题目内容
Microwaves may be great at warming up food, but what about warming people?
Using microwaves to directly heat owners of a room would save much of the energy wasted by heating walls and furniture. And despite popular ideas about microwaves, this technique would be safe, according to Charles R. Burlier of the Microwave Research Center in Marlborough, New Hampshire. Low-power microwaves only penetrate (贯穿) the skin (low-power microwave penetration in a ham is about 0.2 inches, for example) and with no negative effects.
To test this idea, Buffler subjected himself to microwaves in a special room using a standard 500-watt, 2459 MHz magnetron (磁控管). He found that a person will start to feel warmth at about 20 kilowatts per square centimeter (mw. / sq. cm. ) ; a satisfactory feeling of warmth occurs between 35 and 50 mw. / sq. cm. By comparison, a person standing in noonday summer sun feels the amount of 85 mw. / sq. cm. And a frozen meat pie in your microwave oven receives about 1000 mw. / sq. cm.
In houses of the future, each room could be provided with its own magnetron, says Buffler. When you stepped into the living room, for example, a motion detector (运动感应器)would turn on the magnetron, filling the room with low-power microwaves. In the same way that a microwave oven heats up a hamburger, but not the plate it’s on, you would feel warmth from the microwaves without changing the temperature of your coffee table. (You could, however, make your favorite easy chair even more comfortable by treating it with a radiation-absorbing chemical.)
While it might be some time before homeowners are comfortable enough with the idea to set up whole-body microwave heaters in houses, Buffler says microwaves may attract livestock(家畜) farmers. Lambs that are born outdoors in winter, for example, are frequently lost to cold. Microwaves could warm the lambs safely and quickly.
Which of the following can tell the main idea of the passage?
A. A new heating system.
B. A new microwave oven.
C. A popular technique.
D. The magnetron.
According to Paragraph 2, which of the following does not describe the characteristics of a microwave heater?
A. It directly heats people in a room.
B. It heats walls and furniture in a room.
C. It is safe.
D. It saves energy.
The test conducted by Buffler shows that when a person feels comfortable warmth, he receives about ________________.
A. 20 mw. / sq. cm. B. 40 mw. / sq. cm.
C. 60 mw. / sq. cm. D. 85 mw. / sq. cm.
According to Paragraph 4, which of the following fills the room with low-power microwaves?
A. The magnetron.
B. The motion detector.
C. The microwave oven.
D. The radiation-absorbing chemical.
Which of the following statements about microwave heaters would Buffler most probably agree with?
A. Microwave heaters will soon be widely used by homeowners.
B. Microwave heaters sometimes make people feel uncomfortable.
C. Perhaps microwave heaters will be first used by livestock farmers, who wish to protect their lambs in winter.
D. Microwave heaters cannot be accepted by the public because they are somewhat unsafe.
【小题1】A【小题1】B【小题1】B【小题1】A【小题1】C
解析:
略
第二卷(非选择题部分,共35分)
第四部分:写作(共二节,满分35分)
第一节:任务型阅读(共10小题;每小题1分,满分10分)
请认真阅读下面短文,并根据所读内容在文章后表格的空格处里填人最恰当的单词。注意:每个空格填1个单词。
When Percy Spencer invented the microwave, it changed the world greatly. People would no longer have to wait endless hours while cooking their food in an old-fashioned oven. Instead, using the microwave has allowed them to cook food in just seconds.
According to the medical website mercola.com, just about “ninety percent of Americans have microwaves in their homes”. However, is this convenient invention as perfect as it seems?
There are many reports of microwaves changing the original qualities of the food, which can cause cancer as well as changes in the body.
“Electro-magnetic (电磁的) radiation harms food, and changes substances cooked in it to dangerous products,” Dr. Lita Lee – chemist, nutritionist, author and lecturer – wrote in her book, Health Effects of Microwave Radiation – Microwave Ovens (1991).
However, the microwave is not only for food; microwaves are used in medicine as well. For example, it warms heating pads and used to warm blood used in transfusions (输血).
Norma Levitt, a hip surgery patient in an Oklahoma hospital (1991), died after blood being heated for her transfusion was altered in the microwave. A lawsuit followed and because of this incident, blood is no longer heated in the microwave.
Regardless of what has happened, big companies still claim that microwaves are great machines that have caused trouble to “few people” and have had “few consequences”. However, people should decide if saving a few minutes is more important than preventing cancerous cells from entering the body.
Dr. Jonathan Wright, Medical Director of Tahoma Clinic in Renton, Washington, considers the microwave unhealthy and recommends some alternatives.
“Try eating a lot of your food, like vegetables, uncooked. Ideally, at least one-third of the food in your diet should be uncooked, since this is the form that will give you the maximum amount of nutrients. If you do want to cook some food or heat up leftovers, use your stove (火炉),” he said.
These alternative cooking styles may take a little time from your day, but can help you lead a healthier and more stable lifestyle. These methods will allow you to get the most nutrients from your food, as well.
Health is not valued till sickness comes. In today’s fast-paced modern world, we should have more consideration towards peoples’ health.
Title |
Microwave: not necessarily safe |
Brief (71)________ |
(72)________ of the microwave: Percy Spencer Advantage of the microwave: saving (73)________ Percentage of Americans having microwaves: about 90% |
Disadvantages of the microwave |
Fact: Electro-magnetic radiation is (74)_______ to food and can change substances to dangerous products. Result: The microwave can (75)_______ the qualities of food, which may cause cancer. |
Fact: The blood was (76)_______ in the microwave before being transfused. Results: A blood transfusion caused the (77)_______ of a patient. A lawsuit was brought and the microwave has never been (78)________ in medicine ever since. |
|
Dr. Wright’s opinion |
To avoid harm from the microwave, people should eat more food without being (79)_______ and use stoves instead of the microwave if necessary. |
Author’s attitude |
We should (80)_______ more about health than convenience. |