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?
A. Developing cleaner coal technologies. B. Making electric cars run faster.
C. Generating more unclear power. D. Making advances in coal burning.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题
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?
A. Developing cleaner coal technologies. B. Making electric cars run faster.
C. Generating more unclear power. D. Making advances in coal burning.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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?
A. Developing cleaner coal technologies. B. Making electric cars run faster.
C. Generating more unclear power. D. Making advances in coal burning.
高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析
Electric cars are dirty. In fact, not only are they dirty, they might even be more dirty than their gasoline-powered cousins.
People in California love to talk about “zero-emissions(排放) vehicles”, but people in California seem to be clueless about where electricity comes from. Power plants mostly use fire to make it. Aside from the new folks who have their roofs covered with solar cells, we get our electricity from generators(发电机). Generators are fueled by something--usually coal, oil, but also by heat generated in nuclear power plants. There are a few wind farms and geothermal
(地热) plants as well, but by far we get electricity mainly by burning something.
In other words, those "zero-emissions" cars are likely coal-burning cars. It’s just because the coal is burned somewhere else, it looks clean. It is not. It's as if the California Greens are covering their eyes—“If I can't see it, it's not happening.” Gasoline is an incredibly efficient way to power a vehicle; a gallon of gas has a lot of energy in it. But when you take that gas (or another fuel) and first use it to make electricity, you waste a nice part of that energy, mostly in the form of wasted heat—at the generator, through the transmission lines, etc.
A gallon of gas may propel your car 25 miles. But the electricity you get from that gallon of gas won't get you nearly as far—so electric cars burn more fuel than gasoline-powered ones. If our electricity came mostly from nukes or geothermal, or hydro or wind or solar, then an electric car truly would be clean. But for political, technical, and economic reasons, we don't use much of those energy sources.
In addition, electric cars' batteries which are poisonous for a long time will eventually end up in a landfill. And finally, when cars are the polluters, the pollution is spread across all the roads. When it's a power plant, though, all the junk is in one place. Nature is very good at cleaning up when things are too concentrated, but it takes a lot longer when all the garbage is in one spot.
1.What does “clueless” mean in paragraph 2?
A.People see the California Greens everywhere.
B.People there have no idea that so far electricity mainly comes from burning coal, oil, etc.
C.People in California love to have their roofs covered with solar cells.
D.People in California love to talk about zero-emissions vehicles.
2.What is the main idea of the text?
A.Electric cars are not clean at all.
B.Electric cars are better than gasoline-powered ones.
C.People cast doubts on electric cars’ batteries.
D.Gasoline is an efficient way to power a vehicle.
3.The electricity we get from a gallon of gas may make our car run ________.
A.not less than 25 miles B.as far as 50 miles
C.as far as 25 miles D.not more than 25 miles
4.According to the text, electric cars ________.
A.are more environmentally friendly
B.burn more fuel than gas-powered ones
C.are very good at cleaning up when things are not too concentrated
D.are poisonous for a long time and will eventually end up in a landfill
5.It can be inferred from the text that ________.
A.being green is good and should be encouraged in communication
B.electric cars are now the dominant vehicle compared with gasoline-powered cousins
C.zero-emissions vehicles should be chosen to protect our environment
D.electric cars are not clean because we get electricity mainly by burning something
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Electric cars are dirty. In fact, not only are they dirty, they might even be more dirty than their gasoline-powered cousins.
People in California love to talk about “zero-emissions(排放) vehicles”, but people in California seem to be clueless about where electricity comes from. Power plants mostly use fire to make it. Aside from the new folks who have their roofs covered with solar cells, we get our electricity from generators(发电机). Generators are fueled by something--usually coal, oil, but also by heat generated in nuclear power plants. There are a few wind farms and geothermal
(地热) plants as well, but by far we get electricity mainly by burning something.
In other words, those "zero-emissions" cars are likely coal-burning cars. It’s just because the coal is burned somewhere else, it looks clean. It is not. It's as if the California Greens are covering their eyes—“If I can't see it, it's not happening.” Gasoline is an incredibly efficient way to power a vehicle; a gallon of gas has a lot of energy in it. But when you take that gas (or another fuel) and first use it to make electricity, you waste a nice part of that energy, mostly in the form of wasted heat—at the generator, through the transmission lines, etc.
A gallon of gas may propel your car 25 miles. But the electricity you get from that gallon of gas won't get you nearly as far—so electric cars burn more fuel than gasoline-powered ones. If our electricity came mostly from nukes or geothermal, or hydro or wind or solar, then an electric car truly would be clean. But for political, technical, and economic reasons, we don't use much of those energy sources.
In addition, electric cars' batteries which are poisonous for a long time will eventually end up in a landfill. And finally, when cars are the polluters, the pollution is spread across all the roads. When it's a power plant, though, all the junk is in one place. Nature is very good at cleaning up when things are too concentrated, but it takes a lot longer when all the garbage is in one spot.
