More than half of the world’s population live in cities, and by 2050 the UN expects that proportion to reach 68%. This means more homes, roads and other infrastructure. In India alone, a city the size of Chicago will have to be developed every year to meet demand for housing. Such a construction increase is a bad sign for dealing with climate change, because making steel and concrete, two of the most common building materials, generates around 8% of the world’s CO2 emissions (排放). If cities are to expand and become greener at the same time, they will have to be made from something else.
Wood is one of the most promising sustainable alternatives to steel and concrete. It is not, however, everyday wood that is attracting the interest of architects.
Rather, it is a material called engineered timber. This is a combination of different layers, each designed to meet the requirements of specific parts such as floors, panels and beams (横梁). Designers can use it to provide levels of strength like steel, in a product that is up to 80% lighter. In addition, engineered timber is usually made into large sections in a factory for future use, which reduces the number of deliveries to a construction site.
According to Michael Ramage of the University of Cambridge, a wooden building produces 75% less CO2 than a steel and concrete one of the same size. However, if building with wood takes off, it does raise concern about there being enough trees to go round. But with sustainably managed forests that should not be a problem, says Dr Ramage. A family-sized apartment requires about 30 cubic meters of timber, and he estimates Europe’s sustainable forests alone grow that amount every seven seconds. Nor is fire a risk, for engineered timber does not burn easily. Besides, fireproofing layers can be added to the timber. All in all, then, it looks as if wood as a building material may get a new lease of life.
1. Why is India mentioned in paragraph 1?| A．To point out the severe pollution. |
| B．To predict the population increase. |
| C．To indicate the high degree of urbanization. |
| D．To show the great need for building materials. |
| A．It is produced at a low cost. |
| B．It hardly appeals to architects. |
| C．It helps save energy in transportation. |
| D．It possesses greater strength than steel. |
| A．Becomes cheaper. | B．Gains popularity. |
| C．Requires less work. | D．Proves sustainable. |
| A．People should make future cities more attractive. |
| B．It’s important to live in a world with less emission. |
| C．Building sustainable cities with woods is possible now. |
| D．Let’s grow more trees for future building |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】On a farm in England, Gavin and Alice Munro are taking sustainability (持续性) to the next level: they harvest trees which they grow into chairs.
The couple have a furniture (家具) farm in Derbyshire where they are growing 250 chairs and 50 tables. It is their answer to what they see as the inefficient (效率低的) process of cutting down mature trees to create furniture.
“Instead of growing a tree for 50 years and then cutting it down and making it into smaller and smaller bits ... the idea is to grow the tree into the shape that you want directly. It’s like a kind of 3D printing,” said Gavin.
Part of the inspiration for the idea came when Gavin was a young boy. He found an overgrown bonsai tree (盆景树) which looked like a chair.
The 44-year-old man began experiment in 2006. In 2012, Gavin and Alice set up the company Full Grown. Within several years, the couple developed the most effective way to shape a tree without limiting its growth. They guide shoots (新枝) heading in the right direction, rather than forcing them the wrong way against their natural growth.
The average chair takes six to nine years to grow and another year to dry out. The labor and time involved in producing the organic pieces mean they do not come cheap. Chairs sell for￡10,000 each and tables for￡2.500 to £12.500.
1. What is special about the farm?| A．3D printing is used. | B．Bonsai trees grow there. |
| C．It was set up by a couple. | D．Trees can grow into furniture. |
| A．By limiting its growth. |
| B．By following its natural growth. |
| C．By forcing it against its natural growth. |
| D．By guiding its shoots in the right direction. |
| A．Over 50 years. | B．6 to 9 years. |
| C．6 years at most. | D．7 to10 years. |
| A．It has brought in huge amounts of money. |
| B．Trees grow there inefficiently. |
| C．It’s a good try of sustainability. |
| D．It will gain popularity soon. |
【推荐2】An international team of researchers led by Stanford University have developed rechargeable batteries that can store up to six times more charge than ones that are currently commercially available.
