Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 36 to 42.The invention of the incandescent light bulb by Thomas A. Edison in 1879 created a demand for a cheap, readily available fuel with which to generate large amounts of electric power. Coal seemed to fit the bill, and it fueled the earliest power stations (which were set up at the end Of the nineteenth century by Edison himself). As more power...
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Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 36 to 42.
The invention of the incandescent light bulb by Thomas A. Edison in 1879 created a demand for a cheap, readily available fuel with which to generate large amounts of electric power. Coal seemed to fit the bill, and it fueled the earliest power stations (which were set up at the end Of the nineteenth century by Edison himself). As more power plants were constructed throughout the country, the reliance on coal increased. Since the First World War, coal-fired power plants have accounted for about half of the electricity produced in the United States each year. In 1986 such plants had a combined generating capacity of 289,000 megawatts and consumed 33 percent of the nearly 900 million tons of coal mined in the country that year. Given the uncertainty in the future growth of nuclear power and in the supply of oil and natural gas, coal-fired power plants could well provide up to 70 percent of the electric power in the United States by the end of the century.
Yet, in spite of the fact that coal has long been a source of electricity and may remain one for many years (coal represents about 80 percent of United States fossil-fuel reserves), it has actually never been the most desirable fossil fuel for power plants. Coal contains less energy per unit of weight than natural gas or oil; it is difficult to transport, and it is associated with a host of environmental issues, among them acid rain. Since the late 1960's problems of emission control and waste disposal have sharply reduced the appeal of coal-fired power plants. The cost of ameliorating these environmental problems, along with the rising cost of building a facility as large and complex as a coal-fired power plant, has also made such plants less attractive from a purely economic perspective.
Changes in the technological base of coal fired power plants could restore their attractiveness, however. Whereas some of these changes are evolutionary and are intended mainly to increase the productivity of existing plants, completely new technologies for burning coal cleanly are also being developed
In the author's opinion, the importance of coal-generated electricity could increase in the future for which of the following reasons?
A. The possible substitutes are too dangerous.
B. The cost of changing to other fuels is too great.
C. The future availability of other fuels is uncertain.
D. Other fuels present too many environmental problems.
II. Read the following passage then choose the best answer for each blank.
Coal is black solid fossil fuel. It is usually very (6)_______ . Coal is made of 65% - 95% carbon. It also has hydrocarbons and some other compounds in it. It is (7)_______ from the remain of plants that lived millions of years ago.
Coal can be burned for energy or (8)_______ . About two-third of coalmined today is burned in power station to make (9)_______ . Burning it is not as common as it used to be, (10)_______ it causes much pollution.
Natural gasis a mixture. It (11)_______ mainly of hydrocarbons. The main component is methane. Natural gas is often found in the ground (12)_______ with petroleum.
Most natural gas is burned (13)_______ to produce energy. It burns with a clean flame. It causes (14)_______ pollution.
The main use of natural gasis to produce electricity. It is also used as (15)_______ for cars, cooking gas and to make fertilizers.
6. A. soft B. hard C. difficult D. loosse
7. A. made B. formed C. done D. founded
8. A. heat B. hotter C. hottest D. hot
9. A. powder B. product C. electricity D. mass
10. A. but B. therefore C. because D. however
11. A. consists B. depends C. combines D. mixes
12. A. except B. toghether C. addition D. apart
13. A. actively B. honestly C. straightly D. directly
14. A. little B. few C. many D. a lot
15. A. light B. fuel C. fire D. food
7.A , 8.A, 9.C , 10. C , 11.A , 13. D , 14.A , 15.B mới đúng nhé