1.What does “clueless” mean in paragraph 2?
A. People see the California Greens everywhere.
B. People there have no idea that so far electricity mainly comes from burning coal, oil, etc.
C. People in California love to have their roofs covered with solar cells.
D. People in California love to talk about zero-emissions vehicles.
2.What is the main idea of the text?
A. Electric cars are not clean at all.
B. Electric cars are better than gasoline-powered ones.
C. People cast doubts on electric cars’ batteries.
D. Gasoline is an efficient way to power a vehicle.
3.The electricity we get from a gallon of gas may make our car run ________.
A. not less than 25 miles B. as far as 50 miles
C. as far as 25 miles D. not more than 25 miles
4.According to the text, electric cars ________.
A. are more environmentally friendly
B. burn more fuel than gas-powered ones
C. are very good at cleaning up when things are not too concentrated
D. are poisonous for a long time and will eventually end up in a landfill
5.It can be inferred from the text that ________.
A. being green is good and should be encouraged in communication
B. electric cars are now the dominant vehicle compared with gasoline-powered cousins
C. zero-emissions vehicles should be chosen to protect our environment
D. electric cars are not clean because we get electricity mainly by burning something
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Electric cars are dirty. In fact, not only are they dirty, they might even be more dirty than their gasoline-powered cousins.
People in California love to talk about “zero-emissions（排放）vehicles”, but people in California seem to be clueless about where electricity comes from. Power plants most all use fire to make it. Apart from the few people who have their roofs covered with solar cells, we get our electricity from generators（发电机）. Generators are fueled by something--usually coal, oil, but also by heat generated in nuclear power plants. There are a few wind farms and geothermal（地热） plants as well, but by far we get electricity mainly by burning something.
In other words, those "zero-emissions" cars are likely coal-burning cars. Because the coal is burned somewhere else, it looks clean. It is not true. It's as if the California Greens are covering their eyes—“If I can't see it, it's not happening.” Gasoline is an incredibly efficient way to power a vehicle; a gallon of gas has a lot of energy in it. But when you take that gas（or another fuel）and first use it to make electricity, you waste a nice part of that energy, mostly in the form of wasted heat--at the generator, through the transmission lines, etc.
A gallon of gas may drive your car 25 miles. But the electricity you get from that gallon of gas won't get you nearly as far -- so electric cars burn more fuel than gasoline-powered ones. If our electricity came mostly from wind or geothermal, or solar, then an electric car truly would be clean. But for political, technical, and economic reasons, we don't use much of those energy sources.
In addition, electric cars' batteries which are poisonous for a long time will eventually end up in a landfill. And finally, when cars are the polluters, the pollution is spread across all the roads. When it's a power plant, though，all the junk is in one place. Nature is very good at cleaning up when things are not too concentrated, but it takes a lot longer when all the garbage is in one spot.
1.What’s the main idea of the passages?
| A．Electric cars aren’t actually clean. |
| B．Electric cars are zero-emissions vehicles. |
| C．Zero-emissions vehicles are popular. |
| D．Gasoline-powered cars are more efficient. |
2.Which of the following words can replace “be clueless about” in Paragraph 2?
| A．Be familiar with． |
| B．Be curious about． |
| C．Fail to understand． |
| D．Show their interest in． |
3.The electricity we get from a gallon of gas may make our car run _________.
| A．at least 25 miles |
| B．more than 25 miles |
| C．as far as 25 miles |
| D．less than 25 miles |
4.In the author’s opinion, compared with cars using gas, electric cars are more __________.
| A．environmentally-friendly | B．expensive |
| C．efficient | D．harmful |
5.It can be inferred from the passage that __________.
| A．electric cars' batteries are poisonous for a long time |
| B．now electric cars are used more than their gasoline-powered cousins |
| C．zero-emissions vehicles should be chosen to protect our environment |
| D．electric cars are not clean in that we get electricity mainly by burning something |
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Electric cars are dirty.In fact，not only are they dirty，they might even be more dirty than their gasolinepowered cousins.
People in California love to talk about “zeroemissions vehicles”，but_people_in_California_seem_to_be_clueless_about_where_electricity_comes_from.Power plants mostly use fire to make it.Aside from the new folks who have their roofs covered with solar cells，we get our electricity from generators.Generators are fueled by something—usually coal，oil，but also by heat generated in nuclear power plants.There are a few wind farms and geothermal(地热的) plants as well，but by far we get electricity mainly by burning something.
In other words，those “zeroemissions” cars are likely coalburning cars.It’s just because the coal is burned somewhere else that it looks clean.It is not.It’s as if the California Greens are covering their eyes—“If I can’t see it，it’s not happening.” Gasoline is an incredibly efficient way to power a vehicle；a gallon of gas has a lot of energy in it.But when you take that gas(or another fuel) and first use it to make electricity，you waste a nice part of that energy，mostly in the form of wasted heat—at the generator，through the transmission(传送) lines，etc.
