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Listen to part of a lecture in an environmental science class.
请听环境科学课上的部分内容。
Now, there is a growing interest these days in generating electricity from renewable energy sources, right?
这些天人们对利用可再生能源发电的兴趣越来越浓，对吧？
From developing wind farms to tapping into an underground source of geothermal energy.
从发展风电场到开发源自地下的地热能。
And when you’re considering a new project, it’s important to look at the costs as well as benefits of developing that energy source.
在考虑一个新项目时，看到发展这种能源的利益的同时，也要看到成本，这很重要。
Let me give you an example of the kind of thing I’m talking about.
我给你们举个例子解释一下我在说的事情吧。
There is currently a lot of interest in harnessing the power of the oceans, of the ocean tides, that is,
目前很多人对利用海洋中的能源兴趣颇多，利用海洋潮汐，
the movement of huge amounts of water which causes the water level of oceans to rise and fall.
也就是会导致海洋的水平面上升下降的大量水体的运动。
The idea is that if we can harness that tidal energy, it’d be a great clean renewable energy sources.
想法是如果我们能利用潮汐能，它会成为一种很棒的可再生清洁能源。
One place where this tidal energy can be harnessed is at a shallow body of water, such as an estuary.
这种潮汐能可以得到利用的一个地方就是在较浅的水域中，比如入海口。
Now, can anyone tell us what an estuary is? Yes, Ted.
有人能告诉我们入海口是什么吗？好的，Ted。
An estuary is where a river enters the ocean.
入海口就是河水汇入海洋的地方。
The fresh water meets the ocean water, sometimes it is covered in water, sometimes it is not.
淡水遇到了海水，有时候它会被覆盖在水中，有时候不会。
Some parts of the estuary, as the tides go in and out, but other parts are always submerged.
当潮汐进进出出时，入海口的一些部分是显露在外的，但是其他部分总是沉没在水中。
Now, estuaries are an ideal place to try to capture energy from changes in tides because,
入海口是捕捉潮汐变化中产生的能量的一个理想地点，
well, there is an exceptionally large difference between the water level at high tide and at low tide.
因为满潮和低潮的水平面之间有特别大的差异。
