A town in Oxfordshire has become the first in the UK to have biomethane（生物甲烷）gas from human waste piped to their homes for gas central heating and cooking.

Up to 200 families in Didcot now receive the gas via the national gas power system. Head of energy and technology at British Gas, Martin Orrill, said customers wouldn’t notice any difference as the gas is purified（提炼）to the highest standard and has no smell. The gas is produced at a sewage（污物）treatment works plant in Didcot.

The entire process takes only less than three weeks, with the sewage being collected and sent first to settlement tanks. The solid waste material is then fed into digesters, where anaerobic bacteria（厌氧菌）digest the sewage, with the aid of enzymes（酶）to speed up the process. The digestion process produces methane, which can be burned to drive machines to produce electricity, or can be purified and fed into the gas network and piped to homes and businesses. British Gas says supplying the gas rather than electricity is far more efficient since around two-thirds of the energy is lost in producing electricity.

Partners in the Didcot project, British Gas, Scotia Gas Networks, and Thames Water, all hope to expand the process to other towns, and other companies such as Ecotricity and United Utilities have also announced biomethane projects being planned. One of these projects, in Manchester, could be supplying 500 homes with biomethane by mid next year. Another British Gas project in Suffolk will provide gas from digestion of brewery wastes to around 235 families.

The Didcot project cost ￡2.5m and was influenced by promises of government aids aimed at encouraging companies to develop renewable technologies. An EU directive means the UK must ensure at least 15 percent of its energy is from renewable sources by 2020.

    The UK produces about 1.73 million tons of sewage annually. If all sewage treatment works in the UK were fitted with the technology, they could supply gas for up to 350,000 families.

Which of the following is true of the biomethane gas?

   A. It’s mainly made from rotting plants.

   B. It’s an environmentally friendly gas.

   C. Its production process is too long.

   D. It’s easily recognized by the customers.

What is the function of the enzymes?

   A. To digest the solid waste material.

   B. To help get rid of anaerobic bacteria.

   C. To help purify the biomethane.

   D. To speed up the digestion process.

According to British Gas, the biomethane gas had better be used _____.

   A. as the power for the vehicles                          

   B. for the heating and cooking

   C. to produce the electricity                               

   D. to drive a variety of machines

The last three paragraphs mainly show that _____.

   A. UK government supports the biome thane projects

   B. the biome thane projects are very costly

   C. the biome thane projects still face many barriers

   D. the biome thane projects are promising

What should the text belong to?

   A. Computer science.             B. Engineering.      C. Energy.             D. Business.

The whole book he wrote_____ three parts, it’s mainly about Ming Dynasty.

Chinese writer Mo Yan’s Nobel Prize for Literature might ignite an explosion of global interest in Chinese literature and lead to more titles translated into English, European experts say.

 “Hopefully, the award means more people will read Chinese literature and more works will get translated,” says Michel Hockx, professor of the Languages and Cultures of China and Inner Asia from University of London. “Many very good Chinese writers have been accepted globally for a long time already. Mo Yan is probably the most translated Chinese writer alive, with at least five of his novels made available in English over the past 20 years.”

Jonathan Ruppin, web editor of bookseller Foyles, says Mo’s win coincides with growing interest in Chinese literature and recognizes the talents of a distinctive and visionary（富于幻想的）writer. “We are very excited by the fact that English translations of more of his books should now become available,” Ruppin says. He made the comment after Mo became the first Chinese citizen to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in its century-long history.

As East-West cultural exchange has been booming, Chinese literature has been attracting growing attention in recent years. Hockx explains, “It’s mainly because there are many more opportunities for Chinese writers to visit other countries, to publish their works outside China and to interact with readers abroad. At the same time, more and more people globally are learning Chinese and taking an interest in the Chinese language and culture.”

University of Oxford lecturer in modern Chinese literature Margaret Hillenbrand says, “The obvious reason for the growing global presence of Chinese literature is the growing global presence of China itself. People have come to realize that there is a serious knowledge deficit （缺少）between China and its international counterparts — in particular, China knows incomparably（无比地）more about Europe and America than the other way round — and reading Chinese literature is an effective, simple means of solving that gap.”

1.The underlined word “ignite” in Paragraph 1 probably means  “________”.

A. start out      B. burn up      C. set off        D. appeal to

2.Chinese literature has been attracting growing attention mainly because ________.

A. Chinese writers have been writing more and more books in English

B. the Chinese language has become the most widely used language in the world

C. the Chinese government attaches great importance to literature

D. the cultural communication between China and western countries has developed

3. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. Chinese literature has spread with the development of China.

