时间:2018-12-08 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2018年(一月)


英语课

Lack of inexpensive, reliable energy delivery is one of the chief obstacles to growth and development in sub-Saharan Africa. Nearly seventy percent of people living in the region lack access to electricity, forcing them to spend significant amounts of their income on costly 1 and unhealthy forms of energy such as diesel 2 fuel to run generators 3 and kerosene 4 for lanterns.


But if there is one thing Africa is not lacking, it is sunshine. And that means a lot; indeed, for some of the world's poorest people, it makes all the difference in the world.


A little more than a year ago, Power Africa-- a U.S. Government initiative coordinated 5 by the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID--and Power Africa's partners, the United Kingdom Department for International Development, Shell Foundation, and the African Development Bank, launched the Scaling Off-Grid Energy Grand Challenge for Development, with a focus on pay-as-you-go solar home systems. The Challenge's goal is to provide 20 million off-grid households in sub-Saharan Africa with clean, affordable 6 electricity by 2030. So far, the Challenge has made 40-plus investments in early-stage, off-grid energy companies, which are expected to result in some 4.8 million new electrical connections.


One reason for the success of the start-up companies that have won grants from the Challenge is the fact that the cost of solar technology is falling fast, so it is within the means of those who live away from traditional power grids 7. And thanks to the new system of mobile money and pay-as-you-go financing, they can purchase the solar power-generating equipment they need and pay for it in daily installments 8 from their telephones, for as little as 15 cents a day.


Thanks to these technological 9 and financial innovations, many people are getting electricity for the first time, every day. In these newly-electrified communities, businesses can flourish, clinics can safely store vaccines 10, and students may study long after dark. Indeed, access to clean and reliable electricity can enable entire communities to escape the cycle of extreme poverty.


The Scaling Off-Grid Energy Grand Challenge for Development partnership 11, solar technology, and companies that bring light and electricity to off-the-grid homes and businesses, are revolutionizing daily life for millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa.



1 costly
adj.昂贵的,价值高的,豪华的
  • 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。
2 diesel
n.柴油发动机,内燃机
  • 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。
3 generators
n.发电机,发生器( generator的名词复数 );电力公司
  • 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》
4 kerosene
n.(kerosine)煤油,火油
  • 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 coordinated
adj.协调的
  • The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
  • The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
6 affordable
adj.支付得起的,不太昂贵的
  • The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
  • There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。
7 grids
n.格子( grid的名词复数 );地图上的坐标方格;(输电线路、天然气管道等的)系统网络;(汽车比赛)赛车起跑线
  • Typical framed structures are beams, grids, plane and space frames or trusses. 典型构架结构为梁、格栅、平面的和空间的框架或桁架。 来自辞典例句
  • The machines deliver trimmed grids for use or stock. 这种机器铸出修整过的板栅,以供使用或储存。 来自辞典例句
8 installments
部分( installment的名词复数 )
  • The first two installments were pretty close together in 1980. 第一次和节二次提款隔得很近,都是在1980年提的。
  • You have an installments sales contract. 你已经订立了一份分期付款的买卖契约了。
9 technological
adj.技术的;工艺的
  • A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
  • Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今, 随着科技进步,生活节奏不断增快。
10 vaccines
疫苗,痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )
  • His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
  • The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。
11 partnership
n.合作关系,伙伴关系
  • The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
  • Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。
学英语单词
actinomycess
address-match
air force base (afb)
al segno
as never before
aura vertiginosa
auto-away
ayla
back-channelled
bad debt writeoff
baisa
bayadere (java)
bayliner
besotting
bessemer processes
bias-rail box girder
blanking gate photocell
body fascism
carbostyrilic acid
celluar biochemistry
Chapalagana
chronometabolic
color-removing preparation
conundrums
coordination effect
deadends
detail estimate sheet
digital cushion
direct impulse
discolorates
equilateral triangle point
felsite porphyry
flex fatigue life
flyshot loom
from this perspective
garbage in garbage out
generally acknowledged
germanium difluoride
gramed
hacking-out knife
homeostat(danielli 1956)
inclusion fracture
inflammatory blepharoedema
integrationist
intercurring
Johnson solids
kroeger
lay preacher
lega
litu
lukins
made a choice among
malek
mispelling
new water tube boilers
niravoline
noncombatants
noon constant
noradrenergic system
notary publics
numbering-marking hammer
observing glass
off-days
oleoearthrosis
ophuls
optical hologram
Padcaya
Paederia pertomentosa
phtyagorean scale
pictoral
presided
ravine(gully)
refresh address
regulatory component
rooibos
sampling pulse width
sarcoclorin
scholarism
scientific economics
Seribudolok
silver diethyldithiocarb nate
simulated diving
software reliability model
solar cell classification
specified dimension
splitting parameter
srbija (serbia)
static strain
sweet williams
the same is true
thed
timescale
toit
transmission gear ratio
true self
tsunami
tychism
vacuum-metallizing
variable-diameter number of hole
visible-ir radiometer
wayne gretzkies
Xylonest