Reading 5B · PLUGGING INTO THE SUN (拥抱太阳能)
点击任意句子开始点听与口语录音练习。内华达沙漠的槽式聚光电站与德国全民屋顶光伏奇迹，如何重塑人类清洁能源图景？
Title & Lead-in
Reading 5B, plugging into the sun. Early on a clear November morning in the Mojave
阅读 5B：拥抱太阳能（光伏革命）。利用清洁、充沛的太阳能早已不再是科幻小说。德国与美国西南部两种截然不同的发展路径，生动展现了全球太阳能产业的飞速迭代。
Desert, a full moon is sinking over the Gigawatt glare of Las Vegas. Nevada Solar
Section 1: The Desert Giant
a power plant could be so beautiful. 400 hectares of gently curved mirrors lined
在内华达州博尔德城外干旱的沙漠中，成千上万面反射镜在炽烈的阳光下熠熠生辉。“内华达第一太阳能电站”（Nevada Solar One）是一座占地400英亩的聚光太阳能热发电站。超过760组抛物面槽式镜从日出到日落自动旋转追踪太阳，将强烈的太阳热能聚焦到集热管上。管内循环的合成导热油温度高达华氏750度，将水加热为高压蒸汽以驱动传统涡轮发电机，为14,000户家庭送去清洁电力。
up like canals of light, parked facing the ground overnight, they are starting to
awaken. More than 182,000 of them and follow the sun. Looks like this will be a
700-degree day, says one of the operators in the control room. His job is to monitor
the rows of mirrors as they concentrate sunlight on long-steel pipes filled with
circulating oil, heating it as high as 400 degrees Celsius. The heat produces
steam, driving a turbine and dynamo, pushing as much as 64 megawatts onto the
Section 2: The German Miracle
Solar One came online in 2007, it was the first large solar plant to be built in
与此同时，在四千英里之外，德国却跃升为全球最令人惊叹的太阳能超级强国。尽管德国年均光照水平微弱，几乎与阴雨连绵的阿拉斯加相当，但它却产生了规模惊人的光伏电力。德国人并未建设庞大的沙漠电站，而是将数以百万计的屋顶太阳能光伏电池板安装在郊区农舍、学校与市区楼顶。
the United States in more than 17 years. During that time, solar technology blossomed
elsewhere. The owner of Nevada Solar One, Axionna, is a Spanish company and the
mirrors were made in Germany. Putting on hard hats and dark glasses, plant manager
Robert Cable and I drive out to take a closer look at the mirrors. Men with a
water truck are hosing some down. Any kind of dust affects them, Cable says. On a
Section 3: The Policy Engine
about 20% of the sun's rays into electricity. Gas plants are more efficient,
德国奇迹背后的核心政策引擎是一项极具远见的制度——“上网电价法”（Feed-in Tariff）。该法案于2000年出台，庄严承诺：凡是安装光伏板的个人均可按高于市场价的保底溢价向国家电网反向售电长达20年。这使得普通房主和小农户不再将太阳能视为昂贵的环保奢侈品，而是视作一项回报丰厚、稳赚不赔的理财投资。
but this fuel is free. If we talk about geothermal or wind, all these other sources
of renewable energy are limited in their quantity, says Ike Webber, director of the
Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Freiburg, Germany. The total power
needs of the humans on Earth is approximately 16 terawatts, he adds. A terawatt is a
Section 4: The Path Forward
is 120,000 terawatts, says Webber. From this perspective, energy from the sun is
如今，全球产业竞争与精妙的工程创新正在推动光伏组件成本雪崩式下跌。薄膜半导体材料与分布式储能电池的突破性进展，使清洁能源仅凭经济成本优势就能全面击垮传统化石能源。随着国家智能电网的现代化升级，去中心化的太阳能必将在各大洲普惠每一个社区。
virtually unlimited. Tapping the sun Solar energy may be unlimited, but its potential
is barely tapped. Today, solar power accounts for a tiny fraction of U.S.
electricity production just over two percent. But said Robert Hossie, an associate director
of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, NREL in Golden, Colorado, that's expected to
grow. 10 to 20 percent of the nation's peak electricity demand could be provided by solar
💡 5B Critical Thinking · 理想主义与经济动力 (P.110)
Two Motivating Forces · 环保理想 vs 商业理财
Two Types of Solar Adopters: What motivates people to install photovoltaic panels?
