托福閱讀文章題材涉獵廣泛，內(nèi)容牽涉各類話題學(xué)科領(lǐng)域，想要在托福實考時更迅速準(zhǔn)確地理解文章做對題目，適當(dāng)擴充相關(guān)題材的閱讀量會有效助力我們托福閱讀提升，并且也可以通過此類拓展閱讀積累詞匯與句式，應(yīng)用到我們的托福寫作中。下面我們就來看一篇經(jīng)濟學(xué)人雙語閱讀素材：The death of the internal combustion engine。
內(nèi)燃機之死 死于路上
內(nèi)燃機曾經(jīng)輝煌，但這種改變了世界的機器末日漸至
The death of the internal combustion engine
Roadkill
The internal combustion engine had a good run. But the end is in sight for the machine that changed the world
“HUMAN inventiveness…h(huán)as still not found a mechanical process to replace horses as the propulsion for vehicles,” lamented Le Petit Journal, a French newspaper, in December 1893. Its answer was to organise the Paris-Rouen race for horseless carriages, held the following July. The 102 entrants included vehicles powered by steam, petrol, electricity, compressed air and hydraulics. Only 21 qualified for the 126km (78-mile) race, which attracted huge crowds. The clear winner was the internal combustion engine. Over the next century it would go on to power industry and change the world.
“以人類的創(chuàng)造力......竟仍未找到一種取代馬匹拉動車輛的機械方式。”1893年12月，法國報紙《小日報》(Le Petit Journal)發(fā)出如此哀嘆。次年7月舉辦的巴黎至魯昂的“無馬馬車”比賽對此哀嘆做出了回應(yīng)。102輛車報名，動力方式包括蒸汽、汽油、電力、壓縮空氣和液壓裝置。最終只有21輛車獲得參加這一126公里比賽的資格，吸引了大量民眾前來觀看。內(nèi)燃機大獲全勝。在接下來的一個世紀(jì)里，它又為工業(yè)發(fā)展提供動力，改變了整個世界。
The big end
But its days are numbered. Rapid gains in battery technology favour electric motors instead. In Paris in 1894 not a single electric car made it to the starting line, partly because they needed battery-replacement stations every 30km or so. Today’s electric cars, powered by lithium-ion batteries, can do much better. The Chevy Bolt has a range of 383km; Tesla fans recently drove a Model S more than 1,000km on a single charge. UBS, a bank, reckons the “total cost of ownership” of an electric car will reach parity with a petrol one next year—albeit at a loss to its manufacturer. It optimistically predicts electric vehicles will make up 14% of global car sales by 2025, up from 1% today. Others have more modest forecasts, but are hurriedly revising them upwards as batteries get cheaper and better—the cost per kilowatt-hour has fallen from $1,000 in 2010 to $130-200 today. Regulations are tightening, too. Last month Britain joined a lengthening list of electric-only countries, saying that all new cars must be zero-emission by 2050.
