Fossil Fuels 化石燃料 ⑴Most of the energy we use for heating, lighting, transportation and manufacturing comes from fossil fuels. These are carbon-based fuels from oil, coal and natural gas. 大部分我們用于供暖，照明，運(yùn)輸和制造業(yè)的能量都來源于化石燃料。這些含碳燃料產(chǎn)生于石油，煤炭和天然氣。（“carbon-based fuels”查了詞典，指的就是“含碳燃料”。） ⑵There are three main disadvantages to using these fuels. Firstly, they are causing climate problems because of the Greenhouse Effect. When we burn fossil fuels they produce carbon dioxide which causes global warming. Secondly, when we have used up all our coal, oil and natural gas, we will have nothing left to burn. Thirdly, they are not very efficient. The internal combustion engine that we use in most cars, trucks and buses, for example, is only about 14% efficient. 使用化石燃料主要存在三個(gè)方面的不足。 第一，使用化石燃料會(huì)產(chǎn)生氣候問題，造成溫室效應(yīng)。焚燒化石燃料的時(shí)候會(huì)產(chǎn)生二氧化碳，導(dǎo)致全球氣候變暖。第二，我們把煤炭，石油和天然氣都用完后，我們將一無(wú)所有。第三，化石燃料的使用效率不是很高。比如安裝在我們大多數(shù)的汽車，卡車和公交車?yán)锏膬?nèi)燃機(jī)大約只有14%的功率。（前面一句中的“because of”不知道在這邊具體用法和想要表達(dá)的意思，所以這句話的翻譯我就猜測(cè)其可能的意思。后面的一句中，我覺得這邊的“efficient”表達(dá)的不是很準(zhǔn)確。） ⑶Scientists are working on another fuel—hydrogen. There are a couple of advantages to using hydrogen as a fuel. Firstly, because two-thirds of the earth's surface is water and water is made of hydrogen and oxygen. There is an almost unlimited supply of hydrogen. Secondly, burning hydrogen does not cause global warming. Thirdly, it is much more efficient than carbon-based fuels. 科學(xué)家正在研究另外一種燃料---- 氫氣。氫氣作為一種燃料有幾個(gè)優(yōu)點(diǎn)。第一，因?yàn)榈厍虮砻娴娜种凰采w,而水是由氫氣和氧氣組成，所以，氫的供給源源不斷。第二，燃燒氫氣不會(huì)造成全球氣候變暖的問題。第三，氫氣比含碳燃料的使用效率更高。（“a couple of”不能看到“couple” 就這問是“兩個(gè)”，我查了一下詞典，其實(shí)這個(gè)詞組解釋為“幾個(gè)”） ⑷Unfortunately there are problems with hydrogen at the present time: there is the problem of separating it from water cheaply, and there is the difficulty of storing it. It can be stored under pressure but high pressure tanks are far from safe. It can also be stored as a liquid but only at extremely low temperatures. It seems likely, therefore, that there will have to be a completely new technology before hydrogen replaces fossil fuels. Solving these problems is an urgent matter. Although China, India and Australia have huge amounts of cheap coal, and there are still large oil and gas reserves elsewhere, the effects on the planet’s climate will be bad if they are used. 不幸的是，目前使用氫氣存在許多問題：如何用較低的成本將氫氣從水中分離出來，還有如何儲(chǔ)存氫氣，這些都時(shí)難題。氫氣可以儲(chǔ)存在高壓水槽中，但是這樣很危險(xiǎn)，也可以像液體那樣儲(chǔ)存，但是必須是在溫度極其低的環(huán)境之下。因此，看來在氫氣取代化石燃料之前必須研究一個(gè)完全新型的技術(shù)。解決這些問題是當(dāng)務(wù)之急。盡管中國(guó)，印度，澳大利亞擁有大量的煤炭，在其他地方也有大量的石油和天然氣，但是使用它們會(huì)對(duì)地球的氣候帶來不良影響。（“It can be stored under pressure but high pressure tanks are far from safe ”不知道理解有沒有偏差?！癮n urgent matter ”譯成“當(dāng)務(wù)之急”，似乎在我們生活報(bào)道中更常用一些。）