笃学奖-Topic 3-A11246-甘比精读

Day 8:Vocabulary and expressions

1. disrupt:to interrupt or throw something into disorder

1)break someone's concentration

If you don't turn your phone off before a play, it might ring and disrupt the actors and the audience.

2)break up a routine

The bad weather disrupts the travel plans of people in airports.

3)A larger interruption would be if a war were to erupt. That would disrupt the peace of an entire region and its people.

2. issue的动词义

v. put something out for the public

issue a statement, the post office issues new stamps

<Annie讲解补充> issue(发出) a Bond villain's(007的对头) laugh

3. Kinds of gadgets to generate renewable energy

1)turbine:uses the power of  a flowing liquid or wind to move a wheel, thereby generating energy, like a water wheel or a windmill.

2)Photovoltaic(PV) solar panels

The south-facing roofs of the houses, barns and cowsheds are blanketed with blue photovoltaic(PV) solar panels.

photovoltaic:producing a voltage when exposed to radiant energy (especially light)

拓展阅读:How solar PV works

Your solar PV system will consist of solar panels, an inverter(an electrical converter that converts direct current into alternating current 直流电变交流电) and a generation meter(measuring instruments). When light hits the silicon cells in your solar panels, electrical energy is created. This electricity then flows through a cable and is collected at a central point (usually located in your loft).

Here the electricity is converted from DC to AC current and is carried on into your household electricity system. The electricity you generate works using your existing circuitry(electronic equipment consisting of a system of circuits) to help power household appliances and lighting.

4. blanket

毯子的引申义:

n. anything that covers:a blanket of leaves/snow

v. cover as if with a blanket

fog blankets the whole town, snow blankets the fields

The south-facing roofs of the houses, barns and cowsheds are blanketed with blue photovoltaic(PV) solar panels.

5. The cows on the green fields produce manure that generates biogas which warms the town, as well as backing up the wind and solar generators in winter.

manure:a fertilizer made from animal waste

biogas:gas, especially methane, that is produced by dead plants and that can be burned to produce heat 甲烷等可燃气体

back up:provide support for sb/sth

two doctors backed up by a team of nurses

6. they pocketed about seven billion dollars from subsidies and selling their surplus electricity.

pocket:v.

1)put in one's pocket:He pocketed the change without counting it.

2)earn money:She pocketed over one million dollars in advertising contracts.

subsidy:a financial assistance usually granted by a government to an enterprise that benefits the public

offer a subsidy to low-income families for book fees and lunch costs

subsidies for investment 资助企业,让他们可以投资

their growth might soon need a lot less subsidy than it has attracted to date(until now).

was generously subsidised

7. And the things it is based on-- subsidies for investment, very little spending on fuel, and moving electricity generation to the edge of, or off, the grid-- are anathema to electricity markets and business models developed for the fossil-fuel age.

<自己的翻译>在Wildpoldsried,人们采用新能源,这个是environmentalists愿意看到的。但是这种情况背后的三点基础——政府的投资补助,在化学燃料上极少的花费,以及逐步脱离现在的输电线路——却是供电市场,以及化石燃料时代下发展的企业模式所不愿看到的景象。

grid:

1)a network of intersecting parallel lines

Most American streets are laid out in a grid pattern

2)a physical network of sorts

The national grid:the high voltage electrical cables that carry power throughout the country 电网

transmission grid 输电网

<Annie的讲解>

moving electricity generation to the edge of, or off, the grid

第一个of:表示推到电网的边缘

They had brought the country to the edge of diaster

第二个off:表示推出,推离电网

off the grid玩消失

They say he went off the grid. 隐居

He wanted some place that was completely off the grid. 远离喧嚣

fall off the grid:disappear from the face of the earth

Where is Tommy? I haven't seen him for weeks and he seems to have fallen off the grid.

anathema:a thing or an idea which you hate because it is the opposite of what you believe

<记忆>:aerobic exercise有氧运动,anaerobic 厌氧

Racial prejudice is (an) anathema to me.

Violence was anathema to them.

Garlic is anathema to vampires.

A silver bullet is anathema to a werewolf.

8. Few greens would mourn them.

mourn:feel sadness

mourn the loss of a beloved pet.

