Climate Change Poses Major Risks for Unprepared Cities

A new examination of urban policies has been     1     recently by Patricia Romero Lankao．She is a sociologist specializing in climate change and     2     development．She warns that many of the world’s fast-growing urban areas，especially in developing countries．will likely¹ suffer from the impacts of changing climate．Her work also concludes that most cities are failing to   3    emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse       4     ．These  gases are known to affect the atmosphere．”Climate change is a deeply local issue and poses profound threats to the growing cities of the world,” says Romero Lankao. ”But too few cities are developing effective strategies to       5      their residents."

Cities are       6      sources of greenhouse gases．And urban populations are likely to² be among those most severely affected by future climate change. Lankao’s findings³  highlight ways in which city-residents are particularly vulnerable, and suggest policy interventions that could offer immediate and longer-term       7      ．

The locations and dense construction patterns of cities often place their populations at greater risk for natural disasters. Potential      8     associated with climate include storm surges⁴ and prolonged hot weather. Storm surges can flood coastal areas and prolonged hot weather can heat     9    paved cities⁵ more than surrounding areas．The impacts of such natural events can be more serious in an urban environment．For example，a prolonged heat wave can increase existing levels of air pollution，causing  widespread health problems．Poorer neighborhoods that  may  10  basic facilities such as drinking water or a dependable network of roads，are especially vulnerable to natural disasters．Many residents in poorer countries live in substandard housing    11     access to reliable drinking water，roads and basic services. 

Local governments,     12    ,should take measures to protect their residents.”Unfortunately，they tend to move towards rhetoric     13    meaningful responses⁶,  Romero Lankao writes, ” They don’t impose construction standards that could reduce heating and air conditioning needs. They don"t emphasize mass transit and reduce      14      use. In fact, many local  governments  are taking  a hands—off  approach⁷.” Thus, she urges them to change their      15      policies and to take strong steps to prevent the harmful effects of climate change on cities.

词汇：

vulnerable / "vʌlnərəbl / adj ．易受伤害的

infrastructure / "infrə,strʌktʃə / n ．基础设施

sociologist /,səusi"ɔlədʒist /n．社会学家

substandard / ,sʌb"stændəd / adj．标准以下的

dioxide / dai"ɔksaid / ．二氧化物

floodplain /"flʌdplein / n ．泛滥平原

注释：

1. likely：很可能，或许。在本句中用作副词。

2. be likely to：很可能。likely 在本句中是形容词，用作表语。

3. findings：调查结果

4. storm surges：风暴潮

5. paved cities：铺上沥青路面的城市

6. spring up：涌现

7. rhetoric . . . responses：修辞反应。这个词的意思是：（地方政府）话讲得很漂亮，但内容空洞。

8. a hands-off approach：一种不插手的政策

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A:train B:automobile C:bus  D:bike

Better Solar Energy Systems: More Heat, More Light

Solar photovoltaic thermal energy systems¹, or PVTs, generate both heat and electricity, but

   1   now they² haven’t been very good at the heat-generating part compared to a stand-alone³ solar thermal collector. That’s because they operate at low temperatures to cool crystalline silicon solar cells⁴, which⁵ lets the silicon generate more   2   but isn’t a very efficient way to gather heat.

That’s a problem of   3   . Good solar hot-water systems can harvest much more energy than a solar-electric system at a substantially lower   4    . And it，s also a space problem：photovoltaic cells can take up all the space on the roof, leaving little room⁶ for thermal applications.

In a pair of studies, Joshua Pearce, an associate professor of materials science and engineering, has devised a    5    in the form of a better PVT made with a different kind of silicon. His research collaborators are Kunal Girotra from ThinSilicon in California and Michael Pathak and Stephen Harrison from Queen’s University, Canada."

Most solar panels⁷ are made with crystalline silicon，you can also make solar cells out ofbut amorphous silicon⁸,   6   known as thin-film silicon⁹. They don’t create as much electricity,but they are lighter, flexible, and cheaper. And, because they   7   much less silicon, they have a greener footprint. Unfortunately，thin-film silicon solar cells are   8   to some bad-news physics in the form of the Staebler-Wronski effect¹⁰.

“That means that their efficiency    9   when you expose them to light — pretty much¹¹ the worst possible effect¹² for a solar cell,” Pearce explains，which is one of the   10   thin-film solar panels make up only a small fraction of the market.

However, Pearce and his team found away to engineer around¹³ the Staebler-Wronski effect by incorporating thin-film silicon in a new   11   of PVT. You don’t have to cool down thin-film silicon to make it work. In fact，Pearce’s group discovered that by heating it to solar-thermal operating temperatures¹⁴，near the boiling   12   of water, they could make thicker cells that largely  13   the Staebler-Wronski effect. When they applied the thin-film silicon directly to a solar thermal energy

   14   , they also found that by baking the cell once a day，they   15   the solar cell’s electrical efficiency by over 10 percent.

