题目内容
A Battery’s Worst Nightmare(噩梦)
Portable electronics that can be carried about easily are only as good as their batteries and, let’s face it, batteries aren’t very good, especially when compared with, say, petrol, which packs 100 times a battery’s energy into an equal space. That’s why a large group of mechanical engineers (centered at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but with partners at other universities and companies) are hard at work in an effort to replace batteries with a tiny engine that runs on fuel. Imagine a battery-free life!When the fuel runs out in your laptop or mobile phone, you just fill up and go.
The engine, about the size of a ten-cent coin, starts with a combustion chamber (燃烧室) that burns hydrogen (氢). Its tiny parts are etched onto silicon wafers (硅片) in the same manner that computer parts are imprinted onto integrated circuits (集成电路). The first engine is made up of five wafers. And since these wafers could be produced in much the same way as computer chips, they could probably be produced quite cheaply.
But the devil in all this nice detail is efficiency(效率). Tiny engine parts don’t always behave like their scaled-up parts of the first engine. Something between the parts can slow down the work, according to Columbia University professor Luc Frechette, one of the engine’s designers. Extreme heat from the combustion chamber is also a problem, often leaking to other parts of the engine.
The scientists’ goal is to create an engine that will operate 10 times better than batteries do. Frechette says that a complete system, with all parts in place and working, will be set up in the next couple of years, but commercial models aren’t available until at least the end of the next ten years.
1..
. According to the passage, the title suggests that ________.
A. batteries should be greatly improved B. petrol will be used instead of batteries
C. the time of batteries will be gone forever D. pollution caused by batteries must be prevented
2..
What’s the meaning of the underlined word “devil” (In Paragraph 3)?
A. Problem. B. Advantage. C. Invention. D. Technique.
3..
What can we infer from the passage?
A. The new invention doesn’t need any fuel.
B. The new engine has been produced in quantity.
C. The new invention is much cheaper than the battery.
D. The new engine needs to be improved before it’s on sale.
4..
. What is the main purpose of this passage?
A. To introduce a new invention to readers. B. To persuade readers not to use batteries.
C. To show us how the new invention works. D. To declare when the engine will be on sale.
1..C
2..A
3..D
4..A
【解析】 略
There are two methods by which hydrogen (氢) can be used to power cars. The first way is to use hydrogen to drive the engine, in much the same way as many cars use gas. The second method is to use the reaction of hydrogen with oxygen in a battery, making the car a kind of electric one.
The dream of producing hydrogen in the car while driving along by electrolyzing(电解)water is a long way off, so we are still at the period of batteries and filling the tank with hydrogen gas. This is the difficulty for potential car users and producers. There are only sixteen hydrogen filling stations in Los Angeles and none in 99% of other cities worldwide.
Indeed, some of the big name automobile producers have pulled out of the race to put the first practical hydrogen car on the streets. Ford and GM have announced that they are pulling out in America and so has Renault in France.
However, the Japanese companies are pressing on. In fact, Honda introduced its first hydrogen fuel cell car in 1999. They are now producing second generation hydrogen car known as the FCX Clarity. Guess where they are available for sale? In only one city because of its filling stations.
Honda thinks that they could go into full-scale production of the FCX Clarity by 2020 if the world is prepared for them by then.
Then there are hydrogen-powered buses in several European cities including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Hamburg, London, Luxembourg and Madrid. Lotus, the makers of London taxis, have announced that they propose to manufacture hydrogen-powered taxis in time for the London Olympics.
So, the hydrogen vehicle is out there and the numbers will be growing fairly soon. The buses go back to their bus station, where an electrolyzing machine changes water into fuel for them to fill up on and the same will be the case for many of London’s taxis.
Unfortunately, getting fuel is not the only difficulty for the average motorist, a number of these vehicles cost about $300,000 each.
1.According to the text, hydrogen-powered buses ________.
A.can easily be filled up with gas. |
B.are likely to sell well in the future. |
C.are mainly used in the United States |
D.won’t be used in the London Olympics |
2.What does the underlined word “them” in paragraph 5 refer to?
A.Japanese companies |
B.Hydrogen buses |
C.The FCX Clarity |
D.Filling stations |
3.Where are hydrogen cars currently available for sale?
A.In Barcelona |
B.In Hamburg |
C.In London |
D.In Los Angeles |
4.We can learn from the text that ________.
A.there are sixty hydrogen filling stations all over the world |
B.hydrogen vehicles fueled by water will be very expensive |
C.Honda will mass-produce the FCX Clarity by 2012 |
D.Honda produced its first hydrogen car in 1989 |