VOA标准英语2013--美国帮助巴基斯坦发展电力

美国帮助巴基斯坦发展电力

The U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, has provided Pakistan valuable assistance in generating critically needed electricity. To highlight these assistance projects, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry recently visited an electricity substation in Pakistan, where electricity shortages have caused rolling blackouts of up to 20 hours a day in some parts of the country.

The United States has agreed to provide over $7 billion in aid of which $3.5 billion has already been delivered to Pakistan. The funds have gone to projects such as the Zero Point Power Plant that Secretary Kerry visited. Such projects have added 1,000 megawatts of power to the national grid¹ of Pakistan. That's enough to benefit and uplift the lives of 16 million Pakistanis. An additional 200 megawatts is expected to be added by 2014.

One of the greatest restraints on growth, said Mr. Kerry, is the lack of energy. If a company is going to run an effective manufacturing operation, it needs to have energy. If a school is going to open, it needs to have energy.

Clearly, the amount of power produced will have to increase substantially, said Mr. Kerry, "and a lasting² solution is actually going to require changing the current subsidies³ that exist and finding a way to improve the efficiency of power generation and to be able to make certain that we have a system that works, where bills are collected, and the system actually pays for itself. That's how you get a modern and effective and efficient system, and it'll improve the economy of Pakistan in doing it."

The Islamabad Electric Supply Company, said Mr. Kerry, is now helping⁴ to guarantee that the power that is generated from infrastructure⁵ projects is actually going to reach people reliably and efficiently⁶. Smart meters allow authorities to be able to guarantee that they understand what the demand level is, they understand what's being provided, they also understand better where it's going in the transmission line, and whether it's being lost or even stolen in the course of transmission.

The United States is eager to continue to work with its friends at the Electric Supply Company and in the energy sector⁷ throughout Pakistan to rapidly increase the power available to the Pakistani people and economy. 

1 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

2 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

3 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• 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。

5 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

6 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

7 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。