Comprensión auditiva TOEFL

🎧 Transcripción de audio

Narrator: Listen to part of a lecture in an environmental science class. Professor: Today we're going to talk about urban heat islands. As you know, cities tend to be warmer than surrounding rural areas. This is due to several factors. First, buildings and roads absorb and re-radiate solar heat more effectively than natural landscapes. Second, waste heat from vehicles and air conditioning adds to the thermal load. Third, the lack of vegetation reduces shade and evaporative cooling. However, there are strategies to mitigate this effect. One approach is increasing urban greenery, like planting trees on streets and creating green roofs. Another is using reflective materials for pavements and rooftops, which can lower surface temperatures. A third strategy is to alter urban design to improve air flow, such as spacing buildings to allow breezes. While these measures require initial investment, they can significantly reduce energy consumption for cooling, thus offsetting costs over time. So, the key is to balance urban development with environmental sustainability.