How could we have thought so wrongly of as banana peel that it always hits the garbage? Utility of anything seems to be in the eyes of the beholder. The banana peel hasn't been an exception.
What most of us looked at as waste was converted to a thing of utility by Prithwis Mukhopadlyay, a 14-year-old prodigy. This Bengali boy, nourished in the US, Lake Junior High in Woodbury, Minnesota, has come up with an idea to convert banana peels to biogas.(生物气).
It's well known that almost any organic waste can be converted to biogas. But why biogas from banana peel has hit the news is because it produced five times as much biogas as manure(粪), a commonly used source for producing biogas, in the experiments Prithwis conducted.  
He filled two airtight containers, one with manure and the other with banana peels. Then he mixed each content with water and connected them to empty jars via pipes to collect the gas produced. He placed a heater next to each jar and measured the gas collected for 60 days. His studies proved that banana peels produced five times more biogas than manure.
This project titled 'Comparison analysis: Eco-friendly source of energy for the future,' earned him a spot in Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge. This weekend, the young whiz is to showcase his research work along with 40 other finalists at Washington. "Initially, I thought of doing a project that would reduce global warming. Things changed after I visited a biogas plant in a village in India during my summer vacations. It was an amazing experience," Prithwis says.
【小题1】Why could Prithwis's finding receive the attention of the media?

Are you a media addict who would go mad after two hours without TV, friend requests, exciting online games and your mobile – or would you easily survive?
Recently, university students around the world were asked to volunteer in a global experiment called Unplugged. It was designed to see how young people would react if they were asked to observe a total media ban by unplugging all forms of media devices for 24 hours.
Unplugged is being run by Dr Roman Gerodimos, a lecturer in Communication and Journalism at Bournemouth University. The experiment is now over but he doesn’t yet know the full findings. However, during the experiment, Dr Gerodimos said there were already signs of how much the exercise affected volunteers. He said: “They’re reporting withdrawal symptoms(症状), overeating, feeling nervous, isolated and disconnected.” During their 24-hour painful experience, three of the experiment’s guinea pigs had to endure one intrusion(侵扰) from the media: a BBC reporter plus cameraman who followed them around for the day. They were asked to write down 100 lines about their day offline, but of course, they all waited until the next day when they had access to their laptops. Elliot Day wrote: “Today, my whole morning routine was thrown up into the air. Despite being aware of the social importance of the media, I was surprised by how empty my life felt without the radio or newspapers.” From Caroline Scott, we read: “I didn’t expect it, but being prevented from the media for 24 hours resulted in my day-to-day activities becoming so much harder to carry out than usual… I didn’t break out in a cold sweat like our lecturer expected us all to, but it’s not something I would like to do again!” And Charlotte Gay wrote: “I have to say the most difficult item for me to be without has been my mobile; not only is it a social tool, it’s my main access point of communication.”
Earlier in the year, a UK government study found that in the UK we spend about half our waking hours using the media, often plugged into several things at once. And a recent study by Nielson found that on average, US teenagers send and receive over 3,000 texts per month ---that’s about six texts per waking hour. So, with technology continuing to develop at an alarming rate, how much time will you set aside for sleep in the future?
【小题1】What’s the purpose of the first paragraph?

How could we have thought so wrongly of as banana peel that it always hits the garbage? Utility of anything seems to be in the eyes of the beholder. The banana peel hasn't been an exception.

What most of us looked at as waste was converted to a thing of utility by Prithwis Mukhopadlyay, a 14-year-old prodigy. This Bengali boy, nourished in the US, Lake Junior High in Woodbury, Minnesota, has come up with an idea to convert banana peels to biogas.(生物气).

It's well known that almost any organic waste can be converted to biogas. But why biogas from banana peel has hit the news is because it produced five times as much biogas as manure(粪), a commonly used source for producing biogas, in the experiments Prithwis conducted.  