1. Environmental Idealists: Driven by deep ethical concern for reducing dependence on polluting fossil fuels and curbing the global climate catastrophe.
2. Financially-Motivated Realists: Driven by slashing electricity bills and earning guaranteed dividends through long-term feed-in tariffs and net-metering schemes.
Teacher's Guide · 教师用书激励协同启迪
While ethical appeals engage an initial core of green enthusiasts, solar power only achieves massive, transformative societal scale when public policy aligns environmental goals directly with personal financial profitability. Germany demonstrated that making solar lucrative turns every citizen into a climate activist.
📝 5B 预习全真练习 (Preview Exercises)
Reading Comprehension Part A: Multiple Choice (P.109)
Reading Comprehension Part B: Facility Details (P.110)
Reading Skill: Venn Diagram (Germany vs USA) (P.111)
预习练习得分: 0 / 21 题
Reading Comprehension Part A: Multiple Choice (P.109)
READING COMPREHENSION · 事实细节
1. According to Section 1 (Paragraph D), how does Nevada Solar One generate electrical energy?
READING COMPREHENSION · 事实细节
2. Why is Germany’s leadership in global solar power considered counterintuitive or surprising?
READING COMPREHENSION · 核心机制
3. What was the critical incentive created by Germany's feed-in tariff law passed in 2000?
READING COMPREHENSION · 比较判断
4. How does the primary solar deployment model in Germany contrast with the Nevada facility?
READING COMPREHENSION · 经济逻辑
5. Why did German citizens embrace solar installation enthusiastically despite high upfront hardware costs?
READING COMPREHENSION · 技术前沿
6. What manufacturing breakthrough is allowing modern photovoltaic cells to become much cheaper?
READING COMPREHENSION · 发展趋势
7. What broad global trend does the author predict for the future of renewable energy?
Reading Comprehension Part B: Facility Details (P.110)
READING COMPREHENSION · 事实匹配
1. What is the total land footprint occupied by the Nevada Solar One concentrating plant?
READING COMPREHENSION · 事实匹配
2. What temperature does the synthetic oil in Nevada Solar One reach inside the absorber tubes?
READING COMPREHENSION · 事实匹配
3. How many typical households receive electricity from the Nevada Solar One project?
READING COMPREHENSION · 事实匹配
4. How many years did Germany’s feed-in tariff law guarantee fixed above-market premium rates?
READING COMPREHENSION · 事实匹配
5. What year was Germany’s landmark Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) originally passed?
Reading Skill: Venn Diagram Comparison (P.111)
READING SKILL · 韦恩图特征分类
1. 'Despite unfavorable cloudy weather, it is a top global PV power generator' describes:
READING SKILL · 韦恩图特征分类
2. 'The precision mirrors for Nevada Solar One were originally manufactured here' describes:
READING SKILL · 韦恩图特征分类
3. 'Solar power produces less than 3 percent of the country's electricity at the time of writing' describes:
READING SKILL · 韦恩图特征分类
4. 'The company that owns Nevada Solar One is headquartered here' describes:
READING SKILL · 韦恩图特征分类
5. 'A domestic manufacturer developed extremely cheap, innovative thin-film solar cells' describes:
READING SKILL · 韦恩图特征分类
6. 'Government policies regarding solar energy appeal directly to citizens wanting to make money on investments' describes:
READING SKILL · 韦恩图特征分类
7. 'The country passed a comprehensive landmark feed-in tariff law in the year 2000' describes:
READING SKILL · 韦恩图特征分类
8. 'The federal government historically relied more on fluctuating tax credits rather than fixed national tariffs' describes:
READING SKILL · 韦恩图特征分类
9. 'Striving to expand renewable energy share and modernize the national power grid' describes:
📚 5B 核心词汇精讲 (Target Vocabulary)
renewableadj./rɪˈnjuːəbl/
可再生的；可恢复的
forms of energy that can be produced as quickly as they are used, or capable of being renewed
Solar and wind energy are leading the global transition toward abundant renewable power.
ingeniousadj./ɪnˈdʒiːniəs/
精妙的；巧妙的；创造性的
very intelligent and skillful, or skillfully made or planned and involving new ideas and methods
Engineers conceived an ingenious solar trough mechanism that tracks the sun across the sky.
circulatev./ˈsɜːkjəleɪt/
循环；流通；传递
to move around or through something, or to make something do this
Synthetic oil circulates continuously through the absorber tubes, transferring heat to generate steam.
