《中英對照讀新聞》Nothing to hear here, UK wind turbine study shows 這裡什麼都聽不到，英國風力渦輪機研究顯示

◎羅彥傑

Most British wind turbines do not make much noise as they spin around making electricity and people who complain about them should not be losing sleep, according to a study published.

英國大多數的風力渦輪機在旋轉發電時，並不會製造太多噪音，有此抱怨的人應該不會失眠，根據一項已發表的研究指出。

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Some people living near wind farms complain they are kept awake by a phenomenon known as aerodynamic modulation（AM）, low frequency noise made as the blades swoosh through the night air.

有些住在風力發電廠附近的人抱怨，他們因為一種稱為空氣動力調變的現象，即輪葉的颼颼聲劃過夜空，產生低頻噪音，以致無法入眠。

A government-commissioned study by Salford University found the phenomenon -- sometimes described as sounding like a distant train -- could affect four of the country’s 133 wind farms.

政府委託薩爾福大學的一項研究發現，此一現象─有時被形容聽來像是遠處火車聲─可能影響到全國133間風力發電廠的其中4間。

This, the government says, is no justification for stemming the growth of the technology Britain is betting on to cut its carbon emissions.

政府說，這並不成為抑制這項科技成長的正當理由，而英國正指望靠它來減少本身的碳排放。

"Where there are legitimate problems we will address them," Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks said in a statement. "But it is essential that we produce more wind power if we are to meet our climate change and security of supply aims."

「只要有適法性的問題，我們就要處理，」能源大臣威克斯在一篇聲明中說。「但如果我們想要達到氣候變遷與供應安全的目標，更多的風力發電就有絕對必要。」

新聞辭典

to spin：動詞，旋轉。例句：The skater spun round and round on the ice.（溜冰者在冰上不停地旋轉。）

to swoosh：動詞，指發出颼颼或咻咻的聲音。例句：A car swooshed by.（一輛汽車咻地疾駛而過）。swoosh當名詞則指颼颼聲。

to bet on：片語，打賭～。例句：It is legal to bet on sports in Las Vegas.（在賭城拉斯維加斯，運動賭博是合法的。）