General Motors (GM) is one of the world’s major automakers (汽车制造商). In January, the company set a goal: It will stop selling gas-powered cars by 2035. It means the company will make more battery-powered vehicles.
This is a big moment for the auto industry. Scientists say it’s important to move away from gas powered vehicles. Doing so will fight climate change. Transportation causes about 25% of global carbon emissions (排放物). Three-quarters of that is from road travel. Countries are taking action. In China, most new vehicles sold must be electric by 2035. The United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands will not allow sales of new gas-powered cars in 2030.
Venkat Viswanathan is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He told TIME for Kids, “It is now very clear that going electric is the future.”
Electric cars run on lithium-ion (锂离子) batteries, which power our mobile devices. Making these batteries has an environmental cost. Lithium is taken from the earth, like the oil used to make gas. But the long-term cost is much smaller. “When you use up a battery, you can recycle the material,” says Jessika Trancik, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Electric cars have another environmental effect. They need energy to recharge. They get the energy from power plants. These places burn oils. But countries can turn to cleaner energy sources, such as wind and solar power. If they do, electric vehicles will get cleaner too. Even now, they’re cleaner than cars that run on gas.
1. What will GM do in 2035?| A．Stop producing all vehicles. | B．Produce just electric cars. |
| C．Sell more gas-powered cars. | D．Find more energy sources. |
| A．To bring convenience to road travel. | B．To deal with climate change. |
| C．To promote sales of electric cars. | D．To set up more power plants. |
| A．They are cleaner than solar power. | B．They have no environmental cost. |
| C．Their materials are recyclable. | D．They are cheaper than oil. |
| A．The Sales of Gas-powered Cars | B．How to Sell More Electric Cars |
| C．Carmakers’ Plan of Going Electric | D．Electric Cars Are the Future |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Long before he became “Chief Twit” of Twitter, Elon Musk had a different obsession: making Teslas drive themselves. Musk has described the Tesla “Full Self-Driving” technology as “the difference between Tesla being worth a lot of money and being worth basically zero,” but his dream of autonomous cars is hitting roadblocks.
In recent weeks, Tesla has recalled and suspended the rollout (推出) of the technology to eligible (具备条件的，合格的) vehicles for fear that its cars could disobey the speed limit and blow through stop signs. Customer complaints have been piling up, including a lawsuit filed in federal court last month claiming that Musk has overstated the technology’s capabilities. And regulators and government officials are scrutinizing Tesla’s system and its past claims as evidence of safety problems mounts.
In interviews, former tesla employees who worked on Tesla’s driver-assistance software attributed the company’s troubles to the rapid pace of development, costcutting measures like Musk’s decision to eliminate radar — which strayed from industry practice — and other problems unique to Tesla. They said Musk’s erratic leadership style also played a role, forcing them to work at a breakneck pace to develop the technology and to push it out to the public before it was ready. Some said they are worried that, even today, the software is not safe to be used on public roads.
Meanwhile, Musk pulled dozens of Tesla engineers to work with code at twitter, the struggling social media platform Musk purchased with fanfare last fall. Earlier this month, after tesla failed to announce a big new product on investor day, the company’s stock sank 6 percent. Musk has defended the company’s actions as long-term bets, with the prospect of unlocking tremendous value, and Tesla has said vehicles in full self-driving crash at a rate at least five times less than vehicles driving normally.
But the story of full Self-driving offers a vivid example of how the world’s richest person has complicated one of his biggest bets through rash decision-making, a stubborn insistence on doing things differently, and unyielding confidence in a vision that has yet to be proven.
1. Why does the author quote Musk in paragraph one?| A．To indicate that he is unsatisfied with the current situation. |
| B．To show that he attaches significance to self-driving. |
| C．To argue that his obsession is not realistic at all. |
| D．To introduce his amount of wealth before he became “Chief Twit”. |
| A．Apply. | B．Research. | C．Increase. | D．Stop. |
| A．Musk removed radar in order to cut cost. |
| B．The technology was far from mature when it was applied. |
| C．Musk made dozens of Tesla engineers to work day and night to purchase Twitter. |
| D．Musk pushed employees to work at a very fast and dangerous pace to develop the technology. |
| A．Approving. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Cautious. | D．Indifferent. |
【推荐2】A city in Netherlands is planning to construct a pretty bike path made of recycled wood.
