时间:2018-12-27 作者:英语课 分类:英语时差8,16


英语课

 Don: Time to go again to the A Moment of Science mailbag. Yaël: A listener writes: Dear A Moment of Science, Scientists know that one day we'll run out of oil and other natural sources of energy. Beyond solar power and wind power and ethanol, what are some other potential alternative energy sources? D: Excellent question. Of course, wind and solar power are valuable technologies, even though they're not close to the point of being able to replace fossil fuels as our main energy source. So scientists are always on the lookout 1 for other possibilities. Y: A plant scientist named Gary Strobel discovered a very interesting and unusual possibility: a South American fungus 2 that makes chemical compounds found in diesel 3 fuel. The fungus lives and feeds on cellulose, a material found in things like wheat, barley 4, straw, leaves---basically almost any plant material. The fungus breaks down cellulose, and then somehow converts it to the diesel-like chemical. D: It's not yet clear if the fungus can be cultivated on a large scale and used to produce actual fuel to power cars and planes and everything else that burns fuel. That will take more research into the fungus. But it's a promising 5 find. The world is full of a nearly unlimited 6 amount of renewable plant waste material like leaves and straw and other things the fungus needs to thrive. If the fungus does pan out as a way to make fuel, it could play an important role in helping 7 to solve the world's energy problems.



1 lookout
n.注意,前途,瞭望台
  • You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
  • It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来,公司的前景可就不妙了。
2 fungus
n.真菌,真菌类植物
  • Mushrooms are a type of fungus.蘑菇是一种真菌。
  • This fungus can just be detected by the unaided eye.这种真菌只用肉眼就能检查出。
3 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。
4 barley
n.大麦,大麦粒
  • They looked out across the fields of waving barley.他们朝田里望去,只见大麦随风摇摆。
  • He cropped several acres with barley.他种了几英亩大麦。
5 promising
adj.有希望的,有前途的
  • The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
  • We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。
6 unlimited
adj.无限的,不受控制的,无条件的
  • They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
  • There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。
7 helping
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
  • 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。
学英语单词
-mazia
2-methyl-tyrosine
a record run
acute myelinoclasis
aduncuss
armored rope
assiminum
bahia laura
ballet-dancing
belita
bill of clearace
birnham
Bösingen
calcination
cascade of turbine nozzle blade
castelo rodrigo
choose among
chrome leather sleeve
cinemagoing
coachwheels
coco-plum
concrete pavement vibrator
conebill
consortia banks
cryptocephalus trifasciatus
cuadernos
cumulo dome
cylinder piston
dreadfull
ecotechnological
elasticity measurement
electric pneumatic control system
electroparting
escapist
ether link
euryplastic
fenusa pusillas
fertilizer feed drive
fitified
Flora Reef
fragransol
gas mixture metal forming
Gross's disease
haight
homme d'affaires
hung by a thread
infiltration anesthesia
injection system
inlet boundary layer
instinct shooting
isocolloid
Jerantut
Kamome-jima
leasks
lepidotrigla kanagashira
Lobelia doniana
local circumstances
low-light sextant
lushed
mats
metastablity
methiotriazamine
Mieroszów
misbahs
nudgers
opaque medium
orpines
Ouvidor
partising
phytophthora cyperi-rotundati
pick and place robot
Pobedy Peak
POS keyboard
public morals
rallings
redundant scram
resource management game
revived fault
rolling ladder
rust test for engine oil
self-supervisor
sequential of voyage
social study
spakovsky
sphere pole
sporttester
spotted asparagus beetle
step-dad
syrphus issilii
tankships
the host cells divide rapidly
theriomorphisms
threadliker
tilt trailer
topsiders
tranquilest
undeliverability
unperturbed resonator
unsaponified
wavelength spectrometer
with the same breath
Xenicidae