9. utility:of practical use

public utilities:government facilities that provide water, electricity and natural gas

the fall in utility revenues

10. incumbent:

1)adj. currently holding an office:the incumbent governor/mayor

2)adj. necessary (for someone) as a duty or responsibility:

It is incumbent upon you to do the dishes.

It is incumbent upon all users of this equipment to familiarize.

3)n. the official who holds an office

fossil-fuel-era incumbents in the generation and transmission businesses

11. decarbonise:remove carbon from (an engine)

their(the renewables) efforts to decarbonise the electricity supply/grid that justified their promotion in the first place.

12. 动词词组:

1)write off:to cancel a debt, to recognize that sth is a failure, has no value 资产折损,价格降低了,不值那些钱

to write off a debt/ an investment

write off 120bn dollars of assets

2)split in two:The country nearly split in two after the war.

3)add... to...:add new sources of supply to an already well-served market

4)shut out of:prevent sb/sth from entering...

such plants are shut out of the market by low-cost renewables.

sunglasses that shut out 99% of the sun's harmful rays

shut sb out of the bedroom/ one's life

5)drag down prices

6)eat into:use up a part of sth, especially money or time

If something eats into your time or your resources, it uses them, when they should be used for other things.

when used by customers, they also eat into demand.

把对其他供电形式的需求全部集中在对新能源发电的需求上

7)take account of:consider sth

take account of environmental issues

13. 表达积累:

在写作中可以用到的:

1), at which point the process will still be far from finished

2)国家在某领域领先地位:with ... taking the lead.

3)例外:... is the exception, not the rule(规律).

4)未来还有很长的路要走:In terms of ... there is a  long way to go.

5)随之带来了什么影响:a decade of sudsidy-driven growth has brought with it falling costs.

6)实际上:in practice

Prisoners have legal rights, but in practice these rights are not always respected.

7)more or less=almost

are needed more or less at times when the sun doesn't shine...

8)采取措施:

... could go a long way to(=help) solving this problem.

... -- all have their champions and their role to play 各种措施都有他们的支持者

But long-run solutions do not solve short-term constraints.

The response to these problems is not to abandon renewables.

Thinking of... as a solution by themselves is not enough. You need flexibility on the other side.

9)说到缺点:renewables are insulted from the effects that their low marginal costs have on prices.

10)流行,广泛推广:increase renewables' penetration

getting renewables to today's relatively modest level of penetration

11)一部分是因为,一部分是因为:

In part that is to.... In part it is because...

... It is one of the reasons-- ... is another-- why...

12)对...的影响:the effect that ... have on...

But peer pressure is unlikely to be decisive.

13)问题仍不清楚:But how... and who ... remain obscure.

其他:

1)hit investiment 打击投资

2)at first blush=at first glance

If renewables worked constantly that would not, at first blush, look like a problem

3)moderate the fluctuations

4)<口语> "You are so yesterday"你太老土了

5)give little thought to=consider

14. 关于金钱:

1)Renewables are still on the pricey(adj. having a high price) side, but they are getting less so.

2)robust carbon prices

3)关于投资的数额:require ...in investment

pour ... into(后面加目的)supporting the investment

4)返回款:provide ... to every family of four in rebates.

5)下降的几种表达:

demand is in decline

wholesale electricity prices collapse

drag down/ push down prices

prices slumped from ... to ...

depress power prices/ wages

slash costs/prices/fares

turn negative变成负数

15. The EU's emissions-trading scheme is a perennial disappointment: still, hope springs eternal, as witness a recent attempt to persuade the new American administration of the benefits of a revenue-neutral economy-wide carbon tax to providing 2000 dollars to every family of four in rebates.

Emission trading:

<Wikipedia> Emissions trading or cap and trade is a government-mandated, market-based approach to controlling pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants.

perennial:describes things that are permanent, constant, or repeated

<记忆:"per-" means each, "annus" means year 每年都是这样,持续的>

a perennial conflict/ argument

the perennial problem of water shortage

Hope springs eternal:(saying) people never stop hoping

I don't think I'll get the job, but hope springs eternal.

revenue-neutral:零收入的税,从一部分人收取,返还给一部分人

Taxing procedure that allows the government to still receive the same amount of money despite changes in tax laws. The government may lower taxes for one particular group of people, but raise taxes for another group. This allows the revenue that they receive to remain unchanged(neutral).

economy-wide:

群里的解答:involving the whole of a country's economy

Employment in services fell by 50,000 last month, contributing to the slight rise in the economy-wide unemplyment rate.

rebate:a partial refund of the cost of an item

If your new cell phone came with a rebate, you'll get a check in the mail for a certain amount of the cost.