大限將至
但屬于內(nèi)燃機的日子不多了。電池技術(shù)的快速進步對電動汽車更有利。在1894年的巴黎，沒有一部電動汽車最終駛出起跑線，部分原因是當(dāng)時的電動汽車需要每30公里左右就設(shè)置一個電池更換站。如今的電動汽車由鋰離子電池供電，續(xù)航能力倍增。雪佛蘭博爾特的續(xù)航里程為383公里;特斯拉車迷最近駕駛的一輛Model S在一次充電后行駛了超過1000公里。瑞銀(UBS)估計，到明年，一輛電動汽車的“總擁有成本”將與燃油汽車持平——雖然電動車的制造商仍然會虧錢。瑞銀樂觀地預(yù)測，到2025年，電動汽車將占全球汽車銷量的14%，遠高于今天的1%。其他機構(gòu)的預(yù)測要謹(jǐn)慎些，但也在加緊調(diào)高預(yù)測結(jié)果，原因是電池的成本降低、性能提升——每千瓦時的成本已經(jīng)從2010年的1000美元降至今天的130至200美元。對燃油車的監(jiān)管也在收緊。禁售燃油汽車的國家不斷增多，英國也于上月加入這一行列，聲明到2050年，所有新車必須實現(xiàn)零排放。
The shift from fuel and pistons to batteries and electric motors is unlikely to take that long. The first death rattles of the internal combustion engine are already reverberating around the world—and many of the consequences will be welcome. 從燃油和活塞向電池和電動機的轉(zhuǎn)變可能用不著這么長時間。內(nèi)燃機的第一輪臨終哀鳴已回蕩在世界各地，而內(nèi)燃機消亡帶來的大部分結(jié)果也將為世人所樂見。
To gauge what lies ahead, think how the internal combustion engine has shaped modern life. The rich world was rebuilt for motor vehicles, with huge investments in road networks and the invention of suburbia, along with shopping malls and drive-through restaurants. Roughly 85% of American workers commute by car. Carmaking was also a generator of economic development and the expansion of the middle class, in post-war America and elsewhere. There are now about 1bn cars on the road, almost all powered by fossil fuels. Though most of them sit idle, America’s car and lorry engines can produce ten times as much energy as its power stations. The internal combustion engine is the mightiest motor in history.
要估計未來的前景，可以想想內(nèi)燃機如何塑造了現(xiàn)代生活。富裕國家以汽車為出發(fā)點進行了重建，投入巨資修建道路網(wǎng)絡(luò)，發(fā)明了郊區(qū)以及大型購物中心和汽車餐廳。約85%的美國上班族開車上下班。在二戰(zhàn)后的美國和其他地方，汽車制造業(yè)也一度是經(jīng)濟發(fā)展和中產(chǎn)階級擴張的動力。如今全世界的汽車保有量約為10億輛，幾乎全部靠化石燃料驅(qū)動。雖然美國的汽車和卡車發(fā)動機多數(shù)處于停止?fàn)顟B(tài)，它們卻可以產(chǎn)生十倍于美國發(fā)電站發(fā)電量的能量。內(nèi)燃機是歷史上最強大的發(fā)動機。
But electrification has thrown the car industry into turmoil. Its best brands are founded on their engineering heritage—especially in Germany. Compared with existing vehicles, electric cars are much simpler and have fewer parts; they are more like computers on wheels. That means they need fewer people to assemble them and fewer subsidiary systems from specialist suppliers. Carworkers at factories that do not make electric cars are worried that they could be for the chop. With less to go wrong, the market for maintenance and spare parts will shrink. While today’s carmakers grapple with their costly legacy of old factories and swollen workforces, new entrants will be unencumbered. Premium brands may be able to stand out through styling and handling, but low-margin, mass-market carmakers will have to compete chiefly on cost.
但電動化讓汽車業(yè)陷入了動蕩。最好的汽車品牌建立在工程技術(shù)傳承的基礎(chǔ)上，特別是在德國。與現(xiàn)有車輛相比，電動汽車要簡單得多，零部件也更少，更像是裝在輪子上的電腦。這意味著電動車不需要那么多人來組裝，需要專業(yè)供應(yīng)商提供的輔助系統(tǒng)也更少。在不生產(chǎn)電動汽車的汽車工廠里，工人擔(dān)心他們可能飯碗不保。發(fā)生故障的情況少了，維修和零部件市場也會隨之萎縮。工廠陳舊，員工隊伍臃腫，這樣的歷史包袱讓如今的汽車制造商不堪重負，而后來者將可輕裝上陣。高端品牌也許仍能依靠外形設(shè)計和操控性能保有一席之地，但面向大眾市場的低利潤汽車制造商未來只能主要在成本方面展開競爭。
Assuming, of course, that people want to own cars at all. Electric propulsion, along with ride-hailing and self-driving technology, could mean that ownership is largely replaced by “transport as a service”, in which fleets of cars offer rides on demand. On the most extreme estimates, that could shrink the industry by as much as 90%. Lots of shared, self-driving electric cars would let cities replace car parks (up to 24% of the area in some places) with new housing, and let people commute from far away as they sleep—suburbanisation in reverse.
