Question

Batteries can power anything from small sensors to large systems．While scientists are finding ways to make them smaller but even more powerful, problems can arise when these batteries are much larger and heavier than the devices themselves．University of Missouri（MU） researchers are developing a nuclear energy source that is smaller, lighter and more efficient．

“To provide enough power, we need certain methods with high energy density（密度）”，said Jae Kwon, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at MU．“The radioisotope（放射性同位素） battery can provide power density that is much higher than chemical batteries．”

Kwon and his research team have been working on building a small nuclear battery, presently the size and thickness of a penny, intended to power various micro / nanoelectromechanical systems （M/NEMS）．Although nuclear batteries can cause concerns, Kwon said they are safe．

“People hear the word ‘nuclear’ and think of something very dangerous,” he said, “However, nuclear power sources have already been safely powering a variety of devices, such as pace-makers, space satellites and underwater systems．”

His new idea is not only in the battery’s size, but also in its semiconductor（半导体）．Kwon’s battery uses a liquid semiconductor rather than a solid semiconductor．

“The key part of using a radioactive battery is that when you harvest the energy, part of the radiation energy can damage the lattice structure（晶体结构） of the solid semiconductor,” Kwon said, “By using a liquid semiconductor, we believe we can minimize that problem．”

Together with J．David Robertson, chemistry professor and associate director of the MU Research Reactor, Kwon is working to build and test the battery．In the future, they hope to increase the battery’s power, shrink its size and try with various other materials．Kwon said that battery could be thinner than the thickness of human hair

1.The text is most probably a ________．

A．science news report                   B．book review

C．newspaper ad                     D．science fiction

2.Liquid semiconductor is used to _________．

A．get rid of the radioactive waste

B．test the power of nuclear batteries

C．decrease the size of nuclear batteries

D．reduce the damage to lattice structure

3.According to Jae Kwon, his nuclear battery _______．

A．uses a solid semiconductor        B．will soon replace the present ones

C．could be extremely thin              D．has passed the final test

4.Jae Kwon gave examples in Paragraph 4_________．

A．to show chemical batteries are widely applied

B．to introduce nuclear batteries can be safely used

C．to describe a nuclear-powered system

D．to introduce various energy sources

Answer

1.A

2.D

3.C

4.B

【解析】

试题分析：本篇为科普短文，介绍由美国密苏里大学研究者所开发的核能电池的情况。这些科学家研发出高性能核电池 只略大于1美分硬币。

1.推理判断题。本文讲述了 Kwon 的原子能电池的有关情况，文章体裁应属于科普文章， 所以 A 项正确。

2.细节理解题。 根据第六段的句子：part of the radiation energy can damage the lattice structure(晶 体结构) of the solid semiconductor,”及“By using a liquid semiconductor, we believe we can minimize that problem.”可知，通过使用液态半导体材料，可减少对晶体结构的破坏。选D

3.细节理解题。根据 Kwon said that battery could be thinner than the thickness of human hair 可知这种原子能电池可以做的很薄，C 项正确。

4.细节理解题。根据文章第四段的句子：“However, nuclear power sources have already been safely powering a variety of devices, such as pace-makers, space satellites and underwater systems．”可知 Kwon 举例的目的是为了说明核能电池是安全性，选B

考点：考查科普类短文