The advance, detailed in a new paper published on Aug. 25 in the journal Nature,could accelerate the use of rechargeable batteries and puts battery researchers one step closer toward achieving two top stated goals of their field: creating a high-performance rechargeable battery that could enable cellphones to be charged only once a week instead of daily and electric vehicles that can travel six times farther without a recharge.
The new so-called alkali metal-chlorine batteries(碱金属氯电池），developed by a team of researchers led by Stanford chemistry Professor Hongjie Dai and doctoral candidate Guanzhou Zhu, rely on the back-and-forth chemical transition from sodium chloride (Na/C12) or lithium chloride (Li/C12) to chlorine. When electrons travel from one side of a rechargeable battery to the other, recharging makes the chemistry return to its original state to await another use. Non-rechargeable batteries have no such luck. Once running out, their chemistry cannot be restored. “A rechargeable battery is a bit like a rocking chair. It tips in one direction, but then rocks back when you add electricity,” Dai explained. “What we have here is a high-rocking rocking chair.”
The researchers imagine their batteries one day being used in situations where frequent recharging is not practical or desirable, such as in satellites or remote sensors. Many otherwise usable satellites are now floating in orbit, failing to function due to their dead batteries. Future satellites equipped with long-lived rechargeable batteries could be fitted with solar chargers, extending their usefulness many times over.
For now, though, the first working design they've developed might still be suitable for use in small everyday electronics like hearing aids or remote controls. For consumer electronics or electrical vehicles, much more work remains to engineer the battery structure, increase the energy density (密度）， scale up the batteries and increase the number of cycles.
1. Why does the author mention “two top stated goals” in paragraph 2?| A．To clarify the cause of the research. |
| B．To describe the process of the research. |
| C．To explain the purpose of the research. |
| D．To illustrate the significance of the research. |
| A．By listing figures. |
| B．By giving an example. |
| C．By making a comparison. |
| D．By drawing a conclusion. |
| A．New rechargeable batteries have been put to use. |
| B．New rechargeable batteries will likely be used in remote sensors. |
| C．Non-rechargeable batteries can return the chemistry to its original state. |
| D．Solar chargers are of no benefit to rechargeable batteries in future satellites. |
| A．Objective. |
| B．Unconcerned. |
| C．Doubtful. |
| D．Ambiguous. |
【推荐3】How fit are your teeth? Are you lazy about brushing them? Never fear: An inventor is on the case. An electric toothbrush senses how long and how well you brush, and it lets you track your performance on your phone.
The Kolibree toothbrush was exhibited at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. It senses how it is moved and can send the information to an Android phone or iPhone via a Bluetooth wireless connection.
The toothbrush will be able to teach you to brush right (don’t forget the insides of the teeth!) and make sure you’re brushing long enough. “It’s kind of like having a dentist actually watch your brushing on a day-to-day basis,” says Thomas Serval, the French inventor.
The toothbrush will also be able to talk to other applications on your phone, so developers could, for instance, create a game controlled by your toothbrush. You could score points for beating monsters among your teeth. “We try to make it smart but also fun,” Several says.
Serval says he was inspired by his experience as a father. He would come home from work and ask his kids if they had brushed their teeth. They said “yes,” but Serval would find their toothbrush heads dry. He decided he needed a brush that really told him how well his children brushed.
The company says the Kolibree will go on sale this summer, for $99 to $199, developing on features. The U.S. is the first target market.
Serval says that one day, it’ll be possible to replace the brush on the handle with a brushing unit that also has a camera. The camera can even examine holes in your teeth while you brush.
