Wind energy provided 7% of the total electricity in the United States in 2019. Since 2008, the number of coal-fired power plants has declined, as the use of renewable energy and natural gas has increased. Wind energy is an excellent way to reduce carbon emissions, but what will happen when the wind turbine blades wear out? Is there a waste management issue?
The design life of wind turbines is about 20 to 25 years. The longest wind turbine blade to date is 350 feet. Although certain parts of wind turbines can be relatively easily recycled, others are not designed for recycling. Many spent turbine blades are piling up in landfills. However, researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are making progress in this area.
They developed a blade out of thermoplastic resin that is low-cost, lightweight, and seems to be recyclable. If the new blade also proves to be strong, this will be a game changer for the offshore and onshore wind industry. Lower costs also could help improve wind energy efficiency, reducing the use of fossil fuels. A lightweight blade is easier to transport and uses less fuel. It also seems easier to recycle and uses less energy in the production process. “With the traditional material, it’s almost like when you fry an egg. It’s finished and you can’t undo that,” said Derek Berry, a senior engineer at NREL. “But with a thermoplastic resin system, you can make a blade out of it. You heat it to a certain temperature, and it melts back down. You can get the liquid resin back and reuse that.”
Although the research looks promising, progress will be slow. Most wind farms being constructed today will stop working in a few decades. The benefits of recyclable blades are still decades away at least. The associated environmental impact has largely been a blind spot for the industry. Hopefully, recent progress will help make wind power even greener.
1. What is the disadvantage of the current wind turbine blade?| A．Its high cost. | B．Its limited use. |
| C．Its negative impact on the environment. | D．Its inefficiency in producing electricity. |
| A．Why thermoplastic resin is strong. | B．How thermoplastic resin is recycled. |
| C．The widespread of thermoplastic resin. | D．The production process of thermoplastic resin. |
| A．Pessimistic. | B．Careless. | C．Doubtful. | D．Optimistic. |
| A．A new way to develop turbine blades. | B．A fresh approach to using wind power. |
| C．An unknown renewable energy source. | D．The way to tear down old turbine blades. |
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【推荐1】Microbiologists have designed a sustainable way to remove polluting microplastics from the environment by using bacteria. Initial design as it is, it paves the way for sustainably lowering plastic pollution levels and stop the “plastification”.
Bacteria naturally tend to group together and stick to surfaces, and this creates a sticky material called “biofilm”. Researchers at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) want to use this adhesive bacteria character and capture microplastics in polluted water to form an easily disposable and recyclable blob(团) .
Sylvia Lang Liu, microbiology researcher at PolyU and lead researcher on this project, together with his team, has engineered a bacterial biofilm, which can fix and absorb microplastics floating around in the water, and make them sink to the bottom of the water. Then the researchers can separate the microplastics from the bacteria traps and get them ready to recycle.
Microplastics are the plastic fragments, usually smaller than 5mm, which are accidentally released into the environment during production and breakdown of grocery bags or water bottles, or during everyday activities such as washing synthetic (合成的) clothes or using personal care products with scrubbing microbeads in them. Microplastics are visually tiny, making it challenging to develop effective solutions to trap, collect, and recycle them.
Microplastics are not easily biodegradable (生物降解的), so they stick around for long and absorb and accumulate poisonous chemicals. They spread into wastewater and into the oceans, endangering marine animals and eventually threatening human health, Microplastics had been found in more than 114 species living in the water and also salt, lettuce, apples, and more in 2018 according to the International Maritime Organization.
“This is an innovative application of biofilm engineering l0 address the plastio pollution crisis,” said Dr Joanna Sadler, researcher at University of Edinburgh, who was not involved in this study. “One of the biggest challenges in dealing with microplastics is capturing such small particles. Liu and co-workers have denmonstrated an elegant solution to this problem, which holds great potential to be further developed into a real-world wastewater treatment technology.”
1. Which of the following best explains the underlined word “adhesive” in Paragraph 2?| A．Floating. | B．Sticky. | C．Diverse. | D．Visual. |
| A．They are visually too small. | B．They are hard to biodegrade. |
| C．They continue to exist for long. | D．They are poisonous chemicals. |
| A．Small particles are essential to address water pollution |
| B．Biofilm bas been widely used to settle plastic pollution. |
| C．Sadler thinks little of the biofilm engineering application. |
| D．Biofilm application is promising for wastewater treatment. |
| A．Microplastic removal. | B．Uses of bacteria. |
| C．Wastewater treatment. | D．Plastic pollution. |
【推荐2】Previously, the most readily available invisible ink was lemon juice. To use it, write with the lemon juice on ordinary paper, iron the paper with a hot iron and the hidden message will appear. The disadvantage is that the paper has to be destroyed to hide the message so no one else can read it.
