随堂训练
1
(2015·嘉兴二模)
While other countries debate whether to fix wind turbines(涡轮机)offshore or in distant areas, Denmark is building them right in its capital. Three windmills(风车)were recently introduced in a Copenhagen neighbourhood, and the city plans to add another 97.
“We’ve made a very ambitious commitment to make Copenhagen CO2-neutral by 2025, ”Frank Jensen, the mayor, says. “But going green isn’t only a good thing. It’s a must. ”The city’s carbon-neutral plan, passed two years ago, will make Copenhagen the world’s first zero-carbon capital.
With wind power making up 33% of Denmark’s energy supply, the country already features plenty of wind turbines. Indeed, among the first sights greeting airborne visitors during the landing at Copenhagen’s Kastrup airport is a chain of sea-based wind towers. By 2020, the windswept country plans to get 50% of its energy from wind power.
Now turbines are moving into the city and these ones will cost less than half the price of those sea-based. Having the energy production closer makes it cheaper, and land-based turbines are the cheapest possible source of energy available today. Fixing them also makes the locals more aware of their energy consumption.
Though considerably less attractive than it was in ancient times, the windmill is enjoying popularity in the 21st century. “Windmills are a symbol of the new and clean Copenhagen, ”says resident Susanne Sayers. Meanwhile, fellow Copenhagen citizen Maria Andersen worries about the noise, explaining that she wouldn’t want a wind turbine in her neighbourhood. While Copenhagen citizens approve of the windmills, they’re less willing to live close to one. The answer, the city has decided, is to sell turbine shares.
Each share represents 1, 000 kW hours/year, with the profit tax-free. With a typical Copenhagen household consuming 3, 500 kW hours/year, a family buying four shares effectively owns its own renewable energy supply. To date, 500 residents have bought 2, 500 shares. Involving the local population was a smart move. “There are a lot of things you can do close to people if it’s not too big and if there’s a model where locals feel involved and get to share in the profit. Knowing that you, or your neighbours, own a technology creates a very different atmosphere than if a multinational owned it, ”says Vad Mathiesen.
Going green? Yes. Accepted by the population? Yes. Going with centuries-old city architecture? Hardly.
Certainly, the three turbines don’t exactly blight the 18th-century city centre, as they are in a neighbourhood 3 km away. According to the mayor’s office, none of the remaining 97 turbines will rise in architecturally sensitive areas. But Sascha Haselmayer, CEO of city creation group Citymart, warns, “With Denmark being a world-leading producer of windmills, there is a risk that the answer to every energy question is windmills. ”
“We’ve destroyed mountains and lakes in order to support our lifestyle, ”notes Irena Bauman, an architect and professor at Sheffield University. “Wind turbines are a sign that we’re learning to live with nature. I hope we’ll have them all over the world, ”she says. “They may be unpleasant to some, but better-looking ones will come. It’s just that we don’t have time to wait for them! ”