He filled two airtight containers, one with manure and the other with banana peels. Then he mixed each content with water and connected them to empty jars via pipes to collect the gas produced. He placed a heater next to each jar and measured the gas collected for 60 days. His studies proved that banana peels produced five times more biogas than manure.

This project titled 'Comparison analysis: Eco-friendly source of energy for the future,' earned him a spot in Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge. This weekend, the young whiz is to showcase his research work along with 40 other finalists at Washington. "Initially, I thought of doing a project that would reduce global warming. Things changed after I visited a biogas plant in a village in India during my summer vacations. It was an amazing experience," Prithwis says.

1.Why could Prithwis's finding receive the attention of the media?

A．Because he is a prodigy.

B．Because he is of Bengali descent.

C．Because he used an extremely rare organic waste to produce biogas.

D．Because his research proved that banana peels can produce more biogas.

2.Where did Prithwis derive his inspiration  from?

A.Lake Junior High.   B Discovery Channel.

C.  India.            D.His laboratory at home.

3.This article probably appeared in a _________ magazine.

A．gourmet          B．science           C．computer         D．fashion

The most noticeable trend among today's media companies is vertical integration (垂直统一管理) , an attempt(尝试) to control several related aspects(方面) of the media business at once, each part helping the other. Besides publishing magazines and books, Time Warner, for example, owns Home Box Office ( HBO), Warner movie studios (摄影棚), various cable TV systems throughout the USA, and CNN as well. The Japanese company Matsushita Owns MCA. Records and Universal Studios and manufactures broadcast production equipment.

    To describe the financial status ( 财务状态 ) of today’s media is also to talk about acquisitions(获得). The media are buying and selling each other in unprecedented(空前的) numbers and forming media groups to position themselves in the market place to maintain and increase their profits(利润). In 1986, the first time a broadcast network had been sold, two networks were sold that year—ABC and NBC.

    Media acquisitions have skyrocketed(猛增) since 1980 for two reasons. The first is that most big corporations today are publicly traded companies, which means that their stock is traded on one of the nation’s stock exchanges (股票交易). This makes acquisitions relatively easy.

    A media company that wants to buy a publicly owned company can buy that company's stock when the stock becomes available(有用的). The open availabilities of stock in these companies means that anybody with enough money can invest in the American media Indus tries, which is exactly how Rupert Murdoch joined the media business.

The second reason for the increase in media alliances(联合) is that beginning in 1980, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gradually deregulated (解除管制) the broadcast media. Before 1980, for example, the FCC allowed one company to own only five TV stations, five AM radio stations, and five FM radio stations; companies also were required to hold onto a station for three years before the station could be sold. The post-1980 FCC eliminated the three-year rule and raised the number of broadcast holdings allowed for one owner. This trend (倾向；趋势) of media acquisitions is continuing throughout the 1990s,as changing technology expands the market for media products.

1. Which of the following is true of the media?

A. They used to sell and buy each other in great numbers.

B. They are trading each other in greater numbers today.

C. They used to be controlled by two networks—ABC and NBC.

D. They have stopped the trend of acquisitions in the 1990s.

2. According to the passage, what makes acquisitions easier?

A. The changing technology employed by the media.

B. The media's increasing profits in the marketplace.

C. The ever tougher regulations of the FCC on the media since 1980.

D. The availabilities of the media's stocks on stock exchanges.

3. What is the FCC’s new policy regarding media alliances?

B. It doesn't allow companies to sell their stocks publicly

C. It permits one company to own more media businesses at the same time.

D. It has eliminated all post 1980 companies.

4. The issue of media ownership is important because ____.

A. it affects the amount of money the stockholders will make

B. it decides whether we can have different aspects of the media

C. it concerns the channels through which to express opinions

D. it means that more and more people will hold onto only a few stations.

 Sometimes, it’s difficult for the public to learn about the truth of incidents ______ they are made public by the media.

   A. because                            B. unless                      C. when                       D. since