新西兰英语 765 Aluminium Smelter

 　　The aluminium¹ smelter at Tiwai Point near Invercargill opened in 1971. It had a contract to buy cheap electricity, generated² by hydro-electricity from Lake Manapouri which is not far away. Now in 2013, 13% of all electricity generated in New Zealand, goes to the Tiwai Point smelter. However, Rio Tinto, which is the majority owner of Tiwai Point, says that this price is still too expensive. The company wants a cheaper price for its electricity because of the high kiwi dollar and the drop in world prices for aluminium. If they don’t get a cheaper price, they might have to close. This company employs 700 staff and more than 2000 other people do contract work for the company or benefit from the company in some way. If the smelter closes, many people will be unemployed³ because there are not many other jobs in Invercargill. The company also puts about $3.65bn into the New Zealand economy. However, other countries now produce cheaper aluminium than New Zealand.

　　The Prime Minister, John Key, offered a short-term subsidy⁴ but Rio Tinto did not accept it. Maybe the reason for his offer was to keep jobs. Maybe it was because he was worried there would be too much electricity generation and the price of electricity to New Zealanders would drop. Shares in three electricity companies will go on sale very soon.

　　Listen to March 6th 2013 to hear more about selling electricity companies.

　　Vocabulary

　　?smelter – produce aluminium metal from bauxite⁵ by melting

　　?contract – an agreement to pay $X for Y

　　?generated – made

　　?majority – main. Rio Tinto owns more than 50% of the company.

　　?benefit – something good

　　?subsidy – financial help

　　Note: aluminium – British Eng (stress on 3rd syllable). Aluminum – Am English (stress on 2nd syllable)

1 aluminium   

n.铝 (=aluminum)

参考例句：

• Aluminium looks heavy but actually it is very light.铝看起来很重，实际上却很轻。
• If necessary, we can use aluminium instead of steel.如果必要，我们可用铝代钢。

2 generated   

a.生成的

参考例句：

• It is generated by some specified means. 这是由某些未加说明的方法产生的。
• It generated much excitement and frenetic activity. 这使人们非常激动并导致了狂热的行动。

3 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

4 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。

5 bauxite   

n.铝土矿

参考例句：

• Aluminum is made from bauxite.铝是从铝土矿中提炼出的。
• The United States was vulnerable to shortages of chrome,bauxite,and platinum.美国的弱点是缺少铬、矾土和铂。