CORVALIJS. Ore.-- Engineers at Oregon Suite University have made a breakthrough in the performance of microbial (微生物的)fuel cells that can produce electricity directly from wastewater,opening the door to a future in which waste treatment plants not only will power themselves, but will sell extra electricity.
The new technology ,developed at OSU, can now produce 10 to 50 more times the electricity, per volume, than most oilier approaches using microbial fuel cells,and 100 times more electricity than some.
Researchers say this could eventually change the way that wastewater is treated all over the world, replacing the widely used “activated sludge (泥浆) ” process that has been in use for almost a century. The new approach would produce significant amounts of electricity while effectively cleaning the wastewater,
“If this technology works on a commercial scale the way we believe it will ,the treatment of wastewater could be a huge energy producer, not a huge energy cost.” said Hong Liu ,an associate professor in the OSU Department of Biological and Ecological Engineering. “This could have an impact around the world, save a great deal of money, provide better water treatment and promote energy sustainability.”
The biodegradable (能降解的)characteristics of wastewater, if developed to their full potential, could theoretically provide many times the energy that is now being used to process them, with no additional greenhouse emissions.
OSU researchers reported several years ago on the promise of this technology, but at that time the systems in use produced far less electrical power. With new concepts, the technology can now produce more than two kilowatts per cubic meter of liquid reactor volume.
The new system also works better than an alternative approach to creating electricity from wastewater, based on anacrobic (臭氧的)digestion that produces methane (甲烷).It treats the wastewater more effectively, and doesn’t have any of the environmental drawbacks of that technology, such as production of possible release of methane, a significant greenhouse gas.Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?
A.The treatment of wastewater is a huge energy cost. |
B.Wastewater is being treated differently over the world. |
C.Waste treatment plants have found a new way to power themselves. |
D.Microbial fuel cells will produce more electricity from wastewater. |
What can we learn about the new technology from the passage?
A.It can produce 100 times more electricity than any approach used today. |
B.Through it more electricity can be created and water can be cleaned better. |
C.It has already changed the way that wastewater is treated all over the world |
D.It has opened the door to put microbial fuel cells to productive use. |
What attitude does Professor Liu hold towards the new technology?
A. Supportive. B. Critical. C Unconcerned. D. Curious.According to the last paragraph, why does the new system work better than the alternative approach?
A.Because it is co-friendly and treats wastewater more effectively. |
B.Because it can make full use of anaerobic digestion producing methane. |
C.Because it may produce less methane than the alternative approach. |
D.Because it can produce 10 times the energy than the alternative approach. |
Most magazines, whether online or print, will include book reviews. However, most editors and staff writers are usually too busy to read books and review them themselves. Therefore, writing book reviews can be a great way to get started with a writing career. How do you write a great book review that will be sure to be noticed? Follow these tips to write a really interesting and unique book review.
Start with a description of the book. Many people that are reading your review may not know anything about the book you’re reviewing. Instead of making readers go find information on their own by searching for the book title, start out with a little description of the book. Make sure you avoid too long of a summary. Start with a short paragraph or so that hits all the major points but doesn’t give too much away. You don’t want to tell your readers everything about the book, because then they won’t have to read it at all. Just give enough information so your readers are interested in reading the book.
Be objective. Some magazines like to publish book reviews that are completely impersonal. This means that they want a review of the book that doesn’t share your opinion and that in which your opinion isn’t obvious from reading what you wrote. If you hated a book, it might not be a great book to review. You probably want to review books that you enjoyed. Avoid talking about how much you liked the book, however. You should not include your personal reaction to the book until the very end, where you include a sentence or two about whether or not you would recommend a book and to whom you would recommend it.
Look through a lens(镜头). A great way to get your review noticed is to look at a book through a specific lens. Read the book as a feminist(男女平等主义者)would, for example, and talk about what a feminist might say to applaud or criticize the book. You can choose any number of lenses, and feminism is just one choice. An economic lens, a family lens, the lens of a different nationality, or the lens of a child could all be interesting ways to look at a book. If you look at a book in this way, instead of just reading it and forming your own opinion, it will be much more interesting and marketable. This is especially the case if you look at a lens that relates to the subject of the magazine to which you are submitting. Feminist magazines love book reviews about books read through a feminist lens, for example, because it is appropriate to their readership.
Talk about the writer’s style. Another great way to write a book review is to talk about the writer’s style. Anyone can pick up a book and read the story, but it takes an experienced writer to note interesting things about another writer’s style and write about them intelligently. Furthermore, most people want to know if a book is easy or fun to read over whether or not the subject matter will interest them.For what purpose is the passage written?
A.To offer tips on writing book reviews. |
B.To give advice on reading books. |
C.To introduce writing styles. |
D.To comment on a book. |
If a writer thinks a book is worth reading, he’d better state it _________________.
A.in the title | B.in the first paragraph | C.as much as possible | D.at the final part |
The fourth paragraph is developed mainly by __________________.
