A $6 cardboard box that uses solar power to cook food, clean water and could help 3 billion poor people cut greenhouse gases, has won a $75,000 prize for ideas to fight global warming

The Box, named after the United Nations’ Kyoto Protocol that seeks to cut greenhouse gases, is aimed at billions of people who use firewood to cook. It can also make it easier to boil polluted water. The Kenyan-based inventor hopes it can make solar cooking widespread in the developing world, replacing the use of wood which is driving deforestation. Organized by Forum for the Future, the competition aims to support concepts that have “moved off the drawing board and demonstrated their feasibility” for reducing greenhouse gases.  

“The Kyoto Box has the potential to transform millions of lives,” said Peter Madden, the forum’s chief executive. The box is made from two cardboard boxes, which use reflective foil（箔）and black paint to maximize absorption of solar energy. Covering the cooking pot with a transparent（透明的）cover keeps heat and water, and temperatures inside the pot can reach at least 80C.  

The idea of cooking using the Sun’s rays has been around for centuries, and a number of organizations including Solar Cookers International are already supporting their manufacture and distribution in the developing world. The Kyoto Box also improves the health of villagers who do not have to spend hours taking in wood smoke, a major cause of respiratory disease（呼吸道疾病）.  

Many countries are looking for cheap green ways to stimulate economies mired in economic crisis. More than 190 nations have agreed to work out a new U.N. climate pact to succeed Kyoto at a meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009.  

66. What’s the main purpose of the Kyoto Box?  

A. To warn people of the dangers of global warming.  

B. To encourage more villagers to use firewood to cook.  

C. To earn money from rural areas in developing countries.  

D. To transform the lives of villagers in developing countries.  

67. We can learn from Paragraph 2 that _________.  

A. solar cooking is unlikely to be widespread  

B. the invention helps to preserve the forest  

C. Kyoto Protocol is mainly about green food  

D. greenhouse gases are mainly caused by firewood  

68. Which of the following is NOT true about The Kyoto Box?  

A. It is convenient and environment-friendly.  

B. It does good to the people’s health in rural areas.  

C. It makes it possible for more poor people to afford it.  

D. It was invented several hundred years ago.  

69. It can be inferred from the passage that __________.  

A. the cardboard box can be used to cure diseases  

B. more nations are interested in the invention  

C. black objects readily reflect more light  

D. the invention can accelerate economic crisis  

70. What would be the best title for the text?  

A. Solar-powered Cooker Wins Climate Prize  

B. Cardboard Box Boils Polluted Water Easily  

C. Alternative Energy Found in Rural Areas  

D. Meeting Held in Copenhagen in December  

A $6 cardboard box that uses solar power to cook food, clean water and could help 3 billion poor people cut greenhouse gases, has won a $75,000 prize for ideas to fight global warming.

The Box, named after the United Nations’ Kyoto Protocol that seeks to cut greenhouse gases, is aimed at billions of people who use firewood to cook. It can also make it easier to boil polluted water. The Kenyan-based inventor hopes it can make solar cooking widespread in the developing world, replacing the use of wood which is driving deforestation. Organized by Forum for the Future, the competition aims to support concepts that have “moved off the drawing board and demonstrated their feasibility” for reducing greenhouse gases.