题目内容
Those farmers who _________ move from place to place with their animals in the past have moved into new houses at last.
A.could B.might C.would D.should
C
If you want to stay young, sit down and have a good think. This is the research finding of a team of Japanese doctors, who say that most of out brains are not getting enough exercise, and as a result, we are growing old unnecessarily soon.
Professor Taiju Matsuzawa wanted to find out why quite healthy farmers in northern Japan appeared to be losing their ability to think and reason at a rather early age, and how the speed of getting old could be slowed down.
With a team of researchers at Tokyo National University, he set about measuring brain sizes of a thousand people of different ages with different jobs.
Computer technology helped the researchers to get most exact measurements of the sizes of the front and side parts of the brain, which have something to do with thinking and feeling, and decide the human character. As we all know, the back part of the brain, which controls task like eating and breathing, does not contract(萎缩) with age.
Contraction of front and side parts, as cells(细胞) die off, was seen in some people in their thirties, but it was still not found in some sixty and seventy-year-olds.
Matsuzawa concluded from his tests that there is a simple way to prevent the contraction---using the head.
The findings show that contraction of the brain begins sooner in people in the country than those in the towns. Those with least possibility, says Matsuzawa, are lawyers, followed by university professors and doctors. White-collar workers doing the same work day after day in government offices are, however, as possible to have contracting brains as the farm workers, bus drivers and shop assistants.
【小题1】 The team of doctors wanted to find out ____.
A.at what point people grow live longer. |
B.how to make people live longer |
C.the size of certain people’s brains. |
D.which group of people are the busiest |
A.an examination of farmers in northern Japan |
B.using computer technology |
C.examining the brain sizes of different people |
D.tests given a thousand old people |
A.our brains contract as we grow older |
B.one part of the brain does not contract |
C.sixty-year-olds have better brains than thirty-year-olds |
D.contraction of the brain begins sooner in people in the country |
A.engineers | B.office clerks | C.professors | D.researchers |
A.most of us should take more exercise |
B.it’s better to live in the towns |
C.the brain contracts if it is not used |
D.the more one uses his brain, the sooner he becomes old |
Across countryside, non-food crops are growing alongside wheat.Some are used in new alternatives to plastics and other materials, but others will simply be burned.
Burning crops is becoming more popular because it is good for the planet.Doing so is also cheaper than burning fossil fuels.As more land is devoted to non-food crop production, the economics of crops for fuel are likely to become even more favorable.
Humans have been burning such biomass—organic materials from plants or animals— since they discovered fire.But that burning fossil fuels could have catastrophic consequences has brought biomass back into fashion.
Even allowing for emissions (排放) of carbon dioxide from fuel used in planting, harvesting, processing and transporting biomass fuel, replacing fossil fuel with biomass can typically reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 90 percent.
Power stations around the world are experimenting with forms of biomass to add to their coal or oil, with encouraging results.Indeed, power companies could profit by turning to biomass, especially when the subsidies (补助) many governments offer for using renewable energy are taken into account.
Farmers can benefit from growing biomass.In Europe, the reduction of subsidies for certain crops is exposing farmers to market forces.Instead of being paid for whatever they produce, farmers must seek a clear demand for their product.Many believe that the demand for alternatives to fossil fuels could be just such a driver.
But while biomass offers a variety of potential alternatives, the world's infrastructure (基础设施) has developed around burning fossil fuels to such a stage that switching to biomass involves a change in conception that many companies have not accepted.
Also, there are problems with using biomass.Although most coal-fired power stations could take a small amount of their fuel from biomass without significant adjustment, few are built to run on biomass alone.Burning some forms of biomass also causes environmental problems.Oils and waste can be smelly, while wood produces smoke unless burned properly.
The supply chains for fossil fuels are set up well, but those for biomass are just the beginning. Sources of supply for biomass rely on farm production and can therefore be less reliable. They are necessarily limited and it wouldn't make sense to turn a very large amount of valuable agricultural land away from food crops.But as the world adjusts to the need to control greenhouse gas emissions, these problems may receive more attention.
【小题1】What do we know about biomass?
A.It is a useful way of burning crops. |
B.It is plant and animal matter used to provide power. |
C.It is a new alternative to be used widely. |
D.It is a popular approach to fighting against pollution. |
a.It gives off less greenhouse gases.
b.It helps farmers receive subsidies for what they produce.
c.It has met the clear demand for energy.
d.It has brought subsidies for some power companies.
e.It is cheaper than burning fossil fuels.
A.a, b, c | B.b, c, d | C.c, d, e | D.a, d, e |
A.more effective ways to use biomass have been tried |
B.using renewable energy has become their daily task |
C.burning biomass alone would require considerable changes |
D.setting up dependable supply channels needs governments' support |
A.Defensive. | B.Doubtful. | C.Negative. | D.Objective |