Question

After opening the world’s first commercial Direct Air Capture plant（直接空气捕集工厂）designed to pull CO₂ out of the air, Swiss company Climeworks is now trying to create the world’s first “negative emission（负排放）” power plant.

An international team of scientists has been working on a way to turn captured CO₂ into minerals. The project is called CarFix. Experts capture the gas, put it into water and send it to more than 700 meters underground. There the CO₂ on contact with a special kind of rock forms into a mineral.

“Our results show that between 95 and 98 percent of the CO₂, sent underground was mineralized over the period of less than two years, which is amazingly fast,” says lead author of the CarFix project, Dr. Juerg Matter. Before this discovery it was thought that this mineralization could take hundreds to thousands of years.

The DAC technology can collect CO₂ from the atmosphere and then store it underground or sell it to business needing the gas. For example, customers can use it in drinks. And the first plant in Zurich is supplying the captured CO₂ to a nearby greenhouse to “feed” vegetables. By using the company’s CO₂ the customers can reduce their carbon mission as well as lower their dependence on energy.

A 2015 study suggested that before the CarFix project, experts could collect CO₂, but they didn’t have a large-scale（大规模的）method to safely treat it.

Combining Climeworks’ DAC technology with the CarFix mineralization process they will be able to create a system. This system doesn’t put additional carbon back into the atmosphere. Actually it is carbon negative.

“The economic cost of applying this kind of carbon capture technology on a large-scale is not particularly practical now, but for the first time we are seeing a realistic and effective system,” says Christoph Gebald CEO of Climeworks.

1.What is the text mainly about?

A. A new power-producing process.

B. A team of international scientists.

C. An effective way to deal with CO₂ emission.

D. A business plan to sell CO₂ to customers.

2.What is the new discovery according to Paragraph 3?

A. Applying CO₂ to greenhouse.

B. Collecting CO₂ from the atmosphere.

C. Sending CO₂ 700 meters underground.

D. Mineralizing CO₂ in less than two years.

3.In what way can the power plant be carbon negative?

A. It captures CO₂ from the atmosphere to produce power.

B. It recycles its own CO₂ emission and buys CO₂ from others.

C. It treats its own CO₂ emission and helps others to save energy.

D. It has a large-scale method to turn CO₂ into other useful gases.

4.What is Christoph Gebald’s attitude towards the carbon capture and storage system?

A. Pleased.    B. Fascinated.

C. Worried.    D. Disappointed.

Answer

1.C

2.D

3.C

4.A

【解析】本文是说明文，介绍了一种捕捉空气中的二氧化碳的系统，这套系统可以把搜集到的二氧化碳融入水中送入地下并与岩石结合，转化成矿物质，也可以把搜集到的二氧化碳应用到其他地方，减少碳排放和能源的消耗。

1.主旨大意题。根据第一段After opening the world’s first commercial Direct Air Capture plant（直接空气捕集工厂）designed to pull CO2 out of the air, Swiss company Climeworks is now trying to create the world’s first “negative emission（负排放）” power plant.以及下文的讲述可知，文章介绍的是一种搜集空气中的CO2的系统，这套系统可以通过把CO2转化为矿物或应用到其他地方来减少空气中的二氧化碳。故选C。

2.细节理解题。根据第三段“Our results show that between 95 and 98 percent of the CO2, sent underground was mineralized over the period of less than two years, which is amazingly fast,”可知，科学家们发现95%到98%的二氧化碳在不到两年的时间里被矿化，这个速度之快超出人们的预想。故选D。

3.细节理解题。根据第四段中The DAC technology can collect CO2 from the atmosphere and then store it underground or sell it to business needing the gas.和By using the company’s CO2 the customers can reduce their carbon mission as well as lower their dependence on energy.可知，这种技术可以把空气中的二氧化碳搜集起来，储存在地下，或卖给需要这种气体的公司，让二氧化碳得到合理的使用，同时节约能源。故选C。

4.推理判断题。根据最后一段“The economic cost of applying this kind of carbon capture technology on a large-scale is not particularly practical now, but for the first time we are seeing a realistic and effective system,”可知，Christoph Gebald认为我们第一次看到了一个现实有效的系统，可见他对这个二氧化碳捕获和储存系统充满希望，很满意。故选A。