An early invention by Albert Einstein has
been rebuilt by scientists at Oxford University. They are trying to develop an
environmentally friendly refrigerator that runs without electricity.
We all know that modern fridges cause damage
to the environment. They work by using a kind of man-made greenhouse gas called
Freon (氟里昂), which is far
more damaging than carbon dioxide.
Now Malcolm McCulloch, an electrical engineer
at Oxford, is leading a three-year project to develop appliances that can be
used in places without electricity.
His team has completed a prototype (样机) of a fridge patented in 1930 by
Einstein. It used only pressurized gases to keep things cold. The design was
partly used in the first refrigerators, but the technology was dropped when
more efficient compressors (压缩机) became popular in the
1950s. That meant a switch to using Freon.
Einstein's idea uses butane (丁烷) and water and takes advantage of
the fact that liquids boil at lower temperatures, when the air pressure around
them is lower.
"If you go to the top of Mount
Qomolangma, water boils at a much lower temperature than it does when you're at
sea level and that's because the pressure is much lower up there," said
McCulloch.At one side is the evaporator (蒸发器), a bottle that contains liquid butane. "If you introduce a
new vapor above the butane, the liquid boiling temperature decreases and, as it
boils off, it takes energy from the surroundings to do so," says
McCulloch. "That's what makes it cold."
The gas fridges based on Einstein's design
were replaced by Freon-compressor fridges partly because Einstein's design was
not very efficient. But McCulloch thinks that by changing the design and
replacing the types of gases used it will be possible to quadruple (翻两番) the efficiency.
However, McCulloch's fridge is still in its
early stages. "It's very much a prototype," he said. "Give us
another month and we'll have it working."
1. According to the passage, an early invention by Albert Einstein _______.
A．has been rediscovered because it costs much less and works more
efficiently
B．is being redesigned because it could be used in places without
electricity
C．has just been found to be energy-saving and environmentally friendly
D．will be fully made use of and become the fridge of the future
2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?
A．Freon was used in fridges long before the 1950s.
B．Freon is what makes current fridges big polluters.
C．McCulloch thinks he could improve Einstein's design by using other
types of vapors.
D．The fridge Malcolm McCulloch and his team designed will be put into
production soon.
3.We can learn from the text that the prototype completed _______.
A．changed the air pressure around it
B．was tested on the top of Mount Everest
C．increased the liquid boiling temperature
D．used only pressurized gases to keep things cold
4.McCulloch's words in Paragraph 6 _____.
A．serve as an explanation for the principle behind Einstein's fridge
B．give you the reason why Einstein's fridge was not efficient
C．tell you how to take advantage of low air pressure
D．show you how Einstein's fridge works
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