题目内容
Solar power is power ________ energy from the sun.
A.producing used
B.produced using
C.produced used
D.producing using
With alarming regularity, we read about oil tankers having accidents near land and the terrible consequences of the oil spills(泄露) on people, nature, and the environment.
Millions of dollars have been used in developing special chemicals to help dismiss the spills and to clean up the animals, beaches, and land spoiled by the oil.Unfortunately, when many of these chemicals are used, more damage is caused to the environment, especially to lives in the sea.
Of all of today’s environmental disasters, an oil spill may actually be one of the least serious.Although oil is poisonous, it is a natural material.In the end, it breaks down naturally.There are, of course, long-term effects, but it is usually more serious in the short term.
Nature by itself works better than chemical materials, but when there is a spill we demand that governments act immediately with as much hi-tech knowledge as possible.In 1967 the tanker Torrey Canyon sank off the Sicily Isles near the coast of England and spilled 120,000 tones of oil into the ocean.If you go there today, you will find it hard to see any sign that it ever happened.
Governments seem to accept the risk of transporting millions of tons of oil by ship every day so that we can fill up our cars and drive around and cause even more environmental damage.Interestingly, the biggest companies in the world produce cars, and the next biggest supply the gasoline to make them run!
We should be thinking more about reducing our dependency on oil.Governments should be encouraging research into new technologies, such as cars run by solar power(太阳能), electricity, hydrogen, and so on.Much of this research has, in the past, been held back by the oil, gas, and coal.
If the world’s millions of cars were 10% more efficient(高效的)— and the industry could easily produce cars at least twice as efficient — we would need many fewer tankers crossing the oceans each year.If this happened, the risks of oil spills would be reduced, and the air we breathe would be cleaner and fresher, too.
【小题1】What is the passage mainly talking about?
| A.Oil tanker accidents. | B.Oil spills pollution. |
| C.What oil pollution is. | D.How to reduce oil pollution. |
| A.By giving a description. | B.By making an argument. |
| C.By giving an example. | D.By drawing a diagram. |
| A.Transportation depending more on oil. |
| B.Poisonous oil breaking down naturally. |
| C.Millions of tons of oil spilling into the sea. |
| D.More environmental damage being caused. |
| A.We should develop new technologies to cut oil use |
| B.Tankers should not be allowed to sail near the coastlines. |
| C.We should build safer oil tankers in the near future. |
| D.Countries should build more oil pipelines under the sea. |
Sunny countries are often poor. A shame, then, that solar power is still quite expensive. Eight19, a British company by Cambridge University, has, however, invented a novel way to get round this. In return for a deposit of around $10 it is supplying poor Kenyan families with a solar cell able to generate 2.5 watts of electricity, a battery that can deliver a three amp(安培) current to store this electricity, and a lamp whose bulb is a light-emitting diode(二极管). The firm thinks that this system, once the battery is fully charged, is enough to light two small rooms and to power a mobile-phone charger for seven hours. Then, next day, it can be put outside and charged back up again.
The trick is that, to be able to use the electricity, the system's keeper must buy a scratch card—for as little as a dollar—on which is printed a reference number. The keeper sends this reference, plus the serial number of the household solar unit, by SMS to Eight19. The company's server will respond automatically with an access code to the unit.
Users may consider that they are paying an hourly rate for their electricity. In fact, they are paying off the cost of the unit. After buying around $80 worth of scratch cards—which Eight19 expects would take the average family around 18 months—the user will own it. He will then have the option of continuing to use it for nothing, or of trading it in for a bigger one, perhaps driven by a 10-watt solar cell.
In that case, he would go then through the same process again, paying off the additional cost of the upgraded kit at a slightly higher rate. Users would therefore increase their electricity supply steadily and affordably.
According to Eight19's figures, this looks like a good deal for customers. The firm believes the average energy-starved Kenyan spends around $10 a month on oil—enough to fuel a couple of smoky lamps—plus $2 on charging his mobile phone in the market-place. Regular users of one of Eight19's basic solar units will spend around half that, before owning it completely. Meanwhile, as the cost of solar technology falls, it should get even cheaper.
【小题1】The underlined word “get round” in the first paragraph can be replaced by _______ .
| A.make use of | B.come up with | C.look into | D.deal with |
| A.Buy a scratch card. | B.Recharge it outside. |
| C.Buy another solar cell. | D.Return it to the company. |
| A.Around $10. | B.Around $80. | C.Around $90. | D.Around $180. |
| A.Kenyan families would find it difficult to afford the solar cell |
| B.using the solar cell would help Kenyan families save money |
| C.few Kenyan families use mobile phones for lack of electricity |
| D.the company will make a great profit from selling solar cells |
| A.Solar Energy: Starting from Scratch. |
| B.Eight19: a creative British Company. |
| C.Kenyan Families: Using Solar Energy for Free. |
| D.Poor Countries: Beginning to Use Solar Energy. |