Renewable Energy Sources

Today petroleum provides around 40% of the world’s energy needs, mostly fuelling automobiles¹. Coal is still used, mostly in power stations, to cover one-quarter of our energy needs, but it is the least efficient, unhealthiest and most environmentally damaging fossil fuel². Natural gas reserves could plug some of the gap from oil³, but reserves of that will not last into the 22nd century either. Most experts predict we will exhaust easily accessible reserves within 50 years⁴. We could fast reach an energy crisis. We need to rapidly develop sustainable solutions to fuel our future⁵. Less-polluting renewable energy sources offer a more practical long-term energy solution. They may benefit the world’s poor too. “Renewable”, refers to the fact that these resources are not used faster than they can be replaced.

The Chinese and Romans used watermills over 2,000 years ago. But the first hydroelectric dam was built in England in 1870. Hydroelectric power is now the most common form of renewable energy, supplying around 20% of world electricity. China’s Three Gorges Dam⁶, which has just been completed, is the largest ever. At five times the size of the US’s Hoover Dam⁷, its 26 turbines will generate the equivalent energy of 18 coal-fired power stations⁸. It will satisfy 3% of China’s entire electricity demand. Surprisingly, some argue that hydroelectric dams significantly contrihute greenhouse gases.

In 2003, the first commercial power station to harness tidal currents⁹ in the open sea opened in Norway. It is designed like windmill, but others take the form of turbines.

As prices fall, wind power has become the fastest growing type of electricity generation — quadrupling¹⁰ worldwide between 1999 and 2005. Modern wind farms consist of turbines that generate electricity. Though it will be more expensive, there is more than enough wind to provide the world’s entire energy needs. Wind farms come in onshore and offshore forms. They can often end up at spots of natural beauty¹¹, and are often unpopular with residents. And turbines are not totally benign — they can interfere with radar and leave a significant ecological footprint¹², altering climate and killing sea birds. Migrating birds may have more luck avoiding them. Scotland is building Europe’s largest wind farm, which will power 200,000 homes. The UK’s goal is to generate one-fifth of power from renewable sources, mainly wind, by 2020. But this may cause problems, because wind is unreliable.

 

词汇：

watermill / ˈwɔ:təmɪl / n. 水力磨，水车 

gorge / ɡɔ:dʒ / n. 峡，峡谷
windmill / "wɪndmɪl / n. 风车；风力磨坊 

turbine / ˈtɜ:baɪn / n. 叶轮机，涡轮机
hydroelectric / ˌhaɪdrəʊɪˈlektrɪk / n.  水力发电的 

benign / bɪˈnaɪn / adj. 无害的
tidal / "taɪdl / adj. 潮汐的 

footprint / ˈfʊtprɪnt / n.脚印，足迹；接触面积
quadruple / "kwɒ"dru:pl / adj. 四倍；四倍的；使成四倍

注释:

1. …mostly fuelling automobiles:大多用来为汽车提供燃料。 fuel在此作及物动词。

2. fossil fuel: (煤、石油、天然气等 )矿物燃料

3. Natural gas reserves could plug some of the gap from oil:天然气的储量可能填补部分石油短缺。动词 plug原义

为“堵塞”在此作“填补”解。

4. …exhaust easily accessible reserves within 50 years:很容易在 50年内耗尽可采掘的燃料储备。 accessible：可得到的。

5. to fuel our future:为我们的未来提供燃料

6. Three Gorges Dam:三峡大坝

7. Hoover Dam: Hoover大坝是美国七大民用建筑奇迹之一，建于科罗拉多河 (the Colorado River)上，1931年开始建造， 5年后完工。

8. coal-fired power stations:烧煤的发电站

9. to harness tidal currents:利用潮汐来发电。 harness:利用（河流、瀑布等）产生动力 (尤指电力 )。

10. quadrupling:是动词 quadruple的现在分词形式，意思是 “（使）成四倍，翻两番”。如：Our profits have quadrupled in five years.五年里我们的利润翻了两番。

11. … often end up at spots of natural beauty:常常会出现在美丽的自然环境中。

12. …leave a significant ecological footprint：在生态环境中留下痕迹。即指本句后半句所说的 : altering climate and killing sea birds。

China"s Three Gorges Dam

A:is the first hydroelectric dam in the world. B:is of the same size of the US"s Hoover Dam. C:is the largest of all the hydroelectric dams in the world. D:supplies around 20% of the world electricity.

