Electric cars may seem like a recent invention, but they’ve been around for years. In the early 1900s, there were more electric cars on the road than there were petrol（汽油）cars. At that time, petrol was expensive compared with other fuels（燃料）. When petrol prices dropped and new technologies were developed, electric cars went out of fashion. Instead, petrol cars became more popular because they could travel longer distances without stopping.
During the 20th century, petrol cars got bigger, heavier and faster. They needed more fuel, and it caused more air pollution. For years, car makers didn’t worry about pollution. They didn’t worry about the amount of petrol cars’ use, either. But when people began to realize that there was not enough oil on the earth, they asked car makers to produce more efficient（高效能的）and less polluting cars.
One method of solving the problem was a “hybrid” car（混合动力车）, one that ran partly on petrol and partly on electricity. Hybrid cars became popular in the 2000s when petrol prices went up and the prices of hybrid cars went down.
An all-electric car uses no petrol. The problem, however, is that car batteries（电池）need to be recharged（再充电）. That makes electric cars not so useful for long journeys.
Many people are not pleased with it. The government and car makers are working together to develop safe, cheap and useful electric cars. When people have these cars in the future, a petrol station may be a thing of the past.
1. Electric cars went out of fashion because ________.| A．petrol oil was more expensive | B．new technologies were developed |
| C．they were more popular than petrol cars | D．they were invented recently |
| A．can protect the environment | B．can cause less pollution |
| C．can save more petrol oil | D．need more fuel than electric cars |
| A．Petrol cars. | B．Electric cars. | C．Hybrid cars. | D．Shared cars. |
| A．all-electric cars don’t need petrol | B．all-electric cars have a long history |
| C．all-electric cars can travel long distances | D．all-electric cars don’t use batteries |
| A．all-electric cars will use less petrol oil |
| B．electric cars will take the place of petrol cars |
| C．more petrol stations will be set up in the future |
| D．there will be more and more petrol cars in the future |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Japan recently showed the world’s first Dual-Mode Vehicle (DMV), a mini-bus-like train which runs both on roads, like a bus, and on rails, like a train.
It looks just like a bus but it definitely makes an impression in terms of practical use. It runs with normal rubber tires (轮胎) on the road. But when it needs to become the train mode, the front tires will be lifted up, and the back wheels stay down to push the vehicle. The change from bus to train takes only about 15 seconds.
“The DMV can work as a bus and run onto the railway as well,” Shigeki Miura, CEO of As a Coast Railway, told Reuters. “We expect it to help many old people in the countryside. We also hope it can attract tourists with its many beautiful colors.”
It can carry up to 21 passengers and run at a speed of 60 km/h in train mode, and up to 100 km/h as a bus.
Shigeki Miura also told the news reporter confidently that the special vehicle could help small towns like Kaiyo with an aging and shrinking (减少的) population. In these places, it is more and more difficult for conventional (传统的) transportation companies to make money. In the near future, many more DMVs will connect several towns, covering part of the coast of Shikoku island and offering passengers pretty seaside views.
1. According to the passage, DMV is ________.| A．a strange bus | B．a new car | C．a mini-bus-like train |
| A．30 km/h. | B．60 km/h. | C．100 km/h. |
| A．It is useful and helpful. | B．It is big and popular. | C．It is safe and cheap. |
| A．produce some rubbish | B．help old people in the city | C．connect several towns |
| A．Travel in Shikoku Island |
| B．A Beautiful Small Japanese Town |
| C．The World’s First Dual-Mode Vehicle |
【推荐2】The earth is our home. We must take care of it. Life today is easier but there are some new problems. One of the biggest problems is pollution. Pollution comes in many forms. It is beginning to harm our health and even our life.
Many years ago, the problem was not so serious because there weren’t so many people. In other words, the more people, the more pollution. Now man is slowly polluting the whole world.
Air pollution is still the most serious. It’s not good for living things in the world.
Many countries don’t let people burn anything bad for air in houses and factories in the city. Pollution by SO2 is now the most dangerous pollution. It’s partly caused by heavy traffic. People say it’s best to ride bicycles. When you are riding, there is no pollution. But even in developed countries, most people don’t go to work by bicycle. It’s not because bicycles are expensive or people are tired if they ride to work. It’s because cars are more convenient (方便的), so more people go to work by car, and then the situation is getting worse and worse. In my opinion, we can make it difficult and expensive for drivers to drive their cars into the city. They will go back to use their bicycles.
1. From the passage, life today is easier but there are some new problems, and one of the biggest problems is _________.| A．food | B．pollution | C．traffic |
| A．serious | B．light | C．simple |
| A．Rubbish. | B．Water. | C．Air. |
| A．Because bicycles are expensive. |
| B．Because cars are more convenient. |
| C．Because cars are cheap. |
| A．Taking a car. | B．Taking a bus. | C．Riding a bicycle. |
【推荐3】Many people like to travel by plane, but I don't like it because an airport is usually far from the city. You have to get there early and wait for hours for the plane to take off and it is often late. You can't open the windows. You can't choose the food. Planes are fast, but they still take hours to go out of the airport and into the city.
I like traveling by train. I think trains are safe. Railway stations are usually in cities. When you are late for a train, you can catch another one. You can walk around in the train and open the windows. You can see many interesting things on your way. I know it takes a little more time.
I also like cars. You can start your journey when you want to, and you don't need to get to a railway station or a bus stop. Also you can carry many things with you in a car. But sometimes there are too many cars on the road.
