Nature and environment
摘自： 《经济学人》
【导读】
市场对能源的长期选择趋向清洁再生能源，越来越多的公司加入清洁电力争夺战，正所谓是”一电难求”。美国很多企业合力将非营利组织”可再生能源买家联盟（REBA）”转变为一个成熟的游说组织，旨在进一步推动清洁电力采购这一大业的发展。
1. America’s president has little interest in fighting climate change. Not so its companies. Last year businesses consumed more than 8.5 gigawatts of clean energy in America, nearly triple the level of 2017, according to Bloomberg NEF, an energy research firm. Although more than 150 big corporations around the world have set targets to buy all their power from renewable sources, America accounts for 63% of corporate purchases of clean gigawatts. On March 28th green-minded companies there transformed the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA), a non-profit organization, into a fully efficient lobby group to further the cause.
2.REBA now wants corporate purchases of green electricity to increase dramatically. In a sign of how broad the clean-power movement has become, its members include big names in technology (Google), car making (General Motors), banking (Citigroup), media (Disney) and more. But REBA’s creation also hints that, as firms race to go green, they are running into a number of problems. In the process of collectively solving them, they could reshape power markets.
3.For companies, clean power often looks like a no-brainer. The costs of electricity from wind and solar farms have been reduced by about 70% and 90%, respectively, since 2009. Going green lets companies burnish their environmental credit with investors, workers and customers.
4.The reality is more complex. The simplest way for a company to source clean electricity is to blanket its property with solar panels. Walmart has been doing this since 2007, harvesting the sun’s rays from the vast roofs of its stores. Such schemes generate only so much energy, however. Google’s electricity demand, chiefly from its giant electricity-consuming data centres, is nearly that of Estonia. Companies must therefore buy their renewable power from third parties.
5.Electricity is different, particularly in places with a regulated, monopolistic supplier—which is true of many American states. Two-thirds of corporate purchases of renewable electricity in America are therefore virtual, in what amounts to a swap. A company buys energy for its operations as usual from a local utility. It also signs a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) for electricity with a renewables provider in a deregulated market, which could be in another state, typically paying a fixed rate. The company then resells this clean electricity, at variable wholesale prices, into that faraway grid, thereby helping to offset its overall carbon footprint.
6.You would expect decreasing prices for renewables to benefit those who buy it. In a VPPA, they could lose. That is because, in a market flooded with cheap renewables, wholesale prices at which a company resells clean kilowatt-hours could drop below the fixed rate set in the VPPA. “A lot of companies have buyers’ remorse when signing these contracts,” says Kyle Harrison of Bloombergnef.
7.An alternative is to buy clean electricity directly, either from a renewable project or from a utility. This can work well. America is dotted with wind turbines that twirl exclusively for Google. General Motors has signed deals to buy renewable power from utilities in Michigan and Ohio.
1. What does the underlined word “remorse” mean? And explain why you think so.
2. What is the main idea of paragraph three?
3. What can be a suitable title for the passage?
1.America’s president has little interest in fighting climate change. Not so its companies. Last year businesses consumed more than 8.5 gigawatts of clean energy in America, nearly triple the level of 2017, according to Bloomberg NEF, an energy research firm. Although more than 150 big corporations around the world have set targets to buy all their power from renewable sources, America accounts for 63% of corporate purchases of clean gigawatts. On March 28th green-minded companies there transformed the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA), a non-profit organization, into a fully efficient lobby group to further the cause.
【结构解析】点出文章主旨：为解决气候变化问题，美国企业合力采取举措，旨在进一步推动清洁电力采购这一大业的发展。
【阅读词汇】
1. have little interest in对…没有兴趣
2. triple the level of三倍于
3. corporations公司
4. set targets to设定目标
5.from renewable sources来自可再生资源
6.account for对…负有责任；导致;”>
Computers account for 5% of the country’s commercial electricity consumption.
电脑占了这个国家商业用电的5%。
The gene they discovered today doesn’t account for all those cases.
他们今天发现的那种基因解释不了所有的那些情况。
How do you account for the company’s alarmingly high staff turnover?
