第一篇Ford Abandons Electric Vehicles
The Ford motor company’s abandonment of electric cars effectively signals the end of the road for the technology，analysts say．
General Motors。and Honda’ceased production of battery．powered cars in 1 999, to focus on fuel cell and hybrid electric gasoline engines, which are more attractive to the consumer．Ford has now announced it will do the same．
Three years ago．the company introduced the Think City two—seater car and a golf cart called the THINK, or Think Neighbor．It hoped to sell 5，000 cars each year and 10，000 carts．But a lack of demand means only about l，000 of the cars have been produced，and less than 1。700 carts have been sold so far in 2002．
“The bottom line is we don’t believe that this is the future of environment transport for the mass market．”Tim Holmes of Ford Europe said on Friday．“We feel we have given electric our best shot”
The Think City has a range of only about 53 miles and up to a six-hour battery recharge time．General Motors’EVI electric vehicle also had a limited range。of about 100 miles． The very expensive batteries also mean electric cars cost much more than petrol-powered alternatives．An electric Toyot~RAV4 EV vehicle costs over$42，000 in the US, compared with just $17，000 for the petrol version．Toyota and Nissan…are now the only major automanufacturers to produce electric vehicles．
“There is a feeling that battery electric has been given its chance．Ford now has to move on with its hybrid program“，and that is what we will be judging them on，”Roger Higman，a senior transport campaigner at UK Friends of the Earth，told the Environment News Service．
Hybrid cars introduced by Toyota and Honda in the past few years have sold
well．Hybrid engines Offer Greater mileage than petrol—only engines , and the batteries recharge themselves. Ford says it thinks such vehicles will help it meet planned new guidelines “on vehicle emissions” in the U.S.
However, it is not yet clear exactly what those guidelines will permit．In June，General Motors and Daimler Chrysler won a court injunction，delaying by two years Californian legislation requiring car—makers to offer 100，000 zero-emission and other low—emission vehicles in the state by 2003．Car manufacturers hope the legislation will be rewritten to allow for more low--emission，rather than zero—emission，vehicles． 1．What have the Ford motor company．General Motor’s and Honda done concerning electric cars?
A)They have started to produce electric cars． B)They have done extensive research on electric Cars C They have given up producing electric cars．
D)They have produced thousands of electric Cars
2．According to Tim Holmes of Ford Europe，battery-powered cars A)will be the main transportation vehicles in the future
B) will not be the main transportation vehicles in the future． C)will be good to the environment in the future
D)will replace petrol—powered vehicles in the future．
3. Which auto manufacturers are still producing electric vehicles?
A)Toyota and NissanB)General Motor’s and Honda C)Ford and ToyotaD)Honda and Toyota
4．According to the eighth paragraph，hybrid cars
A)offer fewer mileage than petrol driven cars B)run faster than petrol driven cars
C)run more miles than petrol driven cars
D)offer more batteries than petrol driven cars
5．Which of the following is true about the hope of car manufacturers according to the last paragraph?
A)Low-emission cars should be banned．
B)Only zero-emission cars are allowed to run on motorways．
C)The legislation will encourage car makers to produce more electric cars． D)The legislation will allow more 10w．emission to be produced
「答案解析」 1.C 第一段第一个句子告诉我们福特汽车公司放弃了电动汽车，第二段说通用汽车公司和本田汽车公司停止生产电动汽车。
2.B 第四段第一个句子是Tim Holmes对电动汽车未来的评价，他认为未来的交通运输的大众市场不可能是电动汽车。