A well-known rebate occurred in 2007 when President George Bush issued tax rebate checks to many people in America, giving back some of what each person paid in taxes.

provide ... to every family of four in rebates.

16. In rich countries governments have imposed renewables on elecricity systems that had no need for new capacity, because demand is in decline. Investment in supply beyond what the market required has produced gluts and pushed down prices. In America this has been masked by the shale-gas revolution, which has caused a bigger shift in the same direction.

在发达国家,政府将新能源的使用强加到国家电力系统中。然而这种超出需求的供应却拉低了价格。在美国这种情况被页岩气革命所掩盖,因为这两个事件引发了了类似的变化(拉低能源价格)。

capacity:

1)the amount something can hold:the bird cage is at full capacity.

Grids with lots of storage capacity built in

2)your ability to do something:

Limited resources are restricting our capacity for developing new products.

3)the capcity of something such as a factory, industry or region is the quantity of things that it can produce./ the capcity to produce

The factory is working at full capacity— that means at full speed, producing as much as they possibly can.

keep older fossil-fuel capacity available as a standby

glut:

1)n. a situation in which there is more of sth than is needed or can be used

a glut of cheap videos on the market

2)v. to supply or provide sth with too much of sth

The market has been glutted with foreign cars.

Shale gas:

Shale gas refers to natural gas that is trapped within shale formations. Shales are fine-grained sedimentary rocks that can be rich sources of petroleum and natural gas.

页岩气就是储存在页岩中的天然气,成分和天然气是一致的。页岩就像书本一样,是一片一片的沉积岩。而页岩气并不像常规天然气一样密封在储层圈闭里,它更像海绵里的水,藏匿在页岩的孔隙之中。

国际能源署IEA统计表明,全球非常规天然气远超常规天然气储量。在非常规天然气中,页岩气可采储量占63%。预测2035年非常规天然气产量将达到1.6 万亿立方米

Shale-gas revolution:

目前我们所说的页岩气革命,表面上是全球掀起的页岩气开发大潮,实际上是美国以一种经济高效的方式实现对页岩气的大规模商业开发,从而改善美国能源供需结构,提高能源自给水平的过程。

有人说页岩气革了煤炭、石油等常规能源的命,有人说页岩气革了煤层气、致密砂岩气、油砂的命。实际上,它使美帝从能源进口大国华丽转身为能源生产大国,革了全球能源输出国的命

17. In Europe the glut of renewables is more starkly seen for what it is.

stark:<记忆>star星星,在夜晚很明显

1)complete or extreme:stark poverty,a stark contrast

2)providing no shelter or sustenance:

a stark landscape

3)looking severe and without any colour or decoration

The hills stood stark against the winter sky.

4)unpleasant, real and impossible to avoid

The remains of the building stand as a stark reminder of the fire.

He now faces the stark reality of life in prison.

18. Wholesale electricity prices have slumped from 80 a megawatt-hour in 2008 to 30 nowadays.

wholesale:describe something that's done on a big, broad scale

1)adj. describe something that's done on a big, broad scale

wholesale changes,wholesale destruction,wholesale slaughter

2)v. to sell things in bulk, usually to someone who is going to sell it again at a higher retail price. 批发

the wholesale price vs. the retail price

megawatt:a unit of power equal to one million watts

19. havoc:widespread disorder or destruction.

The result has been havoc for the old-style utilities.

20. indebted:If you’re indebted to someone you are indeed in debt — for either money or gratitude.

indebeted and loss-making generation

21. In an industry structured around marginal costs, renewables have a disruptive punch above their weight.

<自己的理解>在一个以边际成本为核心的产业中,边际成本很低的新能源超常发挥,给了原有产业重重一击

structured around (核心)marginal costs

Annie:边际成本是其结构核心

知识补充:

边际成本(marginal cost):每一单位新增生产的产品(或者购买的产品)带来的总成本的增量。“边际”这个词可以理解为“增加的”的意思,“边际量”也就是“增量”的意思。说的确切一些,自变量增加一单位,因变量所增加的量就是边际量。

