04 Electricity
The modern age is an age of electricity. People are so used to electric lights, radio, televisions, and telephones that it is hard to imagine what life would be like without them. When there is a power failure, people grope about in flickering1 candlelight, cars hesitate in the streets because there are no traffic lights to guide them, and food spoils in silent refrigerators.
Yet, people began to understand how electricity works only a little more than two centuries ago. Nature has apparently2 been experimenting in this field for million of years. Scientists are discovering more and more that the living world may hold many interesting secrets of electricity that could benefit humanity.
All living cell send out tiny pulses of electricity. As the heart beats, it sends out pulses of record; they form an electrocardiogram, which a doctor can study to determine how well the heart is working. The brain, too, sends out brain waves of electricity, which can be recorded in an electroencephalogram. The electric currents generated by most living cells are extremely small – often so small that sensitive instruments are needed to record them. But in some animals, certain muscle cells have become so specialized3 as electrical generators4 that they do not work as muscle cells at all. When large numbers of these cell are linked together, the effects can be astonishing.
The electric eel5 is an amazing storage battery. It can seed a jolt6 of as much as eight hundred volts7 of electricity through the water in which it live. ( An electric house current is only one hundred twenty volts.) As many as four-fifths of all the cells in the electric eel’s body are specialized for generating electricity, and the strength of the shock it can deliver corresponds roughly to length of its body.
1 flickering
adj.閃爍的，搖曳的，一閃一閃的
參考例句：
The crisp autumn wind is flickering away. 清爽的秋風(fēng)正在吹拂。
The lights keep flickering. 燈光忽明忽暗。
2 apparently
adv.顯然地；表面上，似乎
參考例句：
An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山窮水盡，豁然開(kāi)朗。
He was apparently much surprised at the news.他對(duì)那個(gè)消息顯然感到十分驚異。
3 specialized
adj.專門(mén)的，專業(yè)化的
參考例句：
There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.聯(lián)合國(guó)有許多專門(mén)機(jī)構(gòu)。
These tools are very specialized.這些是專用工具。
4 generators
n.發(fā)電機(jī)，發(fā)生器( generator的名詞復(fù)數(shù) )；電力公司
參考例句：
The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工廠應(yīng)急發(fā)電機(jī)在停電期間用上了。
Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 電力可以從風(fēng)力發(fā)電機(jī)流入輸電網(wǎng)。 來(lái)自《簡(jiǎn)明英漢詞典》
5 eel
n.鰻鱺
參考例句：
He used an eel spear to catch an eel.他用一只捕鰻叉捕鰻魚(yú)。
In Suzhou,there was a restaurant that specialized in eel noodles.蘇州有一家飯館，他們那里的招牌菜是鰻魚(yú)面。
6 jolt
v.（使）搖動(dòng)，（使）震動(dòng)，（使）顛簸
參考例句：
We were worried that one tiny jolt could worsen her injuries.我們擔(dān)心稍微顛簸一下就可能會(huì)使她的傷勢(shì)惡化。
They were working frantically in the fear that an aftershock would jolt the house again.他們拼命地干著，擔(dān)心余震可能會(huì)使房子再次受到震動(dòng)。
7 volts
n.（電壓?jiǎn)挝唬┓? volt的名詞復(fù)數(shù) )
參考例句：
The floating potential, Vf is usually only a few volts below ground. 浮置電勢(shì)Vf通常只低于接地電位幾伏。 來(lái)自辭典例句
If gamma particles are present, potential differences of several thousand volts can be generated. 如果存在γ粒子，可能產(chǎn)生幾千伏的電位差。 來(lái)自辭典例句
The modern age is an age of electricity. People are so used to electric lights, radio, televisions, and telephones that it is hard to imagine what life would be like without them. When there is a power failure, people grope about in flickering1 candlelight, cars hesitate in the streets because there are no traffic lights to guide them, and food spoils in silent refrigerators.
Yet, people began to understand how electricity works only a little more than two centuries ago. Nature has apparently2 been experimenting in this field for million of years. Scientists are discovering more and more that the living world may hold many interesting secrets of electricity that could benefit humanity.
All living cell send out tiny pulses of electricity. As the heart beats, it sends out pulses of record; they form an electrocardiogram, which a doctor can study to determine how well the heart is working. The brain, too, sends out brain waves of electricity, which can be recorded in an electroencephalogram. The electric currents generated by most living cells are extremely small – often so small that sensitive instruments are needed to record them. But in some animals, certain muscle cells have become so specialized3 as electrical generators4 that they do not work as muscle cells at all. When large numbers of these cell are linked together, the effects can be astonishing.
The electric eel5 is an amazing storage battery. It can seed a jolt6 of as much as eight hundred volts7 of electricity through the water in which it live. ( An electric house current is only one hundred twenty volts.) As many as four-fifths of all the cells in the electric eel’s body are specialized for generating electricity, and the strength of the shock it can deliver corresponds roughly to length of its body.
1 flickering
adj.閃爍的，搖曳的，一閃一閃的
參考例句：
The crisp autumn wind is flickering away. 清爽的秋風(fēng)正在吹拂。
The lights keep flickering. 燈光忽明忽暗。
2 apparently
adv.顯然地；表面上，似乎
參考例句：
An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山窮水盡，豁然開(kāi)朗。
He was apparently much surprised at the news.他對(duì)那個(gè)消息顯然感到十分驚異。
3 specialized
adj.專門(mén)的，專業(yè)化的
參考例句：
There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.聯(lián)合國(guó)有許多專門(mén)機(jī)構(gòu)。
These tools are very specialized.這些是專用工具。
4 generators
n.發(fā)電機(jī)，發(fā)生器( generator的名詞復(fù)數(shù) )；電力公司
參考例句：
The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工廠應(yīng)急發(fā)電機(jī)在停電期間用上了。
Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 電力可以從風(fēng)力發(fā)電機(jī)流入輸電網(wǎng)。 來(lái)自《簡(jiǎn)明英漢詞典》
5 eel
n.鰻鱺
參考例句：
He used an eel spear to catch an eel.他用一只捕鰻叉捕鰻魚(yú)。
In Suzhou,there was a restaurant that specialized in eel noodles.蘇州有一家飯館，他們那里的招牌菜是鰻魚(yú)面。
6 jolt
v.（使）搖動(dòng)，（使）震動(dòng)，（使）顛簸
參考例句：
We were worried that one tiny jolt could worsen her injuries.我們擔(dān)心稍微顛簸一下就可能會(huì)使她的傷勢(shì)惡化。
They were working frantically in the fear that an aftershock would jolt the house again.他們拼命地干著，擔(dān)心余震可能會(huì)使房子再次受到震動(dòng)。
7 volts
n.（電壓?jiǎn)挝唬┓? volt的名詞復(fù)數(shù) )
參考例句：
The floating potential, Vf is usually only a few volts below ground. 浮置電勢(shì)Vf通常只低于接地電位幾伏。 來(lái)自辭典例句
If gamma particles are present, potential differences of several thousand volts can be generated. 如果存在γ粒子，可能產(chǎn)生幾千伏的電位差。 來(lái)自辭典例句