The first of its kind in the world, the path near the city of Emmen will be surfaced not with the usual asphalt（沥青） but with wood chips packed together with organic resin(有机树脂).
The idea behind the path is to cut the use of conventional, less eco-friendly materials such as concrete, which is very difficult to recycle.And the creation of the wood chips will require no direct cutting down of trees; the company leading the experiment, Grontmij, plans to use waste products from sawmills(锯木厂).
The idea of creating a permanent road from a material that is celebrated for its biodegradability(生物降解性)might seem ridiculous. But the engineers working on the path insist that the wood and resin surfacing will stay in good condition for a long time, with a working life at least as long as concrete or asphalt. Rudi van Hedel, project manager of bio-based economy at Grontmij, explained that the light weight of the material also makes it far easier to move.
However, van Hedal said, “At present, the material costs of the path are higher than those of traditional paths made of asphalt or concrete, but the construction costs are comparable or perhaps slightly cheaper. We expect that as production ability increases, the costs will go down. In the future, we hope to use bio-fibres(生物纤维)that are cheaper than the wood fibres we’re currently experimenting with, and we expect that biodegradable materials will be able to compete with asphalt and concrete.”
1. What can we learn about the path?| A．It uses some asphalt. | B．It aims to protect trees. |
| C．It is a pioneering project. | D．It is being built by a sawmill. |
| A．Its material is heavy in weight. | B．It can stay in service for long. |
| C．Its length may break a record. | D．It is environmentally friendly. |
| A．Their production process is complex. | B．They are not as hard as asphalt. |
| C．They are not always available. | D．Their costs are relatively high. |
| A．A diary. | B．A novel. | C．A magazine. | D．A guidebook. |
【推荐3】Considered one of Europe’s two “bicycle capitals” along with Amsterdam, Copenhagen(哥本哈根) counts more bicycles than people and cycling is so popular that its numerous bike paths can become crowded. Two-wheeler traffic jams are especially regular on the main Noerrebrogade road used by around 36,000 cyclists a day. “You have to elbow your way in to go forward and some cyclists aren’t always thoughtful,” complains 22-year-old university student Lea Bresell.
The creation of bike highways “comes right on time”, says Danish Cyclist Federation Spokesman Frits Bredal. “Copenhagen’s roads are overloaded with people who want to ride their bicycles in all kinds of weather,” he says. “If in the 1960s Danes viewed the car as the symbol of freedom, the bicycles have supposed that role today,” Bredal says. “It’s a mode of transportation used by all social classes, even politicians ride bikes,” he says.
It is on crowded Noerrebrogade—the busiest bicycle street in Europe, according to the cyclist association—that city planners have decided to build the first of Copenhagen’s environmentally friendly roads. The jammed bike paths will be widened up to four metres on either side of the road, which itself will be reserved for bikes only. The idea is to make Noerrebrogade “Europe’s great cycling street”, says Andreas Roehl, Copenhagen government’s bicycle program manager who is also known as “Mr. Bike”.
But Roehl is not content with making life easier for Copenhagen’s inner-city cyclists: He wants to get suburbanites(郊区居民) out of their cars and onto two wheels as well. His goal is to hike the percentage of suburban commuters cycling to and from the city from the 37 percent it is today to 50 percent by 2015.
1. Why does Copenhagen plan to build the first bike highway?| A．Because bike highways are environmentally friendly. |
| B．Because it’s a part of the city’s development program. |
| C．Because the inner-city commuters urge that it should be built. |
| D．Because too many bicycles cause the paths to be crowded. |
| A．Because the price of petrol has been going up all the time. |
| B．Because the bicycle is viewed as the symbol of freedom nowadays. |
| C．Because it’s hard for people to find parking space in crowded streets. |
| D．Because politicians ride bikes and commuters enjoy following them. |
| A．fashion | B．improvement |
| C．reform | D．law |
| A．The former jammed bike paths will be widened. |
| B．Noerrebrogade is to be made “Europe’s great cycling street”. |
| C．All commuters will be pushed to leave their cars at home. |
| D．More suburbanites will be got out of their cars and onto two wheels. |
【推荐1】Big changes in agriculture are taking place in Singapore. The small, Southeast Asian nation is leading a farming revolution.
