关于电力的惊人事实

这是来自BBC英语学习的下载内容。

This is a download from BBC Learning English.

了解更多信息，请访问我们的网站。

To find out more, visit our website.

六分钟英语。

Six Minute English.

来自bbclearningenglish.com。

From bbclearningenglish.com.

你好。

Hello.

这里是BBC英语学习的六分钟英语节目。

This is six Minute English from BBC Learning English.

我是尼尔。

I'm Neil.

我是乔治娜。

And I'm Georgina.

乔治娜，你知道ACDC是什么吗？

Now Georgina, what do you know about ACDC?

你是说那个澳大利亚摇滚

You mean the Australian rock and

乐

roll

乐队吗？

band?

嗯，他们1979年的热门歌曲《Highway to Hell》连续11周蝉联榜首。

Well, their 1979 hit, Highway to Hell stayed at number one for eleven weeks.

不不

No, no.

不是那个ACDC乐队，乔治娜

Not that ACDC Georgina.

我现在说的不是摇滚音乐

I'm not talking rock music here.

我说的是电流——交流电AC和直流电DC，这是电的两种流动方式。

I'm talking electrical currents alternating current AC and direct current DC the two ways in which electricity flows.

哦，我明白了。

Oh, I see.

不，我对那种ACDC一无所知。

No, I don't know anything about that ACDC.

别担心，因为在今天的节目中，我们将了解一些关于电力的趣闻，包括它在世界各地的差异，以及为什么有些国家的电力系统比其他国家的更复杂。

Well, don't worry because in today's programme we'll be finding out some quirky facts about electricity, how it differs across the world and why some countries have more complicated electrical systems than others.

我注意到去其他国家旅行时，需要转换插头才能连接笔记本电脑。

I have noticed that when I travel to another country, I need a converter plug to connect my laptop.

这和ACDC有关吗？

Is that something to do with ACDC?

是的，可能有关系。

Yes, it could be.

当然，电力本身并不会因国家不同而改变。

Of course, electricity itself doesn't change from country to country.

不是。

No.

这是一种无形的自然力量，从雷暴到我们大脑中迸发的电火花，无处不在。

It's an invisible natural force at work in everything from lightning storms to the electrical sparks firing in our brains.

尽管电是自然存在的，但有一位科学家因发现电而受到赞誉。

But although it happens naturally, one scientist was credited with discovering electricity.

是谁？

Who?

这是我的测验问题。

That's my quiz question.

谁发现了电？

Who discovered electricity?

是a)托马斯·爱迪生，b)亚历山大·格拉汉姆·贝尔，还是c)本杰明·富兰克林？

Was it a) Thomas Edison b) Alexander Graham Bell or c) Benjamin Franklin?

我自己不是专业电工，尼尔，但我选c本杰明·富兰克林。

I'm not a qualified electrician myself, Neil, but I'll say c Benjamin Franklin.

好的。

Okay.

嗯，BBC主持人加雷斯·米切尔确实是一名合格的电工。

Well, one person who definitely is a qualified electrician is BBC presenter Gareth Mitchell.

所以当BBC广播四台的《科学故事》派他去见电力专家基思·贝尔时，他们的对话可以说是火花四溅？

So when BBC Radio four's Science Stories sent him to meet electricity expert Keith Bell, the conversation was, shall we say, sparky?

美国的标准频率是60赫兹。

Standard frequency in The US is 60 hertz.

实际上，在美国大陆本土有三个不同的同步区域。

Actually, think in The US, on the Mainland US main continent, there are three different synchronous areas.

所以虽然频率大约在60赫兹，但由于这三个区域互不相连，任何时刻它们的实际频率都会有细微差异。

So although it's around 60 hertz, any moment in time, these three different areas, because they're not connected to each other, will be going at a slightly different frequency.

其他地区的差异更为显著。

There are bigger differences elsewhere.

比如在日本，主要岛屿中一部分使用60赫兹，而另一半则使用50赫兹。

So in Japan, for example, I think one of the main islands is at 60 hertz, and the other half of Japan is at 50 hertz.

这可真有点麻烦。

That's a bit of a pickle.

一般来说，频率指的是某事物重复发生的频次。

Generally speaking, frequency means how often something repeats.

对于电流而言，频率是指电波完成正负极交替一个周期所需的次数。

In the case of electrical currents, frequency is the number of times an electrical wave repeats a positive to negative cycle.

它的计量单位是赫兹。

It's measured in hertz.

美国的电力频率是60赫兹，而英国则在50赫兹左右。

In The US power is at 60 hertz and in The UK it's around 50 hertz.

因此美国和英国不属于同步区域——无法以相同时间和速率（在这里指频率）同步运行。

So The US and UK are not in the same synchronous area not occurring together at the same time and rate or in this case frequency.

