News in Liberal Studies
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Key Idea
China said it is going to build new nuclear power plants.
It is aiming to rely less on fossil fuels such as oil and
coal. But other developed countries such as Germany
are now trying to phase out nuclear power. The
authorities said nuclear power is safe for the country.
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What are the advantages and disadvantages
of China relying on nuclear energy?
Nuke plant ban ends
China announces decision to approve new reactors
C
HINA has decided to approve new nuclear power
plants. They will be part of the plans to make the country less reliant on oil and coal. This ended the pause it
set to review safety in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima (福島)
disaster last year.
The government’s decision that nuclear power is safe for
China takes the country in the opposite direction of some developed nations. Germany (德國) decided after the Fukushima
disaster to speed up its complete phase-out of nuclear power.
Japan (日本) is planning to phase it out by 2040.
China is the world’s biggest energy consumer. Building
new reactors is a key part of Beijing’s (北京) plans to cut demand for fossil fuels. The communist government is actively
promoting alternatives to coal and oil. It wants to reduce pollution and rely less on imported petroleum, which it sees as a
national security risk. Still, coal is forecast to remain the country’s main energy source for decades.
The Chinese government has approved the construction of new nuclear plants to tackle pollution
and cut its reliance on imported petroleum.
(AP)
l
u
f
e
s
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Words
The government said it hopes to produce 30 percent of
China’s power from sources including solar, wind and nuclear
energy by the end of 2015. That is up from an earlier target of
15 percent from renewables and up 5 percent from nuclear 1 direction (n) 方向
M the path something is moving along
by 2020. The government has passed plans on nuclear power
E The cars were moving in opposite
safety and development.
directions before the accident happened.
Only a small number of plants will be built, and only in
coastal areas, according to announcement. The plants will 2 forecast (v) 預測
M say what one expects in the future
meet the most stringent safety standards, said a spokseperson.
E
Meaning M
Example E
3 solar (adj) 太陽能的
M using the energy from the sun
E
There will be a lot more solar-powered
cars on the streets soon.
4 target (n) 目標
M aim
Some retailers forecast a sharp rise in the
number of visitors from the mainland.
E
Their target is to raise $3 million for the
Community Chest.
Discussion
Discussion
1 Why is China now approving new nuclear
power plants?
2 Is there a risk of a repeat of the Fukushima
disaster in China?
3 What are the advantages and disadvantages of
China relying on nuclear energy?
Tuesday 30 October 2012
● Text : Anvil Ong
P03
● Photos : AP, Sing Tao Daily
Modern China
● Energy Technology & the Environment
● Globalisation
● Personal Development & Interpersonal Relationships
● Hong Kong Today
Person of the day
Reading Comprehension
(Sing Tao Daily)
Choose the best answer:
1. China now relies mainly on _____ as a
power supply.
3. The Chinese government has decided that
nuclear energy is _____ for its country.
A. nuclear energy
A. safe
B. wind energy
B. unsafe
C. oil and coal
C. not good
D. hydro-electric energy
D. harmful
2. Which of the following statements is false?
A. China is the world’s biggest energy consumer.
4. China said relying on imported petroleum is
a national _____ risk.
B. China promotes alternatives to coal and oil.
A. secure
C. China hopes to produce 50 percent of its power
from wind farms.
B. security
D. China will continue to rely on fossil fuels in the
near future.
D. insecurity
Ip Kwok-him (葉國謙)
The legislator expressed concern over
the police command and control system
being broken for nearly 20 hours.
C. insecure
Answers on P12
Activity
Fill in the mind map below to show the benefits of China building new nuclear power plants.
Spend less
money
Rely less on fossil fuel
Have renewable energy
source
Cleaner
environment
New nuclear power plants
Larger supply of power
Better support for
economic development
Who is he?
He is the security panel chairman of the Legislative
Council (立法會) and a non-executive director of the
Urban Renewal Authority (市區重建局).
What has he done?
He expressed concern over the failure of the police
command and control system even though it was
a partial breakdown and said that the same thing
cannot be allowed to happen again.
Police said the third-generation system “partially
experienced technical difficulty, and led to some
consoles of Hong Kong Island Regional Command
and Control Centre (港島總區指揮及控制中心) being
out of operation at 11.05am on Wednesday”. Police
switched to using mobile phones to communicate
with frontline officers.
w
What do other say?
Idiom
with ‘make’
Vocabulary
● Public Health
make do: to manage without things that
one would like to have
• We had no sugar so we made do with
honey.
make history: do what has not been done
before
• She made history by winning gold.
speed up (ph v) 加速
energy consumer (n phr) 能源消費者
Eric Tung Yiu-ming (董耀明), a spokesman for the
Junior Police Officers’ Association (香港警察員佐級
協會), said frontline officers were aware of the system
breaking down. He said the police have put in place
contingency plans, including switching to using mobile
phones, if the system breaks down.
What is happening next?
The police information systems division is carrying
out data analysis to find the cause of the failure.
reactor (n) 核反應堆
petroleum (n) 石油
security risk (n phr) 安全風險
renewable (n) 可再生能源