VOA常速英语2014--可负担得起廉价灯为贫困地区人们带去光明

 

Affordable¹ Light for People without Electricity 可负担得起廉价灯为贫困地区人们带去光明

WASHINGTON— 

This year's Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded to inventors of the light emitting diode, commonly known by the acronym² LED, now being used around the world. However, according to the International Energy Agency and the World Bank, more than a billion people in the world still do not have access to electricity. After sunset, most of them use light candles or oil lamps which, in addition to unsteady, flickering³ light, also give off toxic⁴ fumes⁵. A company in the Netherlands is trying to change that with its product based on LEDs.

When darkness falls, many kids in rural parts of Haiti, Rwanda, or refugee camps in Syria read or do their homework by candlelight or a kerosene-burning lamp. The open flames sometimes cause fires, while toxic fumes lead to respiratory problems.

当夜幕降临,在海地,卢旺达等偏远地区或叙利亚难民营的许多孩子需要依靠蜡烛或煤油燃灯读书，写作业。明火有时会引发火灾,而有毒气体会导致呼吸问题。

Portable electric light is safer, healthier and now, even cheaper.

然而便携式电灯就更安全，对人体更健康而且现在价格更为便宜。

瓦卡瓦卡.jpg

Camille van Gestel, head of a Dutch company called WakaWaka,he spoke⁶ to VOA by Skype. “This is the first time that artificial light or solar LED light is now less expensive than kerosene,”

荷兰这家名为瓦卡瓦卡公司的总裁卡米尔·范·格斯特尔通过Skype对美国之音说道。“这是人造光源或太阳能LED照明灯第一次现在比煤油便宜。”

LED is short for Light-Emitting Diode,a safe and efficient electronic light source that shines with bright white light.

LED是发光二极管的简称，它是一种散发明亮白光安全、高效的电子光源。

Van Gestel said WakaWaka, which means "Shine Bright" in Swahili, is the most efficient solar-powered light and phone charger in the world today. When fully⁷ charged, it shines for up to 16 hours.

范·格斯特尔表示在斯瓦希里语中瓦卡瓦卡的意思是“闪闪发光”,它是当今世界最为有效的太阳能光源和手机充电器。当充满电时,可以使用16小时之久。

It is affordable, sustainable, and its battery lasts for a long time. It can be set up on any flat surface, hung from a ceiling or perched atop a glass bottle.

瓦卡瓦卡灯造价低廉、可持续,而且电池续航时间长。它可以安装在任何平面上,甚至可以挂在天花板或放在一个玻璃瓶子上。

Van Gestel said it is intended for the poorest of the poor.

范·格斯特尔表示这款产品是为穷人们而准备。

“Our primary target is to reach people who live at the base of the pyramid, who live on less than two dollars a day.”

“我们的主要目标群体是生活在金字塔最底层的人们,他们每天的生活费连2美元都不到。

Van Gestel said his company operates like any other business, but some of the money made from selling its products is used to make WakaWaka lights affordable to poor people. He said the initiative is supported by international nongovernment organizations.

范·格斯特尔表示他的公司就像任何其他生意一样运作,但其产品所得收益全部用于使穷人负担得起瓦卡瓦卡灯。他表示这一首创精神得到了国际非政府组织的支持。

“The International Rescue Committee was one of the first to actually take the WakaWaka power into Syria, to provide light and power to Syrian refugees, and now…the WakaWaka is the most valued non-food item in Syria."

“国际救援委员会第一次真正将瓦卡瓦卡灯带进叙利亚,为难民提供光明和电力,而现在…瓦卡瓦卡是叙利亚最具价格竞争力的非食品物品。”

In the past 24 months, the company has distributed around 300,000 units in places such as Syria, Haiti, Rwanda, Indonesia and the Philippines. Its goal is to reach 1.2 billion people by 2030.

在过去的2年中,叙利亚,海地,卢旺达,印度尼西亚和菲律宾300000户已经用上了这款灯。而公司的目标是到2030年让12亿人都享受到它的光芒。

1 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• 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。

2 acronym   

n.首字母简略词，简称

参考例句：

• That's a mouthful of an acronym for a very simple technology.对于一项非常简单的技术来说，这是一个很绕口的缩写词。
• TSDF is an acronym for Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facilities.TSDF是处理，储存和处置设施的一个缩写。

3 flickering   

adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的

参考例句：

• The crisp autumn wind is flickering away. 清爽的秋风正在吹拂。
• The lights keep flickering. 灯光忽明忽暗。

4 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

5 fumes   

n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体

参考例句：

• The health of our children is being endangered by exhaust fumes. 我们孩子们的健康正受到排放出的废气的损害。
• Exhaust fumes are bad for your health. 废气对健康有害。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。