VOA慢速英语-Development Report - Chicago Goes Green in Its Alley

The Green Alley¹ program is an effort to reduce flooding, save energy and decrease heat in the city. Transcript² of radio broadcast:
13 July 2008

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

An environmental project in the American city of Chicago, Illinois, could offer ideas for cities around the world. The project is gaining ground -- and it is the ground itself that is involved.
　

The City of Chicago is using new environmentally-friendly techniques to design green alleys3

Two years ago, the city’s Transportation Department launched a program to improve surface wear and reduce flooding in alleyways. An alley is a narrow roadway through the middle of a block.

The Green Alley program uses new technologies to help protect the environment, save energy and reduce heat in the city.

Chicago has three thousand kilometers of public alleys -- about thirteen thousand alleys in all. Many were built without connections to Chicago’s combined sewer⁴ and storm water systems.

Alleys are being rebuilt or renewed with permeable pavement. The material is hard enough to support the trucks that use the alleys to collect trash. But permeable pavement has openings that let water pass through the surface and into the soil below.

Specially⁵ formulated⁶ asphalt, concrete or pavers can be used. City officials say the material lets as much as eighty percent of rainwater pass through.

Also, sunlight bounces off the light-colored surface, so it stays cool on hot days. Densely⁷ built areas of cities trap heat. This is known as the urban heat-island effect.

The Green Alley program also uses recycled materials. And it uses energy-saving streetlights. These direct light downward to reduce light pollution at night.

Research for the project began in two thousand four. No businesses own any patents on the materials used in the Green Alley program.

Not all Chicago alleys need replacing. Program head Janet Attarian says sixty-two alleys will have been renewed or rebuilt by the end of this year. City officials are also starting to use the environmentally friendly technologies for parking areas and low-traffic roads.

Permeable pavement is not very good for roads with a lot of traffic. Too much weight and travel over the material can damage it.

Within six months of pouring Chicago’s first permeable concrete alley, the cost of the new concrete had dropped more than sixty percent.

Chicago has "more miles of alleyways than any other city in the world," says Mayor Richard M. Daley in the Green Alley Handbook⁸. We'll post a link to the program at voaspecialenglish.com.

And that’s the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss⁹.

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

1 alley   

n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路

参考例句：

• We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
• The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 alleys   

胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径

参考例句：

• I followed him through a maze of narrow alleys. 我紧随他穿过一条条迂迴曲折的窄巷。
• The children lead me through the maze of alleys to the edge of the city. 孩子们领我穿过迷宫一般的街巷，来到城边。

4 sewer   

n.排水沟，下水道

参考例句：

• They are tearing up the street to repair a sewer. 他们正挖开马路修下水道。
• The boy kicked a stone into the sewer. 那个男孩把一石子踢进了下水道。

5 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

6 formulated   

v.构想出( formulate的过去式和过去分词 )；规划；确切地阐述；用公式表示

参考例句：

• He claims that the writer never consciously formulated his own theoretical position. 他声称该作家从未有意识地阐明他自己的理论见解。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This idea can be formulated in two different ways. 这个意思可以有两种说法。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 densely   

ad.密集地；浓厚地

参考例句：

• A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
• We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。

8 handbook   

n.手册，便览，指南

参考例句：

• Her mother bought a handbook of English grammar for her last Sunday.上星期天她母亲给她买了一本英语语法手册。
• None of them has got a handbook to tourists.他们谁也没搞到旅游指南。

9 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。