Three more nuclear power stations were built()widespread opposition.
A.despite
B.even though
C.though
D.evenit24
A.despite
B.even though
C.though
D.evenit24
第1题
Have you ever wondered how a nuclear power plant works or how safe nuclear power is? In this article, we will examine how a nuclear reactor and a power plant work.
Uranium
Uranium is a fairly common element on Earth, which was taken into the planet during the planet's formation. Uranium is originally formed in stars. Old stars exploded, and the dust from these shattered stars aggregated together to form. our planet. Uranium-238 (U-238) has an extremely long life (4.5 billion years), and therefore is still present in fairly large quantities. U-238 makes up 99 percent of the uranium on the planet. U-235 makes up about 0.7 percent of the remaining uranium found naturally, while U-234 is even rarer and is formed by the decay of U-238.
Nuclear Fission (裂变)
A nuclear fission happens when a uranium-235 nucleus with a neutron captures another neutron. The nucleus then splits into two lighter atoms and throws off two or three new neutrons (the number of ejected neutrons depends on how the U-235 atom happens to split). The two new atoms then produce gamma radiation as they settle into their new states. There are three things about this induced fission process that make it especially interesting:
The probability of a U-235 atom capturing a neutron as it passes by is fairly high. In a reactor working properly (known as the critical state) , one neutron ejected from each fission causes another fission to occur.
The process of capturing the neutron and splitting happens very quickly, on the order of picoseconds (1×1012seconds).
An incredible amount of energy is released, in the form. of heat and gamma radiation, when a single atom splits. The two atoms that result from the fission later release beta radiation and gamma radiation of their own as well. The energy released by a single fission comes from the fact that the fission products and the neutrons, together, weigh less than the original U-235 atom. The difference in weight is converted directly to energy at a rate governed by the equation E = mc2.
In order for these properties of U-235 to work, a sample of uranium must be enriched so that it contains 2 percent to 3 percent or more of uranium-235. Three-percent enrichment is sufficient for use in a civilian nuclear reactor used for power generation. Weapons-grade uranium is composed of 90-percent or more U-235.
Inside a Nuclear Power Plant
To build a nuclear reactor, what you need is some mildly enriched uranium. Typically, the uranium is formed into pellets (芯块) with approximately the same diameter as a coin and a length of an inch or so. The pellets are arranged into long rods, and the rods are collected together into bundles. The bundles are then typically submerged in water inside a pressure vessel. The water is used to lower the heat. In order for the reactor to work, the bundle, submerged in water, must be slightly supercritical. That means that, left to its own devices, the uranium would eventually overheat and melt.
To prevent thi
A.Y
B.N
C.NG
第2题
The Bush administration's enthusiastic support goes a lot further than this, however. It also wants to see new plants. Proponents of new nuclear power stations make three arguments in their favor. They will enhance energy security by lessening dependence on fossil fuels; far from being environmentally harmful, they will be beneficial because they will reduce the output of greenhouse gases; and, most crucially, the economics of nuclear power has improved from the days when it was wholly dependent on bail-out (紧急财政支持) and subsidy.
Yet these arguments do not stand up to investigation. The claim that governments should support nuclear power to reduce their vulnerability (致命弱点) to the OPEC oil cartel (联合企业) is doubly absurd. Little oil is used in power generation: what nuclear power displaces is mostly natural gas and coal, which are not only more plentiful than oil but also geographically better distributed. Security is enhanced not by seeking energy self-sufficiency but through diversification of supplies. Creating lots of fissile material that might be pinched by terrorists is an odd way to look for security anyway.
What about the argument that climate change might be the great savior of nuclear power? Global warming is indeed a risk that should be taken more seriously than the Bush administration has so far done. Nuclear plants do not produce any carbon dioxide, which is the principal greenhouse gas. However, rushing in response to build dozens of new nuclear plants would be both needlessly expensive and environmentally unsound.
It would make far more sense to adopt a carbon tax, which would put clean energy sources such as solar and wind on an equal footing with nuclear, whose waste poses an undeniable (if remote) environmental threat of its own for aeons to come. Governments should also dismantle (拆除) all subsidies oh fossil fuels--especially for coal, the dirtiest of all. They should adopt reforms that send proper price signals to those who use power, and so reduce emissions. Global warming certainly provides one argument in favor of nuclear power: but it is not sufficient on its own to justify a nuclear renaissance.
What's the public's opinion about nuclear industry?
A.People have little confidence in nuclear power for the potential disaster of nuclear accidents.
B.People think it important to exercise strict monitoring and effective management of the existing plants.
C.People believe the best way to avoid nuclear alit, aster is to shut down all the nuclear power stations.