1. Which is NOT the good thing about the train?| A．It is safe. | B．It takes a little more time. |
| C．You can open the windows. | D．You can walk around in the train. |
| A．You needn't go to a station. | B．You can start your journey when you want to. |
| C．There are too many cars on the road. | D．You needn't go to a bus stop. |
| A．He thinks it takes a lot of time to go to and get out of the airport. |
| B．He likes to take a train because it takes a little more time. |
| C．He likes to take a car because he has a car. |
| D．He likes to take a plane because it's fast. |
 Beijing holds the 2022 Winter Olympics in February. It makes Beijing the first city to hold both the summer and winter games. There will be seven winter sports and let’s learn some of them. Figure skating. It started in Britain in the 18th century. In a pair event, skaters show lots of amazing movements along with nice music. It looks as if they are dancing on ice. Its beauty makes lots of people fall in love with it and enjoy it most. |  Snowboarding. Under the sport of skiing, it started in America in the 1990s. The players have to show their skiing skills and race down the snow-covered hill as fast as possible. |
 Ice hockey. It is a flexible(灵活的) and fast team sport. It draws big crowds at the Winter Olympics. The men’s ice hockey has been on the program since 1924 and the women’s started in 1998. Each match has three 20-minute parts with two 15-minute breaks. |  Luge. It is the fastest of the three sliding(滑行) sports (bobsleigh, luge and skeleton) in this event. Inside the stadium, the rider lies on the back on a tiny luge and races down at the speed of about 140 km/h. |
| A．science | B．sports | C．health | D．education |
| A．luge | B．ice hockey | C．snowboarding | D．figure skating |
| A．Luge is the most dangerous outdoor winter sport. |
| B．The women’s ice hockey started in 1924. |
| C．A player shows skiing skills in snowboarding. |
| D．Figure skating started in Russian in the 18th century. |
【推荐2】Let's say you took violin lessons all through primary school, but you haven't got the instrument out of its case in years. Were all those lessons a waste of your parents' money because you didn't become a great violinist?
Not at all. Even though it has been a long time since you played the violin, a new study shows that as little as one year of music training can have a positive influence on your brain that will last the rest of your life.
In an experiment comparing children who had taken music lessons to those who hadn't. Laurel Trainor, a researcher of the Institute for Music and the Mind at Ontario's McMaster University, discovered that the musically-trained kids had larger brain responses to the sound recognition exams. Trainor's findings show the possibility that musical education can actually improve the brain's hearing cortex (大脑皮层). “The study's results show that music training affects attention and memory, and helps children develop learning skills. In this way music training might lead to better learning across a number of fields," Trainor said in a statement. The effects of music education are even more obvious on children with difficulty in reading and writing and other language-related disabilities.
The study's results point out that “musical training influences attention and memory, which makes a possibility that musical training might lead to better learning across a number of fields," Trainor said in a report.
The effects of music training are even more easily seen in children with difficulties in language. “A music training that can strengthen the hearing skills of children who have difficulty in reading may also help improve some of their language abilities," said Gottfried Schlaug, who has also studied music training and learning.
So, whether or not you can play a Tchaikovsky symphony part, it's likely that your years of music lessons prepared your brain for all the speeches, emails, and conversations that are part of your life today. To help make sure that kids today have the same chances for music-inspired (激发) brain development, help out by volunteering with or giving away instruments to your school's music training department.
1. What does the writer think of taking violin lessons in primary school?| A．It doesn't help develop children's interest in music. | B．It seems to be a waste of parents' money. |
| C．One year of music training is not enough. | D．It'll influence you positively all your life. |
| A．Musical education can actually improve the brain's hearing cortex. |
| B．Music training has little effect on children's attention and memory. |
| C．Children with difficulty in language also benefit from music education. |
| D．Children who have larger brain cortex can learn music better. |
| A．Music training has nothing to do with abilities in other fields. |
| B．Music training is more important than other fields. |
| C．Music training makes it more difficult to learn other fields. |
| D．Music training can help children learn other fields better. |
| A．To tell people the importance of musical education. | B．To advertise for musical training schools. |
| C．To introduce the newest research and findings. | D．To explain how to develop your brain. |
【推荐3】When you are waiting for a bus at a station, a 31-meter-long bus is coming to you. You must be surprised. In fact, the 31-metre-long bus is the longest bus in the world. And the bus comes from Germany. An ordinary (普通的) bus is only about 10-meter long and it can carry only 80 people once. But the longest bus can carry 256 people. So we will need less buses in the future. The longest bus can save energy, too. That’s to say, it will take less energy than an ordinary bus. Moreover, the driver can drive the longest bus as easily as an ordinary one.
However, firstly, it has to spend $10,000,000 to buy the longest bus. Someone jokes that we can buy a lot of ordinary buses with that money. Secondly, people think that it is hard for the longest bus to travel on the bustling streets. It may cause new traffic (交通) problems. Thirdly, it is easy for someone to get onto the bus without buying a ticket.
1. How long is the longest bus in the world?| A．10 meters. | B．25 meters. | C．31 meters. | D．40 meters. |
| A．80. | B．156. | C．256. | D．10,000,000. |
| A．繁忙的 | B．宽阔的 | C．长长的 | D．漂亮的 |
| A．In the US. | B．In China. | C．In Britain. | D．In Germany. |
| A．An ordinary bus is 10 meters long. |
| B．The driver drives the longest bus as easily as an ordinary one. |
| C．The longest bus needs less energy than an ordinary bus. |
| D．It is hard for someone to get onto the longest bus without buying a ticket. |