例:从杭州开往南京的长途车即将出发,票价为50元。一个匆匆赶来的乘客见车上尚有空位,要求以30元上车。当我们考虑是否让这名乘客以30元的票价上车时,实际上我们应该考虑的是边际成本边际收益这两个概念。

增加这一名乘客,所需磨损的汽车、汽油费、工作人员工资和过路费等都无需增加,对汽车来说多拉一个人少拉一个人都一样,所增加的成本仅仅是发给这个乘客的食物和饮料,假设这些东西值10元,边际成本也就是10元。边际收益是增加一名乘客所增加的收入。在这个例子中,增加这一名乘客增加收入30元,边际收益就是30元。

在根据边际分析法作出决策时就是要对比边际成本与边际收益。如果边际收益大于边际成本,即增加这一名乘客所增加的收入大于所增加的成本,让这名乘客上车就是合适的,这是理性决策。如果边际收益小于边际成本,让这名乘客上车就要亏损,是非理性决策。

Annie的讲解:punch above their weight 超过他的实力

to achieve or perform at a higher level than would be expected based on one's preparation, attributes, rank, or past accomplishment.

雅思口语加分词组:punch above one’s weight 做超越自己能力的事,超长发挥

The term ‘punch above one’s weight’ means performing or achieving results better than expected and beyond one’s ability, skill, experience etc.

“Although Brad isn’t the best track runner, I think that if he trains hard and punches above his weight, he’ll be able to qualify for the upcoming competition.”

22. deregulate:to take away the rules

When someonede regulates a soccer game, the game could become a muddy wrestling match without any rules to keep things on track.

23. Electricity markets typically work on a "merit order": at any given time they meet demand by taking electricity first from the cheapest supplier, then the next-cheapest until they have all they need; the price paid to all concerned is set by the most expensive source in use at the time.

电网看哪个producer便宜,就从哪里以批发价买电(而不是一度一度的买)。并以用零售价,一度一度卖给用户。

价格是由最贵的资源决定

The Merit Order of a process indicates the order in which it will be dispatched(sent off).

Processes with the lowest value merit order are dispatched first (base load) and those with the highest merit order are dispatched last (peak load). Processes with equal merit order are dispatched together in proportion to their available capacity.

24. intermittent:

stopping and starting at irregular intervals:intermittent rain showers

n. intermittency

25. infrastruture:

the basic foundation or underlying framework of an organization or system.

In your house, the infrastructure is the system of beams, weight-bearing walls and the foundation that keeps it standing.

Roads, bridges, and school buildings are part of our nation's infrastructure

26. hydroelectric:of or relating to or used in the production of electricity by waterpower  <记忆:hydro- 与水有关>

27. doldrums

1)feeling sad or depressed

He's been in the doldrums ever since she left him.

2)lack of activity:a slump in the economy

the economy remains in the doldrums

28. So for now countries with lots of renewables need to keep older fossil-fuel capacity(ability to produce) available as a standby, and to cover peaks in demand. This oftern means additional subsidies, known as electric capacity payments, for plants that would otherwise be uneconomic.

capacity payment:保持older generators

发电厂经营单位向用电户按其申请的或安装的最大用电容量分月或一次性收取的,在按实际用电量收费以外的费用。

就是按照本身发电容量或最大容量所制定的电价,不会由于发出来电有没有被消耗而受影响。一般来说是用来保障发电商利益的一个电价。最终电价由容量电价和电量电价,两部分来决定。

容量电价,是以客户用电将按容量或最大需量计量的基本电价,亦称固定电价或需用电价。它代表电力企业成本中的容量成本,即固定费用部分。二是电量电价,以客户耗用的电能量计算的电度电价,它代表电力企业成本中的电能成本,即变动费用部分。

按两种电价分别计算后的电费总和即为客户应付的全部电费,这种以合理分担容量成本和电能成本为主要依据的电价制度,用基本电价和电度电价合起来计算客户电费的办法就叫两部制电价。

uneconomic:(of a business, factor, etc.)not making a profit

uneconomic industries

keep... as a standby/backup

29. But they also mean that fossil-fuel production capacity clings on(难以消除)-- often in particular dirty forms, such as German power stations powered by brown coal, or backup diesel generators in Britain.

cling:to tightly grasp something or to stick closely to something

A scared child will cling to his parent, holding on tight

The dress clings to her body

brown coal:

