"Have you ever been out on a boat and felt it lifted up by a wave? Or have you jumped in the

water and felt the rush of energy as waves came over you?" asked Jamie Taylor of the Wave Energy Group at the University of Edinburgh．"There is certainly a lot of energy in waves," he said．Scientists are working to use that energy to make electricity．Most waves are created when

winds blow across the ocean．"The wind starts out by making little ripples (涟漪) , but if they

keep on blowing, those ripples get bigger and bigger and turn into waves," Taylor said．" Waves

are one of nature 's ways of picking up energy and then sending it off on a journey.

       When waves come toward the shore, people can set up dams to block the water and send it

through a large wheel called a turbine (涡轮机) ．The turbine can then power an electrical
generator to produce electricity .

       "The resource is huge," said Janet Swain of the World watch Institute．"We will never run out of wave power．" Besides, wave energy does not create the same pollution as other energy sources, such as oil or coal．Oceans cover three-quarters of the Earth's surface - that would make wave power seem ideal for creating energy throughout the world, though there are some weak points yet to overcome．

       Swain said that wave power still costs too much money．She also said that its effects on sea animals are still unknown．What is more, wave power could affect fishing and boat traffic.

       Traditional sources of energy like oil and gas may someday run out．" Demand for energy to

power our TVs and computers, drive our cars, and heat and cool our homes is rising rapidly throughout the world," Swain said．In the future when you turn on a light, an ocean wave could be

providing the electricity!

64．The writer uses the two questions at the beginning of the passage to _______.

       A．test the readers' knowledge about waves

       B．draw the readers' attention to the topic

       C．show Jamie Taylor's importance

       D．invite the readers to answer them
65．The underlined phrase "picking up" (paragraph 2) is closest in meaning to _______.

       A．starting again       B．speeding up         C．gathering             D．improving
66．We can make better use of wave energy if we _______.

       A．shorten its journey to thousands of homes

       B．build more small power stations on the oceans

       C．reduce the cost of turning it into electric power

       D．quicken the steps of producing electricity

67．It can be inferred that some day we might not worry about ________.

       A．air pollution                                         B．our boat traffic    

       C．our power supply                                D．our supply of sea fish

"Have you ever been out on a boat and felt it lifted up by a wave? Or have you jumped in the water and felt the rush of energy as waves came over you?" asked Jamie Taylor of the Wave Energy Group at the University of Edinburgh．"There is certainly a lot of energy in waves," he said.

Scientists are working to use that energy to make electricity．Most waves are created when winds blow across the ocean．"The wind starts out by making little ripples （涟漪）, but if they keep on blowing, those ripples get bigger and bigger and turn into waves," Taylor said. "Waves are one of nature's ways of picking up energy and then sending it off on a journey．"

When waves come toward the shore, people can set up darns to block the water and send it through a large wheel called a turbine （涡轮机）．The turbine can then power an electrical generator to produce electricity．

"The resource is huge," said Janet Swain of the World Watch Institute．"We will never run out of wave power．"Besides, wave energy does not create the same

pollution as other energy sources, such as oil or coal．Oceans cover three-quarters of the Earth's surface that would make wave power seem ideal for creating energy throughout the world, though there are some weak points yet to overcome．

    Swain said that wave power still costs too much money．She also said that its effects on sea animals are still unknown．What is more, wave power could affect fishing and boat traffic.

    Traditional sources of energy like oil and gas may someday run out．"Demand for energy to power our TVs and computers, drive our cars, and heat and cool our homes is rising rapidly throughout the world," Swain said. In the future when you turn on a light, an ocean wave could be providing the electricity!

1．The writer uses the two questions at the beginning of the passage to ____．

A．test the readers' knowledge about waves

     B．draw the readers' attention to the topic

     C．show Jamie Taylor's importance

     D．invite the readers to answer them

2．The underlined phrase "picking up" （paragraph 2） is closest in meaning to ____．

     A．starting again                                    B．speeding up

       C．gathering                                        D．improving

3．We can make better use of wave energy if we ____．

       A．shorten its journey to thousands of homes

      B．build more small power stations on the oceans

      C．reduce the cost of turning it into electric power

      D．quicken the steps of producing electricity

4．It can be inferred that some day we might not worry about ____．

      A．air pollution                                         B．our boat traffic

      C．our power supply                                D．our supply of sea fish

Scientists in India have invented a new way to produce electricity. Their invention does not get its power from oil, coal or other fuels. It produces electricity with the power of animals. India has about eighty million bullocks. They do all kinds of jobs. They work in the fields. They pull vehicles through the streets. They carry water containers. Indian energy officials have been seeking ways to use less imported oil to provide energy. Scientists at the National Institute for Industrial Engineering in Bombay wondered whether the millions of bullocks could help. Many villages in India lack electricity, but they have many bullocks. And often the animals are not working. One job done by bullocks is to pump water out of the well. The animals do this by walking around and around in a circle. As they walk, they turn a heavy stick that makes the pump move. This simple technology is centuries old. Scientists thought that the same technology could be used to produce electricity. Bullocks walk in a circle only two or three times a minute. This is much too slow to produce electricity, but it can create enough power to turn a series of gears（齿轮）. A large gear sits next to a smaller gear. As the large gear turns, it causes the smaller gear to turn. That gear turns an even smaller one. Each gear moves faster because it is a little smaller. The smallest gear may turn extremely fast. Clocks operate with gears. So do cars and so does the device invented by the Indian scientists to produce electricity.

       According to the officials in the United Nations, the idea is being tested at several places in India. The device is easy to operate and repair. And it can be moved easily. It costs about three hundred and seven dollars now to make such a device, but production of large numbers of them could cut the cost of each to about two hundred dollars.

1．Who first thought of using bullocks to provide energy?

     A．Indian energy officials.                   B．Scientists in India.

     C．Officials in the United Nations.             D．Researchers in Europe.

2．The jobs that bullocks do in India are mentioned in the passage except         .

     A．pulling vehicles                                    B．harvesting crops

     C．pumping water out of wells                  D．carrying food baskets

3．In the sentence “This simple technology is centuries old” in Paragraph One, “This simple technology” refers to_____.

     A．using bullocks to produce energy

     B．using pumps to draw water out

     C．having bullocks walk around to make the pump move

     D．connecting gears of different sizes to produce electricity

4．Which of the following can NOT be inferred from the passage?

     A．Once widely used, this device can help reduce the use of oil to provide energy.

     B．Indian government has decided to put the idea into practice at once.

     C．This idea will make progress as it is environment-friendly to the people.

     D．This device is designed in the way as clocks work with gears working on each other.

5．What is the U. N. officials’ attitude towards the idea?

       A．Approving.          B．Doubtful.        C．Negative.      D．Passive.

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项。

　　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.

(1) What's this passage mainly about?

[　　]

A．Something about solar energy and pollution.

B．Solar energy.

C．Energy and pollution.

D．Energy and money.

(2) 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

(3) 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

(4) 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.

(5) 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