當(dāng)然，這是在人們想要擁有車輛的假設(shè)下做出的判斷。電力推進系統(tǒng)，加上共享汽車和無人駕駛技術(shù)，可能會讓“交通即服務(wù)”的模式——即車輛按需提供出行服務(wù)——取代大部分自有車輛。最極端的估計是，汽車行業(yè)規(guī)模可能縮減高達90%。大量共享的無人駕駛電動汽車將會讓城市把停車場(在某些地方占總面積24%之多)改成新的住房。人們可以住得更遠，并在通勤的路上睡覺，城市郊區(qū)化的趨勢將發(fā)生逆轉(zhuǎn)。
Even without a shift to safe, self-driving vehicles, electric propulsion will offer enormous environmental and health benefits. Charging car batteries from central power stations is more efficient than burning fuel in separate engines. Existing electric cars reduce carbon emissions by 54% compared with petrol-powered ones, according to America’s National Resources Defence Council. That figure will rise as electric cars become more efficient and grid-generation becomes greener. Local air pollution will fall, too. The World Health Organisation says that it is the single largest environmental health risk, with outdoor air pollution contributing to 3.7m deaths a year. One study found that car emissions kill 53,000 Americans each year, against 34,000 who die in traffic accidents.
即使安全的無人駕駛汽車無法大行其道，電力動力也將帶來巨大的環(huán)境和健康效益。通過中央發(fā)電站給汽車電池充電要比單個發(fā)動機燃燒燃料更有效率。根據(jù)美國國家資源保護委員會(National Resources Defence Council)的統(tǒng)計，現(xiàn)有電動汽車比燃油汽車降低了54%的碳排放。隨著電動汽車變得更高效、電網(wǎng)發(fā)電更加環(huán)保，這一數(shù)字還會上升。局部空氣污染也會下降。世界衛(wèi)生組織表示，室外空氣污染每年造成370萬人死亡，是最大的環(huán)境衛(wèi)生風(fēng)險。一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，汽車排放每年造成5.3萬名美國人死亡，而在交通事故中死亡的人數(shù)為3.4萬人。
Autos and autocracies
And then there is oil. Roughly two-thirds of oil consumption in America is on the roads, and a fair amount of the rest uses up the by-products of refining crude oil to make petrol and diesel. The oil industry is divided about when to expect peak demand; Royal Dutch Shell says that it could be little more than a decade away. The prospect will weigh on prices long before then. Because nobody wants to be left with useless oil in the ground, there will be a dearth of new investment, especially in new, high-cost areas such as the Arctic. By contrast, producers such as Saudi Arabia, with vast reserves that can be tapped cheaply, will be under pressure to get pumping before it is too late: the Middle East will still matter, but a lot less than it did. Although there will still be a market for natural gas, which will help generate power for all those electric cars, volatile oil prices will strain countries that depend on hydrocarbon revenues to fill the national coffers. When volumes fall, the adjustment will be fraught, particularly where the struggle for power has long been about controlling oil wealth. In countries such as Angola and Nigeria where oil has often been a curse, the diffusion of economic clout may bring immense benefits.
