《新视野英语知识讲义》book4unit7a课件.doc

Unit?7 Text A??Reading in detail Read the text in detail. You can refer to Translation and Language Points when necessary. play stop mute max volume 00:00 00:00 A+ ? A- ? Language points ? Translation ?The coming energy crisis 1 Two hundred years ago, the world experienced an energy revolution that launched the Industrial Age.?Ever since then, with the rapid increase of population?density, the industrialized worlds thirst for energy has more than?tripled.?Petroleum and natural gas are exploited as versatile and high quality energy products.?Uranium?is also tapped to fuel nuclear reactors and provide atomic energy. 2?Cheap energy is the lifeblood of human society.?But there is a dark side to the near?monopoly?of non-renewable?fossil?fuels like coal, oil and natural gas, along with controversial uranium, to supply our growing energy demands.?The supply of these fuels is physically limited, and their use threatens our health and environment.?Multiple international?treaties?have been proposed to limit the use of fossil fuels for this very reason.?Fears of global warming aside, burning fossil fuels releases chemicals and?particulates?that can cause breathing problems, cancer as well as brain and nerve damage.?Nuclear energy, once hailed as too cheap to meter, has never been economically successful when all costs are factored in.?Furthermore, public opinion?polls?show nuclear energy is too closely associated with disasters like the?Chernobyl?reactor meltdown and the?Fukushimaexplosion, and with the danger that rebel?insurgents?could do damage with the toxic waste.?Inexpensive and seemingly abundant non-renewable energy from dead plants and?extinct?animals fueled the 20th century economy, but geologists, climatologists, environmentalists, and many others are warning that the honeymoon may soon be over. 3?At some?indefinite?time in the near future, the last drop of oil, lump of coal or?wisp?of natural gas will be collected from the earth.?The eventual depletion of fossil