Tue, Feb 13, 2007 page13

• Lights out! 熄燈

  • • 
    • 
    • 

  A politician in California is asking his fellow politicians, "how many Legislators does it take to change a light bulb?" And it's not a joke.

  Lloyd Levine would like California to stop old fashioned light bulbs being sold.

  Levine wants Californians to use energy efficient bulbs instead. Energy efficient bulbs are more expensive than the old ones. But Levine says that people will save money in the long run as the new bulbs last much longer.

  

  An old fashioned bulb, right, and an energy efficient bulb, left, Jan. 31, 2007 in San Francisco, California. 2007年1月31日加州舊金山，一顆舊式燈泡 (右) 和一顆省電燈泡 (左)。 (照片：法新社)

  PHOTO: AFP

  The average life of an old bulb is about 750 hours, while the life of an energy-efficient bulb is 10,000 hours.

  The governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has not seen the bill yet. But last year he said he was very strict with his kids if they forgot to turn their lights off.

  "I unscrew the light bulbs in my house if I see the kids leaving the lights on in their room," he said. "Every time they leave the lights on, one more light bulb goes. And eventually, within a week they end up in a dark room, and they stay there for a long time, may I remind you. Now they don't ever leave the lights on anymore."

  

  (Catherine Thomas, staff writer, with AFP)

  加州一位政治人物問他的同僚︰「換一個燈泡需要多少國會議員？」這可不是個笑話。

  洛伊．黎凡希望加州停止銷售舊式燈泡。

  黎凡希望加州人改用省電燈泡。省電燈泡比舊式燈泡貴，不過黎凡表示，因為新式燈泡壽命較長，長遠看來，還是省錢。

  舊式燈泡平均壽命約七百五十個小時，省電燈泡則是一萬個小時。

  加州州長阿諾史瓦辛格還沒看到法案的內容，不過去年他曾經表示，他會嚴管孩子們忘記關燈的行為。

  他表示︰「在我家，如果我看到小孩離開房間忘了關燈，我就會把燈泡旋鬆，每次只要他們忘記關燈，就會多一顆燈泡不亮，最後不到一個星期，他們的房間就會黑壓壓一片，容我提醒，他們會在裡頭待上很長的時間，現在他們再也不敢忘記關燈。」

  

  （翻譯︰鄭湘儀）

  For your information

  Today's Words 今日單字

  1. politician n. 政治家 (zheng4 zhi4 jia1) 例: Abraham Lincoln was a famous politician. (亞伯拉罕．林肯是有名的政治家。) 2. energy efficient n. phr. 節約能源 (jie2 yue1 neng2 yuan2) 例: Electric cars are more energy effecient than cars that run on gasoline. (電動車比燃油驅動車更節省能源。) 3. long run n. phr. 就長期而言 (jiu4 chang2 qi2 er2 yan2) 例: Although it might seem slower to ride a bicycle in the city, because of the traffic lights you'll save time in the long run. (在城市騎腳踏車看似較緩慢，但因為紅綠燈的關係，長遠來看還是省時。)
• Most Popular

  • 1

    Chinese ships expelled from near Pratas Island

  • 2

    Taiwan to lose 6.67m workers in two retirement waves

  • 3

    ‘Fujian’ carrier to pose steep defense challenge

  • 4

    Two tropical depressions form, one typhoon forecast

  • 5

    AIT comments on Taiwan accurate: State Department