2024年06月六级第1套仔细阅读 Passage 2 原文翻译及答案解析

The term "environmentalist" can mean different things. It used to refer to people trying to protect wildlife and natural ecosystems. In the 21st century, the term has evolved to capture the need to combat human-made climate change.

术语“环保主义者”可以意味着不同的事情。它过去指的是试图保护野生动物和自然生态系统的人。在21世纪，该术语已经演变，以涵盖对抗人为气候变化的必要性。

The distinction between these two strands of environmentalism is the cause of a split within the scientific community about nuclear energy.

这两种环保主义分支之间的区别是科学界内部关于核能分裂的原因。

On one side are purists who believe nuclear power isn't worth the risk and the exclusive solution to the climate crisis is renewable energy. The opposing side agrees that renewables are crucial, but says society needs an amount of power available to meet consumers' basic demands when the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing. Nuclear energy, being far cleaner than oil, gas and coal, is a natural option, especially where hydroelectric capacity is limited.

一边是纯粹主义者，他们认为核电不值得冒险，气候危机的唯一解决方案是可再生能源。对立的一方同意可再生能源至关重要，但表示社会需要在没有阳光和风力时，仍有足够的电力来满足消费者的基本需求。核能比石油、天然气和煤炭清洁得多，是一个自然的选择，尤其是在水电能力有限的地方。

Leon Clarke, who helped author reports for the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, isn't an uncritical supporter of nuclear energy, but says it's a valuable option to have if we're serious about reaching carbon neutrality.

Leon Clarke，曾帮助撰写联合国政府间气候变化专门委员会的报告，他并不是核能的盲目支持者，但表示如果我们认真对待实现碳中和，核能是一个有价值的选择。

"Core to all of this is the degree to which you think we can actually meet climate goals with 100% renewables," he said. "If you don't believe we can do it, and you care about the climate, you are forced to think about something like nuclear."

“这一切的核心在于你认为我们能在多大程度上通过100%的可再生能源实现气候目标，”他说。“如果你不相信我们能做到，而你关心气候，你就不得不考虑像核能这样的东西。”

The achievability of universal 100% renewability is similarly contentious. Cities such as Burlington, Vermont, have been "100% renewable" for years. But these cities often have small populations, occasionally still rely on fossil fuel energy and have significant renewable resources at their immediate disposal. Meanwhile, countries that manage to run off renewables typically do so thanks to extraordinary hydroelectric capabilities.

普遍实现100%可再生能源的可行性同样存在争议。像佛蒙特州伯灵顿这样的城市，多年来一直是“100%可再生能源”。但这些城市通常人口较少，偶尔仍依赖化石燃料能源，并且拥有直接可用的丰富可再生资源。与此同时，那些能够依靠可再生能源运行的国家，通常是因为拥有非凡的水电能力。

Germany stands as the best case study for a large, industrialized country pushing into green energy. Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2011 announced Energiewende, an energy transition that would phase out nuclear and coal while phasing in renewables. Wind and solar power generation has increased over 400% since 2010, and renewables provided 46% of the country's electricity in 2019.

德国是大型工业化国家推动绿色能源的最佳案例研究。总理安格拉·默克尔在2011年宣布了Energiewende，这是一项能源转型计划，将逐步淘汰核能和煤炭，同时引入可再生能源。自2010年以来，风能和太阳能发电增长了400%以上，2019年可再生能源提供了该国46%的电力。

But progress has halted in recent years. The instability of renewables doesn't just mean energy is often not produced at night, but also that solar and wind can overwhelm the grid during the day, forcing utilities to pay customers to use their electricity. Lagging grid infrastructure struggles to transport this overabundance of green energy from Germany's north to its industrial south, meaning many factories still run on coal and gas. The political limit has also been reached in some places, with citizens meeting the construction of new wind turbines with loud protests.

但近年来进展已经停滞。可再生能源的不稳定性不仅意味着夜间往往无法发电，还意味着太阳能和风能在白天可能压倒电网，迫使公用事业公司付费给客户来使用他们的电力。落后的电网基础设施难以将这种过剩的绿色能源从德国北部运往工业南部，这意味着许多工厂仍然依靠煤炭和天然气运行。在一些地方，政治极限也已达到，公民对新建风力涡轮机表示强烈抗议。

The result is that Germany's greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by around 11.5% since 2010—slower than the EU average of 13.5%.

结果是，德国的温室气体排放自2010年以来下降了约11.5%——低于欧盟13.5%的平均水平。