VOA慢速英语2012Technology Report--Bright Idea: Light Bulbs From Plastic Bottles, Water and Bleach

Technology Report - Bright Idea: Light Bulbs From Plastic Bottles, Water and Bleach¹

 

科技报道 - 水、漂白剂和塑料瓶构成的水灯泡

This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。

Nearly a billion and a half people, mainly in Asia and Africa, were living without electricity in two thousand nine. That latest count from the International Energy Agency was an improvement. In Asia, three out of four people in developing countries had electricity in rural areas. So did almost everyone in cities. But in Africa the rate was less than seventy percent in cities, and just one-fourth of the people in rural areas.

2009年将近15亿人在没有电力的情况下生活，他们主要集中在亚洲和非洲。来自国际能源机构的这一最新统计数字是一种进步。在亚洲发展中国家，3/4的农村地区居民和几乎全部的城市居民拥有电力。但在非洲，拥有电力的城市居民比例低于70%，而农村地区只有1/4。

There are many efforts to find low-cost ways to light homes. One idea is a "water bulb." This system has recently been used to brighten more than one hundred homes in the Korogocho settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. These included the home of Madina Muhsin's family.

现在有很多寻找低成本照明方式的尝试。其中一个想法就是“水灯泡。”这一系统最近被用来照亮肯尼亚首都内罗毕Korogocho定居点的一百多个家庭。这其中就包括马迪纳·穆赫辛(Madina Muhsin)一家的房子。

MADINA MUHSIN: "I'm very happy. I can see the light. Before it was all dark, dark, dark. Now I am happy -- I am very happy."

穆赫辛：“我很高兴，我可以看到光亮，在此之前一片漆黑。现在我很高兴，非常高兴。”

Members of the youth group Koch Hope installed the water bulb. First, they filled a two-liter plastic bottle with water and a little bleach. Next, they cut a hole in the metal roof. They pressed the bottle halfway² into the hole. Then they used silicone caulk³ to seal around it to prevent rain from coming in.

青年组织Koch Hope的成员们安装了水灯泡。首先，他们把一个两升的塑料瓶装满水和一点点漂白剂。下一步，他们在金属屋顶上钻一个洞，把瓶身的一半按进洞里面，然后用硅胶把四周密封以防止雨水渗进来。

In no time, the home was lit with about fifty to sixty watts⁴' worth of light. The combination of water and bleach refracts light from the sun and a full moon. The bleach keeps the water clear.

在任何时间，房子里都被相当于五六十瓦的光照亮。水和漂白剂的混合物能折射来自太阳和满月的光芒。漂白剂可以保持水质清澈。

Sheila Royeras admires the soda6 bottle solar bulbs that were installed in her home in Manila, Philippines. The bulbs are made out of a soda bottle, purified water and some bleach.

Madina Muhsin, like many of her neighbors, was spending a lot on kerosene⁷ to light her home. Now, she says she will save almost half of her weekly income. Her son Abbas can now read a book at home in the middle of the day.

穆赫辛和许多邻居一样，曾经在煤油上花费了很多钱来照亮她的房子。她说现在她能省下自己每周收入的近一半。她儿子阿巴斯现在中午能够在家看书。

Veronica Wanjiru and her two children also have a water bulb in their home. She says her older son had to repeat a grade in school because he could not get his homework done when their home was dark.

维罗尼卡·万吉鲁和她的两个孩子也都在家里装上了水灯泡。她说，她大儿子不得不留级，因为当家里黑漆漆时，他无法完成功课。

VERONICA WANJIRU (in Swahili with translation): "I've seen a big difference, especially with my children's education. If they're given homework, they can finish it on time. And they don't have to wait for me to come and light the candle or go outside and do their studies outside so that they can finish their homework."

万吉鲁（斯瓦希里语翻译）：“我看到了巨大的变化，特别是在我孩子的教育上。如果他们被布置了功课，他们可以按时完成。他们不需要等我来点燃蜡烛或到外面做功课，这样他们就能完成自己的功课。”

In the Philippines, a nonprofit group called My Shelter Foundation has used a similar low-cost lighting⁸ solution in thousands of homes. The project is called "A Liter of Light." The head of the group, Illac Diaz, says the idea is better than candles and kerosene, and offers a great new use for old plastic soda bottles.

在菲律宾，一个名为My Shelter Foundation的非营利性组织在几千个家庭中采用了一种类似的低成本照明解决方案。这个项目被称为“A Liter of Light”。该组织负责人Illac Diaz说，这个创意比蜡烛和煤油灯更好，还为旧塑料饮料瓶提供了一个很好的新用途。

ILLAC DIAZ: "It's safer. It's healthier. It's brighter, and the funny thing is the light bulb actually comes from the place you'd least expect it, which is the trash bin⁵. So it's the cheapest light bulb in the world."

ILLAC DIAZ：“它更安全，更健康，更亮。有趣的是，这种灯泡实际上来自你最意料不到的地方，也就是垃圾桶。所以它是世界上最廉价的灯泡。”

And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report. You can watch a video about the water bulb at voanews.cn. I'm Steve Ember.
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Contributing: Cathy Majtenyi and Simone Orendain

1 bleach   

vt.使漂白；vi.变白；n.漂白剂

参考例句：

• These products don't bleach the hair.这些产品不会使头发变白。
• Did you bleach this tablecloth?你把这块桌布漂白了吗？

2 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

3 caulk   

v.堵缝

参考例句：

• Shipbuilders caulk wooden boats with oakum and tar.造船工匠用麻丝和沥青填塞木船缝隙。
• The sailors couldn't find anything to caulk the seam in the boat.水手们找不到任何东西来填塞船上的裂缝。

4 watts   

（电力计量单位）瓦，瓦特( watt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• My lamp uses 60 watts; my toaster uses 600 watts. 我的灯用60瓦，我的烤面包器用600瓦。
• My lamp uses 40 watts. 我的灯40瓦。

5 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

6 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

7 kerosene   

n.(kerosine)煤油，火油

参考例句：

• It is like putting out a fire with kerosene.这就像用煤油灭火。
• Instead of electricity,there were kerosene lanterns.没有电，有煤油灯。

8 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。