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原文選自?Scientific?American

文章主要描述了建筑行業(yè)的新轉(zhuǎn)向

即在建造有關(guān)建筑時(shí)，關(guān)注材料的環(huán)保性

本文難度主要體現(xiàn)在專業(yè)性詞匯比較多

聯(lián)系小編即可領(lǐng)取pdf版

Constructing?Buildings That Have a Positive?Impact on Climate and Biodiversity

建造對(duì)氣候和生物多樣性有積極影響的建筑

Part

1

Our?built environment?— from houses to offices, schools and shops — is not?environmentally benign. Buildings and the?construction industry?are, in fact, the world’s biggest consumer of?raw materials?and contribute 25–40% of global?carbon dioxide?emissions. Making buildings part of a?circular economy?that?minimizes?the waste of materials could therefore?yield?huge?environmental rewards. Conversely, failure on this?front?could have?dire?consequences.

我們的建筑環(huán)境，從房屋到辦公室、學(xué)校和商店，都不是環(huán)境友好的。事實(shí)上，建筑和建筑業(yè)是最大的原材料消耗領(lǐng)域，占全球二氧化碳排放量的25%至40%。因此，使建筑成為循環(huán)經(jīng)濟(jì)的一部分，最大限度地減少材料浪費(fèi)，可能會(huì)帶來巨大的環(huán)境回報(bào)。相反，這方面的失敗可能會(huì)帶來極其嚴(yán)重的后果。

【注解】

built environment 建筑環(huán)境、人造環(huán)境，與natural environment（自然環(huán)境）相對(duì)

environmentally benign 對(duì)環(huán)境友好的，benign表示“溫和的、善良的”，發(fā)音是/b??na?n/，這個(gè)詞組可與environmentally friendly互換

construction industry 建筑產(chǎn)業(yè)

raw materials 原材料，其中raw表示“生的、未經(jīng)加工的”，比如“生肉”指的就是沒有經(jīng)過翻譯的字幕

carbon dioxide 二氧化碳

emission [i?m??n] n. 排放

circular economy 循環(huán)經(jīng)濟(jì)

minimize [?m?n?ma?z] v. 減少、使最小化

yield [ji?ld] v. 產(chǎn)生（收益、效益等），可與produce互換

environmental reward 環(huán)境回報(bào)

front [fr?nt] n. 領(lǐng)域，屬于“熟詞僻義”。根據(jù)《韋氏字典》對(duì)front的釋義an area of activity or interest可知該詞表示的就是某種“領(lǐng)域”，近義詞有field, domain等

dire [?da??(r)] adj. 極其嚴(yán)重的，近義詞serious, detrimental, harmful等，可以替換

consequence [?k?ns?kw?ns] n. 結(jié)果、后果

Part

2

“Buildings can, and must , work in a circular way,” says Francesco Pomponi, who studies the built environment at Edinburgh Napier University, UK. “Otherwise, there’s no?way out?of the?climate crisis.”

英國愛丁堡龍比亞大學(xué)（Edinburgh Napier University）建筑環(huán)境研究專家弗朗切斯科·蓬波尼（Francesco Popononi）表示：“建筑可以而且必須以循環(huán)方式工作。否則，氣候危機(jī)就沒有出路。”

【注解】

way out 出路，out副詞作后置定語

climate crisis?氣候危機(jī)

Part

3

Take?concrete, made by mixing?gravel,?cement?and water. It is the world’s most widely used building material, yet it is also a huge?carbon source,?accounting for?up to?8% of global human-made carbon emissions. Cement, more than four billion tonnes of which are made each year, is the biggest?contributor. Its production requires?limestone?(primarily?composed of?calcium carbonate) to be heated to yield lime (calcium oxide). The?reaction?releases CO2, and yet more CO2?is produced by?fuel combustion?to?generate?the heat.?

以混凝土為例，它由礫石、水泥和水混合而成。它是世界上使用最廣泛的建筑材料，但也是一個(gè)巨大的碳源，占全球人造碳排放量的8%。水泥每年產(chǎn)量超過40億噸，是碳排放的最大的貢獻(xiàn)者。其生產(chǎn)需要將石灰石（主要由碳酸鈣組成）加熱以生成石灰（氧化鈣）。反應(yīng)釋放CO2，而燃料燃燒會(huì)產(chǎn)生更多的CO2以產(chǎn)生熱量。

