Sunnycountriesareoftenpoor.Ashamethenthatsolarpowerisstillquiteexpensive.Eight19aBritishcompanybyCambridgeUniversityhashoweverinventedanovelwaytogetroundthis.Inreturnforadepositofaround$10itissupplyingpoorKenyanfamilieswithasolarcellabletogenerate2.5wattsofelectricityabatterythatcandeliverathreeamp(安培)currenttostorethiselectricityandalampwhosebulbisalight-emittingdiode(二极管).Thefirmthinksthatthissystemoncethebatteryisfullychargedisenoughtolighttwosmallroomsandtopoweramobile-phonechargerforsevenhours.Thennextdayitcanbeputoutsideandchargedbackupagain.
Thetrickisthattobeabletousetheelectricitythesystem'skeepermustbuyascratchcard—foraslittleasadollar—onwhichisprintedareferencenumber.ThekeepersendsthisreferenceplustheserialnumberofthehouseholdsolarunitbySMStoEight19.Thecompany'sserverwillrespondautomaticallywithanaccesscodetotheunit.
Usersmayconsiderthattheyarepayinganhourlyratefortheirelectricity.Infacttheyarepayingoffthecostoftheunit.Afterbuyingaround$80worthofscratchcards—whichEight19expectswouldtaketheaveragefamilyaround18months—theuserwillownit.Hewillthenhavetheoptionofcontinuingtouseitfornothingoroftradingitinforabiggeroneperhapsdrivenbya10-wattsolarcell.
Inthatcasehewouldgothenthroughthesameprocessagainpayingofftheadditionalcostoftheupgradedkitataslightlyhigherrate.Userswouldthereforeincreasetheirelectricitysupplysteadilyandaffordably.
AccordingtoEight19'sfiguresthislookslikeagooddealforcustomers.Thefirmbelievestheaverageenergy-starvedKenyanspendsaround$10amonthonoil—enoughtofuelacoupleofsmokylamps—plus$2oncharginghismobilephoneinthemarket-place.RegularusersofoneofEight19'sbasicsolarunitswillspendaroundhalfthatbeforeowningitcompletely.Meanwhileasthecostofsolartechnologyfallsitshouldgetevencheaper.
【小题1】Theunderlinedword“getround”inthefirstparagraphcanbereplacedby_______.
A.makeuseofB.comeupwithC.lookintoD.dealwith【小题2】Whatshouldtheuserdowhe