3.A 答案的依据是第六段最后一句。4.C 答案的依据是倒数第二段第二句。 5.D 答案的依据是文章的最后一句：the legislation will be written to allow for low-emission, rather than zero-emission, vehicles. 第一篇福特放弃电动汽车
分析人士评论，福特汽车公司放弃电动汽年的举动有力地证明了这种技术是行不通的。 通用汽车公司和日本本田汽车公司早于 1999年就停止了电池动力汽车的生产，转而开发燃料电池和电池内燃混合机，这对消费者更有吸引力。福特宣布它现在也要做同样的尝试。
3年前，福特推出名为 Think City的双排座汽车和 Think或 Think Neighbor系列高尔夫车，希望能销售 5000辆汽车、 10000高尔夫车。但由于需求不足，截至 2002年仅生产了大约 1000辆汽车，售出的高尔夫车还不足 1700辆。
“关键是我们认为电动车不能代表大众市场环保交通的未来”，福特欧洲区的 Tim Holmes于周五说，“我们感觉自己对电力车已做了昀好的尝试。”
Think City系列的运行里程仅 53英里，电池充电需 6小时。通用公司的 EVI电力车也仅能运行 100英里。
昂贵的电池也意味着电动汽车的造价比汽油动力车高出许多。日本丰田产的 RAV4EV系列电动车在美国的售价达 42000美元，而同系列的汽油动力车仅售 17000美元。丰田和日产汽车公司是现在仅存的两大电动车制造商。
“应该说电池动力车已经获得了充分的机会。福特现已转向电池内燃混合机开发项目，我们应据此评价他们的发展。”Roger Higman，英国 Friends of the Earth组织的一位高级交通运动代表这样对《环保新闻》评论说。
日本本田和丰田公司推出的混合机汽车在过去几年取得了良好的销售业绩。混合动力车比汽油机车运行里程更长，电池又可自行充电。福特表示，他们认为这样的机车有助于达到美国新制订的车辆排放规定。
不过，这些规定究竟允许怎样的排放物现在还不十分清楚。六月份通用和戴姆勒克莱斯勒公司赢得一项法庭裁决，可推迟两年执行一项加州法令，该法令要求汽车生产商在2003年前向该州提供10万辆零排放和其他低排放汽车。制造商希望修改此法令，允许他们生产更多低排放而不是零排放的汽车。
第二篇World Crude Oil Production May Peaka Decade Earlier Than Some Predict In a finding that may speed efforts to conserve oil, scientists in Kuwait predict that world conventional crude oil production will peak in 2014. This prediction is almost a decade earlier than some other predictions．Their study is in ACS’ Energy＆Fuels1． Ibrahim Nashawi and colleagues point out that rapid growth in global oil consumption has sparked a growing interest in predicting \．\production reaches a maximum and then declines. Scientists have developed several models to forecast this point, and some put the date at 2020 or later. One of the most famous forecast models is called the Hubbert model2. It assumes that global oil
production will follow a bell shaped curve3. A related concept is that4 of \term \afterwards to start on irreversible decline．
The Hubbert model accurately predicted that oil production would peak in the United States in 1970. The model has since gained in popularity and has been used to forecast oil production worldwide．
However, recent studies show that the model is insufficient to account for5 more
complex oil production cycles of some countries．Those cycles can be heavily influenced by technology changes, politics, and other factors, the scientists say.
The new study describes development of a new version of the Hubbert model that provides a more realistic and accurate oil production forecast．Using the new model, the scientists evaluated the oil production trends of 47 major oil-producing countries, which supply most of the world’s conventional crude oil6．They estimated that worldwide conventional crude oil production will peak in 2014, years earlier than anticipated. The scientists also showed that the world's oil reserves7 are
being reduced at a rate of 2.1 percent a year. The new model could help inform energy-related decisions and public policy debate, they suggest. 词汇：Conserve v．保护，保存
crude oil原油spark v．闪耀；激发；鼓舞curve n．曲线
irreversible adj．不可逆的，不可改变的insufficient adj.充分的，不足的
注释：1．ACS' Energy & Fuels：ACS是American Chemical Society(美国化学学会)的缩写。该学会成立于l876年，现已成为世界最大的科技协会。多年来，ACS一直致力于为全球化学研究机构、企业及个人提供高品质的文献资讯及服务。ACS出版的期刊有34种，这些期刊在化学领域中是被引用次数最多的化学期刊，Energy＆Fuels即是其中一本。
2．the Hubbert model：赫伯特模型是美国地质学家M．King Hubbert于1956年创建的，这是一个随时间增长的模型，Hubbert将其引入油气田开发，经推导使其成为一个可以预测油气田累积产量、瞬时产量、年产量和可采储量等多项开发指标的多功能预测模型。
3．a bell shaped curve：钟形曲线4．that of peak oil：that指代concept。 5．account for：说明，解释6．conventional crude oil：常规原油 7．oil reserves：石油储量。通常使用复数形式reserves。
练习：1．Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word \paragraph 2?
A．flashedB．stimulatedC．changedD．ended
2．The term \production will
A．take the shape of a flat curve．B．keep growing．
C．keep declining．D．start to decline after global oil production peaks． 3．Which of the following is NOT true of the Hubbert model?
