Priscilla Ouchida’s “energy-efficient” house turned out to be a horrible dream. When she and her engineer husband married a few years ago, they built a $100,000, three-bedroom home in California. Tightly sealed to prevent air leaks, the house was equipped with small double-paned (雙層玻璃的) windows and several other energy-saving features. Problems began as soon as the couple moved in, however. Priscilla’s eyes burned. Her throat was constantly dry. She suffered from headaches and could hardly sleep. It was as though she had suddenly developed a strange illness。

　　Experts finally traced the cause of her illness. The level of formaldehyde (甲醛) gas in her kitchen was twice the maximum allowed by federal standards for chemical workers. The source of the gas? Her new kitchen cabinets and wall-to-wall carpeting。

　　The Ouchidas are victims of indoor air pollution, which is not given sufficient attention partly because of the nation’s drive to save energy. The problem itself isn’t new. “The indoor environment was dirty long before energy conservation came along,” says Moschandreas, a pollution scientist at Geomet Technologies in Maryland. “Energy conservation has tented to accentuate the situation in some cases。”

　　The problem appears to be more troublesome in newly constructed homes rather than old ones. Back in the days when energy was cheap, home builders didn’t worry much about unsealed cracks. Because of such leaks the air in an average home was replaced by fresh outdoor air about once an hour. As a result, the pollutants generated in most households seldom built up to dangerous levels。

　　核心詞匯

　　1.        efficient a. 效率高的，有能力的

　　【巧記】 effective a. 有效的，生效的‖ineffective a. 無效的‖efficiency n. 效率，效能，功效‖deficient a. 缺乏的‖sufficient a. 足夠的‖inefficient a. 效率低的

　　【辨析】 efficient, effective

　　effective 能產生滿意的結果的；efficient 指工作的效率很高，而且經濟。

　　2.        seal n. 封條，印章，海豹vt. 密封，蓋章

　　【搭配】 put a seal on 把……上貼封條‖take off the seal 啟封‖seal in 保持住‖seal off 封住，封鎖住

　　3.        equip vt. 裝配，配備

　　【巧記】 equipment n. 設備，器材

　　【搭配】 equip oneself for 為……作準備‖equip sb. to do 為某人……作準備‖equip…with…以……裝備……‖be equipped with 裝備(配備)有……

　　【辨析】 1. equip, fwrnish

　　科技

　　Technology

　　equip 指有技術性的含義；fwrnish 指房間配備家具，也指供應其他物品等。

　　2. equipment, apparatus, appliance

　　equipment 裝備，設備；apparatus 器械，儀器，工具，裝置，儀表；appliance 器具，常用復數形式，指用于操縱有電源的器具或裝置。

　　4.        feature n. 特征，特色，臉上的一部分特寫

　　【巧記】 featureless a. 無特色的，平凡的

　　【搭配】 make a feature of 以……為特征

　　5.        suffer vt. 忍受，承受，遭受vi. 忍受痛苦

　　【巧記】 sufferer n. (病痛等的)受苦者、受難者、患者‖suffering n. 痛苦、苦腦、勞苦、困難‖suffice vi. 足夠vt. 滿足

　　【搭配】 suffer from 遭受，因……而受損害、苦于、患……病‖suffer for 因……而受懲罰

　　6.        trace n. 足跡，痕跡vt. 跟蹤，追蹤

　　【巧記】 tracing n. 描繪

　　【辨析】 trace, track, trail

　　trace 指人、動物過后所留下的明顯痕跡記號；track 偏重于狩獵活動中獵狗依此追尋獵物的痕跡；trail 足跡或氣味留下的痕跡。

　　7.        maximum n. 最大量，極限

　　【巧記】 maximal a. 最大的‖maximize v. 把……加到最大限度

　　【辨析】 maximum, minimum

　　maximum 最大量，最高點；minimum 最小量，最低點

　　8.        standard n. 標準，規格

　　【巧記】 standardize (-ise) vt. 使標準化，使合標準

　　【搭配】 be fit for the standard 合乎標準‖of (a) high standard 水準高的‖SAE: Standard American English 標準美國英語‖SBE: Standard Britosk English 標準美式英語

　　9.        source n. 來源，出處

　　【巧記】 sour a. 酸的，脾氣壞的‖south n./a./ad. 南方(的／地)

　　【搭配】 from…source (s) 從……方面(來源)

　　【辨析】 source, resource, origin

　　source 指河流的源頭，引申為來源，出處；resource 指自然資源或資產常用復數形式；origin 指歷史文化或風俗的起源。

　　10.    victim n. 犧牲品，受害者

　　【巧記】 victimize vt. 使受害‖victor n. 征勝者，勝利者

　　【搭配】 become the victim of/fall a victim to 成為……的犧牲品

　　11.    sufficient a. 足夠的，充分的確良

　　【巧記】 suffice vi./vt. 足夠，滿足‖insufficient a. 不足的‖sufficiently ad. 足夠地

　　【搭配】 be sufficient for 足以(滿足)‖suffice for 足夠，夠用

　　【辨析】 sufficient, adequate, enough