外刊精读丨经济学人：可以海陆空运输的便携式核电站？

◀ 写在前面：

1. 看讲解注释前，请先尝试自己通读一遍文章。这样在看讲解时目的性会更强，效果也会更好。

2. 词语释义：编者会以“英释英”的方式解释一个词或短语。这样可以帮助大家用自己已经掌握的词汇去理解新词汇的运用方法。一开始或会有些不适，但坚持些许时日，会大有裨益！

3. 词性缩写：

# N-C：N-COUNT 可数名词

# N-U：N-UNCOUNT 不可数名词

# VI ：Intransitive Verb 不及物动词

# VT：Transitive Verb 及物动词

# V-Link：系动词

◀ 目录：

1. 正文

2. 分段注释：共 5 部分

正文

Atomic energy

Fun-sized fission

Nuclear power plants are coming to a battlefield near you

War zones are dangerous places. Where better, then, for a nuclear reac- tor? On March 9th America’s government awarded a trio of firms $39.7m to design “microreactors” that can supply a few megawatts of power to remote military bases, and be moved quickly by road, rail, sea and air.

The idea of small reactors is as old as nuclear power itself. In July 1951, five months before a reactor in Idaho became the first in the world to produce usable electricity through fission, America began building USS Nautilus, a nuclear-powered submarine. In the 1960s and 1970s small reactors powered bases in Alaska and Greenland, a radar facility in Wyoming, a research station in Antarctica and—from a cargo ship—the Panama Canal Zone. America still uses nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft-carriers. But land-based mini-reactors proved unreliable and expensive and have fallen out of favour.

Interest has been revived by recent wars, in which American forces proved extraordinarily hungry for energy. Early in the Iraq war, fuel made up over a third of the tonnage transported to the region. Between 2001 and 2010, over half of Americancasualties in Iraq and Afghanistan occurred during land-transport missions, many involving fuel deliveries to remote outposts. Portable reactors could substitute for unreliable power grids or the generators that often take their place.

America’s armed forces use about 30 terawatt-hours of electricity per year—about the same as Ireland—and more than 35m litres of fuel per day. In 2016 a report by the Defence Science Board, a committee of experts, concluded that demand would surge as new power-hungry weapons, like lasers and rail-guns, come to maturity. Vehicles are also moving away from fossil fuels: America expects to have all-electric brigades within the decade. A report by the army in 2018 said that Holos, a prototype mobile nuclear reactor, would be 62% cheaper than using liquid fuel.

分段注释

01

Atomic energy

Fun-sized fission

Nuclear power plants are coming to a battlefield near you

原子能

大小耐人寻味的裂变

核电站将会变成你附近的战场

War zones are dangerous places. Where better, then, for a nuclear reac- tor? On March 9th America’s government awarded a trio of firms $39.7m to design “microreactors” that can supply a few megawatts of power to remote military bases, and be moved quickly by road, rail, sea and air.

战区是危险的地方。那么，对于核反应堆来说，放在哪里更好呢？3月9日，美国政府给三家公司3970万美元，用于设计“微型反应堆”，该反应堆可以为偏远的军事基地提供几兆瓦的电力，并可快速地通过公路、铁路、海上和空中快速进行运输。

• Atomic energy 原子能Atom = (physics and chemistry) the smallest component of an element having the chemical properties of the element N-C 原子
• Fun-sized 大小（尺寸）耐人寻味的。这里的fun不应理解为“有趣的”意思，文章作者用fun应是反讽，即fun应该意为“耐人寻味的”。
• Nuclear power plant(s) will come to a battlefield near you 核电站会变成一个距离你很近的战场（或：核电站会将你置于距离战场附近。即：文中所述的那种便携式核反应堆，可能就在你的身边，从而使你如置身于战场一般）

(1)Plant = the land, buildings, machinery, apparatus, and fixtures employed in carrying on a trade or an industrial business N-C 工厂（土地、高楼、机器、设施以及其他固定资产，部署来用于商业或工业的）

(2)A come to sth 即：A变成了某物

• War zones 战区
• a trio of firms 三家公司。Trio = a set of three similar things considered as a unit N （相类似的）三个人或三个事物E.g. A trio of men commit the crime. 三个人共同实施了犯罪。
• a few megawatts of power 几兆瓦的电力Megawatt N-C 兆瓦（1兆瓦a megawatt，等于100万瓦one million watts）
• be moved quickly by road, rail, sea and air 可以快速地通过陆路，铁路和航空进行运输。

02

The idea of small reactors is as old as nuclear power itself. In July 1951, five months before a reactor in Idaho became the first in the world to produce usable electricity through fission, America began building USS Nautilus, a nuclear-powered submarine.