A．It successfully predicted that oil production peaked in the U．S．in l 970． B．It has been used to predict oil production in many countries．
C．It is insufficient to explain oil production cycles in some countries． D．It provides a very realistic and accurate oil production．
4．What is the major achievement of the new study mentioned in the last paragraph? A．It predicts global oil production will peak in 2014． B．It predicts oil production will decline in 47 countries．
C．It confirms further the effectiveness of the Hubbert model． D．It discovers a new trend of Worldwide oil production． 5．Who develop the new version of the Hubbert model? A．American scientists．B．Kuwaiti scientists．
C．British scientists．D．Scientists of 47 major oil-producing countries．
答案与题解：1．B spark一词做及物动词使用时有\发动\、\激发\的意思，在此意为stimulated，即\引发\，这个句子的意思是：全球石油消费的快速增长已引发了对\石油峰值\预测的兴趣。
2．D此句接下来的句子中所提到的a related concept即是与a bell shaped curve相关的概念，也就是说，接下来的这个句子对a bell shaped curve做了解释，即世界石油生产达到最大峰值后将下降。
3．D 文章的第三段告诉我们，Hubbert预测模型精确地预测到美国石油生产于1970年将达到峰值。这一模型自受到公认后，已用于预测世界石油生产。第四段说，这一模型对于某些国家更加复杂的石油生产周期而言，其计算尚不充分。这些生产周期受到技术的改变、政策和其他因素的很大影响。所以，A、B和C都是对Hubbert模型的正确说明。
4．A选项8、C和D所述内容均未在文章中提到。最后一段告诉我们，科学家使用新的模型评估了47个主要的产油国家的石油生产趋势，并预计全球常规原油生产到2014年将达最高峰值。所以，A是答案。5．B 短文第一段的第一个句子提供了答案。
第二篇 世界原油产量可能提前十年达到峰值
科威特科学家预测世界常规原油产量将在2014年达到峰值，这一发现可能会促进储存石油的努力。这一预测比其他预测提前了将近十年，已经发表在美国化学学会《能量与燃料》杂志上。
伊布赫姆·纳夏威和同事们指出，全球石油消耗的快速增长使人们对“石油峰值”预测的兴趣越来越浓。“石油峰值”指的是石油产量达到最大值后开始下降的时间点。科学家已经构建了几个模型来预测这一时间，有些模型认为这一时间在2020年或更晚。其中最
著名的预测模型之一是赫伯特模型。赫伯特模型认为世界石油产量呈钟形曲线，与此相关的概念是“石油峰值”。这一术语指的是世界石油产量达到峰值的那一刻，之后将呈现无法逆转的下降趋势。
赫伯特模型精确地预测到美国石油产量于1970年达到峰值。这一模型从此受到欢迎，已经用于预测世界石油生产。
但是，最近研究表明，这一模型不足以解释某些国家更加复杂的石油生产周期。科学家称，这些生产周期受到技术变化、政策和其他因素的很大影响。
最近研究描述了赫伯特模型的新版本，提供了更加实际、更加准确的石油生产预测。科学家使用新模型评估了47个主要产油国家的石油生产趋势，这 47个国家是世界常规原油的主要提供者。科学家预计全球常规原油产量将于2014年达到峰值，比之前预计的要早很多年。科学家还指出，世界石油储量正在以 2.1%的速度逐年减少，他们认为新模型会帮助做出与能源相关的决定，帮助进行国家政策辩论。
第三篇：Citizen Scientists
Understanding how nature responds to climate change will require monitoring key life cycle1events — flowering, the appearance of leaves, the first frog calls of the spring — all around the world. But ecologists can't be everywhere so they're turning to non-scientists, sometimes called citizen scientists, for help.
Climate scientists are not present everywhere. Because there are so many places in the world and not enough scientists to observe all of them, they're asking for your help in observing signs of climate change across the world. The citizen scientist movement encourages ordinary people to observe a very specific research interest — birds, trees, flowers budding, etc. — and send their observations to a giant database to be observed by professional scientists. This helps a small number of scientists track a large amount of data that they would never be able to gather on their own. Much like citizen journalists helping large publications cover a hyper-local beat2, citizen scientists are ready for the conditions where they live. All that's needed to become one is a few minutes each day or each week to gather data and send it3 in.
A group of scientists and educators launched an organization last year called the National Phenology4 Network. “Phenology” is what scientists call the study of the timing of events in nature.
One of the group's first efforts relies on scientists and non-scientists alike to collect data about plant flowering and leafing every year. The program, called Project Bud Burst, collects life cycle data on a variety of common plants from across the United States. People participating in the project — which is open to everyone — record their observations on the Project Bud Burst website.
“People don't have to be plant experts — they just have to look around and see what's in their neighborhood,” says Jennifer Schwartz, an education consultant with the project. “As we collect this data, we'll be able to make an estimate of how plants and communities5 of plants and animals will respond as the climate changes.”
词汇：frog / fr?g/ n．蛙ecologist / ,i:’k?l?d??st/ n．生态学家
bud / b?d / v．发芽，萌芽；n．芽，花蕾database / ’de?t?be?s / n．数据库 professional / pr?(?)’fe??n?l/ adj．专业的，职业的；n．职业选手，专业人员