你怎么解释这家公司高得惊人的人员流动率？
The president and the president alone must account for his government’s reforms.
该总统并且只有总统一个人必须对他的这些政府改革负责。
7.corporate purchases公司采购
8.green-minded绿色思想
9.transform转型；to change the form of sth 使改变形态
A new colour scheme will transform your bedroom.
新的色彩调配将使你的卧室焕然一新。
It was an event that would transform my life.
那是能够彻底改变我一生的一件
10.a non-profit organization非营利组织
11.lobby n./vt（公共建筑物进口处的）门厅，前厅，大厅
a hotel lobby 旅馆大厅；（就某问题企图影响从政者的）游说团体
The gun lobby is/are against any change in the law.
赞同拥有枪支的团体反对作任何法律上的修改。
a recent lobby of Parliament by pensioners
领养老金者近来在议会的游说
12.further the cause.进一步的原因。
2.REBA now wants corporate purchases of green electricity to increase dramatically. In a sign of how broad the clean-power movement has become, its members include big names in technology (Google), car making (General Motors), banking (Citigroup), media (Disney) and more. But REBA’s creation also hints that, as firms race to go green, they are running into a number of problems. In the process of collectively solving them, they could reshape power markets.
【结构解析】点出REBA旨在推动企业清洁电力采购量迅猛增加。同时指出，企业竞相在尝试清洁电力时，也会会面临一系列问题。
【阅读词汇】
1. hint暗示;”>
2. run into遇到;”>
3. a number of许多的
4. In the process of在…的过程中;”>
5. reshape改变…的形状;”>
Because of that, you must reshape your liFE;”>
因此，你必须在许多层面上重塑你的生活。
We should capture his inner mind, we reshape him.
我们要俘获他的内心，使他脱胎换骨。
And most importantly, we must reshape our world so that when an old man falls on the street, any one of us would bend down to help him up.
最为重要的就是：我们要重塑自己的世界观，这样当一个老人摔倒在大街上的时候，我们之中的任何人都会俯身上前将他搀扶起来。
3.For companies, clean power often looks like a no-brainer. The costs of electricity from wind and solar farms have been reduced by about 70% and 90%, respectively, since 2009. Going green lets companies burnish their environmental credit with investors, workers and customers.
【结构解析】点出选择清洁电力对公司的好处。
【阅读词汇】
1. no-brainer无需用脑的事情；容易的事情 n.
2. respectively分别地adv
3. go green生产或使用绿色产品
4. burnish their environmental credit提高他们的环境信誉
But GlaxoSmithKline is taking a step in Europe that may burnish its image.
但是葛兰素史克在欧洲迈出的一步可能会为其树立光辉形象。
The highest moral is a rare and invaluable, also sending out the downy burnish.
最高的道德是难得而无价的，同时还散发着柔和的光泽。
5. investors投资者 n
4.The reality is more complex. The simplest way for a company to source clean electricity is to blanket its property with solar panels. Walmart has been doing this since 2007, harvesting the sun’s rays from the vast roofs of its stores. Such schemes generate only so much energy, however. Google’s electricity demand, chiefly from its giant electricity-consuming data centres, is nearly that of Estonia. Companies must therefore buy their renewable power from third parties.
【结构解析】指出现实生活中，很多耗电大户像沃尔玛和谷歌公司在使用清洁电力的路上所存在的困难：产生的电能非常有限，难以实现清洁能源自给自足，不得不向第三方购买清洁电力。
【阅读词汇】
1. complex复杂的 adj
2. clean electricity清洁电力
3. blanket its property with solar panels用太阳能电池板覆盖其性能
4. vast roofs宽阔的屋顶
5. schemes计划 n.
6. generate only so much energy只产生这么多能量
VERB 产生（能量）；发（电）
To generate a form of energy or power means to produce it.
The company, New England Electric, burns coal to generate power.