1. Which is one of the feature of the Kolibree toothbrush?| A．It can sense how users brush their teeth. |
| B．It can track users’ school performance. |
| C．It can detect users’ fear of seeing a dentist. |
| D．It can help users find their phones. |
| A．You will find it enjoyable to see a dentist. |
| B．You should see your dentist on a day-to –day basis. |
| C．You can brush with the Kolibree as if guided by a dentist. |
| D．You’d like a dentist to watch you brush your teeth every day. |
| A．It can be used to update mobile phones. |
| B．It can be used to play mobile phone games |
| C．It can send messages to other users |
| D．It can talk to its developers. |
| A．How Serval found out his kids lied to him. |
| B．Why Serval thought brushing teeth was necessary. |
| C．How Serval taught his kids to brush their teeth. |
| D．What inspired Serval to invent the toothbrush |
| A．They were unwilling to brush their teeth |
| B．They often failed to clean their toothbrushes. |
| C．They preferred to use a toothbrush with a dry head. |
| D．They liked brushing their teeth after Serval came home. |
【推荐1】England’s iconic red telephone booths have fallen out of use with the rise of cellphones, but people are finding imaginative new ways to make use of the relics that have been part of the British landscape for about 80 years.
The British famously have trouble letting go of old things. So when the cellphone turned the classic phone booths into a waste of space, there was a problem: What to do with them? As nobody was using them, the phone company started removing them and putting them in what looks like a phone booth graveyards.
Tony Inglis ran a trucking firm that got the contract to remove the old phone booths, many of which had fallen into ruin. His job was just to collect them, but something happened.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do with them, but we just can’t let them go,” Inglis said.
So, Inglis started fixing them up. And - surprise - some people started buying them because they liked the old phone booths with their old-fashioned phones. But playing with old phones only went so far. These booths, as it turned out, had legs. Inglis has helped to make them show up around the country being put to all sorts of new uses. Local libraries found them handy places from which to run book exchanges. Other uses include a coffee shop, a hat stall, a salad bar, and even a disco. But perhaps the most funny use, a cellphone repair shop.
The things are already popular and few tourists come to town without the selfie in front of one of the ones that are still around. They’re a natural place to do business, and seem like an obvious opportunity to Eddie Ottewell, who started renting them out.
“The red phone boxes are not just iconic. They’re history. They’ve been through wars. They’ve been through everything,” Eddie Ottewell said. These weren’t just phone booths. They were cultural signposts. In fact, they can’t go away. They have been protected as historically significant. Just as well, for they now have other uses.
1. What put the red telephone booths out of use in England?| A．Their high repair costs. | B．Their inability to provide good services. |
| C．The popularity of cellphones. | D．The growth in people’s living standard. |
| A．get the old phone booths to work well | B．keep people’s memory of the old phones |
| C．have his company running normally | D．give the phone booths new functions |
| A．Local tourism. | B．School education. |
| C．Daily communication. | D．Scientific invention. |
| A．Red telephone booths quit the British history stage. |
| B．Red telephone booths witness the British history. |
| C．British red telephone booths get a second life. |
| D．British red telephone booths are well protected. |
【推荐2】Sony has a new device for anyone who’s ever wished they could carry their air conditioner on hot summer days.
Called Reon Pocket, the small, lightweight gadget slides into the upper back pocket of a specially designed T-shirt. Controlled with a smart phone app, it’s capable of heating or cooling the wearer via the Peltier effect, a thermodynamic principle widely used in refrigeration.
The Reon Pocket comes out of Sony’s startup acceleration program, and Sony is currently crowdfunding (众筹) the device. Supporters can choose from a few different packages, if they want multiple T-shirts for instance, but a basic one including the device and one shirt costs ￥14, 080. There’s a catch, though: Sony only has plans to release the Reon Pocket in Japan at present.
According to a spokesperson, the target audience is mostly businessmen who have to wear a suit in the summer, though the company says it will judge its wider relevance based on the crowdfunding results. Right now, though, the T-shirts available come in men’s sizes, small, medium, or large.
The device is not really for all-day use so much as moving between air-conditioned or heated areas, such as during the commute to work. The battery takes around two hours to charge and lasts about 90 minutes.