Scientists have discovered a new kind of invisible ink. It is called water. All you need for this secret-messaging ink to work is to write with it on a super-hi-tech piece of paper coated with special chemicals. Shine a UV light on the coated paper and the water message becomes visible.
When the message has been read and needs to be hidden again, get out your hairdryer, and blow some warm air on the paper. Then the message will be erased and the paper can be reused, which keeps costs low.
The chemicals on the paper take in and give off light. The scientists found that putting water on the paper broke up the structure of the chemicals it was coated with. The water writing showed up darker than the surrounding paper under UV light.
Using hot air from a hairdryer for 15-30 seconds, you were able to reuse the special paper as many as 30 times because the heat reorganized the chemical structure of the paper coating. Without the heat from a hairdryer, the message stayed visible for up to three months.
The invention was made by a group of scientists in China, led by Qiang Zhao of the Institute of Advanced Materials, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications.
1. What does the underlined word “it” refer to in Paragraph 2?| A．Paper. | B．Ink | C．Light | D．Message |
| A．be read | B．be erased | C．become darker | D．become visible |
| A．3 times | B．15 times | C．20 times | D．30 times |
| A．A Magic Hairdryer | B．A Special Chemical |
| C．A New Invisible Ink | D．An Environment-friendly Paper |
【推荐3】A California company taught a computer to “taste” wine. Founder Katerina Axelsson says Tastry uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze “tens of thousands of wines a year”, providing lots of data to help winemakers improve their products and attract new customers.
Axelsson formed her idea as a chemistry student working at a factory, where she noticed how wine was evaluated. She began analyzing wine, identifying thousands of compounds (化合物). Using AI, she could see how these compounds interacted with each other, creating the wine’s flavor profile (味道分析). She then took that profile and used machine leaning to compare it with other wines in the database.
The method allowed Axelsson to develop an app named Tastry. Through a quiz, consumers could input their flavor preferences, and the software would recommend a suitable wine with 80%-90% accuracy.
Winemakers pay to have their bottle analyzed and in exchange they could get some data with which they can identify how their wine is viewed in their market of opportunity, on a store, local or regional level.
O’Neill Vintners and Distillers, one of the largest wine producers in California uses Tastry but “Tastry is not a replacement for the modern winemaking team,” he says, “However, that data can be pretty powerful.”
Ronan Sayburn, a private members club for wine lovers, says, “It’s like having a computer analyze a piece of art. I don’t know why people would follow what a computer tells them to drink, based on what they had previously.” He adds, “I think part of the appeal of wine is forming your own opinions.”
Axelsson agrees that Tastry is not a substitute for a sommelier (品酒师), but she says, “If the use case is there and the value is there, I think it’s just a matter of time before people really accept it.”
1. What is the aim of Tastry?| A．To increase the production of wine. |
| B．To make winemaking process automatic. |
| C．To help the winemakers make more profits. |
| D．To develop new winemaking technology. |
| A．How compounds were identified. |
| B．How wine was evaluated in the past. |
| C．What Axelsson found in her experiment. |
| D．What Axelsson did before developing Tastry. |
| A．It can evaluate the quality of wine. |
| B．It can recommend a suitable wine. |
| C．It can change the flavor of wine. |
| D．It can offer knowledge about winemaking. |
| A．He doubts Tastry’s value. |
| B．He compares wine to art. |
| C．He prefers the computer’s advice. |
| D．He thinks highly of Tastry. |
【推荐1】Protecting wildlife has become a tough problem in today’s world. As one of the effort, many countries formulate(制定) related laws to protect wildlife. The need for such protection was realized centuries ago in India.
About 300 BC an India writer described forests that were somewhat like national parks today. The game of killing animals was carefully controlled. Some animals that became dangerous to human visitors were trapped or killed outside the park.
The need for wildlife protection is greater now than ever before. About a thousand kinds of animals are in danger of extinction(灭绝), and the speed at which they are being destroyed has been increasing. With mammals(哺乳动物), for example, the speed of extinction is now about one kind every year. From AD 1 to 1800, the speed was about one kind every fifty years. Everywhere, men are trying to solve the problem of saving wildlife while caring for the world’s growing population(人口).
1. “Protect wildlife” means ______.| A．保护野生动物 | B．保护每一个生命 |
| C．猎杀野生动物 | D．关爱野生动物 |
| A．was understood in India centuries ago |
| B．was described by an India writer about 3,300 years ago |
| C．is not met in many centuries ago |
| D．is not carried out in the forests as well as in national parks |
| A．hunters were given permits to hunt games |
| B．all animals were to be killed |
| C．the game of killing animals was controlled |
| D．no killing of animals was allowed |
4. According to the report, men trying to save wildlife are thinking about ______ as well.
| A．the animals in national parks | B．stricter laws against hunting |
| C．the trees in the forests | D．the growth of the population |
【推荐2】The global sea level has risen by eight to nine inches since 1880. Rising sea levels cause an existential threat for some small islands and some low-lying coasts. In a response to this threat, the Busan Metropolitan City of the Republic of Korea, and the company OCEANIX revealed the world’s first model floating city, OCEANIX Busan.