offsetv./ˌɒfˈset/
抵消；补偿；对冲
to balance one influence against an opposing influence, so that there is no great difference as a result
Clean electricity generated by photovoltaic arrays helps offset thousands of tons of coal pollution.
premiumn. / adj./ˈpriːmiəm/
额外费用；溢价；优质的
an amount that is more than usual, or a high or higher value
Consumers willingly paid a small premium on their electricity bills to foster green technological progress.
deadlinen./ˈdedlaɪn/
最后期限；截止日期
a time or day by which something must be done
Solar developers worked around the clock to meet the government subsidy deadline.
subsidyn./ˈsʌbsədi/
补贴；财政资助
money given as part of the cost of something, to help or encourage it to happen
Germany pioneered a feed-in tariff subsidy that paid property owners guaranteed rates for solar electricity.
yieldv. / n./jiːld/
产生；产出；效益
to supply or produce something positive such as a profit, an amount of food or information
Advances in semiconductor engineering yield dramatically higher efficiency at lower manufacturing costs.
paneln./ˈpænl/
板；面板；仪表盘
a flat, usually rectangular piece of wood, metal, or other material, such as a solar panel
Rooftop photovoltaic panels convert incident sunlight directly into electrical current.
subtractv./səbˈtrækt/
减去；扣除
to remove a number from another number
When you subtract the government tax credit from the installation invoice, solar power becomes remarkably affordable.
🎯 5B 词汇实战练习 (Vocabulary Practice)
Part A: Completion (P.112)
Part B: Definitions & Usage (P.112)
Part C: Word Families / Prefixes (P.113)
词汇练习得分: 0 / 16 题
Vocabulary Practice Part A: Completion (P.112)
VOCABULARY PRACTICE · 语境选词
1. International climatologists advocate replacing fossil fuels with clean ________ resources such as wind and solar.
VOCABULARY PRACTICE · 语境选词
2. Engineers devised an ________ solar tracking system that rotates mirrors automatically to capture maximum sunshine.
VOCABULARY PRACTICE · 语境选词
3. Thermal fluid ________ throughout the sealed piping network, carrying concentrated heat to the boiler.
VOCABULARY PRACTICE · 语境选词
4. Generation from solar arrays helps ________ carbon pollution produced by peaker gas plants.
VOCABULARY PRACTICE · 语境选词
5. Eco-conscious buyers often accept paying a modest ________ for certified green electrical power.
Vocabulary Practice Part B: Definitions & Usage (P.112)
VOCABULARY PRACTICE · 词义释析
1. Which noun refers to a firm date or time by which a project or application must be submitted?
VOCABULARY PRACTICE · 词义释析
2. Which noun refers to financial grant assistance paid by a government to reduce retail prices or spur an industry?
VOCABULARY PRACTICE · 词义释析
3. Which verb means 'to generate, output, or produce an amount of energy, crop, or financial return'?
VOCABULARY PRACTICE · 词义释析
4. Which noun describes a flat rectangular sheet mounted on a frame, such as a photovoltaic collector?
VOCABULARY PRACTICE · 词义释析
5. Which mathematical verb means 'to take away a number, amount, or expense from a total'?
Vocabulary Practice Part C: Word Families / Prefixes (P.113)
VOCABULARY PRACTICE · 构词前缀拓展
1. The rapid plummet in solar module prices was so astonishing that it seemed almost ________.
VOCABULARY PRACTICE · 构词前缀拓展
2. It is considered deeply ________ to vandalize public renewable energy infrastructure.
VOCABULARY PRACTICE · 构词前缀拓展
3. The panoramic sight of 700 shimmering mirrors in the desert was breathtaking beyond words, virtually ________.
VOCABULARY PRACTICE · 构词前缀拓展
4. While commuting home, he was ________ humming the melody of his favorite song.
VOCABULARY PRACTICE · 构词前缀拓展
5. A complete ________ of the city's power grid was required to incorporate distributed battery storage.
VOCABULARY PRACTICE · 构词前缀拓展
6. Wealthy nations emit disproportionate carbon while developing islands suffer the consequences of environmental ________.
🏆 5B 学习通关打卡与证书
Reading Explorer 5 · Unit 5B 通关证明
恭喜完成《PLUGGING INTO THE SUN》课文精读、韦恩图特征分析与词汇挑战。
0 / 37 题