职称英语理工类B级阅读理解文章33篇.docx

职称英语理工类B级阅读理解文章33篇.docx

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职称英语理工类B级阅读理解文章33篇

第一篇FordAbandonsElectricVehicles

TheFordmotorcompany’s1abandonmentofelectriccarseffectivelysignalstheendoftheroadforthetechnology,analystssay.

GeneralMotors2andHonda3ceasedproductionofbattery-poweredcarsin1999,tofocusonfuelcell4andhybridelectricgasolineengines5,whicharemoreattractivetotheconsumer.Fordhasnowannounceditwilldothesame.

Threeyearsago,thecompanyintroducedtheThinkCitytwo-seatercarandagolfcartcalledtheTHINKorThinkNeighhor6.Ithopedtosell5,000carseachyearand10,000carts.Butalackofdemandmeansonlyabout1,000ofthecarshavebeenproduced,andlessthan1,700cartshavebeensoldsofarin2002.

“Thebottomline7iswedon’tbelievethatthisisthefutureofenvironmenttransportforthemassmarket,”TimHolmesofFordEuropesaidonFriday.“Wefeelwehavegivenelectricourbestshot8.”TheThinkCityhasarangeofonlyabout53milesanduptoasix-hourbatteryrechargetime.GeneralMotors’EVIelectricvehiclealsohadalimitedrange,ofabout100miles.

Theveryexpensivebatteriesalsomeanelectriccarscostmuchmorethanpetrol-poweredalternatives.AnelectricToyota9RAV4EVvehiclecostsover$42,000intheUS,comparedwithjust$17,000forthepetrolversion.ToyotaandNissan10arenowtheonlymajorautomanufacturerstoproduceelectricvehicles.

“Thereisafeelingthatbatteryelectrichasbeengivenitschance.Fordnowhastomoveonwithitshybridprogram11,andthatiswhatwewillbejudgingthemon,”RogerHigman,aseniortransportcampaigneratUKFriendsoftheEarth,toldtheEnvironmentNewsService.

HybridcarsintroducedbyToyotaandHondainthepastfewyearshavesoldwell.Hybridenginesoffergreatermileagethanpetrol-onlyengines,andthebatteriesrechargethemselves.Fordsaysitthinkssuchvehicleswillhelpitmeetplannednewguidelines12onvehicleemissions13intheUS.

Howevertitisnotyetclearexactlywhatthoseguidelineswillpermit.InJune,GeneralMotorsandDaimlerChrysler14wonacourtinjunction,delayingbytwoyearsCalifornianlegislationrequiringcar-makerstooffer100,000zero-emissionandotherlow-emissionvehiclesinthestateby2003.Carmanufacturershopethelegislationwillberewrittentoallowformorelow-emission,ratherthanzero-emission,vehicles.

第二篇WorldCrudeOilProductionMayPeakaDecadeEarlierThanSomePredict

Inafindingthatmayspeedeffortstoconserveoil,scientistsinKuwaitpredictthatworldconventionalcrudeoilproductionwillpeakin2014.Thispredictionisalmostadecadeearlierthansomeotherpredictions．TheirstudyisinACS’Energy＆Fuels1．

IbrahimNashawiandcolleaguespointoutthatrapidgrowthinglobaloilconsumptionhassparkedagrowinginterestinpredicting"peakoil"．"Peakoil"isthepointwhereoilproductionreachesamaximumandthendeclines.Scientistshavedevelopedseveralmodelstoforecastthispoint,andsomeputthedateat2020orlater.OneofthemostfamousforecastmodelsiscalledtheHubbertmodel2.Itassumesthatglobaloilproductionwillfollowabellshapedcurve3.Arelatedconceptisthat4of"PeakOil."Theterm"PealOil"indicatesthemomentinwhichworldwideproductionWillpeak,afterwardstostartonirreversibledecline．

TheHubbertmodelaccuratelypredictedthatoilproductionwouldpeakintheUnitedStatesin1970.Themodelhassincegainedinpopularityandhasbeenusedtoforecastoilproductionworldwide．

However,recentstudiesshowthatthemodelisinsufficienttoaccountfor5morecomplexoilproductioncyclesofsomecountries．Thosecyclescanbeheavilyinfluencedbytechnologychanges,politics,andotherfactors,thescientistssay.

ThenewstudydescribesdevelopmentofanewversionoftheHubbertmodelthatprovidesamorerealisticandaccurateoilproductionforecast．Usingthenewmodel,thescientistsevaluatedtheoilproductiontrendsof47majoroil-producingcountries,whichsupplymostoftheworld’sconventionalcrudeoil6．Theyestimatedthatworldwideconventionalcrudeoilproductionwillpeakin2014,yearsearlierthananticipated.Thescientistsalsoshowedthattheworld'soilreserves7are

beingreducedatarateof2.1percentayear.Thenewmodelcouldhelpinformenergy-relateddecisionsandpublicpolicydebate,theysuggest.

第三篇CitizenScientists（C级）

Understandinghownaturerespondstoclimatechangewillrequiremonitoringkeylifecycleevent—flowering,theappearanceofleaves,thefirstfrogcallsofthespring—allaroundtheworld.Butecologistscan’tbeeverywheresothey’returningtonon-scientists,sometimescalledcitizenscientists,forhelp.

