At first, as he adjusted pumps and checked temperatures, Aaron Boucher looked like any technician in the control room of an electrical plant. Then he rushed to the window and scanned the sky, to check his fuel supply.

    Mr. Boucher was battling clouds, timing the operations of his power plant to get the most out of patchy sunshine. It is a skill that may soon be in greater demand, for the world appears to be on the verge of a boom in a little-known but promising type of solar power.

    It is not the kind that features shiny panels bolted to the roofs of houses. This type involves covering acres of

desert with mirrors that focus intense sunlight on a fluid, heating it enough to make steam. The steam turns a

turbine and generates electricity.

    The technology is not new, but it is suddenly in high demand. As prices rise for fossil fuels and worries grow about their contribution to global warming, solar thermal plants are being viewed as a renewable power source with huge potential.

    After a decade of no activity, two prototype solar thermal plants were recently opened in the United States, and another 10 power plants are in advanced planning in California, Arizona and Nevada. On sunny afternoons, those 10 plants would produce as much electricity as three nuclear reactors, but they can be built in as little as two years, compared with a decade or longer for a nuclear plant. Some of the new plants will feature systems that allow them to store heat and generate electricity for hours after sunset.

    The plant in Boulder city, Nevada Solar One, uses a mirror in the shape of a parabola to focus light onto a black pipe with a heat-transfer fluid inside. The fluid is used to boil water into steam, which turns a generator that can produce 64 megawatts.

    At Nevada Solar One the other day, Mr. Boucher, 30, ran the computerized control room. Dressed in a T-shirt, sneakers and a Boston Red Sox cap worn backwards, he looked a bit like a teenage gamer as he used a computer mouse to manipulate the plant.

    He was trying to produce as much electricity as possible while saving heat to tide the plant over as clouds cast episodic shadows on the solar array. “I’ve been fighting it all day,” he said.

Imperceptibly, in the dusty wind of the high desert, 182,000 mirrors moved from east to west, tracking the sun

across the sky.

安让. 布切尔看上去和电站控制室中其他的技术人员没有什么不同，他首先调整了泵并检查了温度，（这里该译成校泵5555）然后跑到窗户边望了望天空，以确定燃料的供给是否适合。（这里该译成以确定阳光是否充足55555）
布切尔先生正和云层较量，调整电站的操作以便从四散的阳光中获得最大的能量。这种技术在不久可能就会倍受青睐，因为世界各地对这种人们知之甚少但却很有前景的能源-太阳能正趋之若鹜。
这可不是那种装在屋顶带有闪闪发光镶板的太阳能设备，而是在数以英亩计的沙漠上铺设聚光镜，将阳光聚集到一种液体上，加热使其变成蒸汽，然后蒸汽带动涡轮机从而产生电能。
这不是一种新的技术，但却很受青睐。随着化石燃料价格的上涨及人们对其所对全球变暖带来的影响的担忧，太阳能热电站被认为是一种极具潜力的可再生能源的来源。
在沉寂十年之后，美国最近新建了两座太阳能热电站，另外10个类似的电站正在筹建之中，计划建于加州、亚利桑那州和内华达州。在阳光明媚的下午，这10座电站所发的电量能达到3个核反应堆所发出的电量，但这些电站只需要2年久可以建成，而一个核电站需要10年甚至更长的时间才能建成。一些新建的电站带有新的系统，可以储存热能，从而保证电站在日落后能继续工作数小时。
建于博尔德市的内华达一号太阳能电站使用的是一种凹形聚光镜，将阳光聚集在一个黑色的管子上，管子里装的是一种可导热的液体，用这种液体加热水使其变成蒸汽，从而带动发电机，一台发电机每年可产出64兆瓦电能。
前几天（该译成：这天）在内华达一号太阳能电站，30岁的布切尔先生在计算机控制的控制室中进行操作。他身穿一件T恤，脚蹬运动鞋，反戴着一顶帽子，当他用鼠标控制电站时，看上去还真有点像一个玩电脑游戏的少年。
他正尽力使电站能多发点，同时他也在存储热能以便当云层遮住聚光镜是能够使电站继续工作。他说：“我一整天都在和云层较量。”
在风沙四起的沙漠，182000面聚光镜悄无声息的跟着天空的太阳从东边转向西边。

My husband, at 74, is the baby of his bridge group, which includes a woman of 85 and a man of 89. This challenging game demands an excellent memory (for bids, cards played, rules and so on) and an ability to think strategically and read subtle psychological cues. Never having had a head for cards, I continue to be amazed by the mental agility of these septuagenarians and octogenarians.