Singapore covers 724 square kilometers of land and only one percent of that land is used for agriculture. Food production costs are higher there than the rest of Southeast Asia. As climate change and population growth threaten food supplies, the pressure is on new farmers to answer the government’s call—to grow more with less.
“Whenever I talk about food security in Singapore, I tell people not to think land-think space because you can go upwards and sideways.”said Paul Teng, an agriculture professor at Nanyang Technological University.
There are more than 30 vertical(垂直的)farms in Singapore-ones that grow up not across the land. Sustenir Agriculture is one of these businesses. Its hydroponic(水栽法的)farm grows non-native foods like cherry, tomatoes and strawberries inside buildings under artificial lighting. Then it sells the produce to local supermarkets and online stores. Sustenir raised $16 million from investors(投资人)last year. The money will be used to expand operations in Singapore and open in Hong Kong.
However, not everyone thinks the new technology is best. Egg farmer Milliam Ho says the government should not depend so much on agriculture technology businesses. “Many of them have failed. That’s why I’m always asking the government, ‘Why don`t you invest in us old-timers?’ We are more practical,” he said. Professor Paul Teng said an issue for urban farmers is that the high cost of the technology makes their products too pricey for many people.
1. What is the second paragraph mainly about?| A．High food production costs. |
| B．Reasons for changes in agriculture. |
| C．Agricultural technology businesses. |
| D．Sale expansion of food markets. |
| A．expanding farmland upwards |
| B．buying more food |
| C．developing facilities |
| D．investing more money |
| A．They work on high-tech farms. |
| B．They benefit from pricey products. |
| C．They need government’s support. |
| D．They reduce production costs. |
| A．To criticize people’s traditional view of farming. |
| B．To support the growth of vertical farming in Singapore. |
| C．To introduce the latest development in Singapore’s agriculture. |
| D．To emphasize the importance of traditional agriculture. |
【推荐2】In the 2010s, 34-year old Brianne Miller travelled around the world as a marine biologist. No matter how remote the location, she made the same alarming discovery: huge amounts of plastic littering the water and threatening marine life. Miller knew she needed to do something.
Canadians throw out three million tons of plastic waste each year, 33 percent of which comes from food packaging. Approximately one third of all food produced worldwide goes to waste, too. Miller, determined to fix the problem, imagined a shop that went further than banning plastic bags—a place that avoided both wasteful packaging and the bad habit of wasting food itself.
In June 2018, Miller opened her first zero-waste grocery store in Canada. She named it Nada, and ensured everything was designed to make the zero-waste shopping experience easy. You can bring your own containers, though it’s not necessary: right by the front door are sanitized (消毒过的) glass or plastic containers, free for the taking.
Nada sells various food items, all 100 percent package-free. Miller is clear that the store doesn’t try to compete on price. For example, popcorn with paper package at a regular store may cost 70 cents per 100 grams; at Nada, a customer might pay $1 per 100 grams. Even so, zero-waste shopping can still come with savings. Take products that typically come packaged in large containers, like spaghetti sauce, a large part of the traditional cost would be in that glass jar.
Although the early days of the pandemic were tough on the business, Miller timely turned to online ordering and delivery, though in a very Nada way. Everything from olive oil to fresh eggs comes delivered in sanitized containers, which are collected with the next round of deliveries.
Those containers do so much more than just reduce waste. They get people thinking big, just as Miller hoped. “They’re tagged with Nada stickers, so you can see how many times the container has been used,” she says, and then smiles.
1. Brianne Miller was inspired to start her business by the fact that ______.| A．food packaging generated tons of waste |
| B．plastic litters posed a threat to marine life |
| C．people formed the bad habit of wasting food |
| D．lots of food produced worldwide went to waste |
| A．Brave and cautious. | B．Caring and humorous. |
| C．Creative and determined. | D．Optimistic and thoughtful. |
| A．Miller thinks her efforts worthwhile. |
| B．Miller stopped her business during the pandemic. |
| C．Nada suffered serious losses because of the pandemic. |
| D．Containers were recycled during the pandemic to save money. |
| A．No pains, no gains | B．Dream big, aim high |
| C．No packaging, no wasting | D．More haste, less speed |
【推荐3】This week I watched an international news program and saw what looked like most of the planet—the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia—painted in bright oranges and reds. Fahrenheit (华氏温度的) temperatures in three-digit numbers seemed to burn all over on the world map.