这意味着要在美国安全使用英国电器，我需要转换电源。

Which means that to safely use a British electrical device in America, I need to convert the power supply.

否则电器不仅无法工作，更糟的是可能会损坏。

If not, it won't work Even worse, it could break.

一台坏掉的笔记本电脑可能会让你陷入困境，这个非正式表达意指没有明显解决方案的困难处境。

And a broken laptop could leave you in a bit of a pickle, an informal expression meaning a difficult situation with no obvious answer.

这是Gareth和Keith再次谈论更多差异。

Here's Gareth and Keith again talking about more differences.

我很确定我去美国时，我的电动牙刷无法在60赫兹、110伏的电压下充电，但我的笔记本电脑仍能正常工作。

I'm pretty sure when I go to The United States, my electric toothbrush doesn't charge up at 60 hertz, 110 volts, but my laptop still works.

Keith，或许你无话可说，但我只是指出我发现的其中一个异常现象。

I maybe you have no comment, Keith, but I'm just saying one of these anomalies that I seem to have found.

关于电动牙刷我不太确定，但我知道很多笔记本电脑之类的电源适配器是固态的。

So I'm not sure about the electric toothbrush, but I know a lot of our power supplies for laptops and stuff are solid state.

它们内部有电子元件可以自动完成所有电压转换。

You know, they've got, you know, electronics in that do all the conversion for you.

所以最终输入机器的是直流电源。

So, basically, it ends up with a DC supply into the machine itself.

里面有个小型转换器，设计上不关心交流输入的频率是多少。

So it's a little converter in there, and it's designed so it doesn't care what frequency the the AC input is.

Gareth注意到在美国，他的电动牙刷有时无法完全充电，无法获得正常工作所需的电力。

Gareth noticed that in The United States, his toothbrush doesn't always fully charge up, get the power needed to make it work.

电动牙刷无法充满电以及不同电力频率之间的差异，这些都是异常现象的好例子——与常规或预期情况不同的事物。

Electric toothbrushes which don't fully charge and differences between electrical frequencies are good examples of anomalies things which are different from what is usual or expected.

但随着现代技术的发展，这些异常现象正变得越来越少见。

But with modern technology these anomalies are becoming less and less commonplace.

例如，电脑公司开始生产采用固态电子元件的笔记本电脑——使用半导体技术，没有活动部件，能自动转换不同电流。

For example, computer companies have started making laptops with solid state electronics electronics using semiconductors which have no moving parts and can automatically convert different electrical currents.

这意味着我可以用笔记本电脑谷歌搜索你测验问题的答案。

Meaning I can use my laptop to Google the answer to your quiz question.

啊，没错。

Ah yes.

我问过你是哪位科学家被认为发现了电，你说是？

I asked you which scientist was credited with discovering electricity and you said?

本杰明·富兰克林。

C Benjamin Franklin.

而且我已经知道我是对的，因为我在我的固态笔记本上搜索过了。

And I already know I'm right because I googled it on my solid state laptop.

为了证明闪电是电，富兰克林将一把金属钥匙系在风筝上，并在雷暴天气中放飞。

To show that lightning was electricity, Franklin attached a metal key to a kite and flew it during a thunderstorm.

钥匙传导了电流，使他遭到电击。

The key conducted electricity and gave him a shock.

不建议尝试这个实验。

Not an experiment.

我推荐在家试试看。

I recommend trying at home.

今天我们讨论了各国电流中存在的异常或意外差异。

Today we've been talking about anomalies or unexpected differences in electrical currents between countries.

电流以频率计量，即电波从正极到负极循环重复的次数。

Electrical currents are measured in frequencies The number of times a wave repeats a positive to negative cycle.

如果两个国家不同步，这些频率可能会有所不同。

These can be different if two countries are not synchronous, occurring at the same rate.

例如，英国和美国。

For example, Britain and The United States.

不同的频率可能意味着你的电子设备，如笔记本电脑、手机和电动牙刷，在其他国家无法正常充电或获得运作所需的电力。

Different frequencies may mean your electrical devices like your laptop, phone and toothbrush won't properly charge up get the power to function in other countries.

手机没电可能会让你陷入困境——一个棘手的局面。

And having a phone with no power could leave you in a bit of a pickle a difficult situation.

幸运的是，许多现代设备采用固态电子技术——机器内部无活动部件的半导体，能自动转换电流。

Fortunately, many modern devices use solid state electronics non moving semiconductors inside the machine which automatically convert the electrical current.

这样你就再也不会错过任何一期《六分钟英语》了。

So you'll never miss another edition of six Minute English again.

以上就是今天的全部内容。

That's all for today.

我们很快会在BBC英语学习频道再见，探讨更多有趣的话题和相关词汇。

See you soon at BBC Learning English for more interesting topics and related vocabulary.

暂时先道别了。

Goodbye for now.

再见。

Bye.