在开发一种净水器，希望其它一些事情也能受益。”

For every fifteen minutes of game play, the sOccket can provide enough electricity to power an LED lamp for up to three hours. The ball can store up to twenty-four hours' worth of power.

每玩15分钟游戏，sOccket可以向LED灯供电长达3小时。该球可以储存长达24小时使用的电力。

The International Energy Association reported last year that nearly one and a half billion people did not have access to electricity. Most of them live in sub-Saharan Africa and in India and other countries in Asia.

国际能源协会去年报道了近15亿人用不上电，他们中的大多数居住在撒哈拉以南非洲、印度和亚洲其他国家。

Julia Silverman and Jessica Matthews both had experience in developing countries before they began the project. They knew that power shortages are a serious problem in many areas.

在开始这一项目前，西尔弗曼和马修斯都有在发展中国家的经历。他们知道电力短缺在许多地区是一个非常严重的问题。

JULIA SILVERMAN: "There's an energy crisis in the world. One out of every five people in the global population don't have any electricity whatsoever⁴. And beyond that, there are a lot of health issues because what people use instead of the electricity are harmful alternatives like kerosene⁵ lamps, which produce a lot of smoke."

西尔弗曼：“当今世界存在能源危机。全球五分之一的人口没有任何电力。除此之外，由于人们使用的一些电力替代品是有害的，还产生了许多健康问题。例如产生大量烟雾的煤油灯。”

Ms. Silverman says the sOccket is one small solution to a big problem.

西尔弗曼女士表示，sOccket是重大问题的一个小的解决方法。

JULIA SILVERMAN: "And so we knew that just a little bit of light would make a huge difference. And we also knew that soccer was the most popular sport, most loved sport in the whole world."

西尔弗曼：“所以我们知道，哪怕一点光也会产生巨大差异。我们也知道，足球是全球最受欢迎，最受人喜爱的运动。”

Jessica Matthews and Julia Silverman have started a nonprofit organization called Uncharted Play. They hope their sOccket ball will shine more light on the problem of power shortages. It offers people a chance to put their energy into the world's most popular sport and get some energy in return.

马修斯和西尔弗曼已经开设了一个名为Uncharted Play的非盈利性组织。他们希望sOccket在电力短缺问题上能够放射更多光芒。它给人们提供了一个将自己的精力投入到全球最受欢迎的运动，并获得能量的回报的机会。

And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report. Go to voanews.cn for transcripts⁶, MP3s and now PDF files of our stories. And follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and iTunes at VOA Learning English. I'm June Simms.

1 generator   

n.发电机，发生器

参考例句：

• All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
• This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。

2 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

5 kerosene   

n.(kerosine)煤油，火油

参考例句：

• It is like putting out a fire with kerosene.这就像用煤油灭火。
• Instead of electricity,there were kerosene lanterns.没有电，有煤油灯。

6 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句