跟读练习: Powering The Internet is Becoming a Big Problem - 通过视频学习英语口语

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We're experiencing one of the fastest building booms the world has ever seen,
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described as a global construction frenzy that shows no signs of slowing.
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Humanity is now dependent on large -scale data centres and that demand is only increasing.
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But the strain this infrastructure is placing on our power and water sources is enormous And people are starting to notice.
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Many neighboring homeowners say, not in my backyard.
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That opposition is forcing some tech giants to rethink where they should build.
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The data center industry is actually going to be responsible for 3 -4 % of global electricity consumption, so that's a huge sector.
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And now, with AI taking our reliance to a whole new level,
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Well, this rapidly growing area of industry is under pressure to clear up its act and fast.
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But with these buildings now consuming as much energy as entire countries, what can we actually do about it?
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This is what a typical data centre looks like in 2026.
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And if you live in, or close to, a major city, there's a good chance you'll have one nearby.
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Because there are now more than 11 ,000 of these worldwide across 174 countries.
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And, unsurprisingly, over a third of them are in the USA.
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Some of the largest clusters are in places you might expect, like Texas and California.
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But the state with the most is actually… Virginia.
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The UK and Germany are way behind in second and third, and the rest are pretty well spread around the globe, because if they weren't absolutely everywhere,
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we wouldn't be able to do all those things that have become an essential part of our modern lives.
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We don't just mean the important stuff, like online shopping, banking or watching epic construction videos on YouTube.
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Without data centres there'd be no doom scrolling, no long video calls that really could have been an email, or memes that just refused to die.
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And we'd all miss that, wouldn't we?
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But data centres weren't always omnipresent.
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To see how quickly these structures have been expanding, it's best to look at it from from a different perspective.
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After all, we can't do a video on data centres without digging into some, well, data.
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For starters, take a look at this graph.
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It shows the staggering growth in data centres globally over the past 20 years in terms of installed capacity.
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In other words, the total amount of power available for all the equipment needed to run them.
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Notice how things went stratospheric after about 2017.
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The overall figure now stands at more than 122 gigawatts.
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To give you an idea of just how much that really is, the total capacity of Hinkley Point C, the massive new nuclear power plant currently under construction in the UK,
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is around 3 .2 gigawatts.
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That means you'd need 38 Hinkley Point C -sized nuclear plants to power just the world's data centers
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and they're continuing to soar in number and size.
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Before AI we also had many many data centers but those data centers tend to be
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much smaller like less than 100 megawatts
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but today an AI data center can easily be 500 megawatts
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or even more than one gigawatt so the concentration of this large power demand
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and other resource demand like water over a small area.
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That's a big challenge for the infrastructure." By 2030, data centres are set to be consuming more electricity than the entirety of Japan.
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That's double what they were pulling from the grid in 2022.
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And as we've just heard, the main reason for this increase is the meteoric rise of AI.
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AI.
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Every time you chuck something into ChatGPT, it kickstarts a process that uses more electricity and water than many of us realise.
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Just kidding.
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Other channels trying to imitate us might do that, but we certainly don't.
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Now when ChatGPT alone is processing billions of prompts every day, it's no wonder the infrastructure that makes it all happen is having to scale up very fast.
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AI systems were responsible for about 20 % of total data center electricity consumption by the end of...
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2024 and that number could have increased to about half by the end of last year 2025.
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Altogether these numbers are just becoming really big really fast.
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But keeping up with the demand is where things get tricky.
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Data centre construction isn't just about building a great big hall
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and filling it with servers despite how it might appear in footage like this.
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There's actually a lot more to it than that, which is why the biggest facilities being built at the moment are considered mega -projects.
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First of all, you've got to decide where to put them.
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Ideally, you want a place with good fibre connections, water sources and, for the really large ones that handle several hundred megawatts on their own,
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high -capacity power grids.
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Those data centres consume as much power as entire cities and you can't just put those anywhere.
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It's actually really hard to find power grids where there is sufficient capacity to even start building a project like that.
