2007年VOA标准英语-Taos Solar Music Festival Celebrates 'Sustainab

By Katherine Cole
Washington
25 July 2007

The city of Taos, New Mexico, was known as the "Solar Capitol of the World" long before then-Governor Gary Johnson officially made that declaration in 1997. The high desert altitude of over two kilometers and close to 300 sunshine-filled days each year make Taos the perfect place to "get off the grid¹" - not be dependent upon electricity - and practice sustainable living. As VOA's Katherine Cole reports, the town is also home to the "Taos Solar Music Festival."

Thrift2 Store Cowboys hit the music festival stage" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070726/0943320.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

The Thrift Store Cowboys hit the music festival stage

Big Head Todd And The Monsters was the headline act on the first day of this year's festival. Opening day also included a set from The Thrift Store Cowboys.

Taos, New Mexico, has a long history of environmental consciousness, and is a city known for supporting renewable energy sources. "Sustainable lifestyles," or a more simple way of living, is a major topic of conversation in the mountain town. The goal is to live a life that makes less of an impact on our ecology than the usual modern way of living. You might decide to walk to the shops instead of driving, or buy eggs directly from the farm rather than purchase eggs that had traveled 200 kilometers in a truck to a warehouse³ before another long trip to the store.

Some people take it a step further, and go online to calculate how much pollution they contribute to the world by flying in airplanes, or driving a gas guzzling⁴ car, and then have trees planted to offset⁵ what is called their "carbon footprint."

Backstage at Taos Music Festival

There are many ways to learn about sustainable lifestyles. Magazines are published on the topic, and there is information is available on the Internet. There is also the Solar Village at the Taos Solar Music Festival. Open to the public, it features booths and demonstrations⁶ about renewable energy sources.

Ben Luce is with the New Mexico Solar Energy Association. He said the Taos Solar Music Festival doesn't just talk about alternative energy sources, they rely on them to make the festival work.

A Taos Music Festival stage

"One of the stages is completely solar-powered, and for the rest of the power, they buy wind power credits," he said. "We're trying to switch over to bio-diesel power for some generators⁷. That will give us an even more local basis. But the power, officially on paper in the accounting⁸ system, really is renewable, and some of it is directly renewable right off of solar collectors. And many of the visits here in the village are also solar-powered."

And, this part of the festival, the Solar Village, has changed over nine years.

"It's grown steadily," he said. "We have more exhibitors, and the quality of the exhibitors has improved. We did make some progress in the state [New Mexico government] with solar tax credits and other things, so there is more activity, there are more businesses, and more of them are able to show up here at the festival. And I think that a significant fraction of the public support for this in New Mexico does, in fact, derive⁹ from peoples' experiences here at the Taos Solar Music Festival."

Too Slim of Riders in the Sky performs at the festival

Riders In the Sky opened day two, drawing a big crowd that included Elders from the Taos Pueblo¹⁰, families with small children, and even a real live country music superstar.

Taos resident Lynn Anderson was drawn¹¹ to the festival.

"I live in Taos. We love to get out and be part of the community, but I absolutely love Riders in the Sky," she said. "I think they are just a hoot¹². I sing country AND western music, and I wear the cowboy boots and the hat all the time, so I just had to come and lend support to the Riders. I think they're wonderful!"

Also performing at this year's Taos Solar Music Festival were California rockers Los Lobos, 94-year-old Taos resident Jenny Vincent, one of the people responsible for helping¹³ to keep the tradition of Spanish-American folk music alive, and San Francisco activist¹⁴ and musician Michael Franti and Spearhead. Their set included "Never Too Late," and Franti explained, he was dedicating the song to a young soldier named "Kyle."

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 thrift   

adj.节约，节俭；n.节俭，节约

参考例句：

• He has the virtues of thrift and hard work.他具备节俭和勤奋的美德。
• His thrift and industry speak well for his future.他的节俭和勤勉预示着他美好的未来。

3 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

4 guzzling   

v.狂吃暴饮，大吃大喝( guzzle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The kids seem to be guzzling soft drinks all day. 孩子们似乎整天都在猛喝汽水。
• He's been guzzling beer all evening. 整个晚上他都在狂饮啤酒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

6 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

7 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

9 derive   

v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自

参考例句：

• We derive our sustenance from the land.我们从土地获取食物。
• We shall derive much benefit from reading good novels.我们将从优秀小说中获得很大好处。

10 pueblo   

n.（美国西南部或墨西哥等）印第安人的村庄

参考例句：

• For over 2,000 years,Pueblo peoples occupied a vast region of the south-western United States.在长达2，000多年的时间里，印第安人统治着现在美国西南部的大片土地。
• The cross memorializes the Spanish victims of the 1680 revolt,when the region's Pueblo Indians rose up in violent protest against their mistreatment and burned the cit

11 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

12 hoot   

n.鸟叫声，汽车的喇叭声； v.使汽车鸣喇叭

参考例句：

• The sudden hoot of a whistle broke into my thoughts.突然响起的汽笛声打断了我的思路。
• In a string of shrill hoot of the horn sound,he quickly ran to her.在一串尖声鸣叫的喇叭声中，他快速地跑向她。

13 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

14 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。