英國物價大幅上漲，推高生活成本，英國人認為精打細算比以往任何時候都重要。本文淺議提高能源效率和減少開支的方法。

詞匯：finance 財務管理

We all want to save money, and with the cost of living on the rise in the UK, it’s become more important than ever to watch what we spend. The biggest increase in our expenditure at the moment is on energy – the oil, gas and electricity we use to power and heat our homes. That’s why many of us are looking at ways to save energy so we don’t have to shell out on huge fuel bills.

Making our home more energy efficient is the obvious way to save money. To try to achieve this, new homes in the UK will be banned from installing new gas and oil boilers by 2025. Having a heat pump instead can help save energy, but they’re unaffordable for many people, unless they’ve got spare cash stashed away.

If your home feels like a money pit, there are some low-budget solutions you can turn to to lower your energy usage. Warm air escapes our homes easily, so adding draught excluders or a rolled-up towel to block these gaps will help. Investing in new double glazing will certainly insulate your home better, but if it is too costly, it might be worth using some heavy curtains to stop the heat escaping. Switching off lights is also a good idea.

But there are lots of other little things we can do around the home that will help save energy, don’t cost a fortune and that just require tweaks to our behaviour. They could be as good as installing, fitting or making anything. Put lids on pots and pans when cooking – the food will be ready quicker. Use a microwave to reheat food rather than the oven. Don’t overfill your kettle when boiling water, and don’t leave electrical items on standby. Jo Patterson from Cardiff University’s Welsh School of Architecture told the BBC that a combination of small measures like these could reduce household energy bills by about 10%.

So, we’re being encouraged to be more fuel efficient. But our main aim isn’t just financial – we need to do it to reduce our carbon footprint, so that our energy usage doesn’t cost the Earth.

詞匯表

save 節省，節約
cost of living 生活費用
spend 花（錢）
expenditure 支出
shell out （通常指不情愿地）支付（一大筆錢）
bill 賬單
unaffordable 支付不起的
stash 藏匿，存放
money pit 大錢坑，需要不斷投錢的無底洞
low-budget 低成本的
invest 投資（購買）
costly 昂貴的
cost a fortune 極其昂貴，花大價錢
tweak 稍作調整，稍稍改進
measure 方法
reduce 降低，減少
financial 經濟上的
cost the Earth 讓地球付出代價 (cost the earth 的原意是 “花費一大筆錢”)

測驗與練習

1.  閱讀課文并回答問題。

1. What will be banned from being installed in new homes in the UK by 2025?

2. How can you stop warm air escaping from your home?

3. Why might it be difficult for someone to install a heat pump or double gazing?

4. As well as helping our finances, what is the other benefit of using energy more efficiently?

5. True or false? Putting more water than you need in your kettle is not energy-efficient.

2.  選擇意思恰當的單詞或詞組來完成下列句子。

1. I’m going to my brother’s wedding, so I have to _______ for a new suit.

shelling out               shell out                        out shell                    shells out

2. It’s quite _______ to take the train to London, so we’re going by bus instead.

financial                   expenditure                   costly                        cost the earth

3. Our food _______ keeps rising, so I’m going to start buying supermarket branded goods.

measures                  invest                            cost of living               bill

4. My holiday to Spain _______, but it was well worth it!

cost a fortune            cost a fortunately           cost the fortune          costs a fortune

5. My grandma _______ all her money under the bed rather than put it into a bank.

finance                       stashed                         measures                    unaffordable

答案

1. 閱讀課文并回答問題。 

1. What will be banned from being installed in new homes in the UK by 2025?
New homes in the UK will be banned from installing new gas and oil boilers by 2025.

2. How can you stop warm air escaping from your home?
Adding draught excluders or a rolled-up towel to block gaps, or using heavy curtains will help.

3. Why might it be difficult for someone to install a heat pump or double gazing?
Heat pumps and double glazing can be expensive to install.

4. As well as helping our finances, what is the other benefit of using energy more efficiently?
It can reduce our carbon footprint.

5. True or false? Putting more water than you need in your kettle is not energy-efficient.
True. Not overfilling your kettle when boiling water will save energy.

2.  選擇意思恰當的單詞或詞組來完成下列句子。

1. I’m going to my brother’s wedding, so I have to shell out for a new suit.

2. It’s quite costly to take the train to London, so we’re going by bus instead.

3. Our food bill keeps rising, so I’m going to start buying supermarket branded goods.

4. My holiday to Spain cost a fortune, but it was well worth it!

5. My grandma stashed all her money under the bed rather than put it into a bank.