Directions: You are expected to study this section in class. Don’t preview.

Word Pretest

For each italicized word or expression, choose the best meaning below.

1. There are always some skeptics when a new social program is put forward.
A. specialists B. doubters C. supporters
2. The patient’s condition has deteriorated since the operation.
A. improved B. changed C. worsened
3. The mayor took the initiative in closing the park to automobiles.
A. important action
B. first action
C. last action
4. Canada’s Prime Minister is the counterpart of the U.S. president.
A. opposite B. equal C. colleague
5. The nation will combat all invaders.
A. negotiate with B. make peace with C. fight against
6. According to the provisions of this agreement, you must continue to work for them another 2 years.
A. requirements B. supplies C. preparations
7. The spot of water evaporated in the sun.
A. melted away B. dried up C. froze
8. They will repair your watch without charging you anything because the warranty will be due next week.
A. warrant B. warning C. guarantee
9. There are several alternative possibilities.
A. changing B. various C. optional
10. Lack of funds can be a drawback if you want to invest in a sure thing.
A. drawing back B. annoyance C. obstacle
11. In order to keep up with the economic development, the government shall accelerate the popular education in the country.
A. slow down B. speed up C. spread out
12. She deliberately ignored me when I passed her in the street.
A. purposely B. unconsciously C. slowly

Key : 1. B 2. C 3. B 4. B 5. C 6. A 7. B 8. C 9. C 10. C 11. B 12. A

Text A

1. Background Information
2. Text: Reducing Emission

　　 When Henry Ford introduced his first automobile back in the early part of the century, skeptics laughed. Those early cars just couldn’t compare with the dominant form of transportation at the time ---- the horse and carriage. Of course, there was no stopping the automotive breakthrough, and it wasn’t long before people were trading their old gray mares for horseless carriage.
　　Today, there are over 190 million cars on the road in the U.S., and more than 80 percent of the total miles traveled here are by automobile. Unfortunately, as the use of cars has increased, it’s been accompanied by a serious problem ---- deteriorating air quality in heavily traveled parts of the country.
Technological innovations in emission controls over the past 20 years have greatly reduced pollutants cars produce.

20 Years of Progress　
　　Are cars today really less polluting that they were 20 years ago? The answer is clearly yes. Since the Clean Air Act of 1970 and establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency, impressive progress in reducing emissions from automobiles has been made. Changes include redesigned engines, catalytic converters, advanced onboard sensors, and state and local inspection and maintenance program.
　　As a result of these initiatives, new cars emit 70 to 90 percent less pollution than their 1970 counterparts. Yet automobiles continue to be one of the largest sources of air pollution. This is because the number of cars on the road and the number of miles driven had almost doubled since 1970, neutralizing the effects of reduced emissions.
　　“We’ve had success fighting emissions per vehicle,” says Pete Hagerty, a senior environmental engineer with the EPA. “But we’re still fighting growth in the number of cars and miles traveled by automobiles.” Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire are two of the more than 100 areas nationwide that fail to meet federal air quality standards.

Cutting Future Emission
　　In order to combat the continuing harmful effects of smog, greenhouse gases, and global warming, Congress passed strong amendments to the Clean Air Act in 1990. the provisions affecting motor vehicles call for.
　　---- Stricter tailpipe and evaporative emission standards for new car, beginning in 1994.
　　---- Improved inspection and maintenance programs to cut in-use emissions (10 percent to 30 percent of high emitting vehicles cause most of the problem; this program could cut some emissions by 30 percent.)
　　---- Extension of the warranties on emission controls from 5 years/50 000 miles to 10 years/100 000 miles.
　　---- Greater use of “clean” gasoline formulations.
　　---- The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 also promote the development of a number of alternative fuels and technologies that could substantially reduce emissions by moving away from gasoline-based fuel. Some examples of alternative fuels include natural gas, alcohol-based fuels, electricity, solar energy, and hydrogen.
　　David Dilts, who manages the alternative fuels program for the Massachusetts energy office, says, We are doing at the state level an alternative fuels demonstration program to find out “the workability of these fuels.” He believes these fuels offer exciting possibilities to “improve emission from mobile sources and reduce dependence on foreign oil.”

Alternative Fuels
　　Compressed natural gas (CNG) is one of the leading candidates to replace gasoline as a motor vehicle fuel in the near future. Its use significantly reduces certain harmful emissions. CNG costs less than gasoline and the U.S. has vast supplies of natural gas. However, since CNG has lower energy content than gasoline, a car powered by CNG needs a bigger tank to achieve the equivalent driving range of a gasoline-powered vehicle. This reduces the vehicle’s fuel efficiency. Despite these limitations, though, CNG is increasing finding wide use.
Alcohol-based fuels such as methanol and ethanol also have potential as alternatives to gasoline. Both are liquids, like gasoline. Methanol is typically made from wood, while ethanol is generally made form corn stalks or sugar. Emissions of some pollutants from using these fuels are lower than gasoline, while others are about the same. However, both methanol and ethanol only get half the mileage per gallon of gasoline, and both fuels have cold-weather starting problem.
　　Hydrogen is a clean-burning, high-energy fuel that holds great promise in the long term, if hydrogen is burned in an engine similar to that used for gasoline, only water and small quantities of nitrogen oxides are formed. Obstacles include a restricted vehicle range, due to an on-board fuel storage system that is currently much larger and heavier than a gasoline tank, and a limited distribution and refueling network. Nevertheless, original models of hydrogen vehicle have recently been hitting the road. Hydrogen needs the most research and development of all the alternative fuels in order to commercialize it for passenger vehicles, and this may be decades away.

