英國物價(jià)大幅上漲，推高生活成本，英國人認(rèn)為精打細(xì)算比以往任何時(shí)候都重要。本文淺議提高能源效率和減少開支的方法。

詞匯：finance?財(cái)務(wù)管理

We all want to?save?money, and with the?cost of living?on the rise in the UK, it’s become more important than ever to watch what we?spend. The biggest increase in our?expenditure?at the moment is on energy – the oil, gas and electricity we use to power and heat our homes. That’s why many of us are looking at ways to save energy so we don’t have to?shell out?on huge fuel?bills.

我們都想省錢，隨著英國生活成本的上升，精打細(xì)花變得比以往任何時(shí)候都重要。目前，我們支出增長最多的是能源——我們用來給家庭供電和供暖的石油、天然氣和電力。這就是為什么我們很多人都在尋找節(jié)省能源的方法，這樣我們就不必在巨大的燃料賬單上花錢。

Making our home more energy efficient is the obvious way to save money. To try to achieve this, new homes in the UK will be banned from installing new gas and oil boilers by 2025. Having a heat pump instead can help save energy, but they’re?unaffordable?for many people, unless they’ve got spare cash?stashed?away.

讓我們的家更節(jié)能是顯而易見的省錢方法。為了實(shí)現(xiàn)這一目標(biāo)，到2025年，英國的新住宅將被禁止安裝新的燃?xì)夂腿加湾仩t。擁有一臺(tái)熱泵可以幫助節(jié)省能源，但對(duì)許多人來說是負(fù)擔(dān)不起的，除非他們有備用現(xiàn)金。

If your home feels like a?money pit, there are some?low-budget?solutions you can turn to to lower your energy usage. Warm air escapes our homes easily, so adding draught excluders or a rolled-up towel to block these gaps will help.?Investing?in new double glazing will certainly insulate your home better, but if it is too?costly, it might be worth using some heavy curtains to stop the heat escaping. Switching off lights is also a good idea.

如果你的家感覺像一個(gè)金錢坑，有一些低預(yù)算的解決方案，你可以轉(zhuǎn)向降低你的能源使用。溫暖的空氣很容易從我們的家里逸出，所以增加通風(fēng)裝置或卷起毛巾來堵住這些縫隙會(huì)有所幫助。投資新的雙層玻璃肯定會(huì)使你的房子隔熱更好，但如果它太昂貴，可能值得使用一些厚窗簾來阻止熱量逃逸。關(guān)燈也是一個(gè)好主意。

But there are lots of other little things we can do around the home that will help save energy, don’t?cost a fortune?and that just require?tweaks?to our behaviour. They could be as good as installing, fitting or making anything. Put lids on pots and pans when cooking – the food will be ready quicker. Use a microwave to reheat food rather than the oven. Don’t overfill your kettle when boiling water, and don’t leave electrical items on standby. Jo Patterson from Cardiff University’s Welsh School of Architecture told the BBC that a combination of small?measures?like these could?reduce?household energy bills by about 10%.

但是我們可以在家里做很多其他的小事情，這些事情可以幫助我們節(jié)約能源，不花一大筆錢，只需要調(diào)整我們的行為。它們可以像安裝、安裝或制作任何東西一樣好。煮的時(shí)候蓋上鍋蓋，這樣食物就會(huì)煮得更快。使用微波爐重新加熱食物，而不是烤箱。燒水時(shí)不要把水壺裝得太滿，也不要讓電器處于待機(jī)狀態(tài)?？ǖ戏虼髮W(xué)威爾士建筑學(xué)院的喬·帕特森告訴BBC，這些小措施的結(jié)合可以減少大約10%的家庭能源賬單。

So, we’re being encouraged to be more fuel efficient. But our main aim isn’t just?financial?– we need to do it to reduce our carbon footprint, so that our energy usage doesn’t?cost the Earth.

因此，我們被鼓勵(lì)提高燃油效率。但我們的主要目標(biāo)不僅僅是財(cái)政上的——我們需要這樣做來減少我們的碳足跡，這樣我們的能源使用就不會(huì)給地球造成損失。

詞匯表

save 節(jié)省，節(jié)約
cost of living 生活費(fèi)用
spend 花（錢）
expenditure 支出
shell out （通常指不情愿地）支付（一大筆錢）
bill 賬單
unaffordable 支付不起的
stash 藏匿，存放
money pit 大錢坑，需要不斷投錢的無底洞
low-budget 低成本的
invest 投資（購買）
costly 昂貴的
cost a fortune 極其昂貴，花大價(jià)錢
tweak 稍作調(diào)整，稍稍改進(jìn)
measure 方法
reduce 降低，減少
financial 經(jīng)濟(jì)上的
cost the Earth 讓地球付出代價(jià) (cost the earth 的原意是 “花費(fèi)一大筆錢”)

測(cè)驗(yàn)與練習(xí)

1.?閱讀課文并回答問題。

1. What will be banned from being installed in new homes in the UK by 2025?

2. How can you stop warm air escaping from your home?

3. Why might it be difficult for someone to install a heat pump or double gazing?

4. As well as helping our finances, what is the other benefit of using energy more efficiently?

5. True or false??Putting more water than you need in your kettle is not energy-efficient.

2.?選擇意思恰當(dāng)?shù)膯卧~或詞組來完成下列句子。

1. I’m going to my brother’s wedding, so I have to _______ for a new suit.

shelling out? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?shell out? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? out shell? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? shells out

2. It’s quite _______ to take the train to London, so we’re going by bus instead.

financial? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?expenditure? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?costly? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? cost the earth

3. Our food _______ keeps rising, so I’m going to start buying supermarket branded goods.

measures? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? invest? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? cost of living? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?bill

4. My holiday to Spain _______, but it was well worth it!

cost a fortune? ? ? ? ? ? cost a fortunately? ? ? ? ? ?cost the fortune? ? ? ? ? costs a fortune

5. My grandma _______ all her money under the bed rather than put it into a bank.

finance? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?stashed? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?measures? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? unaffordable

答案

1.?閱讀課文并回答問題。?

1. What will be banned from being installed in new homes in the UK by 2025?
New homes in the UK will be banned from installing new gas and oil boilers by 2025.

2. How can you stop warm air escaping from your home?
Adding draught excluders or a rolled-up towel to block gaps, or using heavy curtains will help.

3. Why might it be difficult for someone to install a heat pump or double gazing?
Heat pumps and double glazing can be expensive to install.

4. As well as helping our finances, what is the other benefit of using energy more efficiently?
It can reduce our carbon footprint.

5. True or false??Putting more water than you need in your kettle is not energy-efficient.
True. Not overfilling your kettle when boiling water will save energy.

2.?選擇意思恰當(dāng)?shù)膯卧~或詞組來完成下列句子。

1. I’m going to my brother’s wedding, so I have to?shell out?for a new suit.

2. It’s quite?costly?to take the train to London, so we’re going by bus instead.

3. Our food?bill?keeps rising, so I’m going to start buying supermarket branded goods.

4. My holiday to Spain?cost a fortune, but it was well worth it!

5. My grandma?stashed?all her money under the bed rather than put it into a bank.

文章來源BBC，侵權(quán)刪，本文僅用于英語學(xué)習(xí)。