《考研英語閱讀理解100篇 高分版》 Unit 22 - TEXT TWO

For its supporters, the idea of growing single-celled algae on exhaust gas piped from power stations is the ultimate in recycling. For its detractors, it is a mere pipe dream. Whoever turns out to be right, though, it is an intriguing idea: Instead of releasing the carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels into the atmosphere, why not recapture it by photosynthesis? The result could then be turned into biodiesel (since many species of algae store their food reserves as oil), or even simply dried and fed back into the power station. Of course, if it were really that easy, someone would have done it already. But although no one has yet commercialised the technology, several groups are trying.
One of them is GS CleanTech, which has developed a bioreactor based on a patent held by a group of scientists at the Ohio Coal Research Centre, at the University of Ohio. The GS CleanTech bioreactor uses a parabolic mirror to funnel sunlight into fibre-optic cables that carry the light to acrylic “glow plates” inside the reactor. These diffuse the light over vertical sheets of polyester that form the platform on which the algae grow. Eventually the polyester is unable to support the weight of the algae, and they fall off into a collection duct positioned underneath.
GreenFuel Technologies, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has a different approach. Its reactor is composed of a series of clear tubes, each with a second, opaque tube nested inside. This arrangement makes it possible to bubble the exhaust gas down through the outer compartment and then bubble it back up through the opaque middle. The bubbling gas causes turbulence and circulates the algae around the reactor. The constant shift between light and darkness as the algal cells circulate increases the amount of carbon that they fix, probably by promoting chemical reactions that occur naturally only at night.
A preliminary test of GreenFuel's reactor design, which was performed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's campus power plant, suggested that it can remove 75% of the carbon dioxide from a power station's exhaust. A more serious test is now being carried out by Arizona Public Service, that state's power utility, at its Redhawk plant. Another test is planned in Louisiana.
GreenFuel claims that over the course of a year, a hectare (2.5 acres) of its reactors should be able to produce 30,000 litres (8,000 American gallons) of oil, which could be used as biodiesel, and enough carbohydrates to be fermented into 9,000 litres of ethanol, which can be used as a substitute for petrol.
There is, of course, no free lunch. As Rob Carlson of the University of Washington points out, if money is to be made selling products made from exhaust gas, then that gas goes from being waste matter to being a valuable resource. Far from giving it away, power companies might even start charging for it. That would, indeed, be a reversal of fortune.
1. The word “intriguing” (Line 3, Paragraph 1) most probably means _____.
[A] challenging
[B] promising
[C] complicated
[D] alluring
2. Which one of the following statements is TRUE of the bioreactor developed by GS CleanTech?
[A] No exhaust gas is used in this bioreactor.
[B] The “glow plates” are used to conduct the sunlight.
[C] Sunlight comes into the fiber-optic cables through holes in the parabolic mirror.
[D] Photosynthesis is carried out by the algae in the collection duct.
3. The collection duct positioned underneath is used to _____.
[A] hold the vertical sheets of polyester that fall off
[B] substitute the platform on which the algae grows
[C] obtain the overweight algae
[D] take the place of polyester after light is diffused on it
4. The approach developed by the GreenFuel Technologies is different from that by GS CleanTech in that _____.
[A] there is no photosynthesis in the reactor of GreenFuel Technologies
[B] the light used for photosynthesis is produced by the reactor itself
[C] the algal cells fix carbon in the process
[D] the exhaust gas acts as the motive force
5. The reactors of GreenFuel could produce the following fuels except _____.
[A] biodiesel
[B] ethanol
[C] alcohol
[D] fossil fuel

1. The word “intriguing” (Line 3, Paragraph 1) most probably means _____.
[A] challenging
[B] promising
[C] complicated
[D] alluring
1. intriguing這個(gè)詞（第一段第三行）最有可能的意思是 _____。
[A] 引起挑戰(zhàn)興趣的
[B] 有希望的
[C] 復(fù)雜的
[D] 迷人的
答案：D　難度系數(shù)：☆☆☆
分析：猜詞題。根據(jù)上下文：Whoever turns out to be right, though, it is an intriguing idea: Instead of releasing the carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels into the atmosphere, why not recapture it by photosynthesis?說明盡管有支持者和反對(duì)者，但是這個(gè)主意還是非常吸引人的，令人向往的，因此，選項(xiàng)D最為符合。
2. Which one of the following statements is TRUE of the bioreactor developed by GS CleanTech?
[A] No exhaust gas is used in this bioreactor.
