【775-777】在印度，世界上第一个太阳能机场不断扩张&自由之家说美国的民主削弱了&黑脸的种族主义历史
1): 邀你加入->【漂泊者乐园-英语学习群】
【每日一歌】
歌曲选自《最适合学习英语的英文歌曲80首》
提示：关注漂泊者乐园微信公众号公众号后， 回复 d2 可收听查看所有《As It Is 》文章。
《As It Is 》栏目在本号自2018年4月初开始全马力运行，已经推文 774篇，每日仍在不断增加中。
亲爱的朋友，如果您能能坚持跟着本号听读，相信不用多久，您的英语听力一定会有极大的提高！
漂泊者乐园微信公众号在线英语学习资料
美国之音特别英语节目：慢速英语听力
学英语的朋友，想提高听力的话，请听下面的音频。
有问题可在【漂泊者乐园-英语学习群】里一起交流，谢谢！
本音频包含不同内容的文章，对应的文本依次附在其后。
AS IT IS
In India, World’s First Solar Powered Airport Keeps Expanding
February 05, 2019
People flying into India’s southern city of Cochin may see numerous solar panelsaround Cochin International Airport. But they may not know that the airport was the first in the world to be fully powered by solar energy.
A sea of shiny solar panels stretches across land running next to the airport’s main road. Many more panels sit on top of a massive parking structure. All are capturing valuable sunlight that is changed to energy to power all airport operations.
The project began five years ago when airport officials were looking for new ways to reduce ever-increasing electricity bills.
The airport’s director, V.J. Kurian, says they came up with the solar idea and decided to begin with a small experiment.
“We put solar panels on the rooftop of Terminal One. We observed it for a year and we found it is quite good and can be safely scaled up,” Kurian told VOA.
This success led to further expansion of solar operations at the airport.
In 2015, Cochin officials declared that the airport had become the world’s first to be fully powered by solar energy.
Today, tens of thousands of solar panels produce more than enough power to keep the airport running 24 hours a day. Airport officials say any leftover energy the airport does not need is stored in the city’s general energy grid.
Kurian says, in the beginning, there were concerns about whether the new system made financial sense.
At the time, the cost of producing one megawatt of power was estimated to cost $1 million. But the falling price of solar panels in recent years greatly lowered the costs and helped make the project a reality.
“We get back our investment in less than six years time,” Kurian said. “Which I thought was an excellent investment opportunity - and the next 25 years is meant for all profit.”
Last year, the airport won one of the United Nations' top environmental honors: the Champions of the Earth award for Entrepreneurial Vision. The project is one example of recent efforts by officials in India to increase the use of solar power to reduce its carbon emissions.
The solar expansion at Cochin has led additional airports and other kinds of building projects to explore the possible use of solar energy.
To keep its standing as the world’s only fully solar powered airport, the facility has continually expanded its energy operations. Officials say the current production level of about 29 megawatts will soon grow to nearly 40 megawatts. The increase will be necessary to keep up with ever-growing passenger traffic.
Airport officials have estimated the amount of carbon emissions to be reduced over the next 25 years would be equal to planting about 3 million trees. And to make the project even greener, vegetables are being grown under the solar panels and on other available land.
Last year, about 60 tons of vegetables were produced and sold.
I’m Bryan Lynn.
Anjana Pasricha reported this story for VOA News. Bryan Lynn adapted it for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.
We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.
_____________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
solar panel – n. large, flat piece of equipment that uses light from the sun to create electricity
scale – v. increase in size, amount or production
grid – n. system of connected wires used to supply electrical power to a large area
opportunity – n. an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done
emission – n. the act of producing or sending out something (such as energy or gas) from a source
facility – n. place where a particular activity happens
AS IT IS
Freedom House Says Democracy in US Has Weakened
February 05, 2019
FILE - A Trump supporter holds a T-shirt reading "You Are Fake News" before a rally by President Donald Trump in Rochester, Minn., Oct. 4, 2018. Freedom House says that democracy in the U.S. weakened significantly and partly blames U.S. President Donald Trump.
Freedom House says that democracy in the United States has weakened a lot in the past few years. It blames U.S. President Donald Trump for “ongoing attacks on the rule of law, fact-based journalism, and other…norms of democracy.”
The U.S.-based group said it has noted similar changes in other nations where democracy was destroyed and replaced by authoritarianism.
“The greatest danger comes from the fact that American democracy is not infinitelydurable,” said Michael Abramowitz, president of Freedom House. He was reacting to the group’s yearly report on democracy, which was released Tuesday.
The report said the freedom rating for the United States shows that the country remains a strong democracy by international norms. Yet it says American democracy has weakened a lot.
It says the current U.S. rating puts American democracy on a level with Greece, Croatia and Mongolia. The U.S. was well below other western democracies, such as Germany, France and Britain.
The Freedom House report said that 68 countries experienced a drop in political rights and civil liberties during 2018, with only 50 having gains. It said this was the 13th consecutive year of declining freedom rates worldwide.
Freedom House noted two countries with sharp drops in democracy in 2018 – Hungary and Nicaragua.
Hungary fell from a "Free" to "Partly Free" rating. The report said that Prime Minister Viktor Orban brought “the most dramatic decline ever charted by Freedom House within the European Union.”
It added that Nicaragua dropped to "Not Free" status as a result of Nicaraguan officials launching a campaign against an anti-government protest movement.
The report also named several other countries with declines. They include China, where over one million ethnic Uyghurs, Kazakhs and Hui were forced into re-education centers. Freedom House also named Cameroon, where Paul Biya has served as president for more than 30 years.
Of the 195 countries named in the report, 86 (44 percent) were rated Free, 59 (30 percent) Partly Free, and 50 (26 percent) Not Free.
The countries with the worst freedom rating were Syria, South Sudan, Eritrea, Turkmenistan and North Korea. Those with the best ratings were Finland, Norway, Sweden, Canada and the Netherlands.
Freedom House said the countries that made notable improvements in their freedom rating in 2018 included Armenia, Ethiopia and Iraq.
I’m Susan Shand.
VOANews.com reported this story. Susan Shand adapted the story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.
_____________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
journalism – n. the gathering and presentation of news stories through the media
norm – n. a model or average
authoritarianism – n. expecting or requiring people to obey rules or laws; not permitting personal freedom
infinite – adj. to go on forever, without end
durable – adj. staying strong and in good condition over a long period of time
decline –n. the process of becoming worse in condition or quality
consecutive – adj. following one after the other in a series
chart – v. to note the changes, progress
您好！既然漂到这里，就顺便把本文转到朋友圈吧！