阅读试题

According to the US government, wind farms off the Pacific coast could produce 900 gigawatts of electricity every year. Unfortunately, the water there is far too deep for even the tallest windmills(see picture) to touch bottom. An experiment under way off the coast of Norway, however, could help put them anywhere.

The project, called Hywind, is the world's first large-scale deepwater wind turbine(涡轮发电机). Although it uses a fairly standard 152-ton, 2.3-megawatt turbine, Hywind represents totally new technology. The turbine will be fixed 213 feet above the water on a floating spar(see picture), a technology Hywind's creator, the Norwegian company StatoilHydro, has developed recently. The steel spar, which is filled with stones and goes 328 feet below the sea surface, will be tied to the ocean floor by three cable(缆索); these will keep the spar stable and prevent the turbine from moving up and down in the waves. Hywind's stability(稳定性) in the cold and rough sea would prove that even the deepest corners of the ocean are suitable for wind power. If all goes according to plan, the turbine will start producing electricity six miles off the coast of southwestern Norway as early as September.

To produce electricity on a large scale, a commercial wind farm will have to use bigger turbines than Hywind does, but it's difficult enough to balance such a large turbine so high on a floating spar in the middle of the ocean. To make that turbine heavier, the whole spar's center of gravity must be moved much closer to the ocean's surface. To do that, the company plans to design a new kind of wind turbine, one whose gearbox(变速箱) sits at sea level rather than behind the blades.

Hywind is a test run, but the benefits for perfecting floating wind-farm technology could be extremely large. Out at sea, the wind is often stronger and steadier than close to shore, where all existing offshore windmills are planted. Deep-sea farms are invisible from land, which helps overcome the windmill-as-eyesore objection. If the technology catches on, it will open up vast areas of the planet's surface to one of the best low-carbon power sources available.

63.The Hywind project uses totally new technology to ensure the stability of _______.
A. the cables which tie the spar to the ocean floor
B. the spar which is floating in deep-sea water
C. the blades driven by strong and steady sea wind
D. the stones filled in the spar below the sea surface

64.To balance a bigger turbine high on a flatting spar, a new type of turbine is to be designed with its gearbox sitting __________.
A. on the sea floor B. on the spar top
C. at sea level D. behind the blades

65.Wide applications of deepwater wind power technology can __________.
A. solve the technical problems of deepwater windmills
B. make financial profits by producing more turbines
C. settle the arguments about environmental problems
D. explore low-carbon power resources available at sea

参考译文

按美国政府所说，太平洋海岸的风力发电厂每年可以发电900千兆瓦（9万亿瓦）。不幸的是，这里的水太深，甚至是最高的风车也触及不到底部。然而，在挪威海岸的一项实验方法可以帮助我们将这些风车放到任何地方。

这一计划叫做Hywind。这是世界上第一个大规模的深水区风力涡轮发电机。虽然它用了相当标准的152吨水，2300万瓦特的涡轮，但是Hywind代表着新技术。涡轮有213英尺固定在水上漂浮的圆材上。Hywind这项技术的发明者是挪威公司StatoilHydro，这是他们最近开始研发的。钢的圆材里面塞满了石头，并有328英尺在海平面以下，它将被3根缆索系在大洋底部；这有利于圆材的稳定，避免其在海浪的作用下随涡轮上下移动。Hywind在寒冷而粗糙的海里的稳定性将会证明即使在海洋最深的角落也适合发展风能。如果一切都按计划发展，那么在九月初，涡轮将会在挪威南岸6米处开始发电。

在大规模的商业风力发电厂发电就必须使用比Hywind还要大的涡轮，但是在海洋中部，要在如此高且漂浮着的圆材上平衡一个大的涡轮是很困难的。为了使涡轮变重，整个圆材的重心必须移到离海平面最近的位置。为了做到这些，公司计划设计一种新的风力涡轮，它的变速箱在海平面上而不是在旋转阀叶之后。

Hywind是一个测试运行，但是完善的浮力风力发电技术所带来的益处是极大的。在海洋上，风经常要比岸边强大而稳定，在这里有许多离岸风车。在陆地上是看不见深海发电厂的，这有助于减少因美观而反对设置离岸风电机的意见。如果技术继续发展，那么它有可能开辟大面积的地球表面以生产最好的低碳能源。

答案解析

63. B 考查细节理解。根据文章第二段中的"...these will keep the spar stalble…"可知，Hywind使用新的技术是为了保证发电机spar部分的稳定性，因此选择B项。
64. C 考查细节理解。根据第三段中的"...one whose gearbox（变速箱）sits at sea level rather than behind the blades"可知，为了更好地维持漂浮圆杆上的发电机的平衡，新的涡轮机的变速箱将被设计成与海平面持平，因此选择C项。
65. D 考查细节理解。根据文章最后一句可知，深海风力发电技术的广泛运用将会有助于开发广阔的海洋上的低碳能源，因此选项D正确。