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。

Which of the following statements is true of wind power?

A:There is plenty of wind to provide the world"s entire energy needs. B:It is the most rapidly growing type of electricity production. C:It may not be reliable. D:All of the above.

Passage Two
What is wind You can feel it, and you can sometimes hear it, too. You can’t see the wind, but you can see all kinds of plants and flowers moving in the wind. Grass moves in the wind. So do trees. What is the wind It is moving air.
What makes the air move Think of two places. They may be close to each other, or they may be far away. The air is cold in one place. But it is hot in the other. Warm air pushes up high into the sky. It goes higher than the cold air. The colder air then moves into the place where the warmer air used to be. The moving air is wind.
Winds move clouds in the sky. A nice day can turn cloudy in a short while. Sometimes the clouds are big and dark. Big, dark clouds hold a lot of water. Soon it begins to rain.
High winds can make a storm come fast. They can make a lot of noise, too. Sometimes they sound like a train going by. Very high winds have picked up big things like cars and trucks from the ground. Some have even picked up houses!
But most winds are much lighter. You can have fun in a lighter wind ff you have a kite. Do you know how to fly one Just let the wind take the kite high into the sky.

Which of the following statements is NOT true in the passage（）

A:Wind makes cold air higher and warm air lower. B:Wind can even carry cars and trucks to the sky. C:Wind makes all kinds of plants and flowers moving. D:Wind moves clouds in the sky and brings about rain.

Passage Two
What is wind You can feel it, and you can sometimes hear it, too. You can’t see the wind, but you can see all kinds of plants and flowers moving in the wind. Grass moves in the wind. So do trees. What is the wind It is moving air.
What makes the air move Think of two places. They may be close to each other, or they may be far away. The air is cold in one place. But it is hot in the other. Warm air pushes up high into the sky. It goes higher than the cold air. The colder air then moves into the place where the warmer air used to be. The moving air is wind.
Winds move clouds in the sky. A nice day can turn cloudy in a short while. Sometimes the clouds are big and dark. Big, dark clouds hold a lot of water. Soon it begins to rain.
High winds can make a storm come fast. They can make a lot of noise, too. Sometimes they sound like a train going by. Very high winds have picked up big things like cars and trucks from the ground. Some have even picked up houses!
But most winds are much lighter. You can have fun in a lighter wind ff you have a kite. Do you know how to fly one Just let the wind take the kite high into the sky.

This passage mainly talks about （）

A:it's great fun for people to fly a kite in light wind B:what is wind C:high winds are very dangerous D:people can feel wind, hear wind but can't see wind

Scientists are trying to make the deserts into good land again. They want to bring water to the deserts so that people can live and grow food. Even so, more and more of the earth is becoming desert all the time.
Why Scientists think that people make deserts. People are doing bad things to the earth. Some people on the earth do not get very much rain. Yet, they still do not become deserts. This is because there are some small green plants growing there. Plants help keep water in the earth. Plants do not let the wind blow the dirt away. Without plants, the land can become a desert much more easily.
A man decides to make a farm in a very dry place. He digs in the earth and takes away the grass and plants that are already growing on the dry land.
He makes a farm. He puts plants in rows. The sun is very hot. It makes the land even drier. When the rain comes, it runs between the rows of plants. It washes the good dirt away. When the wind comes, it blows between the rows of plants. It blows the good dirt away. Soon the land is not good enough for a farm any more. The man lets his animals eat all the plants on it. Now the land does not have any plants on it. The sun and wind dry the land and all of the good dirt away, Now the land is a desert.

Land is becoming desert because of lack of （）

A:rain B:people C:wind D:plants

As mentioned in the last paragraph，a wind tunnel can be used to find out____.

A:how fast a plane can rise B:how smooth a plane’s surface is C:how a plane lands in a strong wind D:how a plane drops at a low height

　第一篇Renewable Energy Sources 　　Today petroleum(石油)provides around 40% of the world’s energy needs,mostly fuelling automobiles.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 fuel(矿物燃料).Natural gas reserves could fill some of the gap from oil,but reserves of that will not last into the 22nd century either.Most experts predict we will exhaust easily accessible reserves within 50 years.Less-polluting renewable energy sources offer a more practical long-term energy solution.“Renewable”refers to the fact that these resources are not used faster than they can be replaced. 　　Hydroelectric(水力发电的)power is now the most common form of renewable energy,supplying around 20% of world electricity.China’s Three Gorges Dam is the largest ever.At five times the size of the US’s Hoover Dam,its 26 turbines(涡轮机)will generate the equivalent energy of 18 coal-fired power stations.It will satisfy 3% of China’s entire electricity demand. 　　In 2003,the first commercial power station to use tidal(潮汐的)currents in the open sea opened in Norway.It is designed like windmill(风车),but others take the form of turbines. 　　As prices fall,wind power has become the fastest growing type of electricity generation-quadrupling(翻两番)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 beauty,and are often unpopular with residents.And turbines are not totally harmless-they can interfere with radar,alter climate and kill sea birds.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. One of the problems with wind farms is that

A:there is not enough wind. B:wind is not reliable. C:they can only be built on the sea. D:they might influence the world economy.

{{B}}第三篇{{/B}}

One of the problems with wind farms is that______.

A:there is not enough wind B:wind is not reliable C:they can only be built on the sea D:they might influence the world economy

第三篇Renewable Energy Sources 　　Today petroleum(石油)provides around 40% of the world’s energy needs,mostly fuelling automobiles.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 fuel(矿物燃料).Natural gas reserves could fill some of the gap from oil,but reserves of that will not last into the 22nd century either.Most experts predict we will exhaust easily accessible reserves within 50 years.Less-polluting renewable energy sources offer a more practical long-term energy solution.“Renewable”refers to the fact that these resources are not used faster than they can be replaced. 　　Hydroelectric(水力发电的)power is now the most common form of renewable energy,supplying around 20% of world electricity.China’s Three Gorges Dam is the largest ever.At five times the size of the US’s Hoover Dam,its 26 turbines(涡轮机)will generate the equivalent energy of 18 coal-fired power stations.It will satisfy 3% of China’s entire electricity demand. 　　In 2003,the first commercial power station to use tidal(潮汐的)currents in the open sea opened in Norway.It is designed like windmill(风车),but others take the form of turbines. 　　As prices fall,wind power has become the fastest growing type of electricity generation-quadrupling(翻两番)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 beauty,and are often unpopular with residents.And turbines are not totally harmless-they can interfere with radar,alter climate and kill sea birds.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. One of the problems with wind farms is that

A:there is not enough wind. B:wind is not reliable. C:they can only be built on the sea. D:they might influence the world economy.