D.People agree to prohibit the existing nuclear plants from running to the end of their useful lives.
第3题
The Bush administration's enthusiastic support goes a lot further than this, however. It also wants to see new plants. Proponents of new nuclear power stations make three arguments in their favor. They will enhance energy security by lessening dependence on fossil fuels; far from being environmentally harmful, they will be beneficial because they will reduce the output of greenhouse gases; and, most crucially, the economics of nuclear power has improved from the days when it was wholly dependent on bail-out (紧急财政支持) and subsidy.
Yet these arguments do not stand up to investigation. The claim that governments should support nuclear power to reduce their vulnerability (致使弱点) to the OPEC oil cartel (联合企业) is doubly absurd. Little oil is used in power generation: What nuclear power displaces is mostly natural gas and coal, which are not only more plentiful than oil but also geographically better distributed. Security is enhanced not by seeking energy self-sufficiency but through diversification of supplies. Creating lots of fissile material that might be pinched by terrorists is an odd way to look for security anyway.
What about the argument that climate change might be the great savior of nuclear power? Global warming is indeed a risk that should be taken more seriously than the Bush administration has so far done. Nuclear plants do not produce any carbon dioxide, which is the principal greenhouse gas. However, rushing in response to build dozens of new nuclear plants would be both needlessly expensive and environmentally unsound.
It would make far more sense to adopt a carbon tax, which would put clean energy sources such as solar and wind on an equal footing with nuclear, whose waste poses an undeniable (if remote) environmental threat of its own for aeons to come. Governments should also dismantle (拆除) all subsidies on fossil fuels — especially for coal, the dirtiest of all. They should adopt reforms that send proper price signals to those who use power, and so reduce emissions: Global warming certainly provides one argument in favor of nuclear power, but it is not sufficient on its own to justify a nuclear renaissance.
What's the public's opinion about nuclear industry?
A.People have little confidence in nuclear power for the potential disaster of nuclear accidents.
B.People think it important to exercise strict monitoring and effective management of the existing plants.
C.People believe the best way to avoid nuclear disaster is to shut down all the nuclear power stations.
D.People agree to prohibit the existing nuclear plants from running to the end of their useful lives.
第4题
Voices have been raised in protest since the beginning, rising in pitch and violence in the nineteenth century during the early stages of the industrial revolution, summoning urgent crowds into the streets any day these days on the issue of nuclear energy. Give it back, say some of the voices, it doesn' t really work, we' ve tried it and it doesn' t work, go back three hundred years and start again on something else less chancy for the race of man.
The principle discoveries in this century, taking all in all, are the glimpses of the depth of our ignorance about nature. Things that used to seem clear and rational, matters of absolute certainty - Newtonian mechanics, for example - have slipped through our fingers, and we are left with a new set of gigantic puzzles, cosmic uncertainties, ambiguities; some of the laws of physics are amended every few years, some are canceled outright, some undergo revised versions of legislative intent as if they were acts of Congress.
Just thirty years ago we call it a biological revolution when the fantastic geometry of the DNA molecule was exposed to public view and the linear language of genetics was decoded. For a while, things seemed simple and clear, the cell was a neat little machine, a mechanical device ready for taking to pieces and reassembling, like a tiny watch. But just in the last few years it has become almost unbelievably complex, filled with strange parts whose functions are beyond today' s imagining.
It is not just that there is more to do, there is everything to do. What lies ahead, or what can lie ahead if the efforts in basic research are continued, is much more than the conquest of human disease or the improvement of agricultural technology or the cultivation of nutrients in the sea. As we learn more about fundamental processes of living things in general we will learn more about ourselves.
What can' t be inferred from the 1 st paragraph?
A.Scientific experiments in the past three hundred years have produced many valuable items.
B.For three hundred years there have been people holding hostile attitude toward science.
C.Modern civilization depends on science so man supports scientific progress unanimously.
D.Three hundred years is not long enough to settle back critical appraisal of scientific method.
第5题
The author refers to Three Mils Island ________.
A) because he is doubtful about what the officials said
B) because he fears that a piece of the Skylab may strike a nuclear power plant
C) because he is afraid of the use of nuclear power
D) because the nuclear reactor there and the Skylab were both built by the same company
第7题
According to this passage, what is more troubling for nuclear facilities?
A. Flooding.
B. Earthquakes.
C. Droughts.
D. Heat waves.
第8题
program.
A.abandoned
B.deduced
C.melted
D.resolved
第9题
A.Flooding.
B.Earthquakes.
C.Droughts.
D.Heat waves.
第10题
A.agree
B.approve
C.consent
D.favour