Solar-powered Cars-英语听力

[00:00.100]From VOA Learning English, [00:02.180]this is the Technology Report. [00:05.050]Students at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa [00:09.850]are building solar-powered cars and racing them in competitions. [00:15.450]The University is training the students [00:18.520]to become experts in different types of energy. [00:22.170]Their 300-kilogram solar-powered car [00:26.330]is traveling at more than 100 kilometers per hour [00:30.340]through the South African countryside, [00:33.160]and it is using less electric power [00:36.410]than a small kitchen appliance. [00:38.820]The young engineers who built the car [00:41.750]drove it in the Solar Challenge, [00:44.180]a national racing competition for cars [00:47.590]that use alternative energy. [00:49.770]Kegan Smith is the former manager of the project [00:53.830]and a lecturer at the University of Johannesburg. [00:57.550]He says the university wants the students [01:00.720]to learn about green energies using realistic examples. [01:06.060]"With what we do at the moment in fossil fuels, [01:09.020]if we continue like this, [01:10.790]there is not going to be a future. [01:11.510]And if we do this kind of alternative energy, [01:14.680]the cars are one application. [01:16.040]But the nice thing with the cars [01:17.600]it that it's a mindset change. [01:18.600]If you can start shaping students' mind now, [01:20.690]it's going to change the mindset of people in general. [01:23.030]How do you use your lights? [01:24.580]How do you use your electricity?" explained Smith. [01:25.480]When he was a student in 2010, [01:28.460]Mr Smith was part of a group [01:30.970]that built a hybrid alternative-energy powered car. [01:34.890]Since then, students have built more cars [01:38.470]using both hydrogen and solar power. [01:42.000]Warren Larter is also a former student, [01:46.150]he is the university's solar car project manager. [01:50.410]He says he does not expect solar-powered cars [01:54.810]to be more popular than gasoline-powered cars, [01:58.860]but Mr Larter says, [02:00.800]they do offer an important learning tool [02:04.160]to help students develop new technologies. [02:07.370]"For us, it's a research thing. [02:09.280]Our exact example is Formula One. [02:11.420]You'll never see those cars on the road, [02:13.280]but the technologies that go into them, [02:15.170]you see it in every single car [02:16.530]in every single household across the world. [02:17.790]So that's where we are pushing it. [02:19.430]This is our Formula One of alternative energy," said Larter. [02:21.850]Warren Larter started a company [02:24.440]that lets students to work on projects [02:27.490]that private companies have expressed an interest in supporting. [02:31.710]He says the energy market is changing, [02:34.620]and there is a great need for engineers [02:37.400]with more modern experience. [02:39.910]"Locally, there is a lack of experts [02:42.200]in alternative energy and in particular in solar technology. [02:45.290]We seem to be importing a lot at this stage, [02:47.530]which is not ideal… We should have the experts locally, [02:50.780]so [a] project like this really pushes that. [02:53.250]We have guys working with the solar panels, [02:55.560]working on different aspect of the project. [02:57.860]So instead of importing the guys and flying them [03:00.730]in to work on this, we use the local guys, [03:02.390]so they know just as much and can even do better [03:05.230]than the international guys," said Larter. [03:06.460]Kegan Smith agrees. [03:08.830]"I got guys working on huge systems on the telecom sites, [03:12.970]because that's what they did in the cars. [03:14.140]So the experience they gain from the cars [03:15.800]are now working towards it in the industry," said Smith. [03:18.730]Warren Larter and his team of students [03:22.210]are now working on a third car [03:24.430]to enter into the next Solar Challenge in August 2014. [03:29.580]They want to win the national competition [03:32.600]and then compete internationally. [03:35.930]And that is the Technology Report from VOA Learning English.