节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2014-03-21
难易度:High
关键字:convert, bulky, option, installation, stylish
Hello, everyone.
My name is Gabe.
And I'm Carolyn.
Welcome to Studio Classroom.
Thank you for joining us today.
We're starting our TECHNOLOGY article on Solar-powered Buildings of the Future.
This sounds like a great lesson.
Yes.
As we become more and more concerned about how to supply power to all of our
electronics, solar power could provide that necessary power.
So with that in mind, let's open up our magazines and begin with the first
reading for the day.
(Music).
Solar-powered Buildings of the Future.
Tech companies and retailers offer new choices to average homeowners.
For decades, a small percentage of homeowners have been installing solar panels
on their rooftops.
Those panels collect some of the sun's energy and either convert it into
electricity or use it to heat water.
Until recently, the panels were too expensive for average homeowners, and their
designs were anything but appealing.
Thanks to new advances, however, solar panels for homes are becoming cheaper and
less bulky, causing more homeowners to consider installing them.
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
Thank you, Michelle.
So today we are going to learn about solar panels.
Yes, we are.
Not only that, but we are going to learn about making solar panels a part of
your house.
Which is why our lesson is titled Solar-powered Buildings of the Future.
I think we should talk about our title as well.
They have something of the future.
What does that mean, Carolyn?
Well, many times we see this phrase used to describe things from science
fiction.
If something is of the future, that means that it doesn't exist yet but you
believe that it could become a reality one day.
For example, you might have seen cars of the future in science-fiction movies -
cars that could drive themselves.
Well, those cars of the future are becoming a reality.
Google and Volvo are both working on self-driving car projects.
Another example would be the office of the future - an office with no paper.
Offices aren't filled with files and files of paper.
And while we use a lot less paper - thanks to computers - the office of the
future doesn't exist quite yet.
Hmm. Well, what are some other things that could be of the future?
Try to come up with your own examples and talk about them in English.
And we are talking about solar-powered buildings of the future.
Now this solar power option isn't just for the rich.
Companies are starting to offer options that average homeowners can afford.
Right. And let's look at that term: average homeowner.
If someone is a homeowner, that means that they own a house or a home.
One thing that many people in the U.S. desire is to buy their own house.
So if you are an average homeowner, that means that you are a normal or typical
homeowner.
You have a regular job, so you don't earn a lot of money.
But you also aren't poor; you're average.
And new technology like solar panels can be too expensive for most people to
afford.
But now, companies and retailers are offering more affordable options to people.
That's great.
Now there are two different types of solar panels available.
One type converts the sun's energy into electricity and can power your home.
Those are called PV panels.
Ah. If you install PV panels, then you can produce your own electricity.
That means that you won't have a high electric bill each month.
In fact, if your home is in the right location and gets a lot of sunlight, you
could even produce enough electricity to sell back to the main power supplier.
Wow! So you could actually make money if the weather conditions at your house
are right.
So those are PV panels.
But those aren't the only type of solar panels available.
You're right.
The other type of solar panel is called a solar thermal collector.
This uses the sun's energy to heat the water in your home.
Let's look at the word "thermal." What does that mean, Carolyn?
Well, thermal is something that is related to heat.
In the winter, many people keep their drinks hot by putting them in a thermos.
This is the name of a company that makes bottles to keep drinks hot.
But the name is now used to refer to any type of bottle that keeps liquids warm.
So if you have a thermal bottle, you can call it a thermos.
There are many other thermal things that people use in winter.
If it is cold outside, people can wear a thermal shirt underneath their clothes
to help keep them warm.
So if you have a solar thermal collector, that means that you are collecting
energy from the sun and turning it into heat or using it to heat something.
And the most common use of this is to heat the water in a home, office building
or a swimming pool.
It reduces the cost of what you would have to spend on electricity or gas to
heat the water.
Many people like to use a combination of these two panels to make their homes
more energy-efficient.
Because of the different ways the panels convert the sun's light into either
heat or electricity, it is difficult to combine the technology into one single
panel.
Fortunately, though, the designs of solar panels have become much more appealing
over the years.
Before, they were anything but appealing.
Right. And Liz wants to share something with us about that sentence in the
Grammar Gym.
Let's join her now.
Hi there, friends.
I hope you're all doing well today.
Thanks for joining me here at the Grammar Gym.
My name is Liz.
In today's lesson we see this sentence:
... their designs where anything but appealing.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence.
Notice the phrase: anything but.
It means not at all or definitely not.
So in today's sentence, the writer is saying their designs were not appealing.
Use "anything but" when you want to emphasize how something is certainly not a
certain way.
For example: Going to that show was a complete waste of my time; the performance
was anything but entertaining.
Or: Don't go to that restaurant; it claims to serve five-star meals but the food
is anything but good.
So friends, practice this phrase with a friend.
You can use this phrase to talk about something disappointing or unpleasant.
And if you need to see some more example sentences, you can check out today's
Grammar Tip section in your Studio Classroom magazine.
That's it for today.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.
Thank you, Liz.
Well, solar panels are anything but boring, so let's continue learning.
Right you are, Gabe.
And in the next sentence we see a great phrase: thanks to new advances, thanks
to something.
We use this phrase when we want to show that something is responsible for a
change.
And this could be either used positively or negatively.
For example, thanks to this new law, more people will be able to afford to buy
houses.
So this is a good or positive thing.
A negative example would be thanks to his poor behavior, everyone in the class
received extra homework.
So everyone was punished due to the bad behavior of one student.
But we still say "thanks to" not because we are thankful for it but because we
are showing why something is the way it is or why something happened.
Well, thanks to advances in technology, more people are considering buying solar
panels.
And we will continue learning about that right afterthis.