英语听力—环球英语 609 Solar Energy in Rema

　　Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight¹. I'm Ryan Geertsma.
Voice 2
And I'm Robin² Basselin. 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
The sun goes down early in Rema. And the villagers needed light. But in this group of Ethiopian villages, there was no electricity. This lack of light and electricity affected³ the villagers of Rema in many ways.
Voice 2
The lack of light affected education. Many children had to walk for a few hours each day to get water for their families. Because of this, the children could not attend school during the day. They also could not study at night because there was no light in their homes.
Voice 1
The lack of light also affected work. The villages of Rema are very hot. The villagers find it difficult to work at their trades in the heat. But since there was no light at night, they did not have a choice. They had to work in the heat of the day.
Voice 2
Finally, this lack of light affected health. Many of the villagers used kerosene⁴ lamps at night. These devices provided light by burning a special substance. But the light created by the flames is not very strong. People who use this kind of light often suffer damage to their eyes. These lights also create a lot of smoke and ash. This ash stays in the air. It causes breathing problems for many villagers. Some villagers even suffer long term health problems because of it.
Voice 1
These lamps are also dangerous. It is possible for a person to turn them over accidently. This can quickly cause a large house fire. It can also cause burns or other serious injuries.
Voice 2
One common solution to the electricity problem is a diesel⁵ generator⁶. This machine supplies electricity to the houses and other buildings in a village. It is powered by diesel fuel. However, this fuel is very costly⁷. Often, villages cannot continue to pay for the fuel. Then they are not able to continue using electricity in their homes.
Voice 1
One non-government organization wanted to give a diesel generator to the village of Rema. But the villagers said no. They knew they would not be able to pay the high prices for diesel fuel. And they wanted to provide electricity and light for many years into the future.
Voice 2
So the villagers of Rema looked for other solutions. They discovered that another village was using light from the sun to create electricity. This solar energy solved many problems. In that village, the people from Rema learned about Stiftung Solarenergie, the Solar Energy Foundation.
Voice 1
The Solar Energy Foundation is a not for profit organization. The organization's goal is to bring continuing electricity and light to as many rural or country areas of Africa as possible. It believes that developing solar energy in Africa will have positive effects. They believe it will reduce poverty. And that it will improve health, education, and increase development.
Voice 2
The Solar Energy Foundation provided each home or small business with a solar-home-system, or SHS. Each system can power basic lighting⁸ and small electronics⁹ like a radio. The SHS contains four pieces of equipment. The most important piece of equipment is a flat box that is placed on the top of a building. This box contains the photovoltaic, or PV, cells which turn sunlight into electricity.
Voice 1
Each SHS also contains a solar box and four lamps. The solar box controls the whole system. It has a battery which stores the electricity gathered from the sunlight. It also holds all the wires and a controller that lets a Solar Energy Foundation worker turn off the system from another place. The lamps in the SHS are powered by electricity and can provide four hours of light each day.
Voice 2
The final piece of the SHS is a user manual. This book tells the villagers how to take care of their system. It also gives them a place to record their payments. Each family pays a small amount every month for the solar home systems. This fee is used to keep the systems in good working condition.
Voice 1
The use of solar energy has improved the lives of the villagers in Rema. Samson Tsegaye is the Ethiopian country representative for the Solar Energy Foundation. He explained some of the advantages the project has given the villages of Rema.
Voice 3
"The solar programme has helped develop the community in many ways. The local women's group has set up a popular night school. This school is for uneducated adults to improve their reading skills. School children can now study at night. One teacher claims her students' test results have improved by seventy-five percent. Fewer people are suffering from eye and breathing problems connected with kerosene smoke."
Voice 2
By using solar energy, the villagers were also able to build a pump that brings water into the center of the villages. Now the women and children do not have to spend many hours of their day getting water.
Voice 1
This development also brought more jobs to the villages. The Solar Energy Foundation set up a training school in Rema. At the school, students get training in technical and business skills. These are the people that care for and fix the solar-home-systems.
Voice 2
There are also fee collectors. There are nine of them in every village. Their job is to collect the monthly fee from all the villagers. Villagers can also tell the fee collectors if there is a problem with their system that needs fixing. All the fees are then given to a village committee. This team of people uses it to pay for any needed parts or fixing of the systems in the village.
Voice 1
The villages of Rema now have over 2000 Solar Home Systems. But the Solar Energy Foundation did not want these systems to end after the foundation stopped working in the area. So they gave the community the resources it needed to continue the project for many years. They trained technicians. And they designed a system for collecting money and caring for the solar energy systems.
Voice 2
By using solar energy, this project has improved education and the economy in Rema. Now the Solar Energy Foundation is thinking about the future. Dr. Harald Schützeichel is the Director of the Solar Energy Foundation. He described his hopes for the organization.
Voice 4
"We now have a special financing¹⁰ system that will let us establish a system of Solar Centres all over Ethiopia over the coming years. Our aim is to begin self-supporting solar businesses across Ethiopia - and to make ourselves unnecessary as a non-government organization."
 

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 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

3 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。

4 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。

5 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

6 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。

7 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

8 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

9 electronics   

n.电子器件，电子学，电子技术

参考例句：

• About 45000 people worked in electronics in Scotland.苏格兰约有4.5万人在电子行业工作。
• He wants to brush up his knowledge of electronics.他想温习他的电子学知识。

10 financing   

n.筹措资金

参考例句：

• The main source of our outside financing is bank loan. 我们向外筹措资金的主要渠道是银行贷款。
• They live in a symbiosis with governments that they are financing. 他们与他们服务的政府互利共存。