题目内容
Solar energy for your home is coming. It can help you as a single home owner. It can help the whole country as well. Whether or not solar energy can save your money depends on many things. Where you live is one factor and the type of home you have is another. Things like insulation (绝缘材料), present energy costs, and the type of system you buy are added factors.
Using solar energy can help save our precious fuel. As you know, our supplies of oil and gas are very limited. There is just not enough on hand to meet all our future energy needs. Sooner or later Mother Nature will say that's all. The only way we can delay hearing those words is by starting to save energy now and by using other sources, like the sun.
We won't have to worry about the sun's running out of energy for another several billion years or so. Besides, the sun doesn't offer as many problems as other energy sources. For example, fossil fuel(矿物燃料) adds to already high pollution levels. With solar energy, we will still need sources of energy, but we won't need as much. That means we can cut down on our pollution problems.
With all these good points, why don't we use more solar power? There are many reasons for this. The biggest reason is money. Until now, it was just not practical for a home owner to put in a solar unit. There were cheaper sources of energy.
All that is changing now. Solar costs are starting to equal the costs of oil and electricity. Experts say that gas, oil and electricity prices will continue to rise. The demand for electricity is increasing rapidly. But new power plants will use more gas, oil or coal. Already in some places the supply of electricity is being rationed (限量供应). Solar energy is now in its infancy (初期). It could soon grow to become a major part of our nation's energy supply.
60. What's this passage mainly about?
A. Something about solar energy and pollution.
B. Solar energy.
C. Energy and pollution.
D. Energy and money.
61. Solar energy can help us _____.
A. escape punishment from nature B. become home owners
C. get rid of present energy D. save our precious fuel
62. The sun is an endless source of energy, and it will not run out of energy for _____.
A. several million years B. several hundred years
C. several billion years D. several thousand years
63. Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. Energy from coal would not pollute our living environment.
B. Energy from natural gas would not pollute our living environment.
C. Energy from the sun would not pollute our living environment.
D. Energy from oil would not pollute our living environment.
64. Solar energy is now in its infancy, _____.
A. but in the future it will become an important part of our nation's energy supply
B. so we will build more power plants
C. and the supply of electricity will be rationed throughout the country
D. so we don't need it
60. B.主旨大意题.本文主要讲的是环保能源太阳能,其余的答案仅为本文的一部分内容.
61. D.细节理解题.从文章第二段第一句可知.
62. C.细节理解题.从第三段第一句可知.
63. C.细节判断题.从第三段可判断出只有太阳能无污染.
64. A.细节理解题.从本文最后两句可知现在太阳能开发处于初期,但不久将会成为我国能源的重要组成部分.
With the Tesla Roadster and other plugin (插入式) electric vehicles hitting the road,demand is growing for accessible refueling points to recharge them. Carbon Day Automotive, a Chicagobased company,has now demonstrated a solarpowered recharging point, known as the Solar PlugIn Station,which lets motorists easily charge their cars using electricity that has been produced without any environmental damage.
The Solar PlugIn Station has gone on show in Chicago as part of the city’s bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games. According to Carbon Day Automotive,the Solar PlugIn Station on show in Chicago is part of the vital infrastructure(基础设施) required for electric vehicles in Chicago and was the focus of a recent visit by the International Olympic Committee.
These solarpowered electricity points will be used daily to fuel the city’s electric vehicles with power from the sun. By producing the electricity from pollutionfree solar cell, the CO2 emissions are reduced to zero.
“Solar energy and electric vehicles are a partnership that is one more step to reducing our dependence on foreign oil,” says Richard Lowenthal, CEO of Coulomb Technologies.Coulomb Technologies recently developed the components (部件) required for individual recharging stations,marketed as ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations.Carbon Day Automotive is the Midwest distributor for the ChargePoint stations. The Solar PlugIn Station consists of giant solar panels (电池板) that shade the tiny ChargePoint Networked Charging Station.The solar panel is connected to an underground battery pack,ready for everyday refueling.