OCEANIX Busan has six integrated systems focusing on energy, food, water, waste, mobility and coastal habitat regeneration to ensure the floating city reuses and wastes as little as possible. The floating city has no roadways to support walking, biking, and autonomous electric vehicles, so it won’t produce any vehicle emissions. Floating and rooftop photovoltaic panels(光伏板) will generate(产生) 100% of the operational energy needed for the city.
OCEANIX Busan will consist of three floating neighborhoods totaling 15.5 acres. That’s about as much surface as a dozen football fields, and according to the developers, it has enough room to house 12,000 people. The neighborhoods will connect to one another and the mainland via bridges, and each will serve a specific purpose. The living neighborhood will have residential buildings, shops and food sellers, and a “community backyard” where residents can gather at its center. The lodging neighborhood will be built to support visitors- it’ll have many shopping and dining options, as well as guest rooms designed to maximize ocean views. The third neighborhood will be a co-working and research center, with a temperature-controlled space at its center for hydroponic agriculture.
“Today is an important milestone for all coastal cities and island nations on the frontlines of climate change. We are on track to delivering OCEANIX Busan and proving that floating infrastructure(基础设施) can create new land for coastal cities looking for sustainable(可持续的) ways to expand onto the ocean, while adapting to sea-level rise,” said Philipp Hofnann, CEO of OCEANIX.
1. What is the purpose of designing OCEANIX Busan?| A．To promote the development of tourism. |
| B．To deal with the threat from rising sea levels. |
| C．To allow people to enjoy the pleasant coastal climate. |
| D．To monitor the effect of climate change on small islands. |
| A．Digital. | B．Flexible. | C．Sustainable. | D．Individual. |
| A．The features of the residential buildings. |
| B．The structure of the floating neighborhoods. |
| C．The difficulties of building OCEANIX Busan. |
| D．The measures to attract visitors to OCEANIX Busan. |
| A．The World’s First Model Floating City |
| B．The Sea’s Electricity Production Project |
| C．The City’s Modern Infrastructure System |
| D．The Company’s Response to Global Warming |
【推荐3】As most people know, in the last few years, sandstorms have swept across many cities and areas of North China, polluting the air and disturbing daily lives of human beings. People look dirty and suffer many kinds of illnesses, such as breath difficulty. The sandstorm is such a serious problem that it has not only weakened the industrial and agricultural development of our country but also caused a lot of trouble to the living conditions of the Chinese people.
Therefore, effective measures should be taken as soon as possible to stop its happening. So how should we deal with the frightening sandstorms?
Some experts offer practical advice as follows: For one thing, more money ought to be put into tree planting and forest protection in order to keep more water on the Earth. For another, government of all countries should make laws on environment protection. For example, banning (禁止) the use of throw-away chopsticks and punishing illegal tree cutting. Scientists should also study and find ways to lower the grade of its destruction and to improve the environment. As for some schools, education about sandstorms should be spread properly and timely to make more and more people attach great importance to this problem.
How people look forward to sunny days with soft wind touching their faces now and forever! The golden days can come back so long as we try our best to protect the natural environment from today on. And the fact is that what I expect is not just a dream. There are some sweet fruits from the early efforts.
1. What’s the first paragraph mainly about?| A．Ways to protect the environment. | B．Bad influences sandstorms bring. |
| C．The biggest cause of sandstorms. | D．The fast development of China. |
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Four. | D．Six. |
| A．Successful examples of stopping sandstorms. |
| B．A bright world with no sandstorms anymore. |
| C．How to realize our dream to live a happy life. |
| D．Why people should always carry on with dreams. |
【推荐1】Ali is from a Middle Eastern country. He now stays in the USA. He smokes a lot of cigarettes (香烟) every day. He has smoked for nine years. Ali says, “ I tried to quit (放弃) smoking in my hometown, but it was impossible. My brothers smoke. All my friends smoke. At parties and at meetings, almost all the men smoke. Here in the United States, not as many people smoke. It will be easier to change my habit here.”
Many smokers are like Ali: they want to stop smoking. The smokers know that smoking is bad for their health. They know it can cause cancer and heart disease. But it is difficult for them to give up smoking because cigarettes have a drug in them. The drug is nicotine (尼古丁). People who smoke a lot need nicotine.