C With only about 1,000 pandas left in the world, China is desperately trying to clone the animal and save the endangered species. That’s a move similar to what a Texas A&M University researcher has been undertaking for the past five years in a project called "Noah’s Ark". Dr. Duane Kraemer, a professor in Texas A & M’s College of Veterinary Medicine and a pioneer in embryo(胚胎) transfer work and related procedures, says he salutes the Chinese effort and" I wish them all the best success possible. It’s a worthwhile project, certainly not an easy one, and it’s very much like what we’re attempting here at Texas A&M--to save animals from extinction. " Noah’s Ark is aimed at collecting eggs, embryos, semen(精子) and DNA of endangered animals and storing them in liquid nitrogen. If certain species should become extinct, Kraemer says there would be enough of the basic building blocks to reintroduce the species in the future. It is estimated that as many as 2,000 species of mammals, birds and reptiles will become extinct over the next 100 years. The panda, native only to China, is in danger of becoming extinct in the next 25 years. This week, Chinese scientists said they grew an embryo by introducing cells from a dead female panda into the egg cells of a Japanese white rabbit. They are now trying to implant the embryo into a host animal. The entire procedure could take from three to five years to complete. "The nuclear transfer of one species to another is not easy, and the lack of available panda eggs could be a major problem," Kraemer believes. "They will probably have to do several hundred transfers to result in one pregnancy. It take s a long time and it’s difficult, but this could be groundbreaking science if it works. They are certainly not putting any live pandas at risk, so it is worth the effort , "adds Kraemer, who is one of the leaders of the Missyplicity Project at Texas A&M, the first ever attempt at cloning a dog. "They are trying to do something that’s never been done, and this is very similar to our work in Noah’s Ark. We’re both trying to save animals that face extinction. I certainly applaud their effort and there’s a lot we can learn from what they are attempting to do. It’s a research that is very much needed. "The best title for the passage may be ______.

A:China--the Native Place of Pandas Forever B:China’s Efforts to Clone Pandas C:China’s First Cloned Panda D:Exploring the Possibility to Clone Pandas

Here is a quick way to spoil a Brussels dinner party. Simply suggest that world governance is slipping away from the G20, G7, G8 or other bodies in which Europeans may hog up to half the seats. Then propose, with gloomy relish, that the future belongs to the G2: newly fashionable jargon for a putative body formed by China and America.
The fear of irrelevance haunts Euro-types, for all their public boasting about Europe’s future might. The thought that the European Union might not greatly interest China is especially painful. After all, the 21st century was meant to be different. Indeed, to earlier leaders like France’s Jacques Chirac, a rising China was welcome as another challenge to American hegemony, ushering in a “multipolar world” in which the EU would play a big role. If that meant kow-towing to Chinese demands to shun Taiwan, snub the Dalai Lama or tone down criticism of human-rights abuses, so be it. Most EU countries focused on commercial diplomacy with China, to ensure that their leaders’ visits could end with flashing cameras and the signing of juicy contracts.
Meanwhile, Europe’s trade deficit with China hit nearly∈170 billion ( $ 250 billion) last year. In five years, China wants 60% of car parts in new Chinese vehicles to be locally made. This is alarming news for Germany, the leading European exporter to China thanks to car parts, machine tools and other widgets.
As ever, Europeans disagree over how to respond. Some are willing to challenge China politically — for example, Germany, Britain, Sweden and the Netherlands. But they are mostly free traders. That makes them hostile when other countries call for protection against alleged Chinese cheating. In contrast, a block of mostly southern and central Europeans, dubbed “accommodating mercantilists” by the ECFR (The European Council on Foreign Relations), are quick to call for anti-dumping measures: But that makes them anxious to keep broader relations sweet by bowing to China on political issues.
The result is that European politicians often find themselves defending unconditional engagement with China. The usual claim is that this will slowly transform the country into a freer, more responsible stakeholder in the world. The secret, it is murmured, is to let Europe weave China into an entangling web of agreements and sectoral dialogues. In 2007 no fewer than 450 European delegations visited China. Big countries like France and Britain add their own bilateral dialogues, not trusting the EU to protect their interests or do the job properly. There are now six parallel EU and national “dialogues” with China on climate change, for example.
European countries once welcomed China’s growing up because

A:they needed China to lead them against America. B:a rising China contributes to a bipolar world. C:China had made great achievements in human rights. D:they needed to make money in China’s big market.

Text 4

European countries once welcomed China’s growing up because

A:they needed China to lead them against America. B:a rising China contributes to a bipolar world. C:China had made great achievements in human rights. D:they needed to make money in China’s big market.