【文章大意】本文讲述的是丹麦首都哥本哈根建造风车发电来减少碳的排放, 以倡导绿色的生活方式。
1. Denmark has decided to build windmills in its capital mainly to______.
A. make windmills its cultural symbol
B. advocate an environmentally-friendly lifestyle
C. take advantage of its limited wind power
D. greet tourists coming to Copenhagen by plane
【解析】选B。细节理解题。根据第二段可知, 丹麦在首都哥本哈根建风车主要是为了减少碳的排放量, 倡导一种环境友好型的生活方式。
2. How has the city of Copenhagen persuaded its people to accept the windmills around their homes?
A. By promising them that all their income is free of tax.
B. By designing less noisy windmills to ease their worries.
C. By convincing them that land-based turbines are much cheaper.
D. By offering them the chance to get the profit the windmills bring.
【解析】选D。推理判断题。根据第六段可知, 哥本哈根说服居民接受在他们家的周围建风车, 通过让居民获得风车带来的利润来实现。
3. The underlined word “blight”(Paragraph 8)is closest in meaning to______.
A. spoil B. improve C. pollute D. occupy
【解析】选A。词义猜测题。根据第七段Going with centuries-old city architecture? Hardly. 可知, 作者提出了一个疑问: 这些风车会不会影响中心城市的建筑, 破坏建筑? 又根据最后一段We’ve destroyed mountains and lakes in order to support our lifestyle可知是不会的, 所以画线的单词接近于“破坏, 毁坏”之意, 与spoil是近义词。
4. Sascha Haselmayer’s attitude to building windmills can best be described as________
A. disapproving
B. unconcerned
C. cautious
D. enthusiastic
【解析】选C。观点态度题。根据第八段Sascha Haselmayer所说的话. . . there is a risk that the answer to every energy question is windmills可以看出他对于建立风车的态度是谨慎的。
5. Which of the following words would Irena Bauman most probably agree with?
A. “It benefits us more to fit wind turbines in cities than in mountain areas or by lakes. ”
B. “We should sell more wind turbines to other countries to make us one of the richest. ”
C. “We should devote more time to developing the wind turbines that go with the city. ”
D. “It’s not what wind turbines look like but how we live that really matters at present. ”
【解析】选D。推理判断题。根据最后一段Irena Bauman所说的话可知, 她认为风车是一个我们人类学会和自然和谐相处的标志, 现在我们应该在意我们的生活方式而不是将注意力放在风车应该是什么样子或建成什么样子。
2
Some parents of elementary school students in America are receiving letters about their children’s weight. If a child is found to have a weight problem, his parents will get a letter from the school informing them that their child could be overweight.
And what do students call these notes? “Fat letters. ”
Kids already have to put up with being frightened or hurt by other kids at school. Now they also have to protect themselves from insults from the adults who work in those schools.
Don’t they think that parents know whether their children are overweight? Do we really want to encourage a trend we already see: children going on diets? According to a study by Duke University, more than 40% of 9-and 10-year-old girls have gone on a diet.
In Massachusetts, state lawmakers are considering a bill that bans schools from collecting students’ weight information.
Many public school educators actually consider themselves to be more enlightened(开明的)than the rest of us. That’s why they have spent so much time insisting that we must not label children over their academic performance. They had a point. Schools have been putting labels on students since before the invention of blackboards. Students who might have once been labeled “lazy” simply became “uninterested”. Immigrant students who were once considered “limited English proficient(熟练的)”became “English learners”.
My wife is a former teacher. She works with students who have difficulty in reading and spelling. The kinds of students she helps were once said to have a “learning disability”. We don’t say that anymore. Today, acknowledging that human beings process information in a variety of ways, we say that these kids have a “learning difference”.
There you go. Academically, the enlightened view nowadays is that all students are different, that their brains are all wired in unique ways, and that it’s wrong to try to assess them with a one-size-fits-all standard to determine who is intelligent and who isn’t. It is agreed that children’s brains come in all shapes and sizes.
So why not be really enlightened and learn to think the same way about children’s bodies?
【文章大意】本文是议论文。作者就学校给家长寄“胖信”发表了自己的看法。
1. The underlined word“insults”in Paragraph 3 probably means______.
A. rude remarks
B. unhealthy foods
C. dangerous actions
D. unfair judgements
【解析】选A。词义猜测题。根据本段中的being frightened or hurt及学校给家长邮寄包含孩子体重信息的信件不难推测, 作者认为学校工作人员可能会对有肥胖困扰的孩子“说一些伤害他们的话”。
2. According to the text, what may happen if fat letters become popular?
A. Stopping children’s secrets from being revealed will become a law.
B. Parents will realize their children’s weight problem early.
C. People will pay more and more attention to their children’s weight.
D. More and more children will eat less to get thinner.
【解析】选D。推理判断题。根据第四段可知, 如果“胖信”流行开来, 可能会使越来越多的孩子节食减肥。
3. The author mentions his wife’s work to______.
A. prove learning disabilities don’t exist
B. show the importance of teachers’ work
C. explain the meaning of learning differences
D. suggest people differ widely in varied ways
【解析】选D。推理判断题。根据倒数第二段的开头可推测, 作者在倒数第三段介绍妻子的工作是为了引出“人们各有不同”的观点。
4. What is the author’s attitude towards fat letters?
A. Uncaring.
B. Disapproving.
C. Doubtful.
D. Respectful.
【解析】选B。推理判断题。通读全文, 尤其是第三、四段及最后一段内容不难推测, 作者反对学校寄“胖信”的做法。