VOA慢速英语:A Soccer Ball That Gives You Energy -- Really

Have you ever heard the expression "a ball of energy"? People often use the term to describe very active children. But today we tell about an invention called the sOccket, that is a real ball of energy. Julia Silverman explains.
你听说过"能量球"这种说法吗？人们经常用这个词来形容非常活跃的孩子。但今天我们将谈谈一项被称为sOccket的发明，那一个真正的能量球。Julia Silverman解释道。

JULIA SILVERMAN: "The sOccket is a cutting-edge portable generator in the form of a soccer ball."
JULIA SILVERMAN：“sOccket是一种足球型的尖端便携式发电机。”

Julia Silverman and Jessica Matthews developed the sOccket as part of a group project for an engineering class at Harvard University.
Julia Silverman和Jessica Matthews研制了sOccket作为哈佛大学工程类团队项目组的一部分。

To better understand what a sOccket is, you first need to understand how it works.
为了更好地理解什么是sOccket，你首先需要了解它是如何工作的。

JULIA SILVERMAN: "When you play with the ball, there is all this energy being transferred to the ball -- even any normal soccer ball. Basically, what we're trying to do is instead of letting that energy dissipate into the environment or just be lost, we're harnessing it inside using these mechanisms, this technology that essentially tries to capture everything with the movement. Everything that is harnessed is then stored in a battery of sorts."The sOccket collects and stores this energy with every kick, hit or throw of the ball.
JULIA SILVERMAN：“当你在玩球的时候，所有能量都被转移到球上，即便是任何普通的足球。基本上，我们现在试图做的就是使用机械装置把这些能量利用起来而不是让它消散在环境中或流失。这实质上是试图捕捉一切运动的技术，利用仪器,然后储存到各种各样的电池中。” sOccket在每一次踢球、打球或扔球的过程中收集并储存这些能量。

JULIA SILVERMAN: "Then the user can plug any accessory directly into the ball, like a lamp to study, or a cell phone charger. We're developing a water purifier and hopefully some other things that might be beneficial."
JULIA SILVERMAN：“然后，用户可以将任何配件直接插到足球上，就像学习用的台灯，或者手机充电器插头。我们正在研发一种净水器，希望其它一些事情也能受益。”

For every fifteen minutes of game play, the sOccket can provide enough electricity to power an LED lamp for up to three hours. The ball can store up to twenty-four hours' worth of power.
每玩15分钟游戏，sOccket可以向LED灯提供足够3小时的电力。该球可以储存长达24小时使用的电力。

The International Energy Association reported last year that nearly one and a half billion people did not have access to electricity. Most of them live in sub-Saharan Africa and in India and other countries in Asia.
国际能源协会报道，去年有约15亿人没有用上电。他们大多居住在撒哈拉以南非洲，在印度和其他亚洲国家。

Julia Silverman and Jessica Matthews both had experience in developing countries before they began the project. They knew that power shortages are a serious problem in many areas.
Julia Silverman和Jessica Matthews在开始该项目前都有在发展中国家的经历。他们知道电力短缺在许多地区是一个非常严重的问题。

JULIA SILVERMAN: "There's an energy crisis in the world. One out of every five people in the global population don't have any electricity whatsoever. And beyond that, there are a lot of health issues because what people use instead of the electricity are harmful alternatives like kerosene lamps, which produce a lot of smoke."
JULIA SILVERMAN：“世界上存在能源危机。全球人口中有五分之一的没有任何电力。除此之外，因为人们使用的有害的电力替代品，存在许多健康问题。例如煤油灯，会产生大量烟雾的。”

Ms. Silverman says the sOccket is one small solution to a big problem.
Silverman女士称，sOccket是大问题的一个小的解决方案。

JULIA SILVERMAN: "And so we knew that just a little bit of light would make a huge difference. And we also knew that soccer was the most popular sport, most loved sport in the whole world."
JULIA SILVERMAN：“因此我们知道，只需一点点的光会产生巨大的变化。而我们也知道，足球是全球最受欢迎，最受喜爱的运动。”

Jessica Matthews and Julia Silverman have started a noNPRofit organization called Uncharted Play. They hope their sOccket ball will shine more light on the problem of power shortages. It offers people a chance to put their energy into the world's most popular sport and get some energy in return.
Jessica Matthews和Julia Silverman已经创建了一个名为Uncharted Play的非盈利性组织。他们希望sOccket球能在电力短缺问题上绽放更多光芒。它为人们提供了一个将自己的精力投入到全球最受欢迎的运动，并获得一些能量的回报的机会。