Question

The behaviour of a building’s users may be at least as important as its design when it comes to energy use, according to new research from the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC). The UK promises to reduce its carbon emissions (排放）by 80 percent by 2050, part of which will be achieved by all new homes being zero-carbon by 2016. But this report shows that sustainable building design on its own — though extremely important — is not enough to achieve such reductions: the behaviour of the people using the building has to change too.

The study suggests that the ways that people use and live in their homes have been largely ignored by existing efforts to improve energy efficiency，which instead focus on architectural and technological developments.

‘Technology is going to assist but it is not going to do everything,’ explains Katy Janda, a UKERC senior researcher, ‘consumption patterns of building users can defeat the most careful design.’ In other words, old habits die hard, even in the best-designed eco-home.

Another part of the problem is information. Households and bill-payers don’t have the knowledge they need to change their energy-use habits. Without specific information, it’s hard to estimate the costs and benefits of making different choices. Feedback (反馈） facilities, like smart meters and energy monitors，could help bridge this information gap by helping people see how changing their behaviour directly affects their energy use; some studies have shown that households can achieve up to 15 percent energy savings using smart meters.

Social science research has added a further dimension (方面），suggesting that individuals’ behaviour in the home can be personal and cannot be predicted —whether people throw open their windows rather than turn down the thermostat (恒温器) , for example.

Janda argues that education is the key. She calls for a focused programme to teach people about buildings and their own behaviour in them.

1.As to energy use, the new research from UKERC stresses the importance of________.

A. zero-carbon homes

B. the behaviour of building users

C. sustainable building design

D. the reduction of carbon emissions

2.The underlined word “which” in Paragraph 2 refers to “________.”

A. the ways       B. their homes

C. developments   D. existing efforts

3.What are Katy Janda’s words mainly about?

A. The importance of changing building users’ habits.

B. The necessity of making a careful building design.

C. The variety of consumption patterns of building users.

D. The role of technology in improving energy efficiency.

4.The information gap in energy use _______.

A. can be bridged by feedback facilities

B. affects the study on energy monitors

C. brings about problems for smart meters

D. will be caused by building users’ old habits

5.What does the dimension added by social science research suggest?

A. The social science research is to be furthered.

B. The education programme is under discussion.

C. The behaviour of building users is unpredictable.

D. The behaviour preference of building users is similar.

Answer

1.B

2.D

3.A

4.A

5.C

【解析】

试题分析：这是一篇科学叙述文，主要叙述来自UKERC的最新研究：房屋使用者对能源使用起着重要影响及介绍研究的内容。

1. behavior of a building’s users…important…when it comes to energy use.”当提及能源使用，房屋使用者的行为至少和房屋的设计一样重要。由此可知选B。

2. efforts”故选D。

3. Janda话的主要表达什么。根据Katy Janda定位到第三段，“Technology is going to assist but is not going to do everything，（科技打算帮助可它并不能做每件事）consumption patterns of building users can defeat the most careful design.（房屋使用者的消费形式可以打败最细心的设计）”。可知选A选项（改变房屋使用者的习惯的重要性）。

4. gap”定位到文中第四段第四行，由“Feedback facilities could help bridge this information gap ”可知A选项正确。bridge information gap意为“填平信息鸿沟”

5. that individuals’ behavior in the home can be personal and cannot be predicted”可知个人在家的行为不可预知。可知D选项正确。

考点:考查考生对科学研究报告内容的信息提取能力。