Heat records have burst around the globe. This very weekend, crops are burning, roads are bending and seas are rising, while lakes recede, or even disappear. Ice sheets melt in rising heat, and wildfires attack forests. People are dying in this heat. Lives of all kinds are threatened, in cities, fields, seas, deserts and forests. Wildlife, farm animals, insects and human beings are in pain.
The UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says there is more deadly heat in our future because of climate change caused by our species on this planet. Even with advances in wind, solar and other alternative energy sources, and international promises and agreements, the world still derives about 80% of its energy from fossil fuels, like oil, gas and coal, which release the carbon dioxide that’s warmed the climate to the current temperatures of this hot summer. The WMO’s chief, Petteri Taalas, said this week, “In the future these kinds of heatwaves are going to be normal.”
The most alarming word in his forecast might be: “normal.” I’m of a generation that thought of summer as a sunny time for children. I think of long days spent outdoors without worry, playing games or just wandering. John Updike wrote in his poem, “June”:
The sun is rich
And gladly pays
In golden hours,
Silver days,
And long green weeks
That never end.
School’s out. The time
Is ours to spend.
There’s Little League,
Hopscotch, the creek,
And, after supper,
Hide-and-seek.
The live-long light
Is like a dream...
But now that bright, “live-long light,” of which Updike wrote, might look threatening in a summer like this.
The extremely hot weeks that we see this year cause one to wonder if our failures to care for the planet given to us will make our children look forward to summer, or fear another season of heat.
1. What does the underlined word “derive” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?| A．Get. | B．Reduce. | C．Waste. | D．Save. |
| A．alternative energy is the solution to climate change |
| B．the heatwaves are caused by the advanced technology |
| C．agreements need to be signed to deal with climate change |
| D．use of traditional energy is responsible for the heatwaves |
| A．To describe the beauty of summer. |
| B．To indicate the end of happy summers. |
| C．To compare different feelings about summer. |
| D．To suggest ways for children to spend summer. |
| A．What leads to a hot summer | B．Children are afraid of summer |
| C．Burning summers are the future | D．How we can survive a hot summer |
【推荐1】Denmark is only about half the size of South Carolina, but it produces more of its electricity from wind than any other country in the world. Denmark now gets 47%of its electricity from wind, and there will be more to come, thanks to a combination of history and policy.
Paul la Cour was a scientist and inventor who experimented with early wind power machines at the start of the 20th century. So it's not surprising that Denmark invested in building wind power the earliest. Since the 1970s,Denmark has been investing in wind energy all over the country. In the 1980s,due to a strong movement opposing nuclear power plants, Denmark increased its production of clean energy even before many other countries considered it.
Even back in 2002,Denmark took climate change warnings seriously. They drew up policies, aiming to cut fossil-fuel emissions by 20%,which they did via renewable energy investment. Some of the world's largest companies in the field—including Vestas, which builds turbines(涡轮机)，and Orsted, which specializes in offshore wind projects—are Danish, so the country has an impact beyond its borders.
The huge impact of Denmark’s wind industry is important. But Denmark is a small country, so while almost 50%of its electricity from wind is admirable, it's also minor in terms of entire global impact.
While Denmark gets half its electricity from 5,758 megawatts (MW) of capacity, Spain's 23,000 MW covers just 18 percent of its electricity supply as it’s a much bigger country. China is the leader in wind energy at 221,000 MW, and the U.S.is the second in the world at about 96,000 MW.
At the end of 2019,lawmakers in Denmark set a new goal: increasing the share of electricity coming from renewable power to 100%.