B. The Nobel Prize for Literature has a history of hundreds of years.

C. In the past, no Chinese writers were accepted outside China.

D. Foreigners know about China mainly by reading Mo Yan’s works.

4.How do you understand the underlined sentence in the last paragraph?

A. China knows more about Europe and America than before.

B. China knows more about Europe and America than they know about China.

C. China, Europe and America know one another more than before.

D. Compared with America, China knows more about Europe.

A town in Oxfordshire has become the first in the UK to have biomethane（生物甲烷）gas from human waste piped to their homes for gas central heating and cooking.

Up to 200 families in Didcot now receive the gas via the national gas power system. Head of energy and technology at British Gas, Martin Orrill, said customers wouldn’t notice any difference as the gas is purified（提炼）to the highest standard and has no smell. The gas is produced at a sewage（污物）treatment works plant in Didcot.

The entire process takes only less than three weeks, with the sewage being collected and sent first to settlement tanks. The solid waste material is then fed into digesters, where anaerobic bacteria（厌氧菌）digest the sewage, with the aid of enzymes（酶）to speed up the process. The digestion process produces methane, which can be burned to drive machines to produce electricity, or can be purified and fed into the gas network and piped to homes and businesses. British Gas says supplying the gas rather than electricity is far more efficient since around two-thirds of the energy is lost in producing electricity.

Partners in the Didcot project, British Gas, Scotia Gas Networks, and Thames Water, all hope to expand the process to other towns, and other companies such as Ecotricity and United Utilities have also announced biomethane projects being planned. One of these projects, in Manchester, could be supplying 500 homes with biomethane by mid next year. Another British Gas project in Suffolk will provide gas from digestion of brewery wastes to around 235 families.

The Didcot project cost ￡2.5m and was influenced by promises of government aids aimed at encouraging companies to develop renewable technologies. An EU directive means the UK must ensure at least 15 percent of its energy is from renewable sources by 2020.

    The UK produces about 1.73 million tons of sewage annually. If all sewage treatment works in the UK were fitted with the technology, they could supply gas for up to 350,000 families.

1.Which of the following is true of the biomethane gas?

   A. It’s mainly made from rotting plants.

   B. It’s an environmentally friendly gas.

   C. Its production process is too long.

   D. It’s easily recognized by the customers.

2.What is the function of the enzymes?

   A. To digest the solid waste material.

   B. To help get rid of anaerobic bacteria.

   C. To help purify the biomethane.

   D. To speed up the digestion process.

3.According to British Gas, the biomethane gas had better be used _____.

   A. as the power for the vehicles                                   

   B. for the heating and cooking

   C. to produce the electricity                                          

   D. to drive a variety of machines

4.The last three paragraphs mainly show that _____.

   A. UK government supports the biome thane projects

   B. the biome thane projects are very costly

   C. the biome thane projects still face many barriers

   D. the biome thane projects are promising

5.What should the text belong to?

   A. Computer science.                  B. Engineering.         C. Energy.                  D. Business.

Chinese writer Mo Yan’s Nobel Prize for Literature might ignite an explosion of global interest in Chinese literature and lead to more titles translated into English, European experts say.
“Hopefully, the award means more people will read Chinese literature and more works will get translated,” says Michel Hockx, professor of the Languages and Cultures of China and Inner Asia from University of London. “Many very good Chinese writers have been accepted globally for a long time already. Mo Yan is probably the most translated Chinese writer alive, with at least five of his novels made available in English over the past 20 years.”
Jonathan Ruppin, web editor of bookseller Foyles, says Mo’s win coincides with growing interest in Chinese literature and recognizes the talents of a distinctive and visionary（富于幻想的）writer. “We are very excited by the fact that English translations of more of his books should now become available,” Ruppin says. He made the comment after Mo became the first Chinese citizen to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in its century-long history.
As East-West cultural exchange has been booming, Chinese literature has been attracting growing attention in recent years. Hockx explains, “It’s mainly because there are many more opportunities for Chinese writers to visit other countries, to publish their works outside China and to interact with readers abroad. At the same time, more and more people globally are learning Chinese and taking an interest in the Chinese language and culture.”
University of Oxford lecturer in modern Chinese literature Margaret Hillenbrand says, “The obvious reason for the growing global presence of Chinese literature is the growing global presence of China itself. People have come to realize that there is a serious knowledge deficit between China and its international counterparts — in particular, China knows incomparably more about Europe and America than the other way round — and reading Chinese literature is an effective, simple means of solving that gap.”
【小题1】The underlined word “ignite” in Paragraph 1 probably means  “________”.