Electric cars will not be really much cleaner than autos powered by mineral fuels until they rely less on electricity produced from usual coal-fired power plants．“For electric vehicles to become a major green alternative, the power fuel has to move away from coal, or cleaner coal technologies have to be developed,”said Jared Cohon, the chairman of a National Research Council report released on Monday．About half of US power is produced by burning coal, which gives off many times more of traditional pollutants than natural gas, and about twice as much of the main greenhouse gas carbon dioxide．Nuclear and renewable power have to generate a larger portion of US power for electric cars to become much greener compared to gasoline-powered cars, Cohan, who is president of Carnegie Mellon University, said in an interview．Advances in coal burning, like capturing carbon at power plants for permanent burial underground, could also help electric cars become a cleaner alternative to vehicles powered by fossil fuels, he said．Pollution from energy sources did ＄120 billion worth of damage to human health, agriculture and recreation in 2008, and electricity was responsible for more than half of the damage, said the NRC report．
Electric cars have their benefits such as reducing imports of foreign oil．But they also have hidden costs．Materials in electric car batteries are hard to produce, which adds to the energy it takes to make them．In fact, the health and environmental costs of making electric cars can be 20 percent greater than usual cars, the report said．
The report estimated that electric cars could still cost more than gas-powered cars to operate and manufacture in 2030 unless US power production becomes cleaner．
(1)
Why are electric cars not clean enough?
[ ]
A．
Because they run too slowly
B．
Because they are too expensive
C．
Because they rely on coal-fired power．
D．
Because they give off more carbon dioxide．
(2)
We can infer from the passage that ________．
[ ]
A．
electric cars will soon take the place of gas-powered cars
B．
no one holds hope for electric cars at present
C．
electric cars waste more energy than before
D．
some people believe that electric cars are cleaner
(3)
The underlined word“them”refers to“________”．
[ ]
A．
electric cars
B．
batteries
C．
producers
D．
materials
(4)
Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a way to make electric cars cleaner?
Several years ago, my parents, my wife, my son and I ate at one of those restaurants where the menu is written on a blackboard．After a wonderful dinner, the waiter set the check in the middle of the table．That’s when it happened：my father did not reach for the check．
Conversation continued．Finally I realized that I should pick up the check!After hundreds of restaurant meals with my parents, after a lifetime of thinking of my father as the one with dollars, it had all changed．I reached for the check, and my view of myself suddenly changed．I was an adult．I was no longer a kid．
Some people mark off(区分)their lives in years, I measure mine in small events．I didn’t become a young man at a particular age, like 16, but rather when a kid who wandered in the streets called me “mister．” These events in my life are called “milestones”(里程碑)
There have been other milestones．The cops(policemen)of my youth always seemed big, even huge, and of course they were older than I was．Then one day they were suddenly realized that all the football players in the game I was watching were younger than I was．They were just big kids．With that milestone gone was the dream that someday, maybe I, too, could be a football player．Without ever having reached the hill, I was over it．
I never thought that I would fall asleep in front of the TV set as my father did．Now it’s what I do best．I never thought that I would go to the beach and not swim, yet I spent all of August at the shore and never once went into the ocean．I never thought that I would appreciate opera, but now the combination of voice and orchestra attract me．I never thought that I would prefer to stay home in the evenings, but now I find myself passing up parties．I used to think that people who watched birds were strange, but this summer I fond myself watching them, and maybe I’ll get a book on the subject．I feel a strong desire for a religious belief that I never thought I’d want, feel close to my ancestors(祖先)long gone, and echo my father in arguments with my son．I still lose…
One day I bought a house．One day－what a day!–I became a father, and not too long after that I picked up the check for my own father．I thought then it was a milestone for me．One day, when I was a little older, I realized it was one for him, too, another milestone．
(1)
The tone established in the passage is one of ________．
[ ]
A．
sad regret
B．
amusement
C．
happiness
D．
deep feeling
(2)
The author mentions the event in the restaurant because ________．
[ ]
A．
that was one of his milestone
B．
he paid the bill but he didn’t want to
C．
he became a father with dollars
D．
that was the last restaurant meal with his parents
(3)
“Then they were suddenly neither．” Suggests that ________．
[ ]
A．
suddenly they became older than I was
B．
suddenly I knew that they was neither bigger nor older than I was
C．
suddenly I realized that I made mistake
D．
suddenly I found myself no longer a kid
(4)
Which of the following best expresses the author’s thinking?
[ ]
A．
One day is worth two tomorrow
B．
To save time is to length life
C．
When an opportunity is lost, it never comes back to you
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afraid. A person with a green thumb