Here is a quick way to spoil a Brussels dinner party. Simply suggest that world governance is slipping away from the G20, G7, G8 or other bodies in which Europeans may hog up to half the seats. Then propose, with gloomy relish, that the future belongs to the G2: newly fashionable jargon for a putative body formed by China and America.
The fear of irrelevance haunts Euro-types, for all their public boasting about Europe’s future might. The thought that the European Union might not greatly interest China is especially painful. After all, the 21st century was meant to be different. Indeed, to earlier leaders like France’s Jacques Chirac, a rising China was welcome as another challenge to American hegemony, ushering in a “multipolar world” in which the EU would play a big role. If that meant kow-towing to Chinese demands to shun Taiwan, snub the Dalai Lama or tone down criticism of human-rights abuses, so be it. Most EU countries focused on commercial diplomacy with China, to ensure that their leaders’ visits could end with flashing cameras and the signing of juicy contracts.
Meanwhile, Europe’s trade deficit with China hit nearly∈170 billion ( $ 250 billion) last year. In five years, China wants 60% of car parts in new Chinese vehicles to be locally made. This is alarming news for Germany, the leading European exporter to China thanks to car parts, machine tools and other widgets.
As ever, Europeans disagree over how to respond. Some are willing to challenge China politically — for example, Germany, Britain, Sweden and the Netherlands. But they are mostly free traders. That makes them hostile when other countries call for protection against alleged Chinese cheating. In contrast, a block of mostly southern and central Europeans, dubbed “accommodating mercantilists” by the ECFR (The European Council on Foreign Relations), are quick to call for anti-dumping measures: But that makes them anxious to keep broader relations sweet by bowing to China on political issues.
The result is that European politicians often find themselves defending unconditional engagement with China. The usual claim is that this will slowly transform the country into a freer, more responsible stakeholder in the world. The secret, it is murmured, is to let Europe weave China into an entangling web of agreements and sectoral dialogues. In 2007 no fewer than 450 European delegations visited China. Big countries like France and Britain add their own bilateral dialogues, not trusting the EU to protect their interests or do the job properly. There are now six parallel EU and national “dialogues” with China on climate change, for example.

European countries once welcomed China’s growing up because（）

A:they needed China to lead them against America B:a rising China contributes to a bipolar world C:China had made great achievements in human rights D:they needed to make money in China’s big market

{{B}}第三篇{{/B}}

According to the passage, what is the purpose of China’s geological research?

A:To develop China’s mining industry. B:To develop China’s heavy industry. C:To develop China’s oil industry. D:To distribute minerals evenly in China.

Rising China
The China boom is by now a well-documented phenomenon. Who hasn’t heard of the Middle Kingdom’s astounding economic growth (8 percent annually), its mesmerizing(令人目瞪口呆的) (51) market (1.2 billion people), the investment ardor of foreign suitors( $ 40 billion in foreign direct investment last year (52) ) China is an economic juggernaut(主宰). (53) Nicholas Lardy of the Brookings Institution, a Washington D. C.-based think tank, "No country has expanded its foreign trade as fast as China over the last 20 years. Japan doubled its foreign trade over (54) ; (55) foreign trade as quintupled. They’re become the preeminent producer of labor-intensive manufacturing goods in the world". But there’s been (56) from the dazzling China growth story—namely, the Chinese multinational. No major Chinese companies have (57) established themselves, or their brands, on the global stage. But as Haler shows, that is starting to change. (58) 100 years of poverty and chaos, of being overshadowed by foreign countries and multinationals, Chinese industrial companies are starting to (59) on the world.
A new generation of large and credible firms (60) in China in the electronics, appliance and even high-tech sectors. Some have reached critical mass on the main land and (61) new outlets for their production—through exports and by building Chinese factories abroad, chiefly in Southeast Asia. One example: China’s investment in Malaysia soared from $ 8 million in 2000 to $ 766 million in the first half of this year. (62) China’s export prowess(杰出的才能 ), it will be years (63) Chinese firms achieve the managerial and operational expertise of Western and Japanese multinationals. For one thing, many of its best companies are still at least partially state-owned. (64) , China has a shortage of managerial talent and little notion of marketing and brand-building. Its companies are also (65) by the country’s tong tradition of central planning, inefficient use of capital and antiquated distribution system, which makes building national companies a challenge.

55（　）.

A:China B:China’s C:Chinese D:Sino

阅读下面的短文，文中有15处空白，每处空白给出了4个选项，请根据短文的内容从4个选项中选择1个最佳答案。

A:China B:China’s C:Chinese D:Sino

若以下程序所生成的可执行文件名为filel.exe，当执行该程序时输入FILE1 CHINA BEIJING SHANGHAI，程序的输出结果是______。 main (int argc，char* argv[]) { while(--argc＞0){ ++argv；printf("%s"，*argv)； } }

A:CHINA BEIJANG SHANGHAI B:FILE1 CHINA BEIJNG C:CBS D:FCB