When a person first begins to smoke, he usually feels terrible. The nicotine makes him sick. In a few days, the smoker’s body is used to the nicotine, and he feels fine. Later, the smoker needs nicotine to keep feeling fine. Without nicotine, he feels bad.
It is very hard to quit smoking, and many people who quit will soon smoke again. At a party or at work they will decide to smoke “just one” cigarette. Then they will smoke another cigarette, and another. Soon they become smokers again. Maybe there is only one easy way to quit smoking: never start.
1. Many smokers want to stop smoking because they ______.| A．want to go to parties |
| B．can’t smoke at work |
| C．know that smoking is bad for their health. |
| D．need nicotine and drugs |
| A．cigarettes have a nicotine (尼古丁)in them. |
| B．they don’t want to give up. |
| C．The nicotine makes them sick. |
| D．They needs nicotine to keep feeling fine. |
| A．stay in their hometown | B．never start smoking |
| C．eat less and smoke more | D．not live in the United States |
【推荐2】In 2020, Americans spent 8.3 billion hours trapped in traffic. During traffic jams, the average car used an extra 19 gallons of gas. This amounts to $190 billion in lost time and fuel each year. Fortunately, researchers are working to reduce the traffic jams, whether by the development of driverless cars or the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in traffic lights.
Lack of traffic signal timing is a main cause of traffic jams. A new system uses software to decide when the traffic signal timing is not doing well or when it is making progress. The method was better than all other former approaches in testing.
The researchers built an advanced traffic simulator (模拟器) to train their program, teaching it to deal with different traffic and weather conditions. When the system was tested on a real crossroad, it adapted to real traffic crossings. It could be effective in many real-world environments in the future. The researchers hope to begin testing their system on real roads this year.
Dr. George Vogiatzis, a professor of Aston University, said, “This program can understand the situations it hasn’t experienced before. We have tested this with a physical obstacle that causes traffic jams instead of the traffic light waiting time, and the system still works well. As long as there is a cause of traffic jam, the computer will finally find out what the cause is.”
1. How do researchers work to reduce the traffic jams?| A．By spending 8.3 billion hours trapped in traffic. | B．By developing driverless cars or using AI in traffic lights. |
| C．By using an extra 19 gallons of gas. | D．By losing an amount of $190 billion fuel each year. |
| A．Lack of traffic signal timing. | B．The light from the traffic signals. |
| C．The location of traffic signals. | D．The number of vehicles on the road. |
| A．This year. | B．In the future. | C．It’s hard to know. | D．It depends on the weather. |
| A．The system can solve all the causes of traffic jams. |
| B．The program is expected to be available this year. |
| C．The program can tell different types of causes of traffic jams. |
| D．The program can only deal with the situations it has experienced before. |
【推荐3】The Disneyland parks are full of amusements, but they are also small cities that deal with deliveries, rubbish, and groups of visitors. People need to move from one place to another; they have to refuel and relax. To meet these requirements, the parks are well-equipped in reality. For example, Disneyland Park in California has a reliable transport system. In Walt Disney World in Florida, dustbins are spaced 30 feet apart, and all of them are emptied through underground tubes.
None of this happened by accident. Walt Disney first had his idea for a play land in 1937. He first imagined the park's buildings in a small size. He spent years collecting ideas by visiting other places. He studied Beverly Park in Los Angeles, including rebuilt historic villages. He visited Colonial Williamsburg, where employees dressed up and walked around.. Then he organized a team of engineers and designers to plan and build a small world he called Disneyland. Walt Disney had blueprints（蓝图）drawn up, and tried to get the permission to break ground（破土动工）.
In 1953, he bought some land in Anaheim. Some designers thought it was too far, but Disney went ahead It was like building a new city Pipes had to be fixed. Railway track had to be laid around. Disney chose the hub-and-spoke（轴辐式）street pattern that many cities have. “I want Disneyland to be a place where you can't get lost,” he said, Designers and architects also diagrammed（图解）the rides and made models, while artists painted the background.
Finally in July 1955, the visitors came. If they picked up maps, they could see the results of years’ planning: the shops and restaurants, the square, and the streets. The magic city had finally jumped off the drawing board and come into real life.
1. What does the author want to show about Disneyland parks in the first paragraph?| A．The convenient environment. | B．The amusing tourist attractions. |
| C．The differences between the parks. | D．The visitors' common requirements. |
| A．To choose a place for construction. | B．To advertise his Disneyland Park. |
| C．To experience American culture. | D．To get inspiration for his park. |
| A．Confident but selfish. | B．Stubborn but kind-hearted. |
| C．Considerate and determined. | D．Careful and hard-working, |
| A．It is worthwhile to build large parks |
| B．Disneyland has been built like a brand- new city |
| C．How a theme park was built in a big city of USA |
| D．Disneyland--a famous park around the world |