[B] The “glow plates” are used to conduct the sunlight.
[C] Sunlight comes into the fiber-optic cables through holes in the parabolic mirror.
[D] Photosynthesis is carried out by the algae in the collection duct.
2. 關(guān)于GS清潔技術(shù)研發(fā)的生物反應(yīng)器，下列哪個(gè)陳述是正確的？
[A] 生物反應(yīng)器中沒有使用廢氣。
[B] “白熾盤”被用于傳導(dǎo)陽光。
[C] 陽光通過拋物柱面鏡上的洞進(jìn)入纖維光纜中。
[D] 光合作用是在收集管中進(jìn)行的。
答案：B　難度系數(shù)：☆☆☆☆
分析：細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)第二段，選項(xiàng)A，沒有廢氣就不能進(jìn)行光合作用。選項(xiàng)B，白熾盤是用來漫射光的，即是用來傳導(dǎo)光的。選項(xiàng)C，陽光是通過拋物柱面鏡的反射進(jìn)入纖維光纜中，而不是通過拋物柱面鏡上的洞。選項(xiàng)D，光合作用是在聚酯片上進(jìn)行的。因此，答案為B。
3. The collection duct positioned underneath is used to _____.
[A] hold the vertical sheets of polyester that fall off
[B] substitute the platform on which the algae grows
[C] obtain the overweight algae
[D] take the place of polyester after light is diffused on it
3. 安裝在下面的收集管是用來 _____。
[A] 接住掉下來的垂直聚酯片的
[B] 代替供藻類生長(zhǎng)的平臺(tái)
[C] 接住那些過重的藻類
[D] 在光被散射在它上面后代替聚酯片
答案：C　難度系數(shù)：☆☆☆
分析：細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)第二段：These diffuse the light over vertical sheets of polyester that form the platform on which the algae grow. Eventually the polyester is unable to support the weight of the algae, and they fall off into a collection duct positioned underneath. 即這個(gè)收集管是用來接住那些經(jīng)過光合作用后掉下來的藻類的，其中的unable to support the weight of the algae說明藻類開始變得過重，因此，選項(xiàng)C為正確答案。
4. The approach developed by the GreenFuel Technologies is different from that by GS CleanTech in that _____.
[A] there is no photosynthesis in the reactor of GreenFuel Technologies
[B] the light used for photosynthesis is produced by the reactor itself
[C] the algal cells fix carbon in the process
[D] the exhaust gas acts as the motive force
4. 綠色燃料技術(shù)公司研發(fā)的方法和GS 清潔技術(shù)的方法的不同之處在于 _____。
[A] 在綠色燃料技術(shù)公司的反應(yīng)器中沒有光合作用發(fā)生
[B] 用于光合作用的光是由反應(yīng)器自己產(chǎn)生的
[C] 藻類細(xì)胞在這個(gè)過程中將碳固定了下來
[D] 廢氣作為動(dòng)力
答案：D　難度系數(shù)：☆☆☆
分析：細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)第三段，綠色燃料公司使用了廢氣作為讓藻類活動(dòng)的動(dòng)力，而與清潔技術(shù)相同的是，在這個(gè)過程中也有光合作用，光也來自外部，而且也有碳被固定下來。因此，不同之處就是D。