褐煤,又名柴煤,是煤化程度最低的矿产煤。化学反应性强,在空气中容易风化,不易储存和运输,燃烧时对空气污染严重。但是由于优质煤几乎被采空,褐煤已成为我国主要使用的煤,但由于褐煤的煤化程度太低,造成燃烧时会有大量的黑灰飘在空中,如果不经过洗煤处理和提炼,大量使用劣势褐煤会导致我国雾霾问题日益严重。

diesel:

1)a type of heavy oil used as a fuel 柴油:a diesel engine, diesel cars/trains

2)a vehicle that uses diesel fuel 柴油车

3)diesel generator:the combination of a diesel engine with an electric generator to generate electrical energy.

backup:extra assistance or help:call for backup

30. From dull to death spiral

death spiral:扩展阅读

A type of loan investors give to a company in exchange for convertible debt, which, like convertible bonds, typically has provisions that allow investors to convert the bonds into stock at below-market prices. This can cause the original share holders to lose control of the company. 可转换债券发行人承诺持有者可以在一定时期内按一定比例或价格将之转换成公司普通股

This type of loan is undertaken by companies that desperately need cash. It is called a death spiral because companies' stocks often plunge drastically after they take on these types of loans. It is important to note that death spirals often allow buyers to convert the bonds into shares at a fixed conversion ratioin which the buyer has a large premium.

For example, a bond with a face value of $1,000 may have a convertible value of $1,500, which means that a bond holder will receive $1,500 dollars worth of equity for giving up the $1,000 bond.

However, upon a conversion, more shares are created, which dilutes the share price. This drop in price may cause more bond holders to convert, because the lower share price means that they will be receiving more shares. Any further conversions will cause more price drops as the supply of shares increases, causing the process to repeat itself as the stock's price spirals downward.

<自己的理解>:可转换债券可以将债券转化为等值的股份,这样就使企业的控股人越来越多。长此以往下去,公司的股价便会下降,这样便会有更多的债券持有人将债券转化为比之前更多的股份。几经重复,公司的股票价格就会螺旋式下降。

扩展阅读中的词汇:

1)premium

n. an extra payment added to the basic rate

You have to pay a hign premium for express delivery.

adj. very high, of high quality:premium prices/products

2)equity:the value of a conpamy's shares

3)dilute:lessen the strength or flavor of a mixture

dilute a strong drink to make it taste better

dilute heavy paint to get a lighter shade

31. When they are a small part of the system, renewables are insulated from the effects that their low marginal costs have on prices

is insulated from:is protected from outside influences

They wonder if their community is no longer insulated from big city problems

collapse

<vocabulary.com的例句好形象,非常方便记忆>

After finding out that the stock market has collapsed and your investments along with it, you'd probably collapse to the ground and sob uncontrollably.

这个词可以使用的范围很广:

物体的倒塌:The wall/roof collapse.

人/动物累倒:sb collapsed to the ground/ on the sofa

失败,瓦解(比喻义):The business collapse.

Empires collapse after revolutions

价格暴跌:wholesale electricity prices collapse

32. think tank:a company that does research for hire and issues reports on the implications 智囊团

33. vicious:a vicious circle恶性循环

1)violent and cruel:a vicious attack/criminal

2)intentionally harmful:spread vicious rumors about a person

3)very bad and severe:a vicious spiral of rising prices

34. deployment:assigning people to serve in various locations (for a specific mission)

<military> 2000 troops were deployed in the area.

<non-military> a deployment of workers to a new office.

foster deployment of renewables

double their(rooftop renewable energy)deployment

35. portfolio:

1)a large, flat briefcase used to hold papers and other loose materials, like maps or artwork. A portfolio is usually used to transport important documents

he remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio.

2)Utilities which are required to have renewables in their portfolio

36. as such utilities come closer to meeting their mandates, solar-power developers are being offered shorter-term fixed price with a higher subsequent exposure to(日后会遇到的情况) variable wholesale prices.

mandate:

1)gives authority to do sth

The election victory gave the party a clear mandate to continue its programme of reform.

If the government gives schools a mandate to test more, then the schools had better give more tests.

People who work for the Peace Corps have a mandate to help various countries with things like getting clean drinking water.

such utilities come closer to meeting their mandates

37. cannibalize:

1)to take parts of one machine to use in another, for example to repair it.

They cannibalized damaged planes for the parts.

It becomes necessary to cannibalize unsuccessful projects to fund those which can proceed.

