Шесть студентов и студенток из разных стран мира – что у них общего? Все они приехали в американский университет по обмену на один семестр. Они будут изучать английский язык, культуру США, будут специализироваться в своей области. Эта серия Ежедневных диалогов посвящена жизни студентов в течение семестра в американском вузе. Диалоги рассчитаны на владеющих английским языком на среднем или более высоком уровне.
Ли показывает Акини и Питеру фотографии экскурсии. На снимках – ветряные турбины, преобразующие движение воздуха в электроэнергию. Студенты говорят о важности ветровой энергетики.
Akinyi: Where were these pictures taken, Lee?
Lee: Which ones? Oh, those pictures are from a trip to the U.S. Botanic Garden. One of my classes went there to see the wind turbines.
Peter: There are wind turbines at the botanical garden?
Lee: It surprised me too. They’re small ones. Unfortunately, they only offset a small portion of the facility’s energy use. But putting small turbines on the rooftops of buildings is an interesting idea that is gaining popularity.
Akinyi: Interesting. But do they generate enough power to offset the cost of building them?
Peter: I really like how you’re always thinking like a businessperson!
Lee: No one knows for sure yet. It’s a fairly new endeavor in the wind energy field. At least now more people are looking at renewable energy.
Akinyi: This seems like a great field for entrepreneurs to enter. But it seems like the upfront costs would be huge, and the payback would take a long time.
Lee: Yes, that’s why some people think it’s important to have government subsidies to encourage clean energy use. But remember, the payback to society in the long run is huge!
Слова и выражения.
A wind turbine is a rotating device that converts the movement of air into electricity. [Ветряная турбина.]
A botanical garden is a place where plants are grown for the public to view and sometimes for scientific study. [Ботанический сад.]
To offset means to cancel or reduce the effect of something or to create an equal balance between two things. [Восполнять, компенсировать, перекрывать.]
The verb generate means to produce something. [Генерировать.]
An endeavor is an effort or attempt to do something. [Предприятие, начинание.]
Renewable energy is energy that comes from things that will not run out. It is energy that is naturally replenished. “To replenish” means to replace what has been used. [Возобновляемая энергия.]
An entrepreneur is a person who starts a business and is willing to risk loss in order to make money. [Предприниматель.]
An upfront cost is money paid before receiving a good or service. In this context, the upfront cost of purchasing the turbine means the money paid for the turbine before receiving any energy produced by the turbine. [Начальные затраты.]
Payback is the money or reward one receives after investing in something. In this context, the payback of the turbine is low-cost and clean energy. [Выигрыш, польза.]
A subsidy (plural: subsidies) is money paid by the government or other organization to lower the cost of a product or service. [Субсидия.]
In the long run means eventually, or after a long period of time [Со временем, в итоге.]
Хотите совершенствоваться в английском языке? Наши материалы вам помогут.
Вебсайт American English предлагает разнообразные бесплатные ресурсы для учащихся и преподавателей английского языка. Учебные материалы также можно найти на ежедневно обновляемой странице American English Facebook.
Ежедневные диалоги разработаны старшим сотрудником отдела программ английского языка Хейди Холланд (Бюро по делам образования и культуры Государственного департамента США).