小型反应堆的想法和核能这个概念出现于同一时期。1951年7月，早在爱达荷州的一个反应堆成为世界上第一个通过核裂变产生可用电力的反应堆的5个月前，美国就已经开始建造一种核驱动潜艇“鹦鹉螺号”。

03

In the 1960s and 1970s small reactors powered bases in Alaska and Greenland, a radar facility in Wyoming, a research station in Antarctica and—from a cargo ship—the Panama Canal Zone. America still uses nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft-carriers. But land-based mini-reactors proved unreliable and expensive and have fallen out of favour.

在20世纪60年代和70年代，有了位于阿拉斯加和格陵兰岛的小型反应堆基地、怀俄明州的雷达设施、南极洲的研究站，以及位于一只货船上的巴拿马运河区研究站。美国还应用有核动力潜艇和航空母舰。但事实证明，陆基微型反应堆不稳定，且造价昂贵，故不再受到青睐。

• reactors powered bases （核）反应堆供能基地reactors （核）反应堆
• and—from a cargo ship—the Panama Canal Zone

(1)…and—…—… 英语中破折号的用法很灵活，最为常见也最为重要的一种用法即用来补充所要叙述的内容。针对本句，两个破折号中间的内容，是对最后一个破折号之后的内容的补充，而不是对and之前的内容的补充。

(2)a cargo ship 货船。扩展：这里指的是美国在上世纪所部署的核武计划（ANPP），其中就包括本文所提及的位于南极洲的PM-3A，和位于巴拿马运河地区的MH-1A。而位于巴拿马运河地区的MH-1A则是一艘barge，即“大型的平底船”。在1968年到1977年一直停泊于巴拿马大运河，以用于供能。

• proved unreliable and expensive （经实践）被证明是不可靠的并且昂贵的。

(1)prove在此是个系动词。所有连接“主语”与“描述主语的意群的词（表语）”，都可以称之为系动词。(2)常见的系动词有be动词，seem/ appear/prove，look等。所以本句中，prove就是系动词，后跟unreliable and expensive是本句的表语，用来补充说明主语mini-reactors。

• fall out of favour 不再受到青睐；失宠E.g.This idea has long since fallen out of favor. 这种想法已经不受推崇了。

04

Interest has been revived by recent wars, in which American forces proved extraordinarily hungry for energy. Early in the Iraq war, fuel made up over a third of the tonnage transported to the region.

但 近些年来的的战争重新激起了人们对它的兴趣，战争中美国军队被证明极度渴求能源。在伊拉克战争初期，运往该地区的燃料占总吨数的三分之一以上。

• Interest has been revived by... 兴趣重新被...唤起。Revive sth = become, or to make something become, active, successful, or popular again V重新唤起...；使...重新变得流行；
• In which American forces proved extraordinarily hungry for... 发现美国军队极其的需要...

(1)发现大家总是对非限制性定语从句有很多疑问。大家要想为什有个“限制性定从”，还要有个“非限制性定从”，限制性定从说白了就是一个“很长的形容词”，为什么叫“限制性”？因为形容词就是限制语。为什么叫限制语？大家想一想，如果我说“你可真漂亮啊”，是不是就是在限制你？你本来有很多种可能，你本来可以“很难看，很邋遢”，我非要说你“很漂亮”，这不是在限制你？

(2)那什么是“非限制性定从”，你可以理解为它就是个“变态的限制性定从”，即，它修饰的不是某个词，而是两个以上的词（一个意群），或一个句子。其实说白了，它是在对前面的句子进行补充和说明。

