Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Going home for Thanksgiving is a time-honored American tradition—and one that exemplifies the environmental burden created by all our hectic traveling. We spewed more than 2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide from our trains, planes and automobiles in 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
I love my beat up old junker of a car, but at 30 miles-per-gallon, I'm not doing the atmosphere any favors. Turning to ethanol or biodiesel doesn’t help much, given that those fuels from crops mean less food: hardly in keeping with the Thanksgiving tradition.
Another type of biofuel, however, may be the only hope for reining in airplane emissions. Whether made from shrubs like jatropha or, even better, algae that can thrive on dirty water, bio-kerosene is being tested by everyone from the U.S. Air Force to Air New Zealand, as well as jet engine-makers Boeing and Rolls Royce.
So the best existing transportation option is an old-fashioned one: trains. Not only have trains been hybrid since before it was cool (i.e. the 1950s)they carry a lot more passengers for every gallon of diesel burned. So if you have a choice among planes, trains and automobiles...chugga chugga choo choo!
回家你選擇怎么走：飛機、火車還是汽車？
回家過感恩節(jié)是美國的一個歷史悠久的傳統(tǒng)---而這個傳統(tǒng)也展示了我們繁忙的旅行給環(huán)境帶來的負擔。根據美國能源部（U.S. Department of Energy）的數據統(tǒng)計，在2007年，我們的火車、飛機和汽車總共排放了20多億噸的二氧化碳。
我喜歡我的那輛小破車，但是它的耗油量實在太大，一公升只能跑30英里，這樣看我對空氣環(huán)境一點兒忙也沒有幫。如果燒乙醇或者生物柴油的話，其實也好不了哪里去，因為這些燃料是從農作物加工而來，這意味著我們的糧食就更少了：而這和我們過感恩節(jié)的傳統(tǒng)是違背的。
但是另外一種生物燃料可能成為控制飛機排放量的希望。從一些灌木叢諸如麻風樹，或者再好一些，如從海藻（在污水中能大量生長）加工而來的生物煤油可能用于飛機燃料。美國空軍 （U.S. Air Force）、新西蘭航空（Air New Zealand）以及引擎制造商波音公司（Boeing）和勞斯萊斯（Rolls Royce）目前都在對這種航空燃料進行實驗。
所以目前存在的的運輸選擇是我們熟悉的火車了。這不僅僅在于火車成為很酷的運輸工具以前（比如上個世紀50年代）就使用混合技術了，而且還在于燃燒同樣一升柴油，火車能運送多得多的乘客。所以，如果你在飛機、火車、汽車之間做個選擇的話……哐啷、哐啷、嗚、嗚！
Vocabulary:
Time-honored：歷史悠久的
Exemplify：做…的榜樣
Environmental: 環(huán)境的
Spew：噴，涌
Hectic: 緊張忙碌的
Billion: 十億
Metric: 公制的，公尺的
Junker: 很破的舊車
Biodiesel: 生物柴油
Biofuel: 生物燃料
Rein: 控制；統(tǒng)治
Shrub：灌木叢
Jatropha：麻風樹
Algae: 海藻
Thrive: 繁榮；興旺
Bio-kerosene: 生物煤油
Going home for Thanksgiving is a time-honored American tradition—and one that exemplifies the environmental burden created by all our hectic traveling. We spewed more than 2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide from our trains, planes and automobiles in 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
I love my beat up old junker of a car, but at 30 miles-per-gallon, I'm not doing the atmosphere any favors. Turning to ethanol or biodiesel doesn’t help much, given that those fuels from crops mean less food: hardly in keeping with the Thanksgiving tradition.
Another type of biofuel, however, may be the only hope for reining in airplane emissions. Whether made from shrubs like jatropha or, even better, algae that can thrive on dirty water, bio-kerosene is being tested by everyone from the U.S. Air Force to Air New Zealand, as well as jet engine-makers Boeing and Rolls Royce.
So the best existing transportation option is an old-fashioned one: trains. Not only have trains been hybrid since before it was cool (i.e. the 1950s)they carry a lot more passengers for every gallon of diesel burned. So if you have a choice among planes, trains and automobiles...chugga chugga choo choo!
回家你選擇怎么走：飛機、火車還是汽車？
回家過感恩節(jié)是美國的一個歷史悠久的傳統(tǒng)---而這個傳統(tǒng)也展示了我們繁忙的旅行給環(huán)境帶來的負擔。根據美國能源部（U.S. Department of Energy）的數據統(tǒng)計，在2007年，我們的火車、飛機和汽車總共排放了20多億噸的二氧化碳。
我喜歡我的那輛小破車，但是它的耗油量實在太大，一公升只能跑30英里，這樣看我對空氣環(huán)境一點兒忙也沒有幫。如果燒乙醇或者生物柴油的話，其實也好不了哪里去，因為這些燃料是從農作物加工而來，這意味著我們的糧食就更少了：而這和我們過感恩節(jié)的傳統(tǒng)是違背的。
但是另外一種生物燃料可能成為控制飛機排放量的希望。從一些灌木叢諸如麻風樹，或者再好一些，如從海藻（在污水中能大量生長）加工而來的生物煤油可能用于飛機燃料。美國空軍 （U.S. Air Force）、新西蘭航空（Air New Zealand）以及引擎制造商波音公司（Boeing）和勞斯萊斯（Rolls Royce）目前都在對這種航空燃料進行實驗。
所以目前存在的的運輸選擇是我們熟悉的火車了。這不僅僅在于火車成為很酷的運輸工具以前（比如上個世紀50年代）就使用混合技術了，而且還在于燃燒同樣一升柴油，火車能運送多得多的乘客。所以，如果你在飛機、火車、汽車之間做個選擇的話……哐啷、哐啷、嗚、嗚！
Vocabulary:
Time-honored：歷史悠久的
Exemplify：做…的榜樣
Environmental: 環(huán)境的
Spew：噴，涌
Hectic: 緊張忙碌的
Billion: 十億
Metric: 公制的，公尺的
Junker: 很破的舊車
Biodiesel: 生物柴油
Biofuel: 生物燃料
Rein: 控制；統(tǒng)治
Shrub：灌木叢
Jatropha：麻風樹
Algae: 海藻
Thrive: 繁榮；興旺
Bio-kerosene: 生物煤油