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So at that point power capacity becomes the number one concern." There would have to be plenty of space too, not just enough to squeeze the building into.
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Many are constructed with expansion in mind, expansions that often follow not long after they're finished and with rapid speed.
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The companies behind them are called hyperscalers for a reason.
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Another thing to think about is climate and geography.
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Lower temperatures make it easier to keep everything cool
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and it's generally better
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if you build these things away from places where there are likely to be extreme weather events or natural disasters.
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You see, just like with other big bits of infrastructure, if a data centre goes down it can cause serious problems.
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I don't just mean missing out on the latest TikTok craze.
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We're talking about huge financial losses, service failures, reputational damage – all the kind of things that every company absolutely dreads.
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Alongside all those racks of equipment that have to be kept running 24 -7, the cooling system is a key priority.
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Usually this is done in one of two ways.
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There's the traditional method of circulating cold air into the server racks, normally through the floor with waste heat exiting out at the top.
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While it's effective, even if some of the air is recycled, it's a process that consumes massive amounts of electricity.
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Alternatively, you've got liquid cooling, which is becoming more common as we enter the AI era.
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This method involves using, yes, you guessed it, liquids like water or coolant to transfer the heat away,
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which requires less electricity and often less space.
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But the flip side is that all that water has to come from somewhere and that can cause a pretty big dilemma.
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This water is mostly coming from municipal water supply and that can be stressful for a lot of the public water systems.
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Especially in the US, most of the water systems are small or medium -sized.
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They don't really have a lot of selfless capacity to supply to these large -scale industry users.
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So what can be done to manage these crazy levels of consumption?
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Well, many companies are now prioritising things like liquid cooling,
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investing in their own renewable sources and even funding grid upgrades so they don't push up people's energy bills.
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Others are taking a more unusual approach, including with some techniques that are generating quite a bit of tension.
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Several of the world's biggest tech firms have partnered with nuclear providers.
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These deals would see data centres powered by reliable, low -carbon sources.
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Some are even restarting plants that had previously been closed or are tapping into technology that still hasn't quite arrived yet,
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namely nuclear fusion and small modular reactors.
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Alternatively, you could do what companies in Europe are doing
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and build your data centre underground inside an active mine or a former bunker, both of which are great for security and keeping everything cool.
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But these strategies aren't for everyone, especially companies needing to deliver high performance data centres that are future proof and super efficient right now.
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We're talking about both new builds and upgrades to existing ones.
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For many, investing in atomic energy or hollowing out a mountain isn't really a viable option.
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In fact, In fact, meeting the demands of this new AI -driven era at the speed required is such a challenge
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that it can be hard to know where to begin.
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That's where IES can help.
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IES is a global leader in physics -based building performance simulation and digital twin technology for all building types.
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With its whole -facility approach, users can monitor and optimise the performance of their data centre projects across its full life cycle.
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They can model everything from dynamic IT loads
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and rack layouts to advanced cooling options – all within the context of the local climate.
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By adopting one of IES's AI -ready design strategies, hyperscalers can reach capacities super fast,
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de -risk infrastructure decisions and reduce energy,
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carbon and water use – all while staying in line with increasingly stringent regulations and grid connection requirements.
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Plus, having an IES digital twin provides a performance -focused replica of the facility
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that behaves like its real counterpart – from planning and design to operation and retrofit.
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Then there's IES's end -to -end consulting, from a company that's helped global clients with their digital infrastructure challenges for more than 30 years.
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In fact, IES has already helped one hyperscaler retrofit an existing data centre with liquid cooling.
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It saw them increase capacity from 10 to 50kW per rack,
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cut water use by 95 % and achieve a PUE of 1 .16.
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Meanwhile, in Ireland, 10 data centres were able to lower their space cooling energy loads by around 40 %
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with support from IES consultants.
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If you want to find out more about how dynamic simulation can enhance existing CFD modelling to enable high performance data centres,
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then you're in luck, because IES has just released a brand new white paper on that very subject.
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Inside you'll learn all there is to know about de -risking AI -driven facilities and optimising cooling strategies, while discovering full case studies on how others have made it work.
