Ethanol fuel, made from plants such as cornand sugar cane, has been advocated by some people as an alternative to gasolinein the United States. However, many critics argue that ethanol is not a goodreplacement for gasoline for several reasons.
乙醇燃料是从玉米或者甘蔗之类的植物中提取的。在美国，一些人提倡使用乙醇燃料来代替汽油。然而，很多评论家认为一些原因使得乙醇燃料不是良好的汽油替代品。
First, the increased use of ethanol fuelwould not help to solve one of the biggest environmental problems caused bygasoline use: global warming. Like gasoline, ethanol releases carbon dioxide intothe atmosphere when it is burned for fuel, and carbon dioxide is a greenhousegas: it helps trap heat in the atmosphere. Thus, ethanol offers noenvironmental advantage over gasoline.
首先，使用汽油带来的最大的问题之一是全球变暖，而对于乙醇燃料使用的增加并不能解决这个问题。同汽油一样，乙醇燃烧后向大气释放二氧化碳，而二氧化碳是温室气体。它会保持大气层内的温度。因而，相对于汽油来说，乙醇并没有环保优势。
Second, the production of significantamounts of ethanol would dramatically reduce the amount of plants available foruses other than fuel. For example, much of the corn now grown in the United Statesis used to feed farm animals such as cows and chickens. It is estimated that ifethanol were used to satisfy just 10 percent of the fuel needs in the UnitedStates, more than 60 percent of the corn currently grown in the United Stateswould have to be used to produce ethanol. If most of the corn were used toproduce ethanol, a substantial source of food for animals would disappear.
第二，乙醇产品的大量增加会导致用于其他目的作物数量减少。比如，在美国很多的玉米都是用来作动物饲料来喂养牛和鸡。可以推测，如果乙醇只满足美国对燃料需要的10%，那么美国就要用现在玉米产量的60%用来制造乙醇燃料。如果把玉米产量的大部分用来生产乙醇燃料的话，那么家畜主要的食物来源就不复存在了。
Third, ethanol fuel will never be able tocompete with gasoline on price. Although the prices of ethanol and gasoline forthe consumer are currentlyabout the same, this is only because of the help inthe form of tax subsidies given to ethanol producers by the United Statesgovernment. These tax subsidies have cost the United States government over $11billion in the past 30 years. If the United States government were to stophelping the producers in this way, the price of ethanol would increase greatly.
第三，乙醇燃料燃料在价格上永远无法与汽油竞争。虽然目前对消费者来说，乙醇燃料和汽油的相差无几，但是只是因为美国政府以税收补贴的形式补助乙醇燃料制造商。这个税收补贴在过去的三十年花掉了美国政府110亿美元。如果美国政府停止以这种形式帮助制造商，那么乙醇燃料的价格会大幅升高。
托福综合写作阅读部分需要提取的观点是：
- Main point: 乙醇燃料无法替代汽油
- Sub point 1: 燃烧乙醇燃料会排放二氧化碳，造成全球变暖
- Sub point 2: 制造乙醇燃料导致畜牧业缺乏饲料
- Sub point 3: 乙醇价格过高，依赖政府补贴#p#副标题#e#
托福综合写作听力材料：
Ethanol actually is a good alternative togasoline although you just read three reasons why it is not a good alternative.Not one of these three reasons is convincing.
虽然阅读部分说乙醇燃料不是汽油很好的代替品，但是事实上是可以很好代替汽油的。阅读部分给出的三个理由都是没有说服力的。
First, the increased use of ethanol willnot add to global warming. It is true that when ethanol is burned, it releasescarbon dioxide into the atmosphere. But as you read, ethanol was often made fromplants such as corn. Well, the process of growing the plants counteracts thisrelease of carbon dioxide. Let me explain. Every growing plant absorbs carbondioxide from the air as a part of its nutrition. So, growing plants for ethanolproduction actually removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
首先，提高对乙醇燃料的使用不会导致全球变暖。诚然，燃烧乙醇燃料的时候是会向空气中排放二氧化碳。但是，就像在阅读部分看到的，通常来说乙醇燃料是由玉米之类的作物制造的。恩，这些作物生长的过程中可以抵消掉乙醇燃料燃烧所释放的二氧化碳的。我来解释一下。所有作物在生长的过程中都会吸收空气中的二氧化碳作为养料。所以，为制造乙醇燃料而种植的作物事实上可以吸收乙醇燃料排放到空气中的二氧化碳。
Second, large scale production of ethanoldoes not have to reduce the source of food for animals. That is because we canproduce ethanol using cellulose. Cellulose is the main component of plants’cell walls, and you find most cellulose in those parts of plants that are noteaten by animals. So, since we can produce ethanol from the plant parts thatare not eaten, the amount of animals feed that is available will not bereduced.
第二，大量生产乙醇燃料不会减少畜牧业的饲料供应。这是因为我们用纤维素制造乙醇燃料。纤维素是植物细胞壁的主要组成成分，而且多数作物富含纤维素的部分都是家畜不食用的。所以，鉴于我们是使用家畜不食用的部分来制造乙醇燃料的，那么家畜可使用的饲料不会减少。
Third, in the future, ethanol will be ableto compete with gasoline in term of price. It is true that the governmentsubsidies make up ethanol is cheaper than it would normally be, but thissupport would not always be needed. Once enough people start buying ethanol,ethanol producers will increase their production of ethanol. Generally,increased production of a product leads to a drop in its price, so the price ofethanol will go down as more of it becomes available. Study shows that ifethanol production could be three times greater than it is now, the cost ofproducing a unit of ethanol would drop by forty percent.
第三，在未来，乙醇燃料可以在价格上同汽油竞争的。确实，现在政府的补贴政策使得乙醇燃料的价格比实际要低，但是这样的补贴政策不需要一直存在。一点有足够多的人购买乙醇燃料，那么乙醇燃料的制造商将会更多地生产。一般来说，对某产品的生产增多会导致价格下降，所以当乙醇燃料的产量增加之后，价格也会随之下降。研究表明如果乙醇燃料产品的产量增加三倍，那么每个单位乙醇燃料的价格将会下降40%。
托福综合写作听力笔记：
Main point: 三个理由都没有说服力
Sub point one: 乙醇燃料虽然会产生二氧化碳，但是制造乙醇燃料的作物在生长的过程中会吸收二氧化碳
Sub point two: 生产乙醇燃料使用的是动物不食用的部分，不会影响动物的饲料供应
Sub point three: 乙醇燃料的价格会在使用量增大后下降
托福综合写作范文(仅供参考)：
The professor in the lecture definitelybelieves that ethanol is a good alternative of the gasoline. His view point isdefinitely opposite to the statements made in the reading passage. Actually, hefinds the statements made by the reading passage unconvincing.
On one hand, the professor points out thatburning ethanol will not add to global warming as the statement mentioned inthe reading passage. Although burning ethanol will release carbon dioxide intothe atmosphere, the growing process will counteract the effort by absorbingcarbon dioxide in the air. Therefore, the professor finds the first statementin the reading passage unconvincing.
On the other hand, the professor indicatesthat producing ethanol will not reduce the amount of food for animals. In fact,the professor says we can produce ethanol by using cellule, which will not beeaten by animals. Therefore, the amount of plants for other use will notdecrease as the reading passage mentions.
What’s more, the professor counters thatethanol will compete with gasoline in terms of price. The professor indicatesthat the continuing support for ethanol will make the production of ethanol increase,and thus the price of ethanol will decrease in the future. Under thiscircumstance, the third statement made by the reading passage is unconvincing.