科技英语一单元.doc

一单元 Fast, clean and energy efficient, the steam-powered car was at one time the motorists vehicle of choice. So why did it run out of puff?快速、清洁、节能，蒸汽动力汽车曾是汽车驾驶者的首选。那么为什么它的气都用光了呢？ Mention steam engines and most people will think of steam trains, not steam cars. But this has not always been the case. At the turn of the 20th century more than half the cars in the USA were powered by steam. Mainly produced by the American companies Stanley and White, steam engines had a series of advantages over the newer internal combustion engine. 一提到蒸汽机，大多数人就会想到蒸汽火车，而不是蒸汽火车。但情况并非总是如此。在20世纪之交，美国一半以上的汽车是由蒸汽驱动的。主要由美国斯坦利和怀特公司生产，蒸汽机比新型内燃机有一系列的优势。They were simpler mechanically, producing continuous power from steam pressure so they had no need for the transmission, clutch or gears required to harness and convert the strokes of a combustion engine.它们更简单，从蒸汽压力产生连续的动力，所以它们不需要传动装置、离合器或齿轮来利用和转换内燃机的冲程。 With few moving parts, they ran quietly and could be fueled with anything that burned. They produced 100% of their power from rest so were also easier to drive, and safer for pedestrians. Their power could be switched into reverse at any point to reduce speed more quickly than the ineffective brakes of the time. 由于几乎没有可移动的部件，它们可以悄悄地跑起来，用燃烧的任何东西来补充能量。他们从休息中产生了100的能量，因此也更容易驾驶，对行人也更安全。它们的动力可以在任何时候转变为倒车，以比当时无效的刹车更快地降低速度。 But steam cars also had disadvantages. They were more cumbersome than their smaller rivals, often weighing between two and three tonnes. Substantial boilers and water tanks were needed with early steam cars losing up to a gallon (4.5 litres ) of water every mile. Stanley partially remedied this with the introduction of condensers in 1915, which turned much of the steam back to liquid water before it could escape. But even then they were still only achieving eight miles per gallon of water.但蒸汽汽车也有缺点。它们比规模较小的竞争对手要笨重，通常重量在两到三吨之间。大量的锅炉和水箱是必要的，早期的蒸汽汽车每英里会损失1加仑（4.5升）的水。斯坦利在1915年引进冷凝器，部分地弥补了这一点。冷凝器在蒸汽逃逸前就把大部分蒸汽重新变成了液态水。但即使如此，每加仑水也只能行驶8英里。 Another drawback was how long it took to build up steam pressure before a journey could begin. A Stanley steamer owners manual published in 1918 suggested that this would take between 10 and 15 minutes, but in cold weather it was likely to take much longer.另一个缺点是，在旅行开始之前，需要多长时间才能产生蒸汽压力。1918年出版的斯坦利轮船所有者手册指出，这将需要10到15分钟，但在寒冷的天气下，这可能需要更长的时间。 Starting had also been an issue for cars powered by the new combustion engines. Early models required hand-operated cranks to start which could break arms and wrists when the car backfired. But the invention of the electric starter gave the internal combustion engine an advantage and led large manufacturing companies to invest.对于新的内燃机驱动的汽车来说，起动也是个问题。早期的车型需要手动曲柄来启动，当汽车发生逆火时，曲柄可能会折断胳膊和手腕。但电起动器的发明给了内燃机一个优势，并导致大型制造企业进行投资。 By 1910, cars with internal combustion engines were being churned out in huge numbers at prices so low that the smaller steam car manufactures had no chance of matching them. Soon, the Ford Model T took the Stanleys crown as the most popular car on American roads.到了1910年，内燃机汽车以极低的价格大量生产出来，小蒸汽汽车制造商根本没有机会与之匹配。很快，福特T型车就成为了美国公路上最受欢迎的车。 Steam car makers adapted to their marginalization, marketing their cars as luxury products. Stanley took out newspaper adverts emphasizing the “soft, smooth, gliding motion,” to help readers “(recognize) the fundamental superiority of steam, ” as they put it.