Toward Zero Emission
　　Electric-powered vehicles are the only ones at present that produce zero emission. Currently, electric cars are considerably more expensive than gasoline models. Their main drawback, however, is limited battery power. Even so, electric vehicles in their present state development could serve as effective commuter or “about town” cars. So far, their top speed is about 60 mph, with a driving range of between 50 to 100 miles per charge. Acceleration is somewhat less than gasoline-powered vehicles, although the impact, an electric sports car developed by General Motors, can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in eight seconds. One study projects that there could be over 3 million electric vehicles on the road in the Northeast states by the year 2015.
　　Solar energy is increasingly being experimented with as a power source of vehicles. Solar-powered vehicles could significantly reduce the social and environmental costs of transportation in the long term. Vehicles are emission-free, low-noise, and could be designed to be 100-percent recyclable. Photovoltaic cells are used to convert the energy from sunlight directly into electricity. They are still much less efficient than other forms of generating electricity, but have improved dramatically over the past decade. Production of solar vehicles on a large scale may still be a long way off, but some analysis project that commuter models may be available this decade for between $ 10, 000 and $ 12, 000.

Looking Ahead
　　Further emissions reductions are critical. Without them the clean air act of 1990 would force restriction of automobile use ---- the government would deliberately restrict when and where people could drive. Making sure the existing fleet is as clean as it can be and developing alternative fuels is essential to maintaining the levels of mobility that Americans enjoy today.

Total words: 1050 words
Total Reading Time _______
_______
The text is based on “Reducing Emissions” by John Studart in AAA World July/August 1993.

Detailed Study of Text A

◆ Reading Skill ─ Scanning
Read each of the questions first, locate the relevant part of the text, and then find the correct answer.　

1. How many cars are there today on the road in the U.S.
A. 80 million B. 100 million C. 190 million
2. Today’s new car emit ______ pollution than the cars did in 1970.
A. 70% less B. 80% more C. 90% more
3. When did Congress pass the Clean Air Amendments?
A. 1970 B. 1990 C. 1994
4. The Clean Air Act Amendments require ______.
A. the restriction of car use
B. the use of “clean” gas
C. the establishment of the Environment Protection Agency
5. Except ______, all the following are the alternative fuels suggested in the text.
A. methanol and ethanol
B. Compressed natural gas
C. gasoline
6. The problem with hydrogen as an alternative fuel is that ______.
A. it has a lower energy content
B. it has a cold-weather starting problem
C. it has a fuel strong problem
7. Which of the following is not the emission-free vehicle mentioned in the text?
A. Electric-powered vehicles
B. Gasoline-powered vehicles.
C. Solar-powered vehicles.
8. In 1990 a solar-powered car may be available for ______.
A. $ 15 000 B. $ 12 500 C. $10 500

Key: 1. C 2. A 3. B 4. B 5. C 6. C 7. B 8. C

Vocabulary Building

I. Fill in the blanks with the given words in their correct forms.

environment     duplicate      consume     inexhaustible
emission        equivalent     conserve     deplete

1. Fast industrial development has caused a drastic _______ of the land sources in that area.
2. If we don’t begin to save our energy now, it will soon be _______ and we’ll have nothing left to use.
3. My key is lost. Will you make a _______ one to our room for me?
4. Now more and more people drink more and more beer, so the beer _______ is getting greater each year.
5. How much can ten pounds be changed for the _______ amount of US dollars today?
6. Some new industrialists have idea of the _______ effects of pouring their industrial waste into rivers.
7. Air is mainly polluted by smoke and ashes _______ from factory chimneys and exhaust pipes.
8. Most people have come to accept the need for _______ to protect the rare animals and plants.

Key: 1. depletion 2. exhaustible 3. duplicate 4. consumption
　　　5. equivalent 6. environmental 7. emitted 8. conservation

II. Fill in the blanks with words that are often confused.

1. equivalent, counterpart
a. The sales director phoned her _______ in the other film.
b. What is 5 pound _______ to French francs?
2. creation, innovation
a. Technical _______ came one after another.
b. Economic conditions may be responsible for the _______ of social unrest.
c. They proposed the _______ of Welsh and Scottish parliaments.
3. impress, compress
a. I soon finished a paper, which I _______ to a minimum length.
b. I was hoping to _______ my new boss with my diligence.

Key:　 1. a. counterpart b. equivalent
　　　2. a. innovation b. creation c. innovation
　　　3. a. compressed b. impress

Ⅲ. Glossary

ecology        　　 botany   　　   　  green-house effect   　 　  biogenetics
microbiology  　  nature study   　　  biochemistry      　　　    naturalist
global warming  　contamination 　  deforestation       　　　   fauna
land erosion    　 extinct species 　  endangered species    　  genetics
ozone damage   water resources 　  sustainable development
flora      　　　     Green Peace

4. Cloze
Fill in each blank with one suitable word.

increase     measures       waste      creative     recycling
disposal     communities    place       solve       amount
resources    prevention

As a nation, we are staring to realize that we can’t _______ the solid waste dilemma just by finding new places to put trash. Across the country, many individuals, _______, and businesses have found _______ ways to reduce and better manage their trash through a coordinated mix of practices that includes source reduction.
Simply put, source reduction is waste _______. It includes many actions that reduce the _______ amount and harmfulness of waste created. Source reduction can conserve _______, reduce pollution, and help cut waste disposal and handling costs (it avoids the costs of _______, landfilling, and combustion).
Source reduction is a basic solution to too much garbage: less _______ means less of a waste problem. Because source reduction actually prevents the _______ of waste in the first _______, it comes before other _______ that deal with trash after it is already generated. After source reduction, recycling is the preferred waste management option because it reduces the _______ of waste going to landfills and conserve resources.

Key: 1. solve  2. communities  3. creative  4. prevention  5. wastes　 6. resources 
　　7. recycling  8. increasing  9. amount  10. place　 11. measures  12. disposal