1. What can we know about Demark?| A．It is a leader in solar energy. | B．It is a pioneer in clean energy. |
| C．It is a victim of climate change. | D．It is an advocate of nuclear energy. |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Ambiguous |
| C．Positive. | D．Opposed. |
| A．Denmark. | B．China. | C．The U.S | D．Spain. |
| A．Almost Half of Denmark’s Electricity Comes from Wind Power |
| B．Denmark's Government Pushes ahead with Fossil-fuel Projects |
| C．Denmark Has a Great Effect on World's Wind Power Equipment |
| D．Denmark Has a Long History of Developing Renewable Power |
【推荐2】Children returned to school after a big wildfire in Northern California. But the influence is so huge that it will be some time before the life of students there returns to normal.
Eight schools were lost to the wildfire. Government officials were not sure how many of their nearly 3,500 students would report to temporary (临时的) schools. Some families have left California. Others are staying with friends. It is too far for some of them to drive to one of those schools every day.
There are not enough classrooms for middle and high schools. So for the l3 days before the start of the traditional winter break in the school year, students will learn through independent study. They will be given homework online and be able to visit a special drop-in center in Chico, California. Children going there can get help from teachers or visit other classmates.
Loren Lighthall, a spokesman for one school there, said studying will be less important than dealing with pain and reconnecting with friends. “They don’t have their school, they don’t have their work, they don’t have their friends, they don’t have books and we’re asking them to do homework?” Light hall said. “It’s less important at this point. We’re going to do it. But what is important now is to deal with the pain left.”
Search members have stopped looking for the lost in burned cars and houses. But they remain available whenever there is need for help.
1. What does the underlined “those schools” in the second paragraph refer to?| A．The schools being built. | B．The online schools. |
| C．The 8 schools lost to the fire | D．The temporary schools. |
| A．Because there aren’t enough classrooms for them. |
| B．Because the traditional winter break is coming soon. |
| C．Because the students want to start a new way of study. |
| D．Because the teachers ask them to do their homework online. |
| A．Students should go to school immediately. |
| B．It is important to deal with the pain. |
| C．Students should be given much homework. |
| D．It is not necessary to study after the fire. |
| A．Life of students in North California has come to normal. |
| B．Search members have not stopped looking for the missing. |
| C．The wildfire in North California influences students greatly. |
| D．Classrooms are prepared for students affected in the wildfire. |
【推荐3】King's Point (Canada) (AFP) — At dusk, tourists are amazed at the breakdown of an iceberg at the end of its long journey from Greenland to Canada's cast coast, which now has a front row scat to the melting (触化）of the Arctic’s ice.
While the rest of the world nervously eyes the effect of global warming, melting icebergs have breathed new life into the far coastal villages of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Once a center of cod (鳕鱼) fishing, the province now plays host to large groups of photographers and tourists hoping to sec the breathtaking ice melt. As winter ends, iceberg finding begins. The increase in tourism around here in the past 10 to 15 years has been unbelievable. Last year, a total of 500,000 tourists visited Newfoundland and Labrador, a number almost as large as the province's total population. Those visitors spent nearly $433 million, government numbers show. The tourism boom has helped solve the decrease in the regions traditional fishing industry, which is in crisis (危机) because of overfishing at the end of the last century.
But under the shiny surface of economic success is the dark truth that the area is in part profiting from global warming. The Arctic is warming three limes faster than the rest of the world. In mid-July, record temperatures were recorded near the North Pole. In recent years, the icebergs have traveled further and further south. For now, tourists are enjoying the view and the experience while they can.
Laurent Lucazcau, a 34-year-old French tourist, said seeing an iceberg was upsetting. “It is a picture of global warming to see icebergs making it to these places where the water is warm,” he told AFP. “There’s something mysterious and impressive about it, but knowing too that they are not supposed to be here makes you wonder, and it’s a little scary.”
1. What can we learn about the tourism in Newfoundland and Labrador?| A．It benefits local economy. | B．It bothers local people. |
| C．It prevents global warming. | D．It hurts the fishing industry. |
| A．The total number of tourists is the same as the province's total population. |
| B．The shiny economic success is more important than global warming. |
| C．All of the tourists are enjoying the view along Canada's cast coast. |
| D．In mid-July, the Arctic is much warmer than ever before. |
| A．Summer is coming to an end in King's Point. |
| B．New icebergs will form along the Canadian coast. |
| C．Visitors don't know why icebergs come down south. |
| D．The view is a sign of serious environmental problems. |
