Forget chip fat, sugar cane or rapeseed oil — the latest source of biofuel could be watermelons. Scientists have discovered that the fruit is a great source of sugar that can be readily distilled (蒸餾) into alcohol to power cars and farm machinery.
And sellers reject 360,000 tons of “substandard” fruit every year in America alone which could be used as an economical way to make fuel. The waste from US growers could produce nearly two million gallons (nine million litres) of biofuel per year.
In the study, researchers at the United States Department of Agriculture set out to determine the biofuel potential of juice from rejected watermelons —those not sold due to cosmetic imperfections, and currently ploughed back into the field. About a fifth of each yearly watermelon crop is left in the field because of surface blemishes (瑕疵) or because they are misshapen.
Dr. Wayne Fish, who led the team, found that 50 percent of the fruit was fermentable (可發(fā)酵的) into alcohol which could provide valuable fuel.
“We’ve shown that the juice of these watermelons is a source of readily fermentable sugars, representing an unexploited raw material for alcohol biofuel production,” he said.
The study, published in the journal Biotechnology for Biofuels, discovered that watermelons could produce around 20 gallons of fuel per acre from fruit that otherwise would go to waste.
Production of biofuels has been targeted by Western governments as a way to support renewable energy targets.
The European Union has a target for 2010 that 5.75 percent of transport fuels should come from biological sources, but the target is unlikely to be met.
The British government’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation requires five percent of the fuel sold at the pump by 2010 to be biofuel.
小題1:The passage mainly tells us ______.
A.watermelon juice will be the largest source of renewable energy
B.the advantages of fuel made from watermelons
C.Western countries aim at producing biofuels
D.watermelons could be used to make fuel
小題2: It can be learned from the text that ______.
A.a(chǎn)bout two gallons of fuel could be made from rejected fruit per acre
B.sellers in the world throw away 360,000 tons of watermelons every year
C.half of the watermelons were fermentable into alcohol to provide energy
D.five percent of fuel is required to be biofuel from watermelons by 2010 in Britain
小題3:The underlined word “cosmetic” in Paragraph 3 probably means ______.
A.freshB.sweetC.surfaceD.inside
小題4:We can infer from the passage that ______.
A.it will cost a lot to make biofuel from watermelons
B.Western countries are engaged in biofuel study but still have a long way to go
C.watermelon juice has been used as a source of sugars to produce alcohol biofuel
D.the European Union is likely to meet its target of transport fuels from biological sources
小題1:D
小題2:C
小題3:C
小題4:B
小題1 這篇文章主要講的是西瓜可以被用來(lái)當(dāng)做燃料。A、B答案不完全 C應(yīng)該是“The European Union has a target for 2010 that 5.75 percent of transport fuels should come from biological sources”目標(biāo)是實(shí)現(xiàn)運(yùn)輸燃料來(lái)自生物源。
小題2  A原文倒數(shù)第二段watermelons could produce around 20 gallons of fuel per acre;
B第二段第一句話sellers reject 360,000 tons of “substandard” fruit every year而不是throw away;C正確原文第四段found that 50 percent of the fruit was fermentable  into alcohol which could provide valuable fuel.;D在原文最后一段意思與原文不符。
小題3 通過(guò)后面“is left in the field because of surface blemishes (瑕疵) or because they are misshapen.”可知文章是說(shuō)由于外表有瑕疵,故為C
小題4 原文倒數(shù)第二段說(shuō)“but the target is unlikely to be met”故C、D錯(cuò)誤;文章第二段可找出專家使用“substandard”fruit,這是一種經(jīng)濟(jì)的方式,故A錯(cuò)誤;B是說(shuō)西方國(guó)家所從事的生物燃料研究仍有很長(zhǎng)的路要走。
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科目:高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解

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科目:高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解

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閱讀下列短文,從每題所給的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)中(A、B、C和 D)中,選出最佳選項(xiàng),并在答題卡上將該項(xiàng)涂黑。
A
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根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容,從短文后的選項(xiàng)中選出能填入空白處的最佳選項(xiàng)。選項(xiàng)中有兩項(xiàng)為多余選項(xiàng)。
Recently some American scientists have given a useful piece of advice to people in industrialized nations. They say people should eat more of the same kind of food eaten by humans living more than 10,000 years ago. ___小題1:___
The scientists say that the human life has changed greatly. Our bodies have not been able to deal with these changes in lifestyle and this had led to new kinds of sickness. ___小題2:___ So they are called “disease of civilization”. Many cancers and diseases of the blood system are examples of such diseases.
Scientists noticed that people in both the Old Stone Age and the New Stone Age enjoyed very little alcohol or tobacco, probably none. __小題3:___ However, a change in food is one of the main differences between life in ancient times and that of day.
Stone Age people hunted wild animals for their meat, which had much less fat than domestic ones. They ate a lot of fresh wild vegetables and fruits. They did not have milk or any other dairy product, and they made very little use of grains.
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A.These new sicknesses were not known in ancient times.
B.People today probably don’t want to live the way people thousands of years ago did.
C.Ancient people also lived in large groups.
D.But today, we eat a lot of these.
E. Ancient people also got a great deal of physical exercise.
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G. People today probably live the same life as people thousands of years ago did.

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Needless to say, exercise is crucial to weight loss. You can’t expect to sit on the sofa all day, sip water and lose weight. Join a good gym that lets you work with weights. It will help you build muscle and your metabolism rate will increase. You’ll soon see the fat come off and in its place muscle will develop.
●Smaller bowls
It’s better to substitute the huge bowls you usually use for small ones – when food starts to fall off, you’ll know it’s enough. Try to get these new bowls in dark colors. Dark blue will be your best choice since it is the number one color that fights off the appetite. Avoid red/orange/yellow colors in your dining area – they are the ones making your appetite go sky high.
●Read between lines
Food and drink products are all out to get you. They scream “Buy me! Buy me!” They could be “fat free” but they could still have a lot of calories. You need to analyze the nutrition label on the cover. Find out what’s good for you and what isn’t. Knowing in advance can help you stay away from products that are calorie-enriched.
●Don’t punish yourself
Go easy on yourself at least one day in a week. If you begin to dislike your diet then there’s something wrong. Find a diet that suits your body type and your lifestyle.
小題1:According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
A.If you are on a diet, you should always keep to your diet.
B.Use smaller bowls can help you eat less food.
C.Skipping breakfast is not a wise way to lose weight.
D.Reading the nutrition label on drink and food products is helpful.
小題2:If you are going to run a restaurant, which colors will you choose to paint the dining area?
A.black and yellowB.gray and white
C.red and orangeD.blue and purple
小題3: Which of the following belongs to “weights” mentioned in the text?
A.beamB.shotC.barbellD.badminton
小題4:In order to lose weight quickly, you can do the following except_____.
A.drinking juice instead of water
B.working with weights to build muscle
C.buying products that are not calorie-enriched
D.eating proper amount of food

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