新英格兰电力公司用煤发电。
verb[VN]产生；引起 to produce or create sth
to generate electricity/heat/power 发电；产生热 / 动力
to generate income/profit 产生收益 / 利润
We need someone to generate new ideas.我们需要有人出新主意。
The proposal has generated a lot of interest.这项建议引起众多的关注。
7. renewable power可再生能源
5.Electricity is different, particularly in places with a regulated, monopolistic supplier—which is true of many American states. Two-thirds of corporate purchases of renewable electricity in America are therefore virtual, in what amounts to a swap. A company buys energy for its operations as usual from a local utility. It also signs a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) for electricity with a renewables provider in a deregulated market, which could be in another state, typically paying a fixed rate. The company then resells this clean electricity, at variable wholesale prices, into that faraway grid, thereby helping to offset its overall carbon footprint.
【结构解析】指出公司在采购清洁电力方面存在的一些现象：垄断；虚拟交易；转售
【阅读词汇】
1. particularly in places尤其是在某些地方
2. regulate管制 vt
3. monopolistic垄断的adj
4. supplier供应商n
5. purchase购买 vt/n/
6. virtual 事实上的；虚拟的adj
7. deregulated market解除管制的市场
8. typically pay a fixed rate通常支付固定利率
9. resell转售 vt
10. at variable wholesale prices以可变批发价格
11. faraway grid遥远的电力
12. offset its overall carbon footprint抵消其总碳足迹。
6.You would expect decreasing prices for renewables to benefit those who buy it. In a VPPA, they could lose. That is because, in a market flooded with cheap renewables, wholesale prices at which a company resells clean kilowatt-hours could drop below the fixed rate set in the VPPA. “A lot of companies have buyers’ remorse when signing these contracts,” says Kyle Harrison of Bloombergnef.
【结构解析】解释为什么清洁电力价格暴跌会使得购买者可能会遭受损失
【阅读词汇】
1. flooded with充斥着
Most of the city markets were flooded with contraband goods.
大多数的城市市场上都充斥着走私货。
Brokers expect the markets to be flooded with the shares
股票经纪人预计股市会充斥着这种股票。
Schools with better reputations will be flooded with applications while poorer schools will be left high and dry.
较有名气的学校将会收到如潮水涌至般的申请，而差一些的学校则会陷入招生困境。
2. wholesale prices批发价
3. below the fixed rate低于固定利率
4. sign these contracts签这些合同
7.An alternative is to buy clean electricity directly, either from a renewable project or from a utility. This can work well. America is dotted with wind turbines that twirl exclusively for Google. General Motors has signed deals to buy renewable power from utilities in Michigan and Ohio.
【结构解析】指出解决问题的方法之一：从可再生项目或公共事业单位直接购买清洁电力。
【阅读词汇】
1. alternative可供替代的 adj/n
2. be dotted with点缀
But one day, China’s capital could be dotted with domes filled with clean air.
不过，也许从某天起，北京将到处点缀着充满清洁空气的穹顶。
Tearing off the plastic on what appeared to be an unopened iPhone 6, he showed how the screen was already dotted with the fingerprints of whoever brought it into China.
他撕掉了看似尚未开封的iPhone6外面的塑料包装，展示了手机屏幕，指出上面已经留下了将手机带入内地的人的指纹。
3. signed deals t签署交易
4. utilities公用事业 n
1. Two-thirds of corporate purchases of renewable electricity in America are therefore virtual, in what amounts to a swap.
【分析】swapvt./n交换;”>
【翻译】在美国，三分之二公司采购的清洁电力都是虚拟的，仅作账目交易。
2. That is because, in a market flooded with cheap renewables, wholesale prices at which a company resells clean kilowatt-hours could drop below the fixed rate set in the VPPA.
【分析】wholesale prices批发价；此处是介词+which引导的定语从句修饰wholesale prices；句子的主干为： wholesale prices ..could drop below …
【翻译】这是因为，当市场充斥着廉价的清洁电力时，转售清洁电力的批发价会低于企业签订的虚拟购电协议所设定的固定利率。
It is reported that conservation groups in North America have been arguing about the benefits and dangers of wolves．Some groups believe Wolves should be killed．Other people believe wolves must be protected so that they will not disappear from the wilderness (荒野).