词汇:

photovoltaic / ,fəʊtəʊvɒl"teɪɪk /n.光电的
silicon / "sɪlɪkən /n.硅
thermal / "θɜːməl /adj.热的，热量的
amorphous/ ə"mɔːfəs/ adj.非晶形的

crystalline / "krɪstə"laɪn /adj.晶体的

footprint/ "fʊtprɪnt/ n.足迹

注释：

1. solar photovoltaic thermal energy systems:太阳能光伏热能系统

2. they: 指代 solar photovoltaic thermal energy systems。

3. stand-alone:单机的

4. crystalline silicon solar cells:晶体硅太阳能电池

5. which:指前半句中的 to cool crystalline silicon solar cells 这件事

6. room:空间

7. solar panels:太阳能电池板

8. amorphous silicon：非晶硅

9. thin-film silicon:薄膜硅

10. Staebler-Wronski Effect: SWE 效应。在光的照射下，非晶桂氢的导电性短时间内显著衰退，这种特性被称为 SWE 效应。

11. pretty much:几乎

12. the worst possible effect：最可能坏的效应

13. engineer around:精心地设计以克服或绕过

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A:transformer B:adaptor C:transmitter D:collector

                                   A Lucky Break

1.  ... plays the part of a middleweight boxer alongside ... :……与……并肩，扮演一个中量级拳击手……
2.  ... was reminded of the time ... :......想起……的时候……

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A:further B:additional  C:different D:another

Look on The Bright Side

    Do you ever wish you were more optimistic, someone who always (1) ______to be successful? Having someone around who always (2) ______the worst isn"t really a lot of (3) ______.We all know someone who sees a single cloud on a sunny day and says, "It looks (4) ______rain."But if you catch yourself thinking such things¹, it"s important to do something (5) ______ it.

    You can change your view of life, (6) ______to psychologists. It only takes a little effort, and you"ll find life more rewarding as a (7) ______. Optimism, they say, is partly about self-respect and confidence, but it"s also a more positive way of looking at life and all it has to (8) ______. Optimists are more (9) ______to start new projects and are generally more prepared to take risks².

    Upbringing is obviously very important in forming your (10) ______ to the world. Some people are brought up to (11) ______too much on others and grow up forever blaming other people when anything (12) ______wrong. Most optimists, on the (13) ______hand, have been brought up not to (14) ______failure as the end of the world一they just (15) ______with their lives.

词汇：

optimistic /ˌɒptɪˈmɪstɪk / adj．乐观的，乐观主义的

psychologist /saɪˈkɒlədʒɪst / n．心理学家

rewarding /rɪˈwɔ:dɪŋ / adj．有益的，值得的，有报酬的

upbringing /ˈʌpˌbrɪŋɪŋ /n．教养，养育，抚育

obviously / ˈɒbviəsli / adv．明显地，显然地

blame / bleɪm /v．责备，归咎于

注释：

1.    …catch yourself thinking such things………发现自己在想这样的事情……

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A:regard B:respect C:suppose  D:think

The Old Gate

    In the Middle Ages the vast majority of European cities had walls around them. This was partly for defensive (1) ______but another factor was the need to keep out anyone regarded as undesirable, like people with contagious (2) ______.The Old City of London gates were all (3) ______by the end of the 18th century. The last of London"s gates was removed a century ago, but by a (4) ______of luck, it was never destroyed.

    This gate is, in(5)______fact, not called a gate at all; its name is Temple Bar, and it marked the (6) ______between the Old City of London and Westminster¹.In 1878 the Council of London took the Bar down, numbered the stones and put the gate in (7) ______because its design was (8)______it was expensive to (9) ______and it was blocking the traffic.

    The Temple Bar Trust was (10) ______in the 1970"s with the intention of returning the gate home. The aim of the Trust is the (11) ______of the nation"s architectural heritage.

Transporting the gate will mean physically pulling it (12) ______, stone by stone, removing and rebuilding it nearSt Paul"s Cathedral. Most of the facade of the gate will probably be (13) ______, though there is a good (14) ______that² the basic structure will be sound. The hardest (15)______of all, however, will be to recreate the statues of the monarchs that once stood on top of the gate.

词汇：

contagious /kənˈteɪdʒəs / adj．传染性的，会蔓延的

demolish /dɪ"mɒlɪʃ /vt．拆除，破坏

stroke/strəʊk / n．打击

preservation /ˈprɛzɚ"veʃən / n．保存，保留

boundary/ ˈbaʊndri / n．范围，分界线

cathedral /kəˈθi:drəl / n．保留，保存

注释：

1．mark the boundary between…and…：……在……和……两者之间划定界限

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A:capacity B:opportunity  C:possibility  D:chance

A Life with Birds