2006年VOA标准英语-National Sustainable Design Expo Highlight

By Paige Kollock
Washington, DC
12 May 2006
 
watch Sustainability Expo report

More than 350 students from 21 colleges and universities were on the National Mall in Washington D.C. this week to compete for the Environmental Protection Agency's second annual 'People, Prosperity, Planet' award. They have novel designs for environmentally friendly buildings; innovative¹ alternative fuel technologies; and rainwater collection techniques. 

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Banjo and fiddle-playing students relax during the exhibition 
  

A group of banjo-playing "greenies" from Appalachian State University was one of the six winning entries for the "People, Prosperity, Planet", or "P3" award. The winners have the option to take up to $75,000 in grant money to further develop their design and move it to the marketplace.

Their project was called "Closing the Biodiesel Loop." They created a sustainable education facility to promote and demonstrate small-scale biodiesel processing. Their 1971 Mercedes van was fueled by biodiesel made from used cooking oil donated by restaurants. To showcase their work, they drove the van nearly seven hours to Washington, D.C.

Student Justin Stiles gives his impressions. "It will add a great amount of mileage² that you can put on an engine by running on biodiesel, it's quieter, which is nice; a lot of people think diesels³ are real loud, and they're real knocky [knock a lot] and things like that.  But it really takes a lot of that [the knocking] out of it, and it smells wonderful."

Another winning team from Lafayette College took its sustainability ideas to Central America. The group designed a water filtration system for a small village in Honduras that had no clean drinking water.

Another student, Greg Roscoe, talks about the importance of clean water. "Without clean drinking water there is a whole range of water borne illness ... bacteria, everything in the water.  If you don't have access to clean drinking water and you're exposed to all these health issues, then you can't really move on.  You can't really expand the village."

Powered by bio-diesel   
  
Students from Duke University, who were not among the winners this year, designed an entire green dormitory.

The so-called 'smarthouse' will house 10 students who will design and build environmentally sound systems, including using renewable or recycled components⁴; and reusing grey water -- that is, water that is not completely clean but which does not need purification⁵. They also will work on alternative energy generation, through systems like a solar one that includes a tracker to maximize efficient use of sun power.. 

Each of the participants received a $10,000 grant last fall to develop their designs, come to the expo, and showcase them. George Gray works for the office of Research and Development at the Environmental Protection Agency. 

 
George Gray 
  
"There are ideas here that people can put into place in their own homes, in their own lives, today," said Gray. "There are little steps that each of us can take to really make a difference and these students are identifying them, proving them and in some cases, commercializing them." 

But Justin Stiles is happy just to have made a local impact.  "In the spring of next year, a year from now, there's going to be a class being taught on making biodiesel, directly related to what we have done here, so we've changed the curriculum⁶ of our school just by doing what we've done here, so that's pretty top notch⁷ I think."

In addition to student projects, government, nonprofit, and for-profit organizations exhibited their sustainable technologies -- all intended to preserve natural resources for future generations.  

1 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

2 mileage   

n.里程，英里数；好处，利润

参考例句：

• He doesn't think there's any mileage in that type of advertising.他认为做那种广告毫无效益。
• What mileage has your car done?你的汽车跑了多少英里？

3 diesels   

柴油( diesel的名词复数 )； 柴油机机车（或船等）

参考例句：

• The diesels roared, the conductors jumped aboard, and off the train went. 内燃机发出轰鸣声，列车员跳上车厢，火车开走了。
• The diesels catch and roar, a welcome sound. 柴油机开动，发生了怒吼，这是令人鼓舞的声音。

4 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

5 purification   

n.纯化，净化；提纯

参考例句：

• The water goes through three stages of purification. 这水经过 3 个步骤的净化。
• -- Or a polluted soul towards their purification? —或者说，一个亵渎的灵魂能够净化他人吗？ 来自英汉文学 - 红字

6 curriculum   

n.课程，（学校等的）全部课程

参考例句：

• Is German on your school's curriculum?你们学校有德语课吗？
• The English curriculum should stress both composition and reading.英语课程对作文和阅读应同样重视。

7 notch   

n.(V字形)槽口，缺口，等级

参考例句：

• The peanuts they grow are top-notch.他们种的花生是拔尖的。
• He cut a notch in the stick with a sharp knife.他用利刃在棒上刻了一个凹痕。