节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2014-03-22
难易度:High
关键字:tile, transparent, generate, tint, PV [photovoltaic], patent-pending
Hello, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
And I'm Carolyn.
Today we are continuing our lesson on Solar-powered Buildings of the Future.
Yesterday we learned a lot of interesting information on solar power and how it
is becoming more available and affordable to the average homeowner.
Today we are going to learn about some of the ways companies are marketing their
solar panels to make them more appealing and more useful to people.
So open up your magazine, and let's begin with the first reading of the day.
Solar-powered Buildings of the Future.
Stylish solar panels.
SolTech, a Swedish tech company, offers a solar-power solution that is much more
pleasing to the eye than traditional solar panels.
Instead of flat panels, SolTech offers a glass tile solution that blends in well
with existing tiled roof designs.
The transparent tiles have a silver-gray tint to them, and their shape fits
traditional tiled roof designs.
SolTech currently offers three solar systems that heat the home's air or water
and one solar PV system that produces electricity.
(Chinese).
Thank you, Michelle.
It's always fascinating to learn about the advances people are making with
technology.
And in this section we learn about stylish solar panels.
How are companies making them more stylish, Gabe?
Well, one Swedish company is making solar panels that are more pleasing to the
eye.
So in our lesson, SolTech is making solar panels that are more pleasing to the
eye.
When I think of solar panels, I think of very large, bulky, flat, shiny blue
panels that take up a lot of space.
And that's what traditional solar panels look like, but not the ones that
SolTech makes.
Instead of being large, flat panels, these solar panels look like rounded
roofing tiles and blend in with the existing roof.
That sounds like a really great design.
And before we continue talking about it, let's look at the phrase: blend in.
What does it mean if something blends in, Gabe?
That means that something looks like it belongs in a certain place.
It is similar in appearance to the things that are around it, so it seems like
it is part of its surroundings.
Right. So you could use this phrase by saying:
The new apartment building blends in well with the surrounding buildings.
Even though it's new, it still has the same style as the older buildings in the
area.
Now if you wanted to say that the new apartment building was very different,
that it doesn't blend in, you could say that it stands out.
Stand out is the opposite of blend in.
So if something stands out, that means it is obviously different from the things
around it.
For example, putting solar panels on your roof can make your house really stand
out.
It will look completely different from the other houses next to it.
Or his desire to learn things that aren't on the test makes him stand out from
his classmates.
He wants to learn more than what he needs to know for the test.
That would certainly make him stand out.
It's great to have that extra desire to learn more.
Now if you don't want your house to stand out because of the large solar panels,
but you're still interested in using solar energy in your home, you might want
to consider SolTech's solar panels.
That's right.
They do blend in much better than traditional solar panels.
I actually think that they look really pretty.
SolTech installs solar panels on the roof and then covers them with a special
glass tile.
And this tile is the same shape as the roofing tiles used in Nordic countries
but is made of transparent glass instead of concrete.
These tiles lock together to create an extra layer of protection over the solar
panels.
And when the sun shines on these panels, it looks like shiny water or ice on the
roof, not your typical ugly solar panel.
Instead, it looks like the roof is flowing.
It's really quite beautiful.
So if you have a chance, look up some more pictures of the SolTech glass solar
panel.
They offer several different options depending on the type of electricity that
you want to generate.
Yesterday we talked a little bit about the two different types of solar systems:
solar PV and solar thermal.
It seems that the most popular SolTech system is solar thermal.
This means that the panels collect energy from the sun to heat your home's water
or air.
So you can save a lot of money on the gas or electricity that would be used to
heat those everyday things in your home.
But you could also get a solar PV system, which would actually allow you to
produce your own electricity.
However, solar PV systems require direct sunlight, so the location of your home
and the weather play a big role in how useful it is.
Solar thermal systems, on the other hand, can still operate when the weather is
cloudy.
Well, SolTech has certainly come up with an interesting and appealing design for
solar panels.
They have. And Liz wants to tell us more about the phrase: pleasing to the eye.
Let's join her now.
Welcome to the Grammar Gym, friends.
My name is Liz.
And I'm so glad you can join me here today.
Here's our Grammar Tip sentence.
SolTech, a Swedish tech company, offers a solar-power solution that is much more
pleasing to the eye than traditional solar panels.
Our focus today is on the phrase: pleasing to the eye.
It's a creative way of saying appearing more attractive.
So the writer is saying that the Swedish tech company is offering a solar-power
solution that appears more attractive than traditional solar panels.
What can we use "pleasing to the eye" to describe?
Well, we can use it to talk about beautiful things like:
Jerry found the red sports car to be absolutely pleasing to the eye.
We can also use "pleasing to eye" to talk about food items like:
When you're really hungry, things that you don't like may suddenly seem pleasing
to the eye.
So what do you find attractive?
What looks good to you?
Practice describing them and give this phrase a try.
And if you want to see some more example sentences, they're available in today's
Grammar Tip section in your magazine.
That's it for today.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.
Thank you, Liz.
Now Michelle hasn't introduced the words for this next section and we haven't
had the reading yet,
but it is such an interesting idea that we want to go ahead and talk about it:
turning windows into solar panels.
This doesn't sound like it's possible, Gabe.
Well, Carolyn, this idea is the first of its kind, and you can see that in the
next part of the reading for this lesson.
So if something is the first of its kind, that means that there has never been
anything like it before.
For example, Hewlett Packard was the first of its kind when it was founded in
1939.
David Packard and Bill Hewlett built the HP200A audio oscillator, which acted as
the foundation for the rest of the company's technological progress.
And many other companies were founded as well.
There are a countless number of technology companies now.
Well, solar window technology is definitely the first of its kind.
It sure is.
It can turn normal see-through windows into energy-generating windows.
And let's look at that term: see-through.
What does it mean if something is see-through, Gabe?
Well, it's very simple.
It means that you can see through it.
Most windows are see-through because they allow you to look outside.
This is true, though not all windows can be seen through from both sides.
You might only be able to see through a window from the inside to the outside.
If you are outside the window and try to look in, you might not be able to see
through.
Right. Now we've just used this word in two different ways: as an adjective and
as a verb.
If you use it as an adjective, there should be a hyphen between the see and
through, see-through.
But if you use it as a verb, they should be two separate words - see, space,
through.
Right. And if you have a see-through window and cover it in a special coating,
your window could start generating electricity.
And that is really amazing.
Now let's talk about that word: coating.
You're probably familiar with the noun: coat.
A coat is a warm piece of clothing you wear on the outside of the rest of your
clothes.
So a coating is a layer of something that is on the outside.
Many things have a protective coating on them.
For example, wooden furniture will have a protective coating placed on it to
help prevent scratches and other damage.
Wooden houses usually have a coating or several coats of paint on the outside.
Many types of candy also have coating on them.
For example, M&M's have a hard candy coating on the outside of the chocolate.
You can also use this word as a verb.
Right.
You can say that the strawberries were coated in chocolate.
That sounds delicious.
Or the buildings of that... or the windows of that building are coated in an
electricity-generating coating.
Great. That sounds amazing, too.
And not only can this new SolarWindow technology generate electricity by
spraying windows with the special coating,
it also generates electricity in low light or using artificial light.
And we have more to learn right afterthis.