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To download the white paper for free today and see the full extent of IES's services, just scan the QR code on screen now or click the link in the description.
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So, we've talked about server racks and cooling systems, but you're going to find a lot more inside a data centre than just that.
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There are plenty of other components, some of which might sound quite dull but are actually pretty essential.
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Security, networking, power distribution, etc. which all have their own energy needs.
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The trouble is, having these giant facilities popping up all over the world can have consequences for the surrounding infrastructure and communities.
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It's gotten to a point where some people are starting to oppose these projects, especially in areas with limited resources.
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It always depends on what's your local situation, are you dealing with water scarcity, are you dealing with drought,
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and if you suddenly have a big data centre appearing that's going to consume a lot of electricity
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and there's going to be a lot of water consumed to generate all that electricity, that can really add to your local water stress.
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Places with the highest concentrations of new builds have become hotspots for resistance.
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In Virginia, which now has the nickname Data Center Alley,
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at least 25 projects were reportedly cancelled in 2025 following opposition from locals.
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Hundreds of data centres used over 2 billion gallons of water here in 2023.
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And there have been complaints about noise and pollution,
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because many of them are still hooked into power grids that rely on fossil fuels and have diesel backup generators.
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Elsewhere in the US, others are worried their energy bills are going to go up
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and that not enough is being done to address the impact.
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We are concerned for our public health, we are concerned for the health of our local environment.
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This is going to be a huge energy drain, so my concern is how they're going to manage that.
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We are not going to pay double the amount of our utility bills, do you understand that?
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As for what the future looks like, well, as we've already explained, data centres are only going to get bigger and more widespread.
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And it's happening at a faster rate than anything we've seen before.
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Digital growth is not a new thing.
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We actually had that a lot already in the previous decade, where streaming and cloud and everything else was taking off as well.
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But now with AI, we're dealing with a technology where bigger is better.
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You can make this technology and have the hardware and software more efficient.
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But what it has led to in recent years is
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that those efficiency gains have only been used to make the models even bigger so they can perform even better, so they get adopted at an even larger scale.
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So that's where things really break apart from what we saw previously.
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The pushback we're now seeing highlights how things really do need to change.
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While many of these buildings are appearing almost in people's backyards, those affected can't be ignored.
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Community opposition is a real challenge.
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It's a real concern.
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We have to address it proactively.
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We need to think about how we can accommodate the new industry from the infrastructure side.
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For power, if you have money, you just build up power plants.
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water, you have to get new water sources that are naturally constrained." And yet,
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Shaolay believes the recent media focus on the negative effects of water use in particular
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has actually been a bit overblown because it's not a major issue everywhere.
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If there's enough available to spare, it's still the best way to tackle that all -important cooling problem.
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The way it is presented in the public discussion is usually not very accurate.
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If you look at some of the data centers, they are using water just during the hottest weeks or hottest days of the year.
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So their annual water usage could be very low, but they use a lot of water during the summertime.
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A better solution to look at water is we need to use water responsibly.
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If there's water, I think the benefits of using water should not be denied.
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Like the technology itself, the construction of new data centres has become a complicated subject.
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We can't live without them and they're definitely not going anywhere, in fact quite the opposite of that.
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But if we're going to carry on building these megastructures
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and build them on a scale that's bigger and greater than what we've seen so far, we really are going to have to work out a few bugs in the system first.
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Once again, if you're looking for some guidance on how to make data center AI ready
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and future proof make sure you go and download
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that white paper it's video sponsors like IES
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that enable us to keep making these great videos for you every week
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and we'd really appreciate you guys taking the time to go
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and check them out and as always guys if you enjoyed this video
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and you want to get more from the definitive video channel for construction make sure you're subscribed to the B1M
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本课的词汇与口语要点