A gallon of gas may propel your car 25 miles.But the electricity you get from that gallon of gas won’t get you nearly as far—so electric cars burn more fuel than gaspowered ones.If our electricity came mostly from nukes；or geothermal，or hydro，or solar，or wind，then an electric car truly would be clean.But for political，technical，and economic reasons，we don’t use much of those energy sources.
In addition，electric cars’ batteries which are poisonous for a long time will eventually end up in a landfill.And finally，when cars are the polluters，the pollution is spread across all the roads.When it’s a power plant，though，all the junk is in one place.Nature is very good at cleaning up when things are too concentrated，but it takes a lot longer when all the garbage is in one spot.
1. What does the underlined part mean in Paragraph 2?
A．People see the California Greens everywhere.
B．People in California love to talk about zeroemissions vehicles.
C．People in California love to have their roofs covered with solar cells.
D．People in California have no idea that so far electricity mainly comes from burning coal，oil，etc.
2. What is the main idea of the text?
A．Electric cars are not clean at all.
B．Electric cars are better than gasolinepowered ones.
C．People cast doubts on electric cars’ batteries.
D．Gasoline is an efficient way to power a vehicle.
3. The electricity we get from a gallon of gas may make our car run ________.
A．not less than 25 miles
B．as far as 50 miles
C．as far as 25 miles
D．not more than 25 miles
4. It can be inferred from the text that ________.
A．being green is good and should be encouraged in communication
B．electric cars are not clean in that we get electricity mainly by burning something
C．zeroemissions vehicles should be chosen to protect our environment
D．electric cars are now the dominant vehicle compared with gasolinepowered cousins
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Auto companies are taking a(n) ______ approach toward introducing electric cars until they better understand the market.
A.casual B.enthusiastic C.considerate D.cautious
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
– What will motoring be like in the future?
– Most probably it will be ________ electric car, powered by ________ battery
| A．the, a | B．the, the | C．/, a | D．an, / |
高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析
According to ________ agreement, the electric car will be built at Great Wall Motors’ Plant, with ________ first model to be made in 2014.
| A．an ; the | B．an ; a | C．the ; a | D．the ; the |
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
Electric ears are dirty.In fact, not only are they dirty, they might even be more dirty than their gasoline-powered cousins.
People in California love to talk about "zero-emissions vehicles", but people in California seem to be clueless about where electricity comes from. Power plants mostly use fire to make it. Aside from the new folks who have their roofs covered with solar cells, we get our electricity from generators. Generators are fueled by something---usually coal, oil,but also by heat generated in nuclear power plants. There are a few wind farms and geothermal plants as well, but by far we get electricity mainly by burning something.
In other words, those "zero-emissions" cars are likely coal-burning cars. It's just because the coal is burned somewhere else that it looks clean. It is not. It's as if the California Greens are. covering their eyes---"If I can't see it, it's not happening." Gasoline is an incredibly efficient way to power a vehicle; a gallon of gas has a lot of energy in it.But when you take that gas (or another fuel) and first use it to make electricity, you waste a nice part of that energy, mostly in the form of wasted heat---at the generator, through the transmission lines, etc.
A gallon of gas may propel your car 25 miles. But the electricity you get from that gallon of gas won't get you nearly as far---so electric cars bum more fuel than gas-powered ones. If our electricity came mostly from nukes; or geothermal,or hydro, or solar, or wind,then an electric car truly would be clean. But for political, technical,and economic reasons,we don't use much of those energy sources.
In addition,electric cars' batteries which are poisonous for a long time will eventually end up in a landfill.And finally, When cars are the polluters, the pollution is spread across all the roads. When it's a power plant, though, all the junk is in one place. Nature is very good at cleaning up when things are too concentrated, but it takes a lot longer when all the garbage is in one spot.
1. What does "clueless" mean in paragraph 2?
A. People are seeing the California Greens everywhere.
B. People in California love to talk about zero-emissions vehicles.
C. People in California love to have their roofs covered with solar cells.
D. People there have no idea that so far electricity mainly comes from burning
coal, oil,etc.
2. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Electric cars are not clean at all
B. Electric cars are better than gasoline-powered ones.
C. People cast doubts on electric cars' batteries.
D. Gasoline is an efficient way to powera vehicle.
3. The electricity we get from a gallon of gas may make our ear run________
A. not less than 25 miles B. more than 25 miles
C. no more than 25 miles D. not more than 25 miles
4. According to the passage, electric cars________.
A. do not burn fuel and more environmentally-friendly
B. are toxic because it is difficult for nature to clean it up when their
batteries are buried in one spot.
C. are very good at cleaning up when things are not too concentrated
D. are poisonous for a long time and will eventually end up in a landfill
5. It can be inferred from the passage that ________
A. being green is good and should be encouraged in communication
B. electric cars are not clean in that we get electricity mainly by burning
something
C. zero-emissions vehicles should be chosen to protect our environment
D. electric cars are now the dominant vehicle compared with gasoline-powered
cousins
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析