    The brain, like every other part of the body, changes with age, and those changes can impede clear thinking and memory. Yet many older people seem to remain sharp as a tack well into their 80s and beyond.

Although their pace may have slowed, they continue to work, travel, attend plays and concerts, play cards and board games, study foreign languages, design buildings, work with computers, write books, do puzzles, knit or perform other mentally challenging tasks that can befuddle people much younger.

    Several studies of normal aging have found that higher levels of educational attainment were associated with slower cognitive and functional decline.

    But brain stimulation does not have to stop with the diploma. Better-educated people may go on to choose more intellectually demanding occupations and pursue brain-stimulating hobbies, resulting in a form of lifelong learning.  Novelty was crucial to providing stimulation for the aging brain.

    If you’re doing the same thing over and over again, without introducing new mental challenges, it won’t be

beneficial. Thus, as with muscles, it’s “use it or lose it.” The brain requires continued stresses to maintain or

enhance its strength.

    Long-term studies in other countries, including Sweden and China, have also found that continued social interactions helped protect against dementia. The more extensive an older person’s social network, the better the brain is likely to work.

    Especially helpful are productive or mentally stimulating activities pursued with other people, like community gardening, taking classes, volunteering or participating in a play-reading group.

    Perhaps the most direct route to a fit mind is through a fit body. Just walking fast for 30 to 60 minutes several

times a week can help. Even those who start exercising in their 60s cut their risk of dementia in half.

Topic 2
我丈夫74岁了，他和他父母是桥牌搭档，他母亲已85岁，父亲89岁。（此处译错了，应该是：我丈夫已经74岁了，但在他们桥牌协会却还是小朋友级别的，他们协会还有一个85岁的太太和一个89岁的先生。）桥牌这种极具挑战的活动要求玩家具有极好的记忆力（才能记住所叫的点数，出过的牌和规则等）以及从策略角度思考和明白细微心理暗示的能力。我没有玩桥牌的天赋，所以我一直对那些七八十岁的老年人头脑的灵活性感到惊奇。
大脑和身体其他部位一样，会随着年龄的增长而改变，这些变化会使人的思维和记忆力下降。但是有些老年人尽管已经上了80岁甚至更老，却看上去依然头脑灵活。
尽管他们的步子可能慢一些，但他们依然继续工作、旅游、看戏剧、听音乐会、玩扑克、下棋、学外语、设计建筑、写书、猜谜语、织毛衣或做其它的对脑力有要求的事情，这些事可能让年轻一些的人都会感到迷惑。
几项关于正常衰老的研究发现受过高层次教育的人的认知能力和身体机能下降的要慢一些。
但对大脑的开发并不会因为人们从学校毕业而终止，受过更好教育的人可能更多会选择脑力劳动的职业并形成和智力相关的爱好。从而形成终生学习的生活方式。新颖的事物对防止大脑衰退十分重要，可以给大脑提供新的刺激。
如果你一直在重复做同一件事情，而不增加一些对智力有要求的事，这是没有益处的。这和我们的肌肉一样，“要么常常用，要么没得用”。大脑需要不对的刺激才能保持和增强其活力。
其他国家，包括瑞典和中国的长期研究也发现长期持续的社交能够预防老年痴呆。老年人的社交网越广，其大脑就越活跃。
那些老年人和其他人一起参与的活动，如社区园艺、上课学习或参加读书会尤其有益。
保持健康的身体也许是保持大脑健康的最直接有效的方法。每个星期散几次步，每次30到60分钟，对身体很有益。即便那些60岁以后才开始锻炼的人也能够将得老年痴呆的风险降低一半。