2)to reduce the sales of one of its products by introducing a similar product

公司推出一种类似新产品来减少某种产品的销售

cannibalises its own competitiveness away.= It eats its own tail.

38. It is a fair bet that, the more renewables are exposed to comptition by contracts pegged to wholesale prices, the more people will shy away from them as well.

peg:

1)a short piece of wood, metal or plastic used for holding things together, hanging things on, marking a position.

There is a peg near the door to hang your coat on.

2)v./n. fasten or pierce something with a peg

secure a tent by driving metal pegs(n.) into the ground to hold it there.

peg(v.) her tent to the ground

All wet clothes were pegged out on the line.

3)fix or keep prices, wages at a particular level:peg st at/to sth

Pay increases will be pegged at 5%.

Uk trading profits were pegged at 40 million.

contracts pegged to wholesale prices.

4)v. to identify someone or something

I pegged you as a word lover.

shy away from sth:avoid doing sth because you are nervous or frightened

He never shied away from his responsibilities.

The newspapers have shied away from investigating the story.

39. Ever-lower capital costs, particularly in solar, could go some way to bucking this trend.

capital:the total amount of money (and things with a monetary value, like houses or cars) that a person or institution owns.

A bank's capital might be in the billions, while your capital barely makes it into the hundreds.

capital cost:the total cost needed to bring a project to a commercially operable status. They are fixed, one-time expenses incureed on the purchase of land, buildings, construction, and equipment used in the production of goods or in the rendering of services.

Capital costs do not include labor costs . Unlike operating costs, capital costs are one-time expenses but payment may be spread out over many years in financial reports and tax returns. Capital costs are fixed and are therefore independent of the level of output.

buck:resist:buck the trend

If someone bucks the system, they’re pushing against it.

40. incipent:means something is in an early stage of existence

It is important to note that when something is in an incipient stage, there is a chance it will never come to completion. So be on the lookout for incipient trouble or an incipient crisis — you might be able to prevent it from happening.

faces an incipent "utility death spiral":"death by a thousand cuts"

41. icon:a symbol

1)a symbol

Click on the printer icon with the mouse.

There is an icon for the effect that ...: it is called ...

2)a famous person or thing that people admire and see as a symbol of a particular idea, way of life and so on

In certain religions, statues of religious figures are referred to as icons––because they are prayed to as if they were the thing they represent.

Mahatma Gandhi is revered as an icon of peace and humanity, while Adolf Hitler is reviled as an icon of violence and hatred.

42. the "net metering" rate

<来自知网>net-metering  这其中meter作名词就有电表的意思  加ing可做动名词。net 除了“网”的意思还有“净”的意思(净利润的净)。所以这样就很好理解了,就是你用的电减去你发的电。你用的少发的多就挣了。用的多发的少就补差。为了便于记录,政府就给这些用户有一个额度账户。

43. precipitous

可以使用的范围很广:A sharp, steep drop — whether it's in a stock price, a roller coaster, or a star's popularity — could be described as a precipitous one.

The subsidies have helped costs of wind and solar to fall precipitously

44. Recent auctions for offshore wind farms have shown developers slashing prices to win fixed contracts to supply clean electricity for decades to come.

offshore:(of winds) coming from the land:offshore breezes

happening or existing in the sea:offshore drilling,an offshore island

45. The "levellised cost of electricity" for renewables-- the all-in cost of building and operationg a plant...

all-in cost:including the cost of all parts of sth

an all-in price of 500 dollars with no extras to pay

all-in health insurance 保健康全险

an all-in 5-day tour包括所有费用的五日之旅

46. they offer a potentially lucrative, subsidy-free investment opportunity

lucrative:producing a sizeable profit

The drug trade has proved very lucrative

47. It only makes sense if this is a package deal(一揽子交易). Elements of that package are already appearing.

48. commoditised(商品化的) kilowatt-hours

49. Smart grids bolstered by big data will do more to keep demand in line with supply.

bolster:improve sth or make it stronger

bolster one's confidence/courage/morale

When you bolster your friends, you support them and prop them up.

When you're trying to bolster your credibility, you find people and/or documents that support you or your view.

Bolster efforts to learn this word!