“Without these stations it would be like driving around in a traditional car without the availability of gas stations,” says Scott Emalfarb,CEO at Carbon Day.“The day of true plugin electric vehicles will be here sooner than most people realize and the world needs to be ready to accommodate them.”
【小题1】The Solar PlugIn Station is used as part of the bid to host the Olympics mainly because ________.
A.it’s environmentally friendly |
B.it makes up for the lack of electricity |
C.it’s a new idea and attracts people’s attention |
D.it brings convenience to electric vehicle users |
A.to recharge the electric vehicles takes a long time |
B.the Solar PlugIn Station will come into use in 2016 |
C.the Solar PlugIn Station has gone on show internationally |
D.Chicago is promoting the use of electric vehicles |
a. Tesla Roadster is a kind of plugin electric vehicle.
b. The Solar PlugIn Station uses solar power to charge all of the cars.
c. Chicago is a city,which is rich in oil.
d. The Solar PlugIn Station consists of underground battery packs.
e. Scott Emalfarb is optimistic about the future of plugin electric vehicles.
A.2. | B.3. | C.4. | D.5. |
A.more visitors will come to Chicago |
B.the citizens of Chicago will be able to go to work faster |
C.more space for electric vehicles will be needed |
D.the cost of electric vehicles will be lower than traditional cars |
A.Chicago Will Soon Be Full of Electric Vehicles |
B.Chicago Calls on People to Buy Electric Vehicles |
C.Chicago Fights for Its Bid to Host the 2016 Olympics |
D.Chicago Shows Its Solarpowered Recharging Stations |
As the railroads and the highways shaped the American West in the past centuries, a new electrical generating(发电)and transmission (输送) system for the 21st century will leave a lasting mark on the West, for better or worse. Much of the real significance of railroads and highways is not in their direct physical effect on the scenery, but in the ways that they affect the surrounding community. The same is true of big solar plants and the power lines that will be laid down to move electricity around.
The 19 th century saw land grants(政府拨地) offered to railroad companies to build the transcontinental railroads, leaving public land in between privately owned land. In much of the West, some of the railroad sections were developed while others remained undeveloped, and in both cases the landownership has presented unique challenges to land management. With the completion of the interstate highway system, many of the small towns, which sprang up as railway stops and developed well, have lost their lifeblood and died.
Big solar plants and their power lines will also have effects far beyond their direct footprint in the West. This is not an argument against building them. We need alternative energy badly, and to really take advantage of it we need to be able to move electricity around far more readily than we can now.
So trade-offs will have to be made. Some scenic spots will be sacrificed. Some species(物种) will be forced to move, or will be carefully moved to special accommodations. Deals will be struck to reduce the immediate effects.
The lasting effects of these trade-offs are another matter. The 21st century development of the American West as an ideal place for alternative energy is going to throw off a lot of power and money in the region. There are chances for that power and money to do a lot of good. But it is just as likely that they will be spent wastefully and will leave new problems behind, just like the railroads and the highways.
The money set aside in negotiated trade-offs and the institutions that control it will shape the West far beyond the immediate footprint of power plants and transmission lines. So let’s remember the effects of the railroads and the highways as we construct these new power plants in the West.
【小题1】What was the problem caused by the construction of the railways?
A.Small towns along the railways became abandoned. |
B.Land in the West was hard to manage. |
C.Some railroad stops remained underused. |
D.Land grants went into private hands. |
A.The use of money and power. |
B.The transmission of power. |
C.The conservation of solar energy. |
D.The selection of an ideal place. |
A.Disapproving. | B.Approving. | C.Doubtful. | D.Cautious. |
A.How the Railways Have Affected the West |
B.How the Effects of Power Plants Can Be Reduced |
C.How Solar Energy Could Reshape the West |
D.How the Problems of the Highways Have Been Settled |