听力文本

From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report.

Methane gas from a lake in Rwanda may soon become a major supply of electricity. Millions of people in that central African country could use the energy. An American company and the Rwandan government signed the power agreement in early August at the U.S.-Africa Summit in Washington. The company is Symbion Power. The deal will provide electricity, and lower the risk of an environmental disaster at Lake Kivu.

There are three lakes in Africa that contain such high levels of carbon dioxide and methane gas that they are at risk of exploding. Two of them, Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun, are in Cameroon. They exploded in the 1980s. Carbon dioxide released in the Lake Nyos explosion killed more than 1,700 people. Some victims were as far as 26 kilometers away.

Lake Kivu, in Rwanda, could have an even worse gas explosion. That is because more than two million people live near the shores of Lake Kivu, including in the large towns of Goma and Gisenyi.

Paul Hinks is the chief of Symbion Power. Last month, the company agreed to build a power station at Lake Kivu. Mr. Hinks says it is important that the methane be removed from the lake before a disaster happens.

"The buildup of methane in Lake Kivu is a serious problem for Rwanda, so the plan for Lake Kivu is to turn methane gas into power."

Scientists agree that the methane level must be lowered in Lake Kivu. But, there are worries that the act of pumping out the gas could cause problems.

"The problem is of course (if) you just put in a pipe and start sucking out the water and separating the methane and the CO2 from the water, there is a potential to create the very problem you're trying to avoid, which is escape of the methane gas into the atmosphere."

Symbion Power agrees that this is a risk. Mr. Hinks says his company will work to remove the gas safely.

"There's a set of rules, if you like. They're called lake management prescriptions, and they cover all the issues that companies like us have to follow when they extract methane gas from the lake."

Kibuye Power company already operates a small power center that uses the lake's methane. Laurent Sibomana supervises the center in the town of Gisenyi. He told VOA it is not easy to remove methane gas from the lake.

Mr. Hinks says Symbion Power has experience working in difficult places, including Iraq and Afghanistan. He says it has the knowledge and money to succeed at Lake Kivu.

And that's the VOA Learning English Economics Report. I'm Mario Ritter.

VOA英文文本来自51VOA，译文由可可原创，未经许可请勿转载Pbtrcay;h%CnI&Nwd#。

词汇学习

1.contain vt. 包含，容纳

The bag contained a Christmas card...
这个包里装着一张圣诞卡PcEwvzrQVb^*]XS^8。

2.release vt. 释放；放开

He still had a lot of pent-up anger to release.
他还有很多强压的愤怒要发泄Ry^LNGRTYs)RUxmNr。

3.remove vt. 去除

Remove the vegetables from the steamer when they are three-quarters cooked.
将蔬菜蒸至大半熟后从蒸锅里捞出ab40izi2hl#。

4.buildup n. 组合；集结；累积

There has been a build-up of troops on both sides of the border...
边境两边都在集结兵力8YM55+ecA)nPoCb.;t_。

5.atmosphere n. 大气，空气

He sets the atmosphere and shapes the scenes pleasingly.
他把气氛和场面调动得轻松愉快tOZRwoyy6A9|_=up。

内容解析

1.There are three lakes in Africa that contain such high levels of carbon dioxide and methane gas that they are at risk of exploding.

at risk of处于风险

An estimated seven million people are at risk of starvation.
估计有700万人面临着饿死的危险G[LqA#VhhHEWTYS85bC%。

2.so the plan for Lake Kivu is to turn methane gas into power.

turn into变成；成为

The fighting is threatening to turn into full-scale war.
这场战斗有可能会演变为全面的战争qJin#@.fLVp。

3.But, there are worries that the act of pumping out the gas could cause problems.

pump out抽空

How do you pump out bilge water in the engine room?
您如何将机仓的污水泵出弦外?

4.and they cover all the issues that companies like us have to follow when they extract methane gas from the lake.

extract from从…中提取

How much honey can you extract from a hive this size per year? "
我就问道: “ 象这样一窝蜂,一年能割多少蜜?

参考翻译

美国之音慢速学英语节目，这里是经济报道W3*,@rLo+1x7AK~。

来自卢旺达一个湖泊的甲烷很快将成为主要的电力来源H#.~.A^MY|VQ=k。这个中非国家数百万人将使用这种能源Qt~Cr[^Y]1U)。8月初，美国一家公司和卢旺达政府在华盛顿召开的美国非洲峰会上签署了能源协议[9fE-=s9SSy+Da。该公司是Symbion PowerZuIeS06KT+.B,。该协议将提供电力，并降低基伍湖环境灾难的风险W%T.OP!,ffC。

非洲有三个湖泊含有高水平的二氧化碳和甲烷气体，面临爆炸的风险p.Qf.-k]Sd;|nxx&h_。其中两个湖泊，尼奥斯湖和莫瑙恩湖位于喀麦隆qn)r+|VM,]~zX。它们已经在上世纪八十年代爆炸_)XnXdYmH!。尼奥斯湖爆炸时释放的二氧化碳气体造成超过1,700人死亡~ek~tSukSK2=JD5。一些遇难者位于26千米之外的地方ye*s_-IKYP@jG340[|g。

卢旺达的基伍湖可能会发生更严重的气体爆炸)VFj8sREqx2qeE&AVls[。这是因为超过200万人居住在基伍湖畔，包括Goma和Gisenyi等较大的城镇JT-9#JS6YG_。

Paul Hinks是Symbion Power电力公司首席执行官x#m[JCeWtdJNR^4OE。上月，该公司同意在基伍湖建立一座发电站DtnXDlz)Z!x!bqL9,v。Hinks先生表示，必须在灾难发生之前转移湖泊中的甲烷气体，这非常重要|ZZN+FcEEnwN7^。

“基伍湖甲烷的累积对卢旺达来说是一个严重的问题，所以基伍湖的计划就是将甲烷气体转化为电力H4XY[pRD##y。”

科学家赞同，必须降低基伍湖的甲烷水平y8T=b]9-%F!r@&Gp1o。但是，也有人担心抽出湖中的气体会造成一些问题F_6R^J.nVN。

“问题当然就是，如果你只是放一根管子到湖泊中，抽取里面的水，然后分离出甲烷和二氧化碳气体，有可能刚好会造成原本想要避免的问题，导致甲烷气体释放到空气中RJHfo|Ytqq6-MSg8g。”

Symbion Power电力公司赞同这确实是一个风险因素Fk]k_Ewsg#g,。Hinks表示，他的公司将致力于安全移除这些气体[]%_NA(gTOF*,(。

“如果你喜欢的话，我们会制定一系列规则，称为湖泊管理措施，当我们从湖泊中分离甲烷气体时，所有我们这样的公司都必须遵守这些规定n%,wqK*t,olS3yQ[*。”

Kibuye Power公司已经运营了一个使用该湖泊中的甲烷气体发电的小型发电中心t91rx9wEsN。Laurent Sibomana负责监管这家位于Gisenyi的发电中心h06I#R!6N,。他告诉VOA，要从湖泊中分离甲烷气体并不容易A!VRRoC3i8xNOd7e0U。

Hinks先生表示，Symbion Power公司拥有在比较艰难的地方工作的经验，包括伊拉克和阿富汗m2.MtrecZ@。他表示，他们有知识，有资金，一定能在基伍湖获得成功3LHzrX4Tj5=pK;,。

以上就是今天的美国之音慢速英语经济报道5N4BEUwybi|pLj]ry。我是Mario Ritterva+*QLbPhhHxY9J=!n。