乔治梅森大学工程系学生Seth Robertson 和 Viet Tran日前发明了一个便携式灭火装置。这个装置被认为对传统的消防具有突破意义—利用有节奏的低音对燃烧过程产生干扰，从而达到灭火的目的。

【文章大意】根据UKERC的最新研究发现房屋居住者的行为和房屋的设计在环保节能方面一样重要。文章号召人们要注意自己的生活习惯即消费质量，进而来达到节能环保的作用。         The behaviour of a building’s users may be at least as important as its design when it comes to energy use, according to new research from the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC). The UK promises to reduce its carbon emissions (排放）by 80 percent by 2050, part of which will be achieved by all new homes being zero-carbon by 2016. But this report shows that sustainable building design on its own — though extremely important- is not enough to achieve such reductions: the behaviour of the people using the building has to change too.    The study suggests that the ways that people use and live in their homes have been largely ignored by existing efforts to improve energy efficiency (效率)，which instead focus on architectural and technological developments.“Technology is going to assist but it is not going to do everything,” explains Katy Janda, a UKERC senior researcher, “consumption patterns of building users can defeat the most careful design.” In other words, old habits die hard, even in the best-designed eco-home.Another part of the problem is information. Households and bill-payers don’t have the knowledge they need to change their energy-use habits. Without specific information, it’s hard to estimate the costs and benefits of making different choices. Feedback (反馈) facilities, like smart meters and energy monitors, could help bridge this information gap by helping people see how changing their behaviour directly affects their energy use; some studies have shown that households can achieve up to 15 percent energy savings using smart meters.Social science research has added a further dimension (方面), suggesting that individuals’ behaviour in the home can be personal and cannot be predicted 一 whether people throw open their windows rather than turn down the thermostat (恒温器) , for example. Janda argues that education is the key. She calls for a focused programme to teach people about buildings and their own behaviour in them. 

【语篇解读】本文是新闻报道类文章，作者在文中阐述了在英国Balcombe人们对于发展风电项目持有两种截然不同的意见，进而提出了自己的看法：如实报道这个问题，以便人们对此进行讨论并做出抉择。         As has been all too apparent in recent days at Balcombe, few issues cause greater concern than energy policy. Many village communities feel their countryside is being ruined by the power-producing machines of wind farms; yet they never take “direct action”, even though the planning laws put them at a severe disadvantage. And the generous subsidies (财政补贴) , which encourage the expansion of wind power, are not favorable to the village communities and set landowners in conflict with other residents (居民) .       Those who disagree with the rapid expansion of wind farms state that the damage they cause is out of proportion(比例) to the benefits they bring, because their energy output cannot match that of the carbon-based power stations they are supposed to replace. Supporters insist that wind must be part of a mix of renewables, nuclear and carbon, and that the country is committed to meeting EU (European Union) targets for non-carbon energy generation.       Against this background, the fact that there is an argument within the Government over whether to publish an official report on wind farms’ impact on the countryside becomes even more extraordinary. The two parties in the coalition (联合) government are in disagreement over what it should say.      We have some advice for the two parties: publish the report, and let the country be the judge.  Even if it contains evidence that wind farms are harmful, it will hardly be a pleasant surprise to people who do not like them. Equally, supporters must argue their case by acknowledging the concerns and explaining why they are either misplaced or worthy of much attention.      The suggestion that further negotiations are to take place to produce an “acceptable” report suggests that the politics of coalition government are doing the country harm in a certain way. Given the sensitivities involved, all the information should be available so that people can reach their own conclusions, rather than being left with the suspicion（猜疑）that facts are being replaced by political beliefs.