题目内容

READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.
Low Cost Lamps Light Rural India
Until throe months ago, life in this humble village without electricity would come to a halt after sunset. Inside his mud-and-clay home, Ganpat Jadhav's three children used to study in the dim, smoky glow of a kerosene lamp. When their monthly fuel quota of four litres dried up in just a fortnight, they had to strain their eyes using the light from a cooking fire. That all changed with the installation of low-cost, energy-efficient lamps that are powered entirely by the sun. The lights were installed by the Grameen Surya Bijli Foundation (GSBF), an Indian non-governmental organization focused on bringing light to rural India. Some 100,000 Indian villages do not yet have electricity. The GSBF lamps use LEDs--light emitting diodes--that are four times more efficient than a normal bulb. After a $55 installation cost, solar energy lights the lamp free of charge. LED lighting, like cell phones, is another example of a technology whose low cost could allow the rural poor to leap into the 21st century.
As many as 1.5 billion people--nearly 80 million in India alone--light their houses using kerosene as the primary lighting media. The fuel is dangerous, dirty, and--despite being subsidized--consumes nearly four percent of a typical rural Indian household's budget. A recent report by the Intermediate Technology Development Group suggests that indoor air pollution from such lighting media results in 1.6 million deaths worldwide every year. LED lamps, or more specifically white LEDS, are believed to produce nearly 200 times more useful light than a kerosene lamp and almost 50 times the amount of useful light of a conventional bulb. "This technology can light an entire rural village with less energy than that used by a single conventional 100 watt light bulb," says Dave Irvins-Halliday, a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Calgary, Canada and the founder of Light Up the World Foundation (LUTW). Founded in 1997, LUTW has used LED technology to bring light to nearly 10000 homes in remote and disadvantaged comers of some 27 countries like India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bolivia, and the Philippines. The technology, which is not yet widely known in India, faces some scepticism here. "LED systems are revolutionising rural lighting, but this isn't a magic solution to the world's energy problems," says Ashok Jhunjhunwala, head of the electrical engineering department at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. In a scenario in which nearly 60 percent of India's rural population uses 180 million tons of biomass per year for cooking via primitive wood stoves--which are smoky and provide only 10-15 percent efficiency in cooking--Jhunjhunwala emphasises the need for a clean energy source, not just for lighting but for other domestic purposes as well The Indian government in April launched an ambitious project to bring electricity to 112000 rural villages in the next decade. However, the remote locations of the village will make reaching this goal difficult. A.K. Lakhina, the chairman of India's Rural Electrification Corporation, says the Indian government recognizes the potential of LED lighting powered by solar technology, but expressed reservations about its high costs. "If only LEDs weren't imported but manufactured locally," he says, "and in bulk."
The lamps installed in nearly 300 homes by GSBF cost nearly half the price of other solar lighting systems. Jasjeet Singh Chaddha, the founder of the NGO, currently imports his LEDs from China. He wants to set up an LED manufacturing unit and a solar panel manufacturing unit in India. If manufactured locally, the cost of his LED lamp could plummet to $22, as they won't incur heavy import duties. "We need close to $5 million for this," he says. Mr. Chaddha says he has also asked the government to exempt

A. provide light for 100000 Indian villages.
B. are very expensive to install.
C. are powered by the sun.

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LED systems could solve the world's energy problems.

A. 真
B. 假
C. NOT GIVEN

Questions 9-10
Answer the following questions and write the appropriate letter(s) on your answer sheet.
NB:More than one letter may be correct for each answer.
Which people/organisations are involved in the Haydon housing project?

A private company.
B. The government.
C. A housing association.
D. Co-operatives.

A.By giving an attractive account of the goods.B.By giving people some samples.C.By gi

A. By giving an attractive account of the goods.
By giving people some samples.
C. By giving people a special promise.
D. By giving people something extra.

The most interesting architectural phenomenon of the 1970's was the enthusiasm for refurbishing old buildings. Obviously, this was not an entirely new phenomenon. What is new is the wholesale interest in reusing the past, in recycling, in adaptive rehabilitation. A few trial efforts, such as Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco, proved their financial viability in 1960s, but it was in the 1970's, with strong government support through tax incentives and rapid depreciation. As well as growing interest in ecology issues, that recycling became a major factor on the urban scene.
One of the most comprehensive ventures was the restoration and transformation of Boston's eighteenth century Faneuil Hall and the Quincy Market, designed in 1824. This section had fallen on hard times, but beginning with the construction of a new city hall immediately adjacent, it has returned to life with the intelligent reuse of these fine old buildings under the design leadership of Benjamin Thomson. He has provided a marvelous setting for dining, shopping, professional offices, and simply walking. Butler Square, in Minneapois, exemplifies major changes in its complex of offices, commercial space, and public amenities carved out of a massive pile designed in 1906 as a hardware warehouse. The exciting interior timber structure of the building was highlighted by cutting light courts through the interior and adding large skylights.
San Antonio, Texas, offers an object lesson for numerous other cities combating urban decay. Rather than bringing in the bulldozers, San Antonio's leaders rehabilitated existing structures, while simultaneously cleaning up the San Antonio River, which menders through the business district.
What is the main idea of the passage?

A. During the 1970's, old buildings in many cities were recycled for modern use.
B. Recent interest in ecology issues has led to the cleaning up of many rivers.
C. The San Antonio example shows that bulldozers are not the way to fight urban decay:
D. Strong government support has made adaptive rehabilitation a reality in Boston.

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