(3)再来说一下介词前置的句子。其实很简单——首先，介词通常是和从句后面的某个词形成搭配的，之所以放前面，是为了强调介词和先行词间的逻辑关系。第二，大家把每个关联词（that;which等这一堆）看成是定从修饰的先行词。能想到这一步，就好理解了。举个之前文章里面的例子“weakened state capacity from which the western empire never recovered 那个西方帝国的国力自此衰颓，一蹶不振。”本句中，from和从句末尾的recover形成搭配，关联词which其实就是先行词capacity的代词，也就是说which指的就是capacity。

(4)本句in which ... 就是一个非限制性定从。修饰的是前一句中的recent wars。in which，即in recent wars。从句的正常语序即：American forces proved extraordinarily hungry for energy in which （=in recent wars）。

(5)Forces 武装力量；军队（海陆空三军）

(6)Prove V-LINK 结果是..；发现是....；被证明是... 在此还是做系动词。

• tonnage = he size of a ship, or the amount of goods that it can carry, measured in tons N-MASS 吨数（以吨做单位，表示船舶所能载运的货物的量的）

E.g.Washington is the nation's largest producer of juice grapes, contributing about half the annual tonnage. 华盛顿是这个国家最大的葡萄汁生产地，占到全年一半的产量。

05

Between 2001 and 2010, over half of American casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan occurred during land-transport missions, many involving fuel deliveries to remote outposts. Portable reactors could substitute for unreliable power grids or the generators that often take their place.

从2001年到2010年，美国在伊拉克和阿富汗的战争中的伤亡数，半数以上都是在陆地运输任务中发生的，很多（任务）都是为了向边远哨所运送燃料。便携式反应堆可以替换掉不稳定的电网或经常作为备用的发电机。

• casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan occurred during land-transport missions 在伊拉克和阿富汗（战争中），于执行陆路运输任务时所发生的伤亡

(1)casualties occurred during... 在...期间发生的伤亡

(2)Casualty N-C 伤亡人员

(3)occur = happen,or take place especially unexpectedly VI （突然）发生；出现

(4)land-transport 陆路运输

• remote outposts 边远的前哨（基地） Outpost = a security detachment dispatched by a main body of troops to protect it from enemy surprise N-C 前哨（基地）
• A substitute for sth 即用A替代某物
• power grid(s) = a system of high tension cables by which electrical power is distributed throughout a region N-C 电网

06

America’s armed forces use about 30 terawatt-hours of electricity per year—about the same as Ireland—and more than 35m litres of fuel per day. In 2016 a report by the Defence Science Board, a committee of experts, concluded that demand would surge as new power-hungry weapons, like lasers and rail-guns, come to maturity.

美国军队每年消耗约30太瓦时的电力，与爱尔兰（每年的用电量）相当，每天消耗超过3500万升燃料。2016年，国防科学委员会(一个专家委员会)的一份报告得出结论——随着新型高耗电武器，如激光和轨道炮发展成熟，（能源）需求将会激增。

• 30 terawatt-hours of electricity 30太瓦时的电力terawatt-hour N-C 太瓦（等于1百万兆瓦one million megawatt，等于一万亿瓦one trillion watts））
• power-hungry weapons 高耗能的武器
• Laser N-C 激光武器
• rail-gun = entirely electrical gun which uses a homopolar motor to accelerate projectiles 电磁轨道炮
• come to maturity 发展成熟

07

Vehicles are also moving away from fossil fuels: America expects to have all-electric brigades within the decade. A report by the army in 2018 said that Holos, a prototype mobile nuclear reactor, would be 62% cheaper than using liquid fuel.

机动车也正抛弃使用石油：美国预计在十年内将拥有全电动的机动车。军方2018年的一份报告称，作为移动核反应堆原型的Holos，将比使用液体燃料便宜62%。

• move away from fossil fuels 抛弃不用石油

(1)move away from sth （机械术语）抛弃不再使用...

(2)move away from sth （通常）转变/改变...

E.g.More and more people are moving away from/towards vegetarianism. 愈来愈多的认定转变为了素食主义者。

• all-electric brigades 纯电动的机动车。brigades表示一类东西。Brigade N-C （有共同特征的）一类人或物
• a prototype mobile nuclear reactor 一种可移动式核反应堆的原型prototype N-C 样机；原始样型