蒸汽汽车制造商适应了他们的边缘化，把他们的汽车当作奢侈品来销售。斯坦利拿出报纸广告，强调“柔软，流畅，滑行的动作”，以帮助读者“（承认）Steam的根本优势，”正如他们所说。 But by 1918 the Stanley Steamer was almost six times the price of a Model T. The Stanley Company declined and eventually stopped trading in 1924, by which point steam cars were considered a rare and antiquated novelty.但到了1918年，斯坦利蒸汽机车的价格几乎是T型车的六倍。斯坦利公司(Stanley Company)在1924年下跌，并最终停止了交易。到那时候，蒸汽汽车被认为是一种罕见的过时的新奇玩意儿。 Since then, steam cars have all but disappeared from roads. However, many have been preserved by enthusiasts like Alun Griffiths, Secretary of the Steam Car Club of Great Britain, who owns a 1916 Stanley Steamer.从那以后，蒸汽汽车几乎从道路上消失了。然而，很多都被像英国蒸汽汽车俱乐部的秘书阿伦格里菲斯这样的狂热者所保存，他拥有一艘1916年的斯坦利轮船。 “(I hear) the wind whistling in the hood fittings and no other sound apart from a faint thump, thump from the feedwater pumps, like the beat of the machines heart.”“风在引擎盖里呼呼地吹着，除了从给水泵里发出的微弱的砰砰声，没有别的声音，就像机器的心脏在跳动 “It has been said of steam cars, and of steam engines generally, that they seem alive compared to other pieces of machinery, and I can only agree with that.”“有人说蒸汽车，以及一般的蒸汽机，和其他机器相比，它们似乎是活的，我只能同意这一点。” But are steam cars consigned to the past, a now obsolete stepping stone in automotive history? Perhaps not.但是，蒸汽汽车已经成为汽车历史上过时的垫脚石了吗？也许不。 Internal combustion engines have their own inherent drawbacks. They depend on fossil fuels, a finite resource likely to become ever more expensive. And they produce pollutants including carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides.内燃机有其固有的缺点。它们依赖于化石燃料，这是一种有限的资源，可能会变得越来越昂贵。它们产生的污染物包括一氧化碳和氮氧化物。 Steam cars could use a range of fuels and their continuous power available even when they are at rest lends itself to modern traffic, with only light touches of the throttle and brake needed to stop and start.蒸汽汽车可以使用一系列的燃料，而且它们的连续动力即使它们处于静止状态也能使其适合现代交通，只需轻微的油门和刹车就可以停止和启动。 Modern technology could reduce many of the historic problems of steam cars. Lightweight materials and heat resistant coatings could drastically reduce the weight of the boiler and condenser, and water retention could be maximised. Start times with modern boilers could be reduced from minutes to seconds.现代技术可以减少蒸汽汽车的许多历史问题。轻质材料和耐热涂层可以大幅度降低锅炉和冷凝器的重量，最大限度地保持水的能力。现代锅炉的启动时间可以从分钟减少到秒。 Some car companies have researched and developed steam technology over the years, most notably in the 1990s with the Volkswagen spin-off Enginion AG. This was a steam engine with efficiency comparable to modern internal combustion engines with lower emissions. Since then, Cyclone Technologies has developed a new steam engine which it claims is almost twice as efficient as an internal combustion engine.一些汽车公司多年来一直在研究和开发蒸汽技术，最引人注目的是在20世纪90年代，大众汽车公司剥离了英力集团。这是一个蒸汽机与效率相当于现代内燃机较低的排放量。自那时以来，旋风技术公司开发了一种新的蒸汽机，它声称这种发动机的效率几乎是内燃机的两倍。 As yet neither of these engines has been put into a production car, so is there any chance the steam car could make a return onto our roads as a modern, consumer vehicle?到目前为止，这些引擎都没有投入生产，那么蒸汽车是否有可能作为一种现代的消费型汽车回到我们的道路上呢？ As internal combustion engines deficiencies become more apparent a market may emerge. “If a committee was faced with a clean sheet and the choice of a steam or a diesel future, they might decide that steam was a better way forward,” said Roger Kemp, Professor of Engineering at Lanca