Falling interest rates may help to bolster up the economy.

keep demand in line with supply

demand-response

50. For the last 100 years everyone has made money upstream. Now the added value is coming downstream.

<安妮回答>

upstream:the producers and the distributors

downstream:the cutomers

Usually you pay and spend money at downstream as a customer. But in terms of utility, customers who install solar energy equipments are saving and even making money by feeding energy back to the grid.

过去人们通过买东西挣钱,现在人们可以通过买东西争取利润

51. Mr Huber likens the upheaval facing utilities to that seen in the telecoms indusrty a generation ago.

liken:When you liken one thing to another, you compare them and point out what they have in common.

<vocabulary有意思的例句>

You could liken your experience at the dentist to torture, or liken your dad's skill at baking pies to that of Rembrandt painting a portrait.

Your grandmother might liken her romance with your grandfather to a fairy tale, and you could then liken the day you spent listening to her stories to watching a long, dull movie.

upheaval:n.

1)a big change that causes a lot of confusion, worry and problems

the latest upheavals in the education system

You might talk about an upheaval in government following an election where many incumbents(the official who holds an office) are replaced

2)a rise of land to a higher elevation

the upheaval facing utilities

telecoms:systems used in transmitting messages over a distance electronically

52. always-on broadband:a method of sending many electric messages at the same time, using a wide range of frenquencies. 宽带

53. This is bad news for the vertically integrated giants that grew up in the age of centralised generating by the gigawatt(十亿瓦特).

integrate:make parts of something into a whole,or one unit

After the decision to integrate the schools, students of all races went to the same schools.

integrate a unit on thermodynamics into the curriculum

integrated:Integrated things are together

their records are integrated

education became integrated

centralized:adj. drawn toward a center or brought under the control of a central authority

centralized control of emergency relief efforts

centralized government

54. dozens of tech-like firms that are "nibbling" away at bits of utilities' traditional business models through innovations in grid optimisation and smart-home managment systems.

nibble:to eat in tiny bites

If you nibble your chocolate chip cookie while your sister gobbles(eat hastily without proper chewing) hers quickly

nibble away at:take away small amounts of sth, so that the total amount is gradually reduced 蚕食

Inflation is nibbling away at spending power

optimisation:the act of rendering optimal最优化

55. the "big beyond" in which domestic energy autonomy, the use of the blockchain in energy contracts, and crowdsourcing of PV installations and other technological disruptions doom the traditional utility.

拓展:blockchain

最近在一级市场互联网金融领域有一种黑技术特别的火,那就是区块链(BlockChain)。这是比特币(BitCoin)技术中的核心部分,其功能简单而言类似于一种账本,记录所有的交易数据。

insourcing:内包

内包是外包的一种应变措施,是指将外包功能完全交给企业的内部另一部门来执行。

outsourcing:外包

在讲究专业分工的二十世纪末,企业为维持组织竞争核心能力,且因组织人力不足的困境,可将组织的非核心业务委托给外部的专业公司,以降低营运成本,提高品质

美国医院把病症资料发到中国印度处理,处理后的资料再传回美国,中国印度收取费用的模式就是外包。而美国的某家知名餐厅把它的外买运输服务交给UPS或联邦快递(这两家都是美国企业),UPS或联邦快递收取费用的模式是内包。

crowdsource:众包

众包指的是一个公司或机构把过去由员工执行的工作任务,以自由自愿的形式外包给非特定的(而且通常是大型的)大众网络的做法。(就是通过网络做产品的开发需求调研,以用户的真实使用感受为出发点)

56. digitalise domestic energy, with home-hubs and thermostats

home hub:a family of wireless residential gateway router(路由器) modems distributed by BT for use with their own products and services as well as wholesale resellers.

thermostat:a device that measures and controls the temperature of a machine or room, by switching the heating or cooling system on and off as necessary.

57. they scream blue murder then the ights go out.

scream/cry blue murder:大喊大叫

blue murder:

58. That suggests progress may be slow and fitful. And it is possible that it could stall, leaving climate risks largely unabated.

fitful:happening only for short periods, not continuous and regular

I had a fitful night's sleep: I woke up several times throughout the night.

I've made only fitful progress trying to lose weight, because I lose only a few pounds at a time, and they almost always come right back.

The government is making slow and fitful progress in these negotiations.

stall:

1)to stop or delay

If your car stalls, it comes to a stop.

the peace progress stalled

2)to avoid doing sth so that you have more time 拖延

Your little sister can stall going to bed by asking for one more story.

