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作品简介：美国是人均能源消费最高的国家，使美国运转是项大工程。该片讲述美国火力发电、核电站、天然气、风能和太阳能发电的运行情况，带你了解美国电力的来源、运输和浪费。主持人来到纽约电网控制中心，回顾了03年的一次重大停电事件；并坐直升机靠近高压线，体验了线路维修人员工作的危险；还爬上了风力涡轮机，和技术人员一起检查叶片的磨损；最后去到了用沼气发电的养牛场，见到了最为创新的发电方法。了解电力，透视美国，从这里开始吧！
影片长度：52 分钟
词汇统计：
★ 四级词汇： 83 个
★★ 六级词汇： 39
★★★ 雅思、托福及以上词汇： 52 个
学习指南：以下单词均出自影片台词，前面标一星的为四级词汇，二星的为六级词汇，三星的为雅思、托福及以上词汇。大家根据自己的考试要求选择性学习。【看纪录片学单词】可分三步进行，第一步：把影片完整看一遍，可看中文字幕，了解影片内容。第二步：看一小段，然后对照下面的单词进行学习。学完以后进行第三步，即再次把影片从头到尾看一遍，重温重点词汇和好的口语表达以及背景知识，最后还需反复浏览以下这些词句（可以打印出来，或者存手机）。
在线观看：http://v.pps.tv/play_38XFC9.html
下载地址：http://www.dy2018.com/html/gndy/jddy/20130919/91849.html
★★★ grind to a halt
★ critical
the hidden worlds that keep us on the move, our shelves stocked, and our factories running. all that you see here would grind to a halt -- even disappear -- without the one critical network that makes our modern lives possible. 那个我们奔波其间的世界有满是商品的货架和不断生产的工厂，但如果缺少一样东西这些都将停止甚至消失 ，它使现在的生活成为可能。
★ massive
★ undertaking
energy -- it's what keeps our lights on and our homes heated. Americans on average are the biggest consumers of energy on the planet, and keeping it flowing is a massive undertaking. 它就是能源，有它才能发电和取暖。美国是人均能源消费最高的国家，使美国运转是项大工程。
★ loop
★ harness
i'll make a great loop around the country, discovering where our energy comes from, how we harness it, how we waste it, and how we get it to every home and workplace in the nation. 我会走遍美国，看看能源从哪而来，怎么使用它,有没有浪费，怎么将它输送至每个家庭和工厂。
★ descend
There's nothing else like it in America. 200,000 fans have descended on central Florida for the great American race. 这样的景象在美国才能看到，20万人聚集在佛罗里达中部，只为观看赛车比赛。
★★ spectacle
★★★ insatiable
So for me, today isn't just another day at the races. it's a high-octane opportunity to explore the vast network that provides America with energy, because if there's one spectacle that's all about our insatiable thirst for raw power, it's the Daytona 500.
★★ visionary
★★ intricate
★ transmission line
On September 4, 1882, visionary inventor Thomas Edison switched on America's first central power plant, delivering electricity to 400 electric bulbs in less than one square mile of the city. it's the starting point for the remarkably intricate system of generating stations and transmission lines that light up our world today.
★ high-tension
★ transmission line
★ delivery
★★ grid
today, more than 200,000 miles of high-tension transmission lines supply power. they are the delivery system at the heart of our grid. 如今,超过20万英里的高压线运输着电能，这些是输电网的中心系统。
★★★ domino effect
★★ overloaded
★★★ cascade
basically it was like a domino effect. one line goes down, forcing power onto other lines. they get overloaded, they go down. and it just cascades from there. 这有点像多米诺效应，一条线路中断，电力被挤入其它线路超负荷后走向崩溃都因一条线路中断引起。
★★★ epic
★★★ blackout
★★ grid
★★ infrastructure
Nearly a decade has passed since that epic blackout. and since then, the grid's basic infrastructure hasn't really changed. 那次事件已经过去了10多年，从那时起，电网系统并没什么大变化。
★ conductor
★★ corrode
Today, we're going out to a job where a conductor of a wire got damaged either by a lightning strike or just being old and started corroding. 现在去看一条导线，导线受损了,可能被雷击了也可能是老化了。
★★★ devastating
★★★ blackout
kwon: if the problem is left unchecked, the consequences could be devastating. and no one wants a repeat of the 2003 blackout. 如果不解决这个问题，后果将不堪设想，没人想2003年事件再上演。
★ bond
★ vibration
-- Right now, we're bonded on. you get little nips on your skin, you know, with the electricity going around you. 现在连接上了，皮肤上起鸡皮疙瘩了，因为你周围都是电。
-- You can feel it? 你能感觉到吗?
-- Yeah, you can feel it once in a while. you can feel some vibration on your hands. you know, you feel the wire get warm once in a while. 是的,偶尔能感觉到，感觉自己的手在震动，偶尔能感觉到电线发热。
★ reinforce
★★ rod
★★★ unravel
Ryan carefully reinforces the line with these rods, forming a protective metal band-aid. 赖安小心翼翼地固定电线，像在给电线加了层保护膜。
I'm going to cover up the bad spot of the wire. this way, it doesn't keep unraveling.
我要固定电线有磨损的地方，这样它才不会散开。