【推荐1】While fossil fuels — coal, oil, gas — still produce roughly 85 percent of the world’s energy supply, it’s clearer than ever that the future belongs to renewable sources such as wind and solar. The move to renewables is picking up the development around the world: They now account for more than half of new power sources going in operation.

Some growth stems from a commitment by governments and farsighted businesses to fund cleaner energy sources. But increasingly the story is about the falling prices of renewables, especially wind and solar. The cost of solar panels has dropped by 80 percent and the cost of wind turbines（涡轮机）by close to one-third in the past eight years.

In many parts of the world renewable energy is already an important energy source. In Scotland, for example, wind turbines provide enough electricity to power 95 percent of homes. While the rest of the world takes the lead, especially China and Europe, the United States is also seeing an amazing shift. In March, for the first time, wind and solar power accounted for more than 10 percent of the power generated in the US, reported the US Energy Information Administration.

President Trump has underlined fossil fuels — especially coal — as the path to economic growth. In a recent speech in Iowa, he dismissed wind power as an unreliable energy source. But that message did not play well with many in Iowa, where wind turbines dot the fields and provide 36 percent of the state’s electricity generation — and where tech enterprise like Microsoft are being attracted by the availability of clean energy to power their data centers.

The question “what happens when the wind doesn’t blow or the sun doesn’t shine?” has provided a quick remark for skeptics. But an increase in the storage capacity of batteries is making their ability to keep power flowing around the clock more likely.

The advance is driven in part by vehicle manufacturers, who are placing big bets on battery-powered electric vehicles. Although electric cars are still uncommon on roads now, this massive investment could change the picture rapidly in coming years.

While there’s a long way to go, the trend lines for renewables are zooming. The pace of change in energy sources appears to be speeding up — perhaps just in time to have a meaningful effect in slowing climate change. What Washington does — or doesn’t do — to promote alternative energy may mean less and less at a time of a global shift in thought.

1. According to Paragraph 3, the use of renewable energy in America ______.

A．has proved to be impractical	B．is as common as in Europe
C．faces many challenges	D．is progressing greatly

2. It can be learned that in Iowa ______.

A．wind is a widely used energy source

B．wind energy has replaced fossil fuels

C．there is a shortage of clean energy supply

D．tech enterprises are investing in clean energy

3. Which of the following is true about clean energy according to Paragraphs 5&6?

A．Its application has increased battery storage.

B．Its continuous supply is becoming a reality.

C．It is commonly used in car manufacturing.

D．Its sustainable exploitation will remain difficult.

4. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that renewable energy ______.

A．will bring the US closer to other countries

B．will accelerate global environmental change

C．is not really encouraged by the US government

D．is not competitive enough with regard to its cost

【推荐2】Step into Moving to Mars, an exhibition of the Mars mission and colony design at London’s Design Museum, and immediately you have good reasons for not moving there.

Frightening glowing wall-texts announce that Mars wasn’t made for you, that there is no life and little precious water, that, dressed in a spacesuit, you will never touch, taste or smell the planet you now call “home”. As Lisa Grossman wrote for New Scientist a couple of years ago, “What’s different about Mars is that there is nothing to do there except try not to die.”

It is an odd beginning for such a celebratory exhibition, but it provides a valuable, dark background against which the rest of the show can sparkle(闪耀)—a show that is, as its chief manager Justin remarks, “not about Mars; this is an exhibition about people.”

Moving along, there is a quick yet clear flash through what the science-fiction writer Robinson calls “the history of Mars in the human mind”. A Babylonian clay tablet and a Greek vase speak to early ideas about the planet. A poster for the original Total Recall film reminds us of Mars’ psychological threat.

The main part of the show is our current plans for the Red Planet. There are real spacesuits and models of 3D-printed Martian settlements and suitable clothing and furniture. Mission architectures and engineering sketches line the walls. Real hammers meant for the International Space Station are wall-mounted beside a low-gravity table that has yet to leave, and may indeed never leave, Earth.

This, of course, is the great strength of approaching science through design: reality and assumptions can be given equal visual weight, drawing us into an informed conversation about what it is that we actually want from a future on Mars.

1. What is the text mainly about?

A．How to move to Mars.

B．How to survive on Mars.

C．What preparations we made for Mars.

D．What the exhibition of Mars truly tells us.

2. What can we learn from Lisa Grossman?

A．It’s impossible to live on Mars.

B．It’s no good settling on Mars.

C．You have nothing to do living on Mars.

D．You can live on Mars in your spacesuit.

3. What does the exhibition focus on?

A．The current plans for Mars.

B．The advantages of living on Mars.

C．The early ideas about Mars.

D．The history of Mars in the human mind.

4. What does the author want to tell us in the last paragraph?

A．An experience.	B．An opinion.
C．A fantasy.	D．A solution.

【推荐3】Our life will probably be very different in 2050. First of all, it seems that TV channels will have vanished by 2050. Instead, people will choose a program from a “menu”, and the computer will send the program directly to the television. By 2050, music, films, programs, newspapers and books will come to us in the similar way.

In many places, agriculture is developing quickly and people are growing fruit and vegetables for export. This uses a lot of water. Therefore, there could be serious shortages of water. Some scientists predict that water shortage could lead to more severe problems if we don’t act now.

In the future, cars will run on new clean fuels, and they will go very fast. Cars will have computers to control the speed. Today many cars have computers that tell drivers exactly where they are. By 2050, the computer will control the car and drive it to your destination. Also, by 2050, space planes will fly people from Los Angeles to Tokyo in just two hours.

Some big companies now prefer to use robots that do not ask for pay rises or go on strike and work 24 hours a day. They are also easy to control. And they never argue with people. They can be easily used in a variety of places—factories, schools, hospitals, shops and homes.

Scientists will have discovered how to control genes. Scientists have already produced clones of animals. By 2050, scientists will be able to produce clones of people and decide how they look and how they behave. Scientists will be able to do these things. But should they?

1. What does the word “vanished” underlined in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．Disappeared.

B．Spread.

C．Settled.

D．Reduced.

2. Which is not the reason for robots’ being preferred?

A．They are controllable.	B．They have much to be improved.
C．They can work in different places.	D．They can work for humans without complaining.

3. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．The author may want to use cloning technology.

B．The author probably disagrees with the idea of human cloning.

C．The scientists have already discovered how to control genes till now.

D．The scientists will face many difficulties of controlling animal genes.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．High tech Cars

B．Robots

C．Cloning, Good or Not?

D．Life in the Future