【注解】

concrete [?k??kri?t] n. 混凝土

gravel?[?ɡr?vl] n. 沙礫、礫石

cement?[s??ment] n. 水泥

carbon source?碳源

account for （數(shù)量或比例上）占，可與occupy, take up互換

up to?多達(dá)、高達(dá)

contributor?[k?n?tr?bj?t?(r)] n. 貢獻(xiàn)者

limestone?[?la?mst??n] n. 石灰石

primarily?[pra??mer?li] adj. 主要地

be composed of 由...構(gòu)成，可與be made up of，consist of替換。注意consist of不用被動(dòng)

calcium carbonate?碳酸鈣

calcium oxide?氧化鈣

reaction?[ri??k?n] n. 反應(yīng)

fuel combustion?燃料燃燒

generate?[?d?en?re?t]?產(chǎn)生（電、熱等）

Part

4

Across the globe, engineers, construction companies and?architects?are beginning to?embrace?and apply the?circular model. There are?ample?opportunities to improve the materials that are used in construction, to introduce circular design?principles?so that those materials can be?properly?repurposed, and — even more?ambitiously?— to create buildings that make a positive contribution to climate and biodiversity.

在全球范圍內(nèi)，工程師、建筑公司和建筑師開始接受并應(yīng)用循環(huán)模型。有充分的機(jī)會(huì)來改進(jìn)建筑中使用的材料，引入循環(huán)設(shè)計(jì)原則，以便這些材料能夠被適當(dāng)?shù)刂匦吕茫踔粮鼊蓬^十足地創(chuàng)造對(duì)氣候和生物多樣性做出積極貢獻(xiàn)的建筑。

【注解】

across the globe 全世界，可與throughout the world, around the world互換

architect [?ɑ?k?tekt] n. 建筑師

embrace [?m?bre?s] vt. 欣然接受，原意為“擁抱”，“欣然接受”為引申意

circular model 循環(huán)模式

ample [??mpl] adj. 充足的，近義詞plenty of

principle [?pr?ns?pl] n. 原則

properly [?pr?p?li] adv. 正確地；適當(dāng)?shù)?/p>

repurpose [?ri??p??p?s]?vt. （為適合某種新用途）對(duì)...稍加修改

ambitiously?[?m?b???sli] adv. 雄心勃勃地、勁頭十足地

Part

5

Innovations?in materials could help to make concrete a more?sustainable?option. Adding?graphene?— a 2D form of carbon—into the mix, for example, might improve the?environmental footprint?by strengthening concrete and thus reducing the amount needed for a particular?application.?Sprinkling?it into concrete could bring?enormous?benefits, according to Nationwide Engineering, a company?based in?Amesbury, UK, that developed this mixture, called Concretene, in?collaboration?with researchers at the University of Manchester, UK. The first building to benefit from Concretene was a gym in Amesbury in May 2021, which had a new floor?laid?using the material.

材料創(chuàng)新有助于使混凝土成為更可持續(xù)的選擇。例如，將石墨烯（一種2D形式的碳）添加到混合物中，可以通過加強(qiáng)混凝土，從而減少特定運(yùn)用時(shí)所需的量，來改善環(huán)境足跡。英國埃姆斯伯里國家工程公司（Nationwide Engineering）與英國曼徹斯特大學(xué)（University of Manchester）的研究人員合作開發(fā)了這種混合物，稱將其少量融合至混凝土中可以帶來巨大的好處。第一座受益于混凝土的建筑是2021年5月在埃姆斯伯里的一座體育館，該體育館使用這種材料鋪設(shè)了一層新地板。

【注解】

innovation [??n??ve??n] n. 創(chuàng)造；創(chuàng)新

sustainable?[s??ste?n?bl] adj. 可持續(xù)的，sustainable development（可持續(xù)發(fā)展）

option?[??p?n] n. 選項(xiàng)

graphene?[?ɡr?fi?n] n. 石墨烯（由碳原子構(gòu)成的單層片狀結(jié)構(gòu)的納米材料）

environmental footprint?環(huán)境足跡，是人類對(duì)地球生態(tài)系統(tǒng)需求的一種衡量指標(biāo)

application?[??pl??ke??n] n. （對(duì)某種理論或發(fā)現(xiàn)的）運(yùn)用

sprinkle?[?spr??kl] vt. 把...灑在...上，此處引申為“使...包含在...中”

enormous?[??n??m?s] adj. 巨大的、龐大的

be based in 總部在...地方，in后面一般加地點(diǎn)，要注意和be based on（基于）之間的區(qū)別

collaboration?[k??l?b??re??n] n. 合作、協(xié)作

lay?[le?] vt. 鋪設(shè)、放置