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  3. Engines of ChangeThe Holy Grail(圣杯) for A

Engines of ChangeThe Holy Grail(圣杯) for A

游客2024-06-16  6
问题                                       Engines of Change
The Holy Grail(圣杯) for Automakers
    I am driving through downtown Washington, D.C., in a white GM minivan with friendly blue-bubble paper decorating the sides. It’s emitting no toxic chemicals and the engine seems to purr(发出隆隆声) rather than growl. I am driving a hydrogen-powered automobile—so clean, you can drink from the exhaust pipe—and it’s a smooth, energetic ride.
    It’s also the Holy Grail for automakers, environmentalists, political leaders—and, most important, drivers everywhere, whether or not we realize it yet. What’s not to like about a vehicle that combats global warming, offers hope of weaning(使戒掉) the world off Mideast oil, and could save on fuel costs? More than anything, though, the development of the hydrogen car, along with other alternatives, is a response to one unsettling fact: The world will one day run out of oil. And that day may arrive sooner than most of us would think.
    Industry experts at the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas (ASPO) predict that by 2008, we may have extracted half the available global supply of oil. While it took us the better part of the last century to reach this halfway point, it will take significantly less time to consume the rest. With more industrialized countries, more cars, trucks and buses, and more demand than ever for home heating and appliances—just think China—oil could reach depletion more quickly than we once assumed. So the race is underway to find affordable fuel alternatives, as well as new ways to conserve our remaining oil.
    For car manufacturers and a growing number of consumers, the future is now-in the form of the latest generation of hybrid vehicles. Toyota, Honda and Ford have led the charge with technology that pairs a small gasoline engine with an electric motor that actually powers the car without high levels of pollution. The electric motor and gasoline engine is more efficient than a combustion(燃烧) engine. According to the Alliance to Save Energy, in 2004, SUV drivers spent about $1,225 on fuel, while passenger cars cost $976 to run. Hybrid drivers only spent between $350 and $450.
    Also, hybrids have solved a big drawback of energy-efficient electric cars, which need to be recharged regularly literally plugged into a power source. Hybrids like Honda’s Insight, Civic and Accord, and Toyota’s Prius, charge the battery as you drive. Plus, some can travel more than 600 miles on a tank of gas.
    To lure people to buy these cleaner, more efficient cars—hybrids, the federal government is offering owners a one-time tax deduction. Local governments are offering incentives too. Hybrid owners in Los Angeles receive parking exemptions; in Connecticut, residents whose energy-efficient cars get at least 40 miles per gallon are exempt from the sales tax on the car; Pennsylvania owners are eligible for a $500 discount at purchase; and in Virginia, hybrid drivers can take advantage of the HOV (high-occupancy vehicle) lane—no matter how many passengers are on board.
    According to Bradley Berman, editor of HybridCars.com, 88,000 of these automobiles were sold in the United States last year—that’s nearly double the previous year and about ten times as many sold in 2000. This year alone, the chic(时尚的) Prius is on track to sell some 45,000, despite  six-month waiting lists.
Reducing U.S. Oil Consumption
    Even as more hybrid cars hit the road, the technology is a key element in an exciting new project, one that could hasten our transition to a hydrogen-fuel economy. The Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to energy policy, has launched a research center with the sole purpose of creating the "Hypercar." This vehicle’s design is what sets it apart. Hypercars are formulated to make the most of an ultra-light construction, low-drag aero-dynamics and hybrid-electric drive trains to achieve much greater fuel economy than today’s hybrids, while maintaining or improving performance, safety and affordability.
    According to the head of RMI, Amory Lovins, the Hypercar will also be designed to "reach its full potential" with an eventual conversion to hydrogen fuel cells. It’s a goal RMI shares with the federal government’s Freedom CAR(Cooperative Automotive Research) program The Department of Energy and automakers Ford, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler created a joint project to develop hydrogen-powered fuel-call vehicles that require no oil and emit no toxic chemicals.
    A few numbers explain the urgency behind this initiative. The International Energy Association reports that North America’s oil consumption now accounts for 31 percent of the world’s total.  If current trends hold, by 2030 about half of all U.S. oil imports will come from Middle Eastern suppliers. In the meantime, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, vehicles account for 40 percent of all oil use in America, and carbon emissions from the tailpipes of cars and trucks are responsible for almost one-third of the air pollution in this country. Recognizing these long-term threats to the environment and national security, President Bush proposed in 2003 to spend $1.2 billion on hydrogen fuel-cell technology. "The first car driven by a child born today could be powered by made-in-the-U.S. hydrogen gas," Bush said.
    This past spring, Iowa senator Tom Harkin introduced a bill that authorizes $5 million over three years to look into the possibility of producing hydrogen for fuel; the bill is still being debated in the Senate. But critics say it will take much more spending, well beyond even the President’s $112 billion proposal, to seriously pursue our quest for hydrogen fuel. The very nature of hydrogen ensures that it will require a lot of money, as well as brainpower, to turn it into a practicable solution to our energy crisis.
    General Motors is pushing this effort forward by teaming with Toyota to collaborate on hydrogen fuel-cell goals. Meanwhile, GM has produced a hydrogen-fueled car called the Hy-Wire, which has no internal combustion engine, no instrument panel, and no brake or accelerator pedals; the car is controlled through wires. For its part, Honda has developed its FCX fuel-cell vehicle, five of which already are being used by city officials in Los Angeles.
    In the future, would children say "zee, zee" while playing with toy cars instead of "vroom, vroom"? Maybe, if they’re lucky. For the coming of hydrogen cars will bring huge side-benefits to those children: cleaner air, less reliance on OPEC oil, and in time less money spent on energy.
Solving the Hydrogen Riddle
    You can’t see it, smell it, or taste it, but it is everywhere at once and you can’t live without it. The answer to this riddle is hydrogen, of course. But there’s much more to the riddle posed by this potential fuel.
    Its advantages over oil are huge: Hydrogen is everywhere; the earth should theoretically never run out of it; its only fuel by product is non-polluting water; and when released as energy in a motor, it’s almost twice as efficient as a combustion engine.
    To isolate hydrogen, though, researchers have to work with the element in its bonded state, such as when it’s combined with oxygen to form H2O, and that’s no easy matter. The reason is that electricity is used to separate hydrogen from oxygen. Fossil fuels and coal can create electricity, yet these resources also produce the kind of pollution that hydrogen is supposed to eliminate.
    Some advocate hydrogen derived from renewable sources, like solar power and wind energy. However, the Energy Department expects that ten years from now, renewables will account for only 8 percent of the fuel consumed worldwide. Almost certainly, the best solution will be an innovation yet to come.
选项 A、Y
B、N
C、NG
答案 A
解析 由题干关键词emitted，exhaust pipe，the GM minivan，可以定位到第一个小标题下第一段最后一句。根据这句可知作者正开着一辆用氢做动力的汽车，非常干净，从它的排气管排出来的东西可以直接饮用。目说作者开的这辆迷你带篷车排放的东西能喝与原文同义。
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