5. The reactors of GreenFuel could produce the following fuels except _____.
[A] carbohydrate
[B] ethanol
[C] alcohol
[D] fossil fuel
5. 綠色燃料的反應(yīng)器可以制造下列除 _____ 外的其他燃料。
[A] 碳水化合物
[B] 乙醇
[C] 酒精
[D] 化石燃料
答案：D　難度系數(shù)：☆
分析：細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)第五段：GreenFuel claims that over the course of a year, a hectare (2.5 acres) of its reactors should be able to produce 30,000 litres (8,000 American gallons) of oil, which could be used as biodiesel, and enough carbohydrates to be fermented into 9,000 litres of ethanol, which can be used as a substitute for petrol. 說明反應(yīng)器可以制造酒精和碳水化合物，作為石油的替代品，不能制造石油。因此，選項(xiàng)D是正確答案。

對(duì)于支持者來說，用發(fā)電廠排出的廢氣來養(yǎng)殖單細(xì)胞藻類，是個(gè)能實(shí)現(xiàn)循環(huán)利用這個(gè)目標(biāo)的終極辦法。而那些反對(duì)者則認(rèn)為，這只是個(gè)白日夢(mèng)而已。不管最后誰是正確的，這個(gè)主意確實(shí)很吸引人：與其將化石燃料燃燒后產(chǎn)生的二氧化碳排放到空氣中，那么為什么不利用光合作用來將其消耗掉呢？其生成物可以轉(zhuǎn)化為生物燃料（因?yàn)樵S多藻類都以石油的形式儲(chǔ)存其養(yǎng)分），或只需脫水后再送回發(fā)電廠。當(dāng)然，如果真的有這么簡(jiǎn)單，早就會(huì)有人這么做了。不過，盡管還沒有人將這項(xiàng)技術(shù)商業(yè)化，有一些公司已經(jīng)開始試驗(yàn)了。
GS清潔技術(shù)就是這樣的一家公司，它利用俄亥俄大學(xué)俄亥俄州煤炭研究中心的科學(xué)家們的一項(xiàng)專利研制出一種生物反應(yīng)器。該反應(yīng)器用一個(gè)拋物柱面鏡將陽光聚集到纖維光纜上，光纜把將陽光傳到反應(yīng)器里面的丙烯酸“白熾盤”上。這就將光漫射到垂直的聚酯片上，形成藻類生長(zhǎng)的平臺(tái)。最后，當(dāng)聚酯片無法承受藻類的重量時(shí)，就會(huì)落到安裝在下面的收集管里。
綠色燃料技術(shù)公司的總部設(shè)在馬薩諸塞州的劍橋，該公司采用了另外一種技術(shù)。它的反應(yīng)器由一系列干凈的管子構(gòu)成，每個(gè)管子里面還有一個(gè)不透明的管子。這種結(jié)構(gòu)可以使沿著外面的管子下來的廢氣向上冒，然后再從中間不透明的管子流回去。起泡的氣體引起紊亂，使得藻類在反應(yīng)器內(nèi)循環(huán)流動(dòng)。隨著藻類細(xì)胞的運(yùn)動(dòng)，其固定住的碳的量不斷增加，光亮和黑暗交替出現(xiàn)，這可能是通過促成只在晚上進(jìn)行的化學(xué)反應(yīng)而產(chǎn)生的。
綠色燃料公司稱，該設(shè)計(jì)的最初試驗(yàn)是在麻省理工大學(xué)校園內(nèi)的發(fā)電廠里進(jìn)行的，該試驗(yàn)證明，發(fā)電廠排出的75%的二氧化碳可以被清除掉。亞利桑那公共服務(wù)部門目前正在其下屬的紅鷹工廠進(jìn)行一項(xiàng)更為重要的試驗(yàn)——國(guó)家公共電力的效能。此外，路易斯安那州也在計(jì)劃進(jìn)行一項(xiàng)試驗(yàn)。
綠色燃料公司聲稱，在一年中，1公頃（2.5英畝）的反應(yīng)器應(yīng)該可以產(chǎn)出3萬升（8千美國(guó)加侖）的石油，可以用作生物燃料，還能產(chǎn)生足夠的碳水化合物，并通過發(fā)酵生成9千升的乙醇，可作為石油的替代品。
當(dāng)然，世上沒有免費(fèi)的午餐。正如華盛頓大學(xué)的Rob Carlson指出的，如果可以出售廢氣制造的產(chǎn)品賺錢的話，那么廢氣就會(huì)從廢品變成一種寶貴的資源。電力公司不僅不會(huì)把它排放出去，而且可能會(huì)開始收費(fèi)。這樣實(shí)際上是財(cái)富的逆轉(zhuǎn)。