3)If you stall someone, you prevent them from doing something until a later time

You can stall your professor from giving an exam by talking about last night’s big game.

unabated:continuing at full strength or intensity

the winds are unabated

the popularity of his books among young people continued unabated

his unabated enthusiasm for cinema

59. lay waste to 糟蹋,损坏:

They did not expect the invaders to lay waste to their civilization.

A nuclear holocaust can lay waste to the world.

The enemy lay waste to the countryside after the invasion.

lay waste the world's conventional electricity utilities


Day 9 思维图


图片发自简书App



Day 10-11 Summary

1)对于文章结构的二次梳理

How to structure the mindmap?


Annie的讲解笔记-1


Annie的讲解笔记-2

用自己的话阐释文章:

The passage explains the progress of a problem-- how the renewable energy eats its own tail-- in multiple stages from more than two aspects.

The passage is so complicated-structured, so we need first list the repeated elements whose basic relationship remains same on different stages. They are the government, renewable producers, the grid electricity, customers, and old generators like fossil fuel generators. The government subsidies for investment in renewable producers, who supply electricity to the grid electricity and get paid. The grid electricity likens to the executer who can charge prices, deliver electricities to households and give out contracts based on the profits they can make.

So how the seemingly promising renewable energy becomes a worsening problem? With no carbon emssion, low maintainence cost, and low marginal cost, renewable producers increased their penetration in the market. As a competitive energy, they push the old expensive producers off the market, and drag down the wholesale electricity price. With a large quantity of renewable generators in the market, more and more money are needed to pay for their capacity, while they get less and less capital to keep running, therefore falling into the trap they made for themselves.

2)Annie对词汇和句式的讲解,一些补充到了Day 8的笔记里,一些在以下总结:

1)finance v.s. fund

finance:provide capital and usually expect a return

finance intial capital to start a ongoing business which is likely to come back to benefit you

The building project will be financed by the government.

fund:give the money for free and don't expect any profits in return

finance you son's study 在经过一定融资过程(贷款,卖房)之后资助:找钱的过程

He took a job to finance his stay in Germany.

fund your son's study:给钱的过程

2)长句子分析:

The cows on the green fields produce manure that generates biogas which warms the Biergarten, the sports hall and many of the houses where the 2600 villagers live, as well as backing up the wind and solar generators in winter.

奶牛的粪便可以产生可燃气体,这些可燃气体可以给地方供暖,同时也可以给风能和太阳能能做一个替补选择。

风能,太阳能,生物能三者相互补充

3)All told, the village produces five time more electricity than it needs

all told是with all that is told/all being told的省略,表示把所有因素都考虑进来

all told:with everything included or counted

His crew was reduced to twenty-four all told.

So far there have been fourteen arrests all told.

4)be handsomely rewarded for their greeness

handsome:in a large amount

a handsome profit

5)the fight against climate change has seen huge growth in the "new" renewables.

see:witness event

Next year sees the centenary of Verdi's death.

This stadium has seen many thrilling football games.

6)<口语> Way to go! =Well done!

go a long/some way to/towards doing sth:help very much in achieving sth

The new law goes a long way towards solving the problem.

electricity grids redesigned for systems with a lot of renewable energy could go a long way to solving this probelm

Ever-lower capital costs, particularly in solar, could go some way to bucking this trend

7)商业里的competitive就是成本低,价格便宜

8)Robust carbon prices would give renewables further advantages, but they have as yet proved hard to provide. 但这种优势现在还没有发挥出来

carbon price:

the method favored by many economists for reducing global-warming emissions — charges those who emit carbon dioxide for their emissions.

prove当做be动词来用:

The promotion proved to be a turning point in his career.

Shares in the industry proved a poor investment.

9)pursuade sb of the benefits of ...

10)witness n.见证人 a witness to the accident

11)神奇的省略

This suggests that their growth might soon need a lot less subsidy than(省略that,指代subsidy) it has attracted to date.

But pushing renewables into the electricity market has had effects on (省略things)more than their price.

12)split in two 分成两半

split in half 分成相同的两份

13)倒装:Never in recent history has the deployment of capital been more difficult than it is right now within the energy industry.

把主要的动词(has)换到主语(the deployment of capital)后面

否定句(never)才需要倒装

The deployment of capital has never been more difficult than it is right now.

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