Question

Researchers around the world have been trying their hand at making better use of the huge amount of wind energy available in nature to produce clean energy. Apart from this, studies are being carried out to harness(利用) usable wind energy produced by man-made technologies.

One useful source identified by Indian inventor Santosh Pradhan about two years ago is a speeding train, which produces fierce wind that can be transformed into electricity.

According to Pradhan’s proposal, with a few small improvements in existing trains running in Mumbai, the largest city in India, at least 10,000 megawatts(兆瓦) of electricity could be harvested each day.

Building on this principle, designers Ale Leonetti Luparinia and Qian Jiang from Yanko Design have created a device(裝置) called T-Box that harnesses wind energy from speeding trains.

T-Box can be placed within the railway tracks. It is half-buried underground between the concrete sleepers(水泥枕木), which does not disturb the normal train operating at all. According to Yanko, around 150 T-Boxes can be fitted along a 1,000-meter railway track.

A train running at a speed of 200 kph can produce winds blowing at 15 miles a second. Based on this calculation, 150 T-Boxes can produce 2.6 KWH of electricity per day. The T-Box’s design won a silver medal in last year’s Lite-On Awards and was exhibited last summer at the Xue Xue Institute in Taipei, Taiwan Province.

Though the figures look impressive, it is important to remember that the design is still at a conceptual stage and hasn’t taken into account issues such as pieces of waste material produced by the device and the efforts and costs involved in the maintenance(維護) of the device.

We can expect the technology to see the light of the day only after it clears these issues. If so, rail travel, one of the greenest forms of travel, will become greener and more energy-efficient.

1.What can we learn about T-Box?

A. It will be fitted on the trains.

B. It is based on Pradhan’s idea.

C. It can turn electricity into light.

D. It was invented by an Indian scientist.

2.How much electricity can be produced per day by T-Boxes along a railway track of 100km?

A. 260 KWH. B. 2.6 KWH.

C. 150 KWH. D. 1.5 KWH.

3. It can be concluded from the last two paragraphs that ______.

A. T-Box has proved to be effective in harvesting wind

B. the maintenance of T-Box will be costly

C. there is much to do about T-Box

D. T-Box will come into use soon

4.According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. The Indian inventor Santosh Pradhan invented the speeding train.

B. The T-Box’s design won a silver medal in Lite-On Awards last year.[來源:Z

C. Rail travel has become one of the energy-efficient technologies in the world.

D. The India harvests 10,000 megawatts of electricity each day on average.

5.The passage is mainly written to _______.

A. encourage more people to travel by train

B. explain the advantages of electricity

C. tell readers how to save energy and money

D. introduce a new invention to readers

Answer 1