Climatescientistsarenotpresenteverywhere.Becausetherearesomanyplacesintheworldandnotenoughscientiststoobserveallofthem,they’reaskingforyourhelpinobservingsignsofclimatechangeacrosstheworld.Thecitizenscientistmovementencouragesordinarypeopletoobserveaveryspecificresearchinterest—birds,trees,

flowersbudding,etc.—andsendtheirobservationstoagiantdatabasetobeobservedbyprofessionalscientists.Thishelpsasmallnumberofscientiststrackalargeamountofdatathattheywouldneverbeabletogatherontheirown.Muchlikecitizenjournalistshelpinglargepublicationscoverahyper-localbeat,citizenscientistsarereadyfortheconditionswheretheylive.Allthat’sneededtobecomeoneisafewminuteseachdayoreachweektogatherdataandsenditin.

AgroupofscientistsandeducatorslaunchedanorganizationlastyearcalledtheNationalPhenologyNetwork.“Phenology”iswhatscientistscallthestudyofthetimingofeventsinnature.

Oneofthegroup’sfirsteffortsreliesonscientistsandnon-scientistsaliketocollectdataaboutplantfloweringandleafingeveryyear.Theprogram,calledProjectBudBurst,collectslifecycledataonavarietyofcommonplantsfromacrosstheUnitedStates.Peopleparticipatingintheproject—whichisopentoeveryone—recordtheirobservationsontheProjectBudBurstwebsite.

“Peopledon’thavetobeplantexpertstheyjusthavetolookaroundandseewhat’sintheirneighborhood,”saysJenniferSchwartz,aneducationconsultantwiththeproject.“Aswecollectthisdata,we’llbeabletomakeanestimateofhowplantsandcommunitiesofplantsandanimalswillrespondastheclimatechanges.”

第四篇MotoringTechnology

1.2millionroaddeathsworldwideoccureachyear,plusafurther50millioninjuries.Toreducecarcrashrate,muchresearchnowisfocusedonsafetyandnewfuels.—thoughsomeelectricvehicleandbiofuel1researchaimsatgoingfaster.

Travellingatspeedhasalwaysbeenrisky.Onecuttingedgearea2ofresearchinmotoringsafetyistheuseofdigitalin-carassistants3.Theycanensureyoudon’tmisscrucialroadsignsorfallasleep.Theuseofartificialintelligencesoftwareallowstheseassistantstomonitoryourdrivingandmakessureyourphoneorradiodoesn’tdistractyouatavitalmoment.Mostcrashesresultfromhumanandnotmechanicalfaults.

Somesafetydevelopmentsaimtoimproveyourvision.Radarcanspot4obstaclesinfog,whileothertechnology“seesthrough”high-sided5vehiclesblockingyourview6.Andimprovementstoseatbelts,pedalcontrolsandtyresaremakingdrivingsmootherandsafer.Thecolourofacarhasbeenfoundtobelinkedwithsafety,ashave,lesssurprisingly,sizeandshape7.

Andalternativestofossil-fuel8basedpetrol,suchasplantoils,areahotareaofresearch.Fuelcells9basedonhydrogenburncleanly,andarethesubjectofaseriousresearcheffort.

Butwhateverisinthefueltank,youdon’twantathiefinthedrivingseatandtherehavebeenmanyinnovations,someusingsatellitetrackingandremotecommunications10,tofightagainstcartheft.Thesecommunicationsystemscanalsocomeintoplay11ifyoucrash,automaticallycallingforhelp.

Accidentscausemanytrafficjams,buttherearemoresubtleinterplaysbetweenvehiclesthatcancausejamsevenonaclearbutbusyroad.Suchjamscanbeanalysedusingstatisticaltools.Roboticdriverscouldbeprogrammedtomaketrafficflowsmoothlyandwillperhapsonedaybeeveryone’spersonalchauffeur,buttheirlatesteffortssuggestthatwon’tbesoon.

第五篇Late-NightDrinking

Coffeeloversbeware.Havingaquick“pick-me-up”cupofcoffee1lateinthedaywillplayhavocwith2yoursleep.Aswellasbeingastimulant,caffeineinterruptstheflowofmelatonin,thebrainhormonethatsendspeopleintoasleep.

Melatoninlevelsnormallystarttoriseabouttwohoursbeforebedtime.Levelsthenpeakbetween2amand4am,beforefallingagain3.“It’stheneurohormonethatcontrolsoursleepandtellsourbodywhentosleepandwhentowake,”saysMauriceOhayonoftheStanfordSleepEpidemiologyResearchCenteratStanfordUniversityinCalifornia.ButresearchersinIsraelhavefoundthatcaffcinatedcoffeehalvesthebody’slevelsofthissleephormone.LotanShiloandateamattheSapirMedicalCenterinTelAvivUniversityfoundthatsixvolunteerssleptlesswellafteracupofcaffeinatedcoffeethanafterdrinkingthesameamountofdecaf.Onaverage,subjectsslept336minutespernightafterdrinkingcaffeinatedcoffee,comparedwith415minutesafterdecal.Theyalsotookhalfanhourtodropoff4—twiceaslongasusual—andjiggedaround5inbedtwiceasmuch.

Inthesecondphaseoftheexperiment,theresearcherswokethevolunteerseverythreehoursandaskedthemtogiveaurinesample,Shilomeasuredconcentrationsofabreakdownproductofmelatonin.Theresultssuggestthatmelatoninconcentrationsincaffeinedrinkerswerehalfthoseindecafdrinkers.InapaperacceptedforpublicationinSleepMedi