評論
打印
W: Good morning, Mr. Green.
女：早上好，格林先生。
M: Good morning, Helen. Come and sit down. Um, we were a bit worried about your progress last term. But you've done some very good work recently. And I think it's barely safe to assume you'll pass the course now. In fact, if you can keep up this standard, we could very well be looking at a credit.
男：早上好，海倫。過來坐吧。上學期我們對你的進度有些擔心。但你最近做得很好。我覺得現在假設你能通過這門課還不太保險。事實上，如果你能保持現在的水平，那么通過的可能性很大。
W: A credit, really?
女：通過，真的嗎？
M: Yes. As long as you keep up the good work. Anyway, the other thing we need to talk about is your next assignment. Right?
男：是的。只要你繼續努力。不管怎樣，我們還得談談你的下一個任務。對吧？
W: Right.
女：是的。
M: And you want to look at the subject of oil.
男：你想考慮石油這個話題。
W: Yes, it's a pretty major issue. I mean, there are millions of buses and cars and trucks in the world, all dependent on oil. And then the airline industry is carrying more and more people around world every year. So you have to consider global warming.
女：是的，這是一個相當重要的問題。我的意思是，世界上有數百萬輛公共汽車、小汽車和卡車，它們都依賴石油。航空業每年都在運送越來越多的人到世界各地。所以你必須考慮到全球變暖。
M: Hang on a minute. I wouldn't go into global warming if I were you. That's a huge subject in its own right. And quite a controversial one, I might add. The assignment is only supposed to be 3,000 words, remember? If you're not careful, you'll be writing a 30,000-word thesis.
男：等一下。如果我是你，我不會去研究全球變暖。這本身就是一個巨大的課題。我得補充一句，這是一個相當有爭議的課題。作業要求只有3千字，記得嗎？如果你不注意，可能就會寫出一篇3萬字的論文。
W: OK.
女：好的。
M: Now let's start with a few basics. Do you know how much energy is actually used for fuel, compared with other things?
男：現在讓我們從一些基礎知識開始吧。你知道與其他東西相比，實際上有多少能量被用作燃料嗎？
W: Yes. I found some statistics. It's here somewhere. Ah, yes. Transportation. That accounts for about a quarter of world energy. Quite a bit less than industry. But it's still a significant proportion.
女：是的。我找到了一些統計數據。就在這里的某個地方。啊，找到了。交通工具。它大約消耗世界能源的四分之一。比工業少得多。但仍是一個相當大的比例。
M: And what is the figure for industry, as a matter of interest?
男：出于興趣問一下，工業上的這一數字是多少？
W: That's almost 45%.
女：差不多是45%。
M: And the rest?
男：其余的呢？
W: The other 30% or so goes into buildings for things like heating and air conditioning. But anyway, the main point I wanted to make was that we can't go on relying on oil forever.
女：其余的30%左右用于建筑供暖和空調等。但無論如何，我想表達的主要觀點是我們不能永遠依賴石油。
M: So you think oil is running out. Have you any evidence of that?
男：這么說你認為石油快要用完了。你有這方面的證據嗎？
W: Yes, several major oil producers are already producing less.
女：是的，幾個主要的石油生產國已經在減產了。
M: For example?
男：舉個例子？
W: Well, Russia is a good example, and Mexico is another. Apparently, even Saudi Arabia will reach its peak in a few more years.
女：嗯，俄羅斯是一個很好的例子，墨西哥也是一個。顯然，就連沙特阿拉伯也將在幾年后達到頂峰。
M: Interesting. Okay. And do you know which countries use the most oil?
男：有意思。好吧。那你知道哪些國家使用石油最多嗎？
W: Yes. 1/3 of the world's oil goes to North America. Worst of all is the USA, which gets through 459 gallons of gasoline per head every year. And Canada isn't far behind, with 303 gallons. Quite a long way after that comes Germany and then Japan.
女：是的，世界上三分之一的石油流向北美。最糟糕的是美國，人均每年要消耗459加侖汽油。加拿大緊隨其后，為303加侖。在那之后是德國和日本，和它們相差很多。
M: Good. That's very useful data. Now, I suppose the other thing you need to look at is possible solutions in the last section. Any ideas?
男：很好。這是非常有用的數據?，F在，我想你需要考慮的另一件事是，最后一部分中可能的解決方案。有什么想法嗎?
W: I haven't really got that far yet.
女：我現在還沒到那一部分。
M: Okay. Well, I think we'd better leave it there. You seem to have a lot of useful information already. And you just need to work out the last section. And don't forget the word limit.
男：好的。嗯，我想我們就到這吧。你似乎已經擁有很多有用的信息了。你只需要把最后一部分搞定就行了。別忘了字數限制。
W: I won't. Thanks for the help.
女：不會忘的，謝謝你的幫助。
M: Pleasure.
男：不客氣。