In Alaska, the wolf almost disappeared a few years ago, because hunters were killing hundreds of them for sport. However, laws were established to protect the wolves from sportsmen and people who catch the animals for their fur. So the wolf population has greatly increased. Now there are so many wolves that they are destroying their own food supply.
A wolf naturally eats animals in the deer family. People in the wilderness also hunt deer for food. Many of the animals have been destroyed by the very cold winters recently and by changes in the wilderness plant life. When the deer can’t find enough food, they die.
If the wolves continue to kill large numbers of deer, their prey ( 猎物) will disappear some day. And the wolves will, too. So we must change the cycle of liFE;”>
In another northern state, wolves attack cows and chickens for food. Farmers want the government to send biologists to study the problem. They believe it necessary to kill wolves in some areas and to protect them in places where there is a small wolf population.
If you had lived long ago, you would have heard many different stories about the dangerous wolf. According to most stories, hungry wolves often kill people for food. Even today, the stories of the “big bad wolf” will not disappear.
But the fact is wolves are afraid of people, and they seldom travel in areas where there is a human smell. When wolves eat other animals, they usually kill the very young, or the sick and injured. The strongest survive. No kind of animal would have survived through the centuries if the weak members had lived. That has always been a law of nature.
Although some people say it is good sense to kill wolves, we say it is nonsense! Researchers have found wolves and their prey living in balance. The wolves keep the deer population from becoming too large, and that keeps a balance in the wilderness plant life.
The real problem is that the areas where wolves can live are being used by people. Even if wilderness land is not used directly for human needs, the wolves can’t always find enough food. So they travel to the nearest source, which is often a farm. Then there is danger. The “big bad wolf” has arrived! And everyone knows what happens next.
１. According to the passage, some people in North America favor killing wolves for all the following reasons EXCEPT that.
A. there are too many wolves
B. they kill large numbers of deer
C. they attack cows and chickens for food
D. they destroy the wilderness plant life
２. Some people are against killing wolves because
A. wolves help to keep the ecological balance in the wilderness
B. there is too small a wolf population in the wilderness
C. there are too many deer in the wilderness
D. wolves are afraid of people and never attack people
３. According to those against killing wolves, when wolves eat other animals,.
A. they never eat strong and healthy ones
B. they always go against the law of nature
C. they might help this kind of animals survive in nature
D. they disturb the ecological balance in the wilderness
４. The last sentence “And everyone knows what happens next” implies that in such cases.
A. farm animals will be in danger and have to be shipped away
B. wolves will kill people and people will in turn kill them
C. wolves will find enough food sources on farms
D. people will leave the areas where wolves can live
1. America’s president has little interest in fighting climate change. Not so its companies. Last year businesses consumed more than 8.5 gigawatts of clean energy in America, nearly triple the level of 2017, according to Bloomberg NEF, an energy research firm. Although more than 150 big corporations around the world have set targets to buy all their power from renewable sources, America accounts for 63% of corporate purchases of clean gigawatts. On March 28th green-minded companies there transformed the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA), a non-profit organization, into a fully efficient lobby group to further the cause.
美国总统对解决气候变化问题毫无兴致，美国企业则不然。能源研究公司彭博新能源财经 道，去年，美国公司合计利用了8.5吉瓦以上的清洁电力，几乎是2017年的三倍。全球150多家大公司已设立全盘购买清洁电力的目标，仅美国公司的清洁电力采购份额就占到63%。3月28日，当地重视环保的公司合力将非营利组织”可再生能源买家联盟（REBA）”转变为一个高效的游说组织，旨在进一步推动清洁电力采购这一大业的发展。
2.REBA now wants corporate purchases of green electricity to increase dramatically. In a sign of how broad the clean-power movement has become, its members include big names in technology (Google), car making (General Motors), banking (Citigroup), media (Disney) and more. But REBA’s creation also hints that, as firms race to go green, they are running into a number of problems. In the process of collectively solving them, they could reshape power markets.