这段视频共有 169 个句子、2556 个单词可供跟读。 讲话部分时长为 16:40。 说话人语速自然，每分钟约 153 个词，接近日常对话。 84% 的单词属于英语最常用的 3,000 词，其余的词建议在练习前先学一下。

视频中的重点词汇

视频中 15 个值得学习的单词，附发音和释义：

单词发音释义
infrastructure 名词/ˈɪnfɹəˌstɹʌkt͡ʃə/基礎設施 /基础设施
grid 名词/ɡɹɪd/網格 /网格, 格子
consume 动词/kənˈsum/耗費 /耗费, 消耗
rack 名词/ɹæk/架子
server 名词/ˈsɝvɚ/服務器 /服务器, 伺服器
liquid 名词/ˈlɪk.wɪd/液體 /液体, 液態 /液态
consumption 名词/kənˈsʌmp.ʃən/消費 /消费
efficient 形容词/ɪˈfɪʃənt/高效率
twin 名词/twɪn/雙胞胎 /双胞胎, 雙生子 /双生子
invest 动词/ɪnˈvɛst/耗費 /耗费, 投資 /投资
concentration 名词/ˌkɑn.sənˈtɹeɪ.ʃən/專注力 /专注力
simulation 名词/ˌsɪm.jəˈleɪ.ʃn̩/模擬 /模拟
backyard 名词/bækˈjɑːd/後院 /后院
ignore 动词/ɪɡˈnɔː/無視 /无视, 忽略
meanwhile 副词/ˈmiːnwaɪl/同時 /同时

视频中出现的短语动词

单词发音释义
find out 动词找出, 查明
go down 动词下降, 下去
go up 动词上昇 /上升, 上去
pop up 动词弹出
take off 动词脫 /脱
work out 动词/ˌwɝk ˈaʊt/計算 /计算, 算出

需要注意的发音

说话人用了 44 次缩略和弱读形式，例如 we're, don't, we've。请按听到的简短形式来说。

  • “sh” 和 “zh” 音: consumption /kənˈsʌmp.ʃən/, efficient /ɪˈfɪʃənt/, concentration /ˌkɑn.sənˈtɹeɪ.ʃən/, simulation /ˌsɪm.jəˈleɪ.ʃn̩/, unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/
  • 长单词——注意重音位置: infrastructure /ˈɪnfɹəˌstɹʌkt͡ʃə/, electricity /ɪˌlɛkˈtɹɪsɪti/, concentration /ˌkɑn.sənˈtɹeɪ.ʃən/, alternatively /ɔlˈtɝ.nə.tɪv.li/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/

如何用这段视频练习

  1. 先完整听一遍视频，不要开口，记下不认识的单词。
  2. 先用 0.75 倍速逐句跟读，熟练之后再回到正常速度。
  3. 录下自己的声音并与原声对比，特别注意 infrastructure, grid, consume 这类单词。

视频中的语法

说话人最常用的结构，并附上视频中的原话：

结构视频中的用法
现在完成时 have/has + 过去分词 — 过去发生但与现在仍有关联的事has ever seen · have become · we've just heard
被动语态 be + 过去分词 — 强调发生了什么，而不是谁做的are set · being built · are constructed
定语从句 who / which + 从句 — 补充说明人或事物that, which is · cooling, which is

什么是跟读法？

跟读法 (Shadowing) 是一种有科学依据的语言学习技巧，最初开发用于专业口译员的培训，并由多语言者Alexander Arguelles博士普及。这个方法简单而强大：您在听英语母语原声的同时立即大声重复——就像是一个延迟1-2秒紧跟说话者的影子。与被动听力或语法练习不同，跟读法强迫您的大脑和口腔肌肉同时处理并模仿真实的讲话模式。研究表明它能显着提高发音准确性，语调，节奏，连读，听力理解和口语流利度——使其成为雅思口语备考和真实英语交流最有效的方法之一。

影子跟读法: 阅读完整分步指南 →