汽車與獨裁
然后還有石油問題。美國大約三分之二的石油都被汽車所消耗，剩下相當(dāng)大的一部分則使用提煉原油所產(chǎn)生的全部副產(chǎn)品來生產(chǎn)汽油和柴油。石油行業(yè)對需求何時見頂意見不一，荷蘭皇家殼牌公司表示可能只要十年多一點的時間。而遠在需求見頂之前，石油價格就會受到影響。由于沒有人愿意到最后在地下囤著無用的石油，因此新投資將會不足，特別是在北極這樣高成本的新地區(qū)。相反，沙特阿拉伯這樣的石油生產(chǎn)國儲量豐富、開采成本低，將會有壓力在還用得上之時盡快開采：中東地區(qū)仍然會很重要，但遠不及以往。盡管天然氣仍然會有市場，可以為所有電動汽車提供電力，但油價波動將使依靠碳氫化合物收入填充國庫的國家備受壓力。需求量下降時，調(diào)整過程將令人擔(dān)憂，特別是長期圍繞著石油資源控制權(quán)進行權(quán)力斗爭的國家。在安哥拉和尼日利亞這樣的國家，石油經(jīng)常是種詛咒，石油產(chǎn)業(yè)的影響力降低可能會帶來巨大好處。
Meanwhile, a scramble for lithium is under way. The price of lithium carbonate has risen from $4,000 a tonne in 2011 to more than $14,000. Demand for cobalt and rare-earth elements for electric motors is also soaring. Lithium is used not just to power cars: utilities want giant batteries to store energy when demand is slack and release it as it peaks. Will all this make lithium-rich Chile the new Saudi Arabia? Not exactly, because electric cars do not consume it; old lithium-ion batteries from cars can be reused in power grids, and then recycled.
同時，鋰資源的爭奪戰(zhàn)已然打響。碳酸鋰的價格從2011年的每噸4000美元上漲到了1.4萬多美元。對電動機里鈷和稀土元素的需求也在飛漲。鋰不僅用于電動汽車的電池，電力公司還希望巨型電池能在用電低谷時儲存電力，在用電高峰時釋放。所有這一切會讓鋰資源豐富的智利成為下一個沙特嗎?也不盡然，因為電動汽車不直接消耗掉鋰：汽車的舊鋰電子電池可以在電網(wǎng)中再利用，然后再加以回收。
The internal combustion engine has had a good run—and could still dominate shipping and aviation for decades to come. But on land electric motors will soon offer freedom and convenience more cheaply and cleanly. As the switch to electric cars reverses the trend in the rich world towards falling electricity consumption, policymakers will need to help, by ensuring that there is enough generating capacity—in spite of many countries’ broken system of regulation. They may need to be the midwives to new rules and standards for public recharging stations, and the recycling of batteries, rare-earth motors and other components in “urban mines”. And they will have to cope with the turmoil as old factory jobs disappear.
內(nèi)燃機歷史輝煌，未來幾十年來仍然可以主導(dǎo)航運和航空業(yè)。但是在陸地上，電動馬達將很快以更便宜、更清潔的方式帶來自由和便利。隨著電動汽車逐步取代燃油汽車，富裕國家電力消耗下降的趨勢將會扭轉(zhuǎn)，政策制定者需要確保有足夠的發(fā)電能力來滿足需求，盡管目前許多國家的監(jiān)管系統(tǒng)還不完善。他們可能需要促成有關(guān)公共充電站的新規(guī)則和標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，規(guī)范如何回收利用“城市礦山”中的電池、含稀土的電機和其他部件，還將不得不應(yīng)對隨傳統(tǒng)工廠就業(yè)崗位消失而來的社會動蕩。
Driverless electric cars in the 21st century are likely to improve the world in profound and unexpected ways, just as vehicles powered by internal combustion engines did in the 20th. But it will be a bumpy road. Buckle up.
二十一世紀(jì)的無人駕駛電動汽車可能會以深刻而意想不到的方式造福世界，就像二十世紀(jì)的內(nèi)燃機汽車一樣。不過前路崎嶇，要系好安全帶。
以上就是關(guān)于The death of the internal combustion engine的雙語閱讀素材分享，希望各位TOEFLer在備考托福閱讀的過程中合理使用這類雙語拓展閱讀素材，結(jié)合托福閱讀真題訓(xùn)練，有的放矢提升自己托福閱讀水平。
