英语听力—环球英语 540 Sun Cooker

　　Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight¹. I'm Adam Navis.
Voice 2
And I'm Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Today's Spotlight is on a prize-winning new invention - the Kyoto Box.
Voice 2
In November 2008, two organizations jointly² invited people to compete for a prize. The first organization was the international business newspaper, The Financial Times. The second was the group Forum³ for the Future. Forum for the Future works to encourage people, businesses and governments to think about how their actions affect the earth. The organizations called the competition the FT Climate Change Challenge. The prize would be for the best idea to help fight the problem of climate change. The computer company Hewlett-Packard provided prize money. The winner of the competition would receive seventy-five thousand [75,000] dollars.
Voice 1
Jon Bohmer is from Norway. But today, he lives in Africa - in Kenya. He decided⁴ to enter the competition. One Saturday afternoon, Jon worked on this project with his children. They created an oven, or cooker. The cooker uses the heat of the sun to cook food or boil water. It is easy to use, powerful, and it does not cost much money to make. CNN news called this invention a solution to one of the world's biggest problems.
Voice 2
So, what is this Kyoto Box? The Kyoto Box is made up of simple parts. These parts do not cost a lot to make. The Kyoto box is in fact made of two boxes - one a little smaller than the other. The boxes are made of a low-cost material such as cardboard⁵. The smaller box is inside the bigger box. Between the boxes there is some straw or newspaper. This helps to keep the inside warm - to insulate⁶ it. The inside of the smaller box is painted black. The inside of the larger box is covered with shiny aluminum⁷ foil⁸ - that is, with very thin, bright metal. The black on the inner box catches the sun's heat, and the shiny part on the outer box stops the heat from escaping. There is also a cover to put on the top of the box. It is made of clear plastic material. As the box sits in the sun, the sun's heat becomes trapped inside the box. A person can make or buy the box for just over six dollars. Jon Bohmer says that the Kyoto Box gets hot enough to cook food or boil water.
Voice 1
More than three hundred [300] inventions were entered into the competition. A group of judges then chose five inventions to enter the final part. The Kyoto box was one of these inventions. Finally, the public could vote - on the internet! Anyone could go online and choose which invention they thought was the best. The competition reported that almost 15,000 people visited the website to vote. After the judge's scores and the internet votes, the Kyoto Box was the clear winner!
Voice 2
Mr. Bohmer named the box the Kyoto Box for a particular reason. It is named after The Kyoto Protocol⁹. This is an agreement between many of the world's countries. They promise to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases they produce. Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide and methane¹⁰. These gases trap the heat of the sun. When they trap this heat, the earth becomes warmer. So, an increase in the amounts of these gases means an increase in the temperature of the earth.
Voice 1
Burning fuels produce the gas carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas - that is, it traps heat in the earth's atmosphere and causes climate change. Experts believe that climate change will ruin our planet. So people must reduce the amounts of greenhouse gases they produce. The industrial nations are the worst producers of greenhouse gases, because they burn fuels for energy.
Voice 2
However, the Kyoto Box is designed for use in hot countries with lots of sunshine and not much electricity. In such counties many people burn wood to cook their food. This involves cutting down trees in local forests. Cutting down trees can damage environments that depend on all parts working well together - ecosystems¹¹. And cutting and gathering¹² wood brings a number of problems. Wanjiku is one woman who must gather wood to cook her food. She says,
Voice 3
"I wake up at six to go and cut wood, so that I can return home early. When I return home, I cook for the children with the wood I have collected."
Voice 1
But she describes the difficulties she often faces as she gathers the wood.
Voice 3
"Most times, a lot of women collect wood together, as the forest is dangerous. Sometimes you can run into thieves and they can kill you. Today, I did not have a single stick to cook with, so I had to go into the forest alone. But I did not go too far. I am used to it. But even when I do not carry wood, my back hurts."
Voice 2
Cutting and gathering wood is not the only problem. Burning the wood creates smoke. When people breathe the smoke in, it damages their lungs.
Voice 1
The Kyoto Box seems like it is too good to be true. It saves forests. It lowers the amount of harmful gases released into the environment. And it is easy to imagine how the Kyoto Box could improve the lives of many people - especially people who depend on gathering wood for cooking. They would not have to carry around heavy bundles of wood. People could save the time they would use to gather the wood. This could mean more children go to school. People could use the Kyoto Box to boil drinking water more easily. They would not need to worry about breathing in poisonous smoke.
Voice 2
However, some people have questioned the award of the prize to Mr. Bohmer. They point out that the Kyoto Box is very similar to a device that already exists. It was invented years ago. However, most people agree that the competition and the Kyoto Box have helped to make the idea more widely known. Mr. Bohmer would like to see the box as many people as possible use the Box.
Voice 4
"If a person can boil drinking water using the sun, from a very cheap cooker, then that's fine with me... If people can make it on a large scale, and everybody goes ahead to use it, can you imagine how many tonnes of firewood and forest acres that would save?"
"We are saving lives and we are saving trees."
 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 jointly   

ad.联合地，共同地

参考例句：

• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。
• She owns the house jointly with her husband. 她和丈夫共同拥有这所房子。

3 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 cardboard   

n.硬纸板，卡纸板

参考例句：

• She brought the shopping home in a cardboard box.她将买的东西放在纸箱里带回家。
• There is a sheet of stiff cardboard in the drawer.在那个抽屉里有块硬纸板。

6 insulate   

vt.使绝缘，使隔热，使隔音，隔离，使隔绝

参考例句：

• The function of a mammal's fur is to insulate the body.哺乳动物皮毛的功能在于使身体保温。
• The ceiling tiles help to insulate a room.那天花板瓦能使房间隔热。

7 aluminum   

n.(aluminium)铝

参考例句：

• The aluminum sheets cannot be too much thicker than 0.04 inches.铝板厚度不能超过0.04英寸。
• During the launch phase,it would ride in a protective aluminum shell.在发射阶段，它盛在一只保护的铝壳里。

8 foil   

n.箔，金属薄片，陪衬；vt.挫败，使受挫折

参考例句：

• Milk bottle tops are made of tin foil.牛奶瓶盖是用锡箔做的。
• An ugly woman serves as a foil to a pretty girl.一个丑女人可以将美丽的姑娘反衬得更加漂亮。

9 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

10 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

11 ecosystems   

n.生态系统( ecosystem的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are highly sensitive and delicately balanced ecosystems in the forest. 森林里有高度敏感、灵敏平衡的各种生态系统。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Madagascar's ecosystems range from rainforest to semi-desert. 马达加斯加生态系统类型多样，从雨林到半荒漠等不一而足。 来自辞典例句

12 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。