Question

Electric cars are dirty. In fact, not only are they dirty, they might even be more dirty than their gasoline-powered cousins.

People in California love to talk about “zero-emissions(排放) vehicles”, but people in California seem to be clueless about where electricity comes from. Power plants mostly use fire to make it. Aside from the new folks who have their roofs covered with solar cells, we get our electricity from generators(发电机). Generators are fueled by something--usually coal, oil, but also by heat generated in nuclear power plants. There are a few wind farms and geothermal

(地热) plants as well, but by far we get electricity mainly by burning something.

In other words, those "zero-emissions" cars are likely coal-burning cars. It’s just because the coal is burned somewhere else, it looks clean. It is not. It's as if the California Greens are covering their eyes—“If I can't see it, it's not happening.” Gasoline is an incredibly efficient way to power a vehicle; a gallon of gas has a lot of energy in it. But when you take that gas (or another fuel) and first use it to make electricity, you waste a nice part of that energy, mostly in the form of wasted heat—at the generator, through the transmission lines, etc.

A gallon of gas may propel your car 25 miles. But the electricity you get from that gallon of gas won't get you nearly as far—so electric cars burn more fuel than gasoline-powered ones. If our electricity came mostly from nukes or geothermal, or hydro or wind or solar, then an electric car truly would be clean. But for political, technical, and economic reasons, we don't use much of those energy sources.

In addition, electric cars' batteries which are poisonous for a long time will eventually end up in a landfill. And finally, when cars are the polluters, the pollution is spread across all the roads. When it's a power plant, though, all the junk is in one place. Nature is very good at cleaning up when things are too concentrated, but it takes a lot longer when all the garbage is in one spot.

1.What does “clueless” mean in paragraph 2?

A. People see the California Greens everywhere.

B. People there have no idea that so far electricity mainly comes from burning coal, oil, etc.

C. People in California love to have their roofs covered with solar cells.

D. People in California love to talk about zero-emissions vehicles.

2.What is the main idea of the text?

A. Electric cars are not clean at all.

B. Electric cars are better than gasoline-powered ones.

C. People cast doubts on electric cars’ batteries.

D. Gasoline is an efficient way to power a vehicle.

3.The electricity we get from a gallon of gas may make our car run ________.

A. not less than 25 miles    B. as far as 50 miles

C. as far as 25 miles    D. not more than 25 miles

4.According to the text, electric cars ________.

A. are more environmentally friendly

B. burn more fuel than gas-powered ones

C. are very good at cleaning up when things are not too concentrated

D. are poisonous for a long time and will eventually end up in a landfill

5.It can be inferred from the text that ________.

A. being green is good and should be encouraged in communication

B. electric cars are now the dominant vehicle compared with gasoline-powered cousins

C. zero-emissions vehicles should be chosen to protect our environment

D. electric cars are not clean because we get electricity mainly by burning something

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.D

4.B

5.D

【解析】本文是一篇科普类阅读。电动车真的没有污染吗？实际上并不是这样的，电动车比现在的汽油车可能会导致更多的污染，因为它所使用的电主要是靠燃烧煤炭来产生的。

1.词义猜测题。根据文章第二段People in California love to talk about “zero-emissions(排放) vehicles”, but people in California seem to be clueless about where electricity comes from.说明，加利福尼亚的人喜欢谈论零排放的汽车，但是加利福尼亚的人似乎对电的来源不清楚。再根据本段最后一句There are a few wind farms and geothermal(地热) plants as well, but by far we get electricity mainly by burning something.可知，该词应该指“不清楚，不理解电动车所需要的电主要来自于火力发电”。故选B。

2.主旨大意题。根据文章第一句Electric cars are dirty. In fact, not only are they dirty, they might even be more dirty than their gasoline-powered cousins.说明，电动车一点也不环保，有可能更脏。故选A。

3.细节理解题。根据第四段中A gallon of gas may drive your car 25 miles. But the electricity you get from that gallon of gas won't get you nearly as far说明，一加仑汽油可能让你的汽车跑25英里，但用一加仑汽油发出来的电则不能让你的电动汽车跑25英里，也就是不超过25英里，故选D。

4.细节理解题。根据文章倒数第二段But the electricity you get from that gallon of gas won't get you nearly as far— so electric cars burn more fuel than gasoline-powered ones.可知，电动车消耗的能源比汽油车要多。故选B。

5.推理判断题。根据文章第二段内容可知，电动车所需要的电，是需要通过燃烧煤炭等自然资源的，所以电动车并不如人们所认为的那样清洁无污染。故选D。