2024年5月3日发(作者：)

英语六级巅峰阅读附详解 第66期:能源问题

It is often claimed that nuclear energy is something we cannot do without. We

live in a consumer society where there is an enormous demand for commercial

products of all kinds. Moreover. an increase in industrialproduction is considered

to be one solution to the problem of mass unemployment. Such an increase

presumesan abundant and cheap energy supply. Many people believe that nuclear

energy provides an inexhaustible andeconomical source of power and chat it is

therefore essential for an industrially developing society. There are a number of

other advantages in the use of nuclear energy. Firstly, nuclear power. except for

accidents, is clean. A further advantage is that a nuclear power station can be run

and maintained by relativelyfew technical and administrative staff. The nuclear

reactor represents an enormous step in our scientific evolution and, whatever the

anti-nuclear group says, it is wrong to expect a return to more primitive sources of

fuel. However, opponents of nuclear energy point out that nuclear power stations

bring a direct threat not only to the environment but also to civil liberties.

Furthermore, it is questionable whether ultimately nuclear power is a cheap

source of energy. There have. for example. been very costly accidents in America,

in Britain and, of course. in Russia. The possibility of increases in the cost of

uranium(铀) in addition to the cost of greater safety provisions could price nuclear

power out of the market. In the long run, environmentalists argue, nuclear energy

wastes valuable resources and disturbs the ecology to an extent which could bring

about the destruction of the human race. Thus, if we wish to survive. we cannot

afford nuclear energy. In spice of the case against nuclear energy outlined above.

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nuclear energy programmes are expanding. Such an expansion assumes a

continual growth in industrial production and consumer demands. However, it is

doubtful whether this growth will or can continue Having weighed up the

arguments on both sides, it seems there are good economic and ecological

reasons for sources of energy other than nuclear power.

[1]常有人声称核能是我们不可或缺的能源。我们生活在一个消费社会中，这个社

会对于各种商业产品的需求量极大。此外，工业生产的增长也被视为是解决大规模失业问

题的一个途径。这种增长需要充足和廉价的能源供应。[3]许多人相信核能提供了一种取之

不尽且便宜的能源，因此为工业发展社会所必需。使用核能还有很多其他的优点。首先，

除非发生事故，核能是很清洁的。它的另一个好处是经营和维持一个核电站需要相对较少

的技术扣管理人员。核反应技术代表着科学发展的一大进步，无论反核能论者怎么说，指

望人们重新使用比较原始的燃料作能源都是错误的。[2]然而，核能反对者们指出，核电站

不仅对环境，而且对公民自由都是一种直接的威胁。

[l]此外，核能最终是否是一种廉价的能源还值得商榷。比如说，在美国、英国、当然

还有俄罗斯，都发生了代价高昂的事故。铀的成本有可能提高，加上更加安全的防范设施

所需的巨大成本会使核能的价格超出市场接受能力。环境保护论者宣称，从长远角度看，

核能浪费了宝贵的资源，对生态的破坏甚至会达到毁灭人类的地步。因此，如果我们想继

续生存下去，我们就不能使用核能。尽管有上述种种反对使用核能的理由，核能的开发计

划还在扩大。[4]这种扩大以工业生产和消费需求的继续增长为前提。但是，这种增长是否

能够持续，这令人怀疑。[1/5]权衡了两个方面的意见，我们似乎有很好的经济和生态环境

方面的理由来利用其他形式的能源，而不是核能。

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