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Drinking from the lakes in the sky

 

All air, from arid deserts to humid cities, contains water vapour. And a technological race is underway to harvest it as drinking water. If the emerging ‘water from air’ (WFA) devices can crack it, it could go a long way towards solving the world’s freshwater problem.

無論是乾旱沙漠，還是潮濕城市的空氣，都包含水蒸氣。為了把它變成飲用水，一場科技戰已經如火如荼。如果最新的 ‘water from air’ (WFA)儀器能夠破解此難題，會為解決世界淡水不足問題，前進一大步。

 

arid (adj.)

 

1.（地理專用）乾燥的，乾旱的

e.g. The desert is so arid that nothing can grow there.

       沙漠中極其乾旱，寸草不生。

​

2. (formal 正式) 不成功的；無結果的

e.g. After several arid years, the company has started to become successful.

       經過了幾個不景氣的年頭後，公司已經開始走向成功發展之路。

​

3. (formal 正式) 枯燥的；無創見的，無新意的

e.g. I found his writing extremely arid.

我覺得他寫的東西毫無新意。

 

humid （空氣和天氣狀況）潮濕的，濕潤的 (adj.)

e.g. New York is very hot and humid in the summer.

       紐約的夏天炎熱潮濕。

 

crack 解決（問題）；破譯 (v.)

e.g. They cracked the code and read the secret message.

他們破譯了密碼，讀取了密電。

 

UK I've been trying to solve this problem all week, but I still haven't cracked it.  整個星期我一直在試圖解決這個問題，但還是不得要領。

 

go a long way 有遠大的前程 (expression, informal)

e.g. She’s a very talented writer - I'm sure she'll go a long way.

她是一位很有天賦的作家——我肯定她將來會大有成就。

 

While in richer countries – which consume more water than poorer nations, due to intensive agriculture and industry – water from underground aquifers and river basins are being depleted faster than they are being replenished. A viable, off-grid source of freshwater is both desperately needed to reduce sickness and poverty, and highly attractive to richer consumers, too.

較為富裕的國家，由於密集農業及工業，則比窮國耗用更多的水。地下蓄水層和河盆系統的水耗用比補充快。可行、自給自足的淡水資源，既對減緩疾病和貧窮非常重要，也對富裕消費者有莫大吸引力。

 

deplete 消耗；耗費（資源、金錢、精力等）(v.)

e.g. If we continue to deplete the earth's natural resources, we will cause serious damage to the environment.

如果我們繼續消耗地球上的自然資源，將對環境造成嚴重的破壞。

 

e.g. The illness depletes the body of important vitamins.

這種疾病會消耗人體中重要的維他命。

 

e.g. humorous That last holiday seriously depleted my bank account!

上次度假花掉了我銀行帳戶裡的一大筆錢！(chur晒我啲錢！)

 

replenish 補充；把…再備足；重新裝滿 (v.) FORMAL

e.g. Food stocks were replenished by/with imports from abroad.

糧食儲備透過從國外進口得到了補充。

 

e.g. Does your glass need replenishing?

你的酒杯要不要再斟滿？

 

viable 可以實施的；可望成功的 (adj.)

 

e.g. In order to make the company viable, it will unfortunately be necessary to reduce staffing levels.

很遺憾，為使公司繼續運轉下去，將不得不裁員。

 

off-grid 不和（電、水等）公共設施接通，自備電力的水源的 (adj.)

= off-the-grid

 

e.g. We’re interested in independent self-sufficient living, off-the-grid.

我們對自給自足、水電自理的獨立生活感興趣。

 

LISTENING COMPREHENSION

Q1: What is the major merit of the following WFA approach?

Q2: How much water can it produce in a day?

 

A Song For You - “Air & Water” by Naations

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