A.analyzing causes | B.giving examples |
C.drawing comparisons | D.telling personal experiences |
Compared with ordinary readers, a skilled writer does better in _____________.
A.giving an objective description of a book |
B.looking at a book through a specific angle |
C.finding a book and understanding its story easily |
D.paying close attention to another writer’s style |
Below is a selection about interesting hotels.
Tayka Hotel de Sal
Where: Tahua, Bolivia
How much: About $95 a night
Why it’s cool: You’ve stayed at hotels made of brick or wood, but salt? That’s something few can claim. Tayka Hotel de Sal is made totally of salt – including the beds (though you’ll sleep on regular mattresses(床垫)and blankets). The hotel sits on the Salar de Uyuni, a prehistoric dried-up lake, which is the world’s biggest salt flat. Builders use the salt from the 4,633-square-mile flat to make the bricks, and glue them together with a paste(糊)of wet salt that hardens when it dries. When there is big rain, the owners just mix up more salt paste to strengthen the bricks.
Green Magic Nature Resort
Where: Vythiri, India
How much: About $240 a night
Why it’s cool: Taking a pulley(滑轮)-operated lift 86 feet to your treetop room is just the start of your adventure. As you look out of your open window – there is no glass! – you watch monkey and birds in the rain forest canopy(罩棚). Later you might test your fear of heights by crossing the handmade rope bridge to the main part of the hotel, or just sit on your bamboo bed and read. You don’t even have to come down for breakfast – the hotel will send it up on the pulley-drawn “elevator”.
Dog Bark Park Inn B&B
Where: Cottonwood, Idaho
How much: $92 a night
Why it’s cool: This doghouse isn’t just for the family pet. Sweet Willy is a 30-foot-tall dog with guest rooms in his belly. Climb the wooden stairs beside his hind leg to enter the door in his side. You can relax in the main bedroom, go up a few steps of the loft(阁楼)in Willy’s head, or hang out inside his nose. Although you have a full private bathroom in your quarters, there is also a toilet in the 12-foot-tall fire hydrant(消防栓)outside.
Gamirasu Cave Hotel
Where: Ayvali, Turkey
How much: Between $130 and $475 a night
Why it’s cool: This is caveman cool! Experience what it was like 5,000 years ago, when people lived in these mountain caves formed by volcanic ash. But your stay will be much more modern. Bathrooms and electricity provide what you expect from a modern hotel, and the white volcanic ash, called tufa, keeps the rooms cool, about 65·F in summer. (Don’t worry – there is heat in winter.)What is the similarity of the four hotels?
A.Being expensive. | B.Being comfortable. |
C.Being natural. | D.Being unique. |
What does the underlined words “Sweet Willy” refer to?
A.The name of a doghouse. |
B.The name of the hotel owner. |
C.The building of Dog Bark Park Inn B&B |
D.The name of the hotel owner’s pet dog. |
Which of the hotels gives you a feeling of living in the far past?
A. Tayka Hotel de Sal. B. Green Magic Nature Resort.
C. Dog Bark Park Inn B&B. D. Gamirasu Cave Hotel.
Sigmund Freud was one of the first scientists to make serious research of the mind. The mind is the collection of activities based in the brain that involve how we act, think, feel and reason.
He used long talks with patients and the study of dreams to search for the causes of mental and emotional problems. He also tried hypnosis(催眠术). He wanted to see whether putting patients into a sleep-like condition would help ease troubled minds. In most cases he found the effects only temporary.
Freud worked hard, although what he did might sound easy. His method involved sitting with his patients and listening to them talk. He had them talk about whatever they were thinking. All ideas, thoughts and anything that entered their mind had to be expressed. There could be no holding back because of fear or guilt.
Freud believed that all the painful memories of childhood lay buried in the unconscious self. This part of the mind he said contains wishes, desires and experiences too frightening to recognize.
He thought that if these memories could somehow be brought into the conscious mind, the patient would again feel the pain. But this time, the person would experience them as an adult. The patient would feel them, be able to examine them and, if successful, finally understand them.
Using this way, Freud reasoned, the pain and emotional pressure of the past would be greatly weakened. They would lose their hold over the person's physical health. Soon the patient would get better.
Many of Freud's theories about how the mind works also had strong sexual connections. These included what he saw as the repressed feelings of sons toward their mothers and daughters toward their fathers.
If nothing else, Freud's ideas were revolutionary. Some people rejected them. Many others came to accept them. But no one disputes his great influence on the science of mental health.How many methods did Sigmund Freud use to study the mind?
A.One. | B.Two. | C.Three. | D.Four. |
Sigmund Freud’s research was difficult because ______.
A.he had to work hard and have patients talk freely |
B.he had to live with people who had troubled minds |
C.he had to listen to unhappy stories of different people |
D.he had to give his patients a sense of security |
Sigmund Freud held the idea that the painful memories of childhood ______.
