讲解人 · John
原文
But in the United States, scientists are setting out to see whether seaweed has another particularly valuable trick hidden up its proverbial sleeve: to act as a salty, slimy source of precious minerals.
Within the U.S. Department of Energy is the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), a scientific branch devoted to tackling challenging, high-potential projects on energy technologies.
ARPA-E takes big swings and looks for big rewards.
And so far, the agency has awarded $5 million to three ventures investigating whether seaweed can serve as a practical source of crucial materials.
These valuable elements, which can be captured and concentrated by seaweed, are essential to the green-energy transition—and to technology more broadly.
Seaweed could represent an alternative to conventional mining and other prospects, such as deep-sea mining.
Underpinning all of this research are important, unanswered questions, including why seaweed absorbs these minerals at all, whether it can do so in concentrations high enough to be useful, and whether the elements can be pulled out in a financially viable way.
The key to making all this work is figuring out how to extract metals and rare-earth elements from seaweed without destroying it.
For seaweed mining to make financial sense, the process needs to leave the algae in good-enough condition to still be used for other applications, including as fuel, food, or a component in bioplastic production.
Even though seaweed collection can’t fully replace mining, by extracting materials as they leach naturally out of the land, algal mining offers a way to scoop up minerals that were going to be lost to the sea.
带着问题听讲解
- 如何理解文章中 algae 这个单词？
- 根据文章，海藻有哪些用途？
- 根据文章，海藻采矿的潜在优势是什么？
讲解
重点词汇
seaweed
/ˈsiː.wiːd/
n. 海藻
- 相关词汇：sea（n. 大海）相关词汇：weed（n. 杂草）
mine
/maɪn/
v. 采矿
- 词性拓展：mine（pron. 我的所有）词性拓展：mine（n. 矿山，矿井）例句：The company first started mining for salt in 1851.
versatile
/ˈvɝː.sə.t̬əl/
adj. 用途广泛的；多才多艺的
- 搭配短语：a versatile tool
habitat
/ˈhæb.ə.tæt/
n. 栖息地，生长地
- 英文释义：the place where a plant or animal naturally lives or grows
set out
开始，着手；出发
- 例句：He has achieved what he set out to do three years ago.
trick
/trɪk/
n. 诀窍；花招，诡计
- 例句：The trick is to bend your knees as you catch the ball.
proverbial
/prəˈvɝː.bi.əl/
adj. 众所周知的；有关谚语的
- 相关词汇：proverb（n. 谚语）搭配短语：the proverbial beginner's luck
slimy
/ˈslaɪ.mi/
adj. 黏糊糊的，泥泞的
- 相关词汇：slime（n. 泥浆，粘液）
- 文化拓展：史莱姆的英文就是 slime。
搭配短语：a slimy rock搭配短语：slimy mud
devote
/dɪˈvoʊt/
v. 致力于，献身于
- 搭配短语：devote A to B
- 例句：He devoted his energies to writing films.
tackle
/ˈtæk.əl/
v. 解决难题
- 英文释义：to try to deal with a difficult problem例句：There is more than one way to tackle the problem.
swing
/swɪŋ/
n. 摇摆，摆动；秋千
- 词性拓展：swing（v. 摆动）例句：Let your arms swing as you walk.搭配短语：take a big swing（冒险，采取高风险的行动）
venture
/ˈven.tʃɚ/
n. 风险投资
- 词性拓展：venture（v. 冒风险）英文释义：to go somewhere that could be dangerous例句：When darkness fell, he would venture out.相关词汇：adventure（n. 冒险）
concentrate
/ˈkɑːn.sən.treɪt/
v. 浓缩；集中注意，专心；聚集，使集中
- 英文释义：to cause sth. to be directed for a single purpose例句：She is concentrating her attention on her studies.搭配短语：concentrated syrup
conventional
/kənˈven.ʃən.əl/
adj. 传统的，常规的
- 相关词汇：convention（n. 常规，习俗）例句：Bake for 20 minutes in a conventional oven, 8 in a microwave.
underpin
/ˌʌn.dɚˈpɪn/
v. 支持，巩固；从下面支撑，加固
- 相关词汇：under（在......下面）相关词汇：pin（v. 把......固定住）搭配短语：a wall underpinned by metal support搭配短语：the theories that underpin his teaching method
viable
/ˈvaɪ.ə.bəl/
adj. 可行的
- 例句：The committee came forward with one viable solution.
extract
/ɪkˈstrækt/
v. 提取；抽出，拔出
- 例句：I had to have a tooth extracted.搭配短语：to extract the juice from the apples搭配短语：oil extracted from sunflower seeds
algae
/ˈæl.dʒiː/
n. 水藻，海藻
- 词义辨析：algae, seaweed
- algae 可以泛指各种水藻，而 seaweed 则是特指“海藻”。
component
/kəmˈpoʊ.nənt/
n. 组成部分，零件
- 英文释义：one of several parts that together make up a whole machine, system etc.搭配短语：electronic components
leach
/liːtʃ/
v. 沥滤
- 英文释义：to remove a substance from a material, especially from earth, by the process of water moving through the material
scoop
/skuːp/
v. 用勺子舀，捧起
- 词性拓展：scoop（n. 球形勺）
- 搭配短语：scoops of ice cream
例句：She bent down and scooped up the little dog.