With the Reon Pocket, Sony joins the ranks of those working on temperature-regulating clothing. On the more tech-forward end are examples such as French label Courreges, which debuted coats with built-in heaters a few years ago, and the US Army, which is experimenting with conductive fabrics that can generate heat in extreme cold. More commonplace examples include Uniqlo, which has been successful with its Heattech and Airism underlayers, and a number of brands making shirts meant to offer the comfort and sweat-wicking properties of athletic wear.
In a blog post from Sony’s startup accelerator, Yoichi Ito, a project leader on Reon Pocket, said people have become increasingly focused on functionality and comfort in their clothing. In 2017, his team started thinking of ways they could blend technology with fashion to reach those goals. Reon Pocket was the result.
Japanese buyers looking to battle the record heat this summer will have to wait, though. If the crowdfunding is successful, deliveries of the device are scheduled to begin in March 2020.
1. What is necessary to make it possible for Reon Pocket to work?| A．Wearers’ using the Peltier effect. |
| B．A T-shirt and a special smartphone. |
| C．A hot summer day and a special pocket. |
| D．A special T-shirt and a smartphone app. |
| A．Benefit. | B．Popularity. | C．Disadvantage. | D．Capture. |
| A．The device battery is not efficient enough. |
| B．The T-shirt for the gadget is too expensive. |
| C．Crowdfunding is not decided at the moment. |
| D．The T-shirt is not available for both men and women. |
| A．Functionality and comfort in clothing are increasingly appealing. |
| B．Reon Pocket will come into the market in March 2020 at all events. |
| C．Sony is the first company to invent the temperature-regulating clothing. |
| D．The comfort and sweat-wicking properties of athletic wear helps athletes to win. |
【推荐3】In 2050, dining at your favourite restaurant is likely to be a different experience.
For your starter, you’ll tuck into a Caesar salad containing protein-rich mealworms instead of chicken. Next, your android waiter 2.0 will bring over the mouth-watering main course; a meaty burger that has been grown in a Petri dish (有盖培养皿). Then, if you still have room for dessert, you’ll choose from a range of sweet treats that have been designed on a computer and printed directly onto the plate.
These unconventional dishes may seem stomach-churning to us now, but in the future they could help to solve a global food crisis. Over the next 35 years, the world’s population is expected to exceed nine billion, meaning an extra two billion hungry mouths to feed. To fulfill this demand, the amount of food we grow will need to increase by 70 percent, but with billions of its inhabitants already undernourished, this is going to be a major challenge.
Today’s global food industry is already unsustainable, so scientists will need to step in more to help. By genetically modifying the plants we grow, not only can the more vulnerable species be made able to withstand harsher environment, but the hardier species that can survive could also be made more nutritious to ensure we all get enough vitamins and minerals.
Although growing fruit and vegetables generates a great deal of greenhouse gas, it is livestock production that is the biggest contributor to global emissions. Demand for meat brings negative consequences for our planet, so something needs to be done very soon. One simple solution to the problem is to eat less meat, but for a mostly carnivorous (食肉的) global population, this idea is unlikely to catch on. Therefore, tasty alternatives need to be found.
Instead of packets and tins, your local supermarket will sell ingredients in cartridges that you can load into your 3D printer at home. Then, with a press of a button, you can sit back and relax while the machine builds a delicious dish—layer by layer—that is sure to impress your dinner party guests.
1. What might be served in the future restaurant according to the passage?| A．Beef burgers without calories. | B．Delicious vegetarian dishes. |
| C．Popular hand-made cakes. | D．Bread made using insect flour. |
| A．To provide nutrition for people around the world. |
| B．To decrease the farmlands being used in the planet. |
| C．To balance food supply and demand. |
| D．To feed the extra two billion hungry mouths. |
| A．Drops cultivation—gas emission—climate changes—more crops. |
| B．Genetical modification—better adaptation—more nutrition. |
| C．Livestock—minor influence—less consequence—remain unchanged. |
| D．Less meat lovers—more tasty choices—more food changes. |
| A．Hi-tech farms. | B．Lab-grown meat. |
| C．Genetically modified food. | D．3D-printed meals. |
