剑桥雅思9Test3阅读Passage2原文翻译Tidal Power

剑桥雅思9 Test3 Passage2阅读原文翻译

引言

Undersea turbines which produce electricity from the tides are set to become an important source of renewable energy for Britain.It is still too early to predict the extent of the impact they may have,but all the signs are that they will play a significant role in the future

利用潮汐发电的水下涡轮机将注定成为英国可再生能源的重要来源。预测其具体的影响程度还为时过早，但所有迹象都表明它们将在未来发挥重要作用。

自然段A

Operating on the same principle as wind turbines,the power in sea turbines comes from tidal currents which turn blades similar to ships propellers,but,unlike wind,the tides are predictable and the power input is constant.The technology raises the prospect of Britain becoming self-sufficient in renewable energy and drastically reducing its carbon dioxide emissions.If tide,wind and wave-power are all developed,Britain would be able to close gas,coal and nuclear plants and export renewable power to other parts of Europe.Unlike wind power which Britain originally developed and then abandoned for 20 years allowing the Dutch to make it a major industry,undersea turbines could become a big export earner to island nations such as Japan and New Zealand.

与风力涡轮机的工作原理相同，海洋涡轮机的动力来自潮汐。它使得像船舶螺旋桨一样的叶片转动。但与风不同，潮汐是可预测的，并且动力输入是恒定的。该技术提高了英国可再生能源自给自足，并大幅度减少其二氧化碳排放的前景。如果潮汐，风能和波浪能都发展良好，英国将能够关闭天然气，燃煤和核电站，并向欧洲其他地区出口可再生能源。与英国最初开发，然后废弃20年，使得荷兰将其作为主要产业的风力发电不同，海底涡轮机可以成为日本和新西兰等岛国的主要出口收入来源。

自然段B

Tidal sites have already been identified that will produce one sixth or more of the UK’s power—and at prices competitive with modern gas turbines and undercutting those of the already ailing nuclear industry.One site alone,the Pentland Firth,between Orkney and mainland Scotland,could produce 10%of the country’s electricity with banks of turbines under the sea,and another at Alderney in the Channel Islands three times the 1,2000 megawatts of Britain’s largest and newest nuclear plant,Sizewell B,in Suffolk.Other sites identified include the Bristol Channel and the west coast of Scotland,particularly the channel between Campbelltown and Northern Ireland.

已经确定潮汐发电站将产生英国六分之一或更多的电力。其价格与现代燃气涡轮机相比具有竞争力，并削弱本已陷入困境的核能发电的竞争力。位于奥克尼和苏格兰大陆之间的彭特兰峡湾(Pentland Firth)一个地方，就可以利用海底涡轮机产生全国10%的电力。而位于海峡群岛奥尔德尼岛的另一个发电站所产生的电量是英国最 大、最 新的位于萨福克的Sizewell B核电厂发电量(12000兆瓦)的三倍。其他已经确定的位置包括布里斯托尔海峡和苏格兰的西海岸，尤其坎特伯雷和北爱尔兰之间的海峡。

自然段C

Work on designs for the new turbine blades and sites are well advanced at the University of Southampton’s sustainable energy research group.The first station is expected to be installed off Lynmouth in Devon shortly to test the technology in a venture jointly funded by the Department of Trade and Industry and the European Union.AbuBakn Bahaj,in charge of the Southampton research,said:‘The prospects for energy from tidal currents are far better than from wind because the flows of water are predictable and constant.The technology for dealing with the hostile saline environment under the sea has been developed in the North Sea oil industry and much is already known about turbine blade design,because of wind power and ship propellers.There are a few technical difficulties,but I believe in the next five to ten years we will be installing commercial marine turbine farm.Southampton has been rewarded£215,000 over three years to develop the turbines and is working with Marine Current Turbines,a subsidiary of IT power,on the Lynmouth project.EU research has now identified 106 potential sites for tidal power,80%round the coasts of Britain.The best sites are between islands or around heavily indented coasts where there are strong tidal currents.

南安普敦大学可持续能源研究小组的新型涡轮叶片和站点设计工作已经取得了很大进展。第 一站预计将很快在德文郡林茅斯附近安装，以便在由贸易和工业部与欧盟共同投资的合资企业中测试该技术。负责南安普敦研究的阿布巴肯·巴哈伊(AbuBakn Bahaj)表示：“潮汐产生的能源前景远胜于风能，因为水流是可预测的且恒定的。在北海石油工业中已经开发出用于应对海底不利环境的技术，并且由于风力和船舶螺旋桨，涡轮叶片设计已广为人知。技术上有一些困难，但是我相信在未来的五到十年中，我们将安装可用于商业化的海底涡轮发电厂。南安普敦在过去三年中获得了215,000英镑的资助，用于开发涡轮机，并正与IT电力子公司Marine Current Turbines合作进行Lynmouth项目。欧盟的研究现已确定了106个潜在的潮汐发电点，其中80%位于英国沿海。最好的地点是在岛屿之间或在有强烈潮汐的深凹海岸附近。

自然段D

A marine turbine blade needs to be only one third of the size of a wind generator to produce three times as much power.The blades will be about 20 meters in diameter,so around 30 meters of water is required.Unlike wind power,there are unlikely to be environmental objections.Fish and other creatures are thought unlikely to be at risk from the relatively slow-turning blades.Each turbine will be mounted on a tower which will connect to the national power supply grid via underwater cables.The towers will stick out of the water and be lit,to warn shipping,and also be designed to be lifted out of the water for maintenance and to clean seaweed from the blades.

海洋涡轮叶片仅需是风力发电机尺寸的三分之一即可产生三倍的功率。叶片直径约为20米，因此需要约30米深的水。与风力发电不同，它不太可能有环境方面的反对意见。人们认为鱼和其他生物不太可能受到旋转相对较慢的叶片的威胁。每个涡轮机将安装在塔架上，该塔架通过水下电缆连接到国家电网。这些塔尖将伸出水面并发出光亮，以警告船只。它们还应被设计成可以从水中抬起以进行维护并清洁叶片上的海藻。

自然段E

Dr Bahaj has done most work on the Alderney site,where there are powerful currents.The single undersea turbine farm would produce far more power than needed for the Channel Islands and most would be fed into the French Grid and be re-imported into Britain via the cable under the Channel.

巴哈伊博士已经完成了奥尔德尼站点的大部分工作，那里有强大的洋流。单个海底涡轮发电场产生的电力将远远超过海峡群岛的需求。大多数将被输送到法国电网，并通过海峡下方的电缆重新输入英国。

自然段F

One technical difficulty is cavitation,where low pressure behind a turning blade causes air bubbles.These can cause vibration and damage the blades of the turbines.Dr Bahaj said:‘We have to test a number of blade types to avoid this happening or at least make sure it does not damage the turbines or reduce performance.Another slight concern is submerged debris floating into the blades.So far we do not know how much of a problem it might be.We will have to make the turbines robust because the sea is a hostile environment,but all the signs that we can do it are good.

一项技术难题是气蚀，即叶片旋转所产生的低压将制造气泡。它们会引起振动并损伤涡轮机的叶片。巴哈伊博士说：“我们必须测试多种叶片类型，以避免这种情况的发生，或者至少确保它不会损坏涡轮机或降低其性能。另一个细微的问题是漂浮的水下碎片会撞向叶片。到目前为止，我们还不知道这一问题的麻烦程度。由于海洋不利的环境，我们将必须使涡轮机十分坚固才行，但我们能做到的所有迹象都是好的。