如今，REBA旨在推动企业清洁电力采购量迅猛增加。科技行业（谷歌）、汽车制造业（通用汽车）、银行业（花旗集团）、传媒行业（迪士尼）等各行各业知名企业的加入，彰显了这一清洁能源运动的号召力。不过，REBA的创立也暗示着，企业竞相尝试清洁电力时，会面临一系列问题。不过，在众多公司合力解决这些问题的过程中，能源市场也在逐步得到重塑。
3.For companies, clean power often looks like a no-brainer. The costs of electricity from wind and solar farms have been reduced by about 70% and 90%, respectively, since 2009. Going green lets companies burnish their environmental credit with investors, workers and customers.
对许多公司而言，清洁电力是无须犹豫的选择。自2009年以来，风能发电和太阳能发电成本分别下降了70%与90%。走清洁能源之路有助于企业在投资者、雇员和消费者心中树立起关注环保的光辉形象。
4.The reality is more complex. The simplest way for a company to source clean electricity is to blanket its property with solar panels. Walmart has been doing this since 2007, harvesting the sun’s rays from the vast roofs of its stores. Such schemes generate only so much energy, however. Google’s electricity demand, chiefly from its giant electricity-consuming data centres, is nearly that of Estonia. Companies must therefore buy their renewable power from third parties.
然而，现实往往更为复杂。对于一家公司而言，在自家产业上铺上太阳能板是最简单的采集清洁电力的方式。沃尔玛自2007年就开始采用这一方式，在其各大超市的屋顶上铺满太阳能板来收集日光。但通过这种方法产生的电能非常有限。对谷歌而言，耗电巨大的数据中心是”吃电”大户，几乎和爱沙尼亚全国的用电需求相仿。因此，像谷歌这类公司，难以实现清洁能源自给自足，不得不向第三方购买清洁电力。
5.Electricity is different, particularly in places with a regulated, monopolistic supplier—which is true of many American states. Two-thirds of corporate purchases of renewable electricity in America are therefore virtual, in what amounts to a swap. A company buys energy for its operations as usual from a local utility. It also signs a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) for electricity with a renewables provider in a deregulated market, which could be in another state, typically paying a fixed rate. The company then resells this clean electricity, at variable wholesale prices, into that faraway grid, thereby helping to offset its overall carbon footprint.
在正常的采购流程中，企业会在众多供应商中挑选合适的 价。但电力供应有所不同，在那些存在垄断而又受管控的供应商的地区更是如此。美国有许多州存在这一情况。在美国，三分之二公司采购的清洁电力都是虚拟的，仅作账目交易。通常来说，一家企业会向当地公共事业单位购电，以支持企业的运作。同时，该公司也会与非管制市场上的清洁能源供应商（或许在其他州）签订一份虚拟的购电协议(VPPA)，并常常支付固定利率。此后，这家公司又会根据市场行情，以批发价，将这些清洁电力转售到偏远地区的电 ，以抵消总碳排放足迹。
6.You would expect decreasing prices for renewables to benefit those who buy it. In a VPPA, they could lose. That is because, in a market flooded with cheap renewables, wholesale prices at which a company resells clean kilowatt-hours could drop below the fixed rate set in the VPPA. “A lot of companies have buyers’ remorse when signing these contracts,” says Kyle Harrison of Bloombergnef.
或许，你会认为清洁电力价格暴跌对购买者有利。实际情况是，在VPPA中，购买者可能会遭受损失。这是因为，当市场充斥着廉价的清洁电力时，转售清洁电力的批发价会低于企业签订的虚拟购电协议所设定的固定利率。彭博新能源财经 的凯勒·海瑞森（Kyle Harrison）认为，很多公司在签订这些协议时，都会面临买家毁约的情况。
7.An alternative is to buy clean electricity directly, either from a renewable project or from a utility. This can work well. America is dotted with wind turbines that twirl exclusively for Google. General Motors has signed deals to buy renewable power from utilities in Michigan and Ohio.
一种可替代方案是，从可再生项目或公共事业单位直接购买清洁电力。这并不难实现。在美国境内，风力发电机星罗棋布，专门为谷歌旋转着。通用汽车公司已经与密歇根州和俄亥俄州的公用事业单位签署了购买清洁能源的协议。
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