2018年可锐考研英语阅读经典文章内容讲解.docx

2018年可锐考研英语阅读经典文章内容讲解（四）Electric power　　电力　　Slow burners.　　天燃气发电业逐渐升温。　　Cheap gas will boost makers of giant turbines.　　廉价天然气将促进大型涡轮机生产厂家的发展。　　THE boom in shale-gas production in America,using fracking technology, is becoming a bust forsome big drilling firms. On August 3rd BHP Billitonannounced a near-$3 billion write-down on some of its American gasfields because soaringproduction has made prices crash. Three days later Chesapeake Energy revealed a slump inquarterly profits because of the glut. However, if gas is cheap and abundant, more of it willbe used to generate electricity. This should help the handful of global firms that make themassive turbines used in gas-fired power stations.　　由于 水力压裂 技术的使用，美国的页岩气开采迅速发展，但这却使一些大型钻井公司破产。 8月3日，必和必拓公司宣布美国部分气田预估值将减少近30亿美元，这是由于页岩气开采量的猛增导致了天然气价格的暴跌。三天后，切萨皮克能源公司透露，由于页岩气供大于求，最新一季度利润大幅下跌。但是，如果天然气供应充足，价格低廉，那将有更多的天然气用于发电。那么为数不多的几家生产大型燃气发电涡轮机的国际公司将由此获益。　　Even before their fuel became so plentiful, gas-fired stations had hefty advantages. Theyare quick and cheap to build-perhaps a third of the cost of coal-fired stations, and less than aquarter of the cost of nuclear ones. Gas-fired stations emit much less carbon dioxide, per unitof electricity, than coal, which also gives off all sorts of other nasties when burned, fromsulphur dioxide to mercury.　　即使在这之前，天然气供应不是很充足的情况下，燃气发电厂也有巨大优势：修建速度快，且造价便宜——成本大概是燃煤电厂的三分之一，不足核电站的四分之一。生产同一单位的电，燃气发电厂排放的二氧化碳比燃煤发电厂排放的少。除此之外，煤在燃烧时也会产生各种有害气体，包括二氧化硫和汞。　　Strict new air-pollution laws, approved in America last year, will accelerate the retirementof old coal-fired stations. Analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein, a bank, reckon that 66 gigawattsof coal-fired generation-around 6.5% of America s capacity-will shut by 2015. Gas willreplace much of the coal. Other countries with huge shale-gas reserves, such as China andAustralia, have barely begun to exploit them. When they do, some of the new supplies willbe used to generate electricity.　　去年，美国通过了严格的新空气污染法规，这将加速淘汰老式燃煤电厂。美国Sanford C. Bernstein银行的分析人员估计，发电能力为66千兆瓦的燃煤