Peter, Helen, Catherine, Elizabeth和Levin 想根据各自在环保方面的兴趣（61-65）进行案例研究。阅读下面某杂志的专题报道摘要（A、B、C、D、E和F），选出适合他们研究的最佳案例，并在答题纸上相应选项的标号涂黑。选项中有一项是多余选项。www.ks*5u.co

1.Peter: Reducing plastic and other wastes through DIY.

2.Helen: Making use of the heavy traffic to produce electricity.

3.Catherine: Building a community without private cars

4.Elizabeth: Building houses with recycled materials and energy-efficiency systems

5.Levin: Developing a new type of urban car which burns less gas

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 21^st 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 21^st 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.

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.

2.What is the major concern in the development of alternative energy according to the last two paragraphs?

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.

3.What is the author’s attitude towards building solar plants?

A．Disapproving.      B．Approving.         C．Doubtful.          D．Cautious.

4.Which is the best title for the passage?

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

完形填空 阅读下面的短文，掌握其大意，然后从各题所给的A、B、C和D选项中，选出最佳选项。（每小题2分，共30分）

Computers have done us a lot since they turned up. In the future they will play a more important part in many __16__, such as education, transport, personal lives, scientific research and so on. Nowadays computers are being used in ___17__ and industry and can help the farmers to __18__ the conditions of the plants.

More and more computers will come into our daily life with the __19__ of science and technology. If you want to change money or pay your electricity bills, you won’t have to go to the __20__. A computer and a telephone will help you. It can also help you to do the housework and it can even __21___ human voices and carry out the instructions. It is __22__ that the majority of the labor force will work at home. People will be able to use the videophone for conferences. This can help us to save a lot of energy and ___23__. It is said that trains in Japan will have no __24___, because they’ll be well __25___ by computers, which can also tell the best ___26__ between trains.

Computers programs for __27__ whole texts are already well developed. You can ___28__ the name of a certain subject and a __29__ list of book titles will __30__ on your screen. You may choose whichever you want.

When building houses, people used to think about not only the climate of the areas but also the building materials and the fashions for their houses. However, since electricity became more and more expensive, people began to pay much more attention to the energy they could get for their houses and the new ways they could find to protect their houses from both cold and heat.

Now, houses of an old yet new type have been widely built. In some parts of the world, people share their houses with their livestock（家畜）.During cold weather, they gather their cows, goats, or other animals and keep them on the first floor of their houses. The reasons are that the animals can be protected from the cold and that they can help to heat the houses as well. The body heat given off by the animals rises to the second floor of the houses, where people live. By sharing their houses with their livestock, people gain a source of heat.

People who live in or near cities do not usually keep livestock. However, home builders use the fact that heat rises. This natural law can be used in building houses in these areas. Instead of keeping livestock on the first floor, builders fill it with large rocks. As they are open to the sun’s rays during cold weather, these rocks take in heat. They also give off the heat, and, of course, the warm air rises into the living areas of the houses. So these houses are energy-saving.

House-building becomes a great challenge to building designers and energy engineers. They try to meet this challenge by learning from old traditions and by using modern technology. And someday in the future, people will be able to live in more energy-saving houses.

1.What did people begin to consider as electricity was no longer cheap?

2.People in some areas gain a source of heat by _________.

3.The underlined words “natural law” in the third paragraph refer to the fact that ________.

4.From the passage, we can conclude that __________.

    In old times,  man considered lightning to be one of the great mysteries(神秘事物)of nature.  In fact a single flash of lightning 1. 6 kilometers long has enough electricity to light one million lamps.    

The American scientist, Benjamin Franklin, was the first to suggest that lightning is in fact electricity formed between the earth and clouds high above. It happened in 1752. In the same year, he also built the first lightning rod(避雷针)to protect buildings from being struck by lightnings.    

    Modern science has discovered that lightning is very strong and powerful. A lightning between a cloud and the earth may be as long as 13 kilometers, and travels at a speed of 30 million meters per second.  Scientists have the opinion that there are about 2, 000 million flashes of lightning per year. In the United States alone, it kills almost one person per day.     The safest place to be in during an electrical storm is a closed car. Outside, one should go close to low ground for cover and not stop under a tree. Also one should stay out of water and away from metal fences. Inside a house people should keep away from open doorways and windows and not touch wires or metal things.

1.From this passage we know lightning is_______ .

A. one of the great mysteries of nature

B. electricity high above the earth

C. a kind of light

D. the sound from the clouds

2.In the US _______.

A. every person can see lightning every day

B. at least one person is killed by lightning every day

C. there are about 6 million flashes of lightning per year

D. about one person per day dies from lightning

3.During a lightning storm, it would be best if you _______.

A. stand under a tree  B. go outside  C. stay in a closed car   D. stop near windows

4.A lightning rod can _______.

A. prevent accidents caused by lightning   

B. stop lightning

C. protect buildings from being washed away

D. delay the coming of lightning