A.could be forgotten forever |
B.could have a life-long influence |
C.could become wises and desires |
D.could be understood unconsciously |
If an adult parent feels the memories of childhood painful, the patient would probably ______.
A.have physical and mental problems |
B.be greatly influenced by them |
C.have a better understanding of life |
D.have a healthier and happier life |
“I’ve changed my mind. I wanted to have a telescope, but now I want my dad back.” Lucien Lawrence’s letter to Father Christmas, written after his father had been knifed to death outside his school gate, must have touched everyone’s heart. Lucien went on to say that without his father he couldn’t see the stars in the sky. When those we love depart from us, we cannot see the stars for a while.
But Lucien, the stars are still there, and one day, when you are older and your tears have gone, you will see them again. And, in a strange way, I expect that you will find your father there too, either in your mind or heart. I find that my parents, who died years ago, still linger (留连) in many of my dreams and that I think of them perhaps more than I ever did when they were alive. I still live to please them and I’m still surprised by their reactions. I remember that when I became a professor, I was so proud, or rather so pleased with myself that I couldn’t wait to cable my parents. The reply was a long time in coming, but when it did, all my mother said was “I hope this means that now you will have more time for the children!” I haven’t forgotten. The values of my parents still live on.
It makes me pause and think about how I will live on in the hearts and minds of my children and of those for whom I care. Would I have been as ready as Philip Lawrence has been to face the aggressors(入侵者), and to lay down my life for those in my care? How many people would want me back for Christmas? It’s a serious thought, which gives me pause.
I pray silently, sometimes, in the dead of night, that ancient cry of a poet “Deliver my soul from the sword and my darling from the power of the God.” Yet I know death comes to us all, and sometimes comes suddenly. We must therefore plan to live together, but lives as if we will die tomorrow. We live on, I’m sure, in the lives of those we loved, and therefore we ought to have a care for what they will remember and what they will treasure. If more parents knew this in their hearts to be true, there might be fewer knives on our streets today.According to the whole text , we can see that the first paragraph ________.
A.puts forward the subject of the text |
B.shows the author’s pity on the kid |
C.serves as an introduction to the discussion |
D.makes a clear statement of the author’s views |
In the second paragraph the author mainly wants to explain to us ________.
A.how much he misses his parents now |
B.why his parents often appear in his dream |
C.when Lucien will get over all his sadness |
D.how proud he was when he succeeded in life |
In the author’s opinion, the value of a person’s life is ________.
A.to leave a precious memory to the people related |
B.to have a high sense of duty to the whole society |
C.to care what others will remember and treasure |
D.to share happiness and sadness with his family |
What does the writer mean by the sentence taken from an old poem?
A.Call on criminals and murderers to lay down their guns. |
B.Advise parents to stay with their children safely at home. |
C.Spend every day meaningfully in memory of death. |
D.Try to keep violence and murder far away from society. |
Name: Off the Beaten Path
Cover price:$30.00
Our price:$19.80
The best-selling Reader's Digest travel book has 40% new content including over 200 new sites, over 200 new full-color photographs, and all-new, up-to-date maps. It focuses on more than 1, 000 of the United States’ most overlooked must-see destinations.
Name: Container Gardens by Number
Cover price:$ 15.95
Our price:$9.49
A unique book contains 50 easy-to-follow container designs. Each design provides a simple numbered planting plan that shows exactly how to create each display, with an instruction of the finished planter and in-depth plant information. The plans are easy to follow and for any type of living space or garden.
Name: Best Weekend Projects
Cover price:$ 17.95
Our price:$13.96
Choose from 80 unique ideas to create an extraordinary living space. The projects are practical, as well as attractive, and will improve your home and yard and can be made in a weekend. These 80 well-designed projects are presented in a clear, easy-to-follow style that addresses readers in an accessible, user-friendly tone.
Name:l80l Home Remedies(治疗方案)
Cover price:$ 40.00
Our price:$ 29.96
Plenty of health complaints can be handled at home. Each and every remedy will be tested by a doctor to make sure it is safe and sound. Dozens of conditions are covered, from headaches, sunburn, bad breath, and blisters (起泡;起疮) to allergies, and hiccups (打嗝).You can most probably read the passage in a ________ .
A.travel guide | B.medicine booklet |
C.textbook | D.newspaper |
How much money could you save if you want to buy a travel book?
A.$10. 20. | B.$6.46. | C.$13.96. | D.$19.80. |
Which of the following could help you to deal with common diseases without a doctor?
A.Off the Beaten Path. | B.Container Gardens by Number. |
C.1801 Home Remedies. | D.Best Weekend Projects. |
What's the purpose of the passage?
A.To advise readers to buy their books. |
B.To advise readers to read more in spare time. |
C.To share the pleasure of reading with readers. |
D.To share his opinion about the books with readers. |