2020考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇：Unit 25

Unit 25

Jim Boon is a hybrid kind of guy. He drives a Toyota hybrid to work, a Honda hybrid on weekends and, as a manager for Seattle public transit he recently placed the world’s largest order for hybrid electric buses.

Now, with the biggest hybrid-bus fleet in the world, Seattle has become the main testing ground for a technology that claims it can drastically cut air pollution and fuel consumption. In the 1990s, demo fleets of 35 buses or fewer started cropping up in cities such as Tempe, Ariz. Sixteen of these early hybrids still service Genoa, Italy, where drivers switch from diesel to electric power when passing the city’s downtown architectural treasures. But no city has gone as far as Seattle, which last year bought 235 GM hybrid buses at $645,000 a pop. When the final one rolls out this December, the region’s bus system will be 15 percent hybrid.

But why Seattle, and why now? The Pacific Northwest has long been a hotbed of both Green politics and cutting-edge technology. Fourteen years ago the Seattle area bought 236 Italian-made Breda buses to service a mile-long downtown tunnel. They were supposed to operate as clean electric trolleys underground, but the switching mechanism often failed and “the bus drove through the tunnel as a diesel,” says Boon. “It was pretty loud and smoky.”

When the Bredas hit retirement age in 2002, Boon went shopping. He chose the GM buses because they use an automatic transmission and diesel boosters that provide power to scale inclines without strain. In hilly Seattle, the prospect of a hybrid that could climb like a diesel but accelerate without belching black fumes helped justify a price $200,000 higher than that of a regular bus. “The days of seeing a diesel pull away and pour out smoke are over,” says Boon. “After we drove these hybrid buses across the country, I wiped a handkerchief inside the tailpipe. It came out spotless.”

Experts say buses are critical to realizing the hybrid dream of greater efficiency and cleaner air. It would take thousands of hybrid cars to save as many gallons of gas （750,000） as Boon expects his buses to save Seattle each year. GM claims that compared with conventional diesels, its new buses also churn out 90 percent less particulate matter—a known carcinogen. “Buses are a major source of pollution in any city,” says Dave Kircher of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. “They operate where people are breathing this exhaust, so this is a major step forward in terms of emissions.”

And a major step forward in the marketplace: Philadelphia; Honolulu; Long Beach, Calif., and Albuquerque, N.M., have all bought the GM buses in recent months. GM is now touting itself in ads as the top hybrid-bus innovator, but Siemens is among the global giants dueling GM for new business, and New York plans to deploy 325 BAE Systems hybrids by 2006. “There’s room for competition,” says James Cannon, editor of Hybrid Vehicles Newsletter. Seems Seattle isn’t the only city trying to leave grunge behind.

注（1）：本文選自Newsweek；

注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對象為2004年真題Text 1。

1. How does Genoa protect its architectural treasures?

A) Follow Seattle’s steps to reduce pollution.

B) Forbid cars driven by diesel to pass them.

C) Shift the power of the hybrids when crossing.

D) Reduce the number of the buses crossing there.

2. Which of the following can be the main advantage of hybrid bus?

A) Cutting air pollution and fuel consumption.

B) Producing less smoke and noise.

C) Owning strong switching mechanism.

D) Producing less dangerous matter.

3. The expression “churn out”（Line 4, Paragraph 5） most probably means ______.

A) increase

B) destroy

C) reduce

D) produce

4. Why are buses critical to realizing the hybrid dream of higher efficiency and cleaner air?

A) Buses are a major source of pollution.

B) A single bus saves much more gas than a single car.

C) Buses are more important than private cars in terms of transportation.

D) Both A and B.

5. Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

A) Many cities plan to buy GM buses.

B) GM buses have the incomparable advantages over other buses.

C) There is severe competition in the field of hybrid vehicles.

D) The best way to keep the city clean is to buy hybrid buses.

篇章剖析

本文采用的是提出問題—分析問題的模式，指出混合動力公交車的優(yōu)點，并分析了西雅圖為什么會成為世界上擁有這種汽車最多的城市。第一段介紹了西雅圖公共交通系統(tǒng)經(jīng)理吉姆·布恩；第二段指出西雅圖是世界上擁有混合動力公交車最多的城市；第三段和第四段分析了為什么會是西雅圖這座城市，而且又是現(xiàn)在購買這么多通用公司生產(chǎn)的公交車的原因；第五段介紹了混合動力公交車同柴油機車相比的性能優(yōu)點；第六段介紹了其市場經(jīng)營情況。

詞匯注釋

hybrid /?ha?br?d/ n. 雜種；混血兒；混合物adj. 混合的；雜種的

place an order for sth. 定購某物

drastically /?dr?st?kli/ adv. 激烈地，徹底地

demo /?dem??/ n. 〈口〉示范，示范產(chǎn)品

crop up 突然出現(xiàn)

diesel /?di?z(?)l/ n. 柴油機

a pop 每個，各

roll out 鋪開；碾平；滔滔不絕地說出；〈口〉大量生產(chǎn)

hotbed /?h?tbed/ n. 溫床

cutting-edge /?k?t???ed?/ adj. 尖端的，先進的

trolley /?tr?li/ n. 電車

accelerate /?k?sel?re?t/ v. 加速，促進

belch /belt?/ v. 打嗝；（火山、炮等）冒煙，噴出

tailpipe /?te?lpa?p/ n. 【汽】排氣管

churn out 粗制濫造出；大量產(chǎn)出

carcinogen /kɑ??s?n?d?(?)n/ n. 致癌物質(zhì)

exhaust /?g?z??st/ n. 廢氣

tout /ta?t/ v. 吹捧

duel /?dju??l; (US)?du??l/ v. 決斗

deploy /d??pl??/ v. 展開，配置

grunge /gr?nd?/ n. 〈美俚〉蹩腳貨，難看的東西，乏味的東西

難句突破

In hilly Seattle, the prospect of a hybrid that could climb like a diesel but accelerate without belching black fumes helped justify a price $200,000 higher than that of a regular bus.

主體句式：The prospect helped justify a price.

結(jié)構(gòu)分析：本句的主語是the prospect of a hybrid，之后跟的是由that引導(dǎo)的定語從句來修飾a hybrid。在這個定語從句中，climb和accelerate都是謂語動詞。help是主句謂語，后面跟to do sth.，其中to常被省略。$200,000 higher than that of a regular bus修飾a price，其中that指代的是price。

句子譯文：在多山的西雅圖，能夠像柴油機（車）那樣上下行駛，加速時又不冒黑煙的混合動力車，其售價比普通汽車高出200,000美元還是合理的。

題目分析

1. C 細節(jié)題。原文對應(yīng)信息是：Sixteen of these early hybrids still service Genoa, Italy, where drivers switch from diesel to electric power when passing the city’s downtown architectural treasures.

2. A 細節(jié)題。原文對應(yīng)信息是第二段第一句話a technology that claims it can drastically cut air pollution and fuel consumption。第五段第一句話Experts say buses are critical to realizing the hybrid dream of greater efficiency and cleaner air.又進一步印證了這一點。

3. D 語義題。本段的主題句是Experts say buses are critical to realizing the hybrid dream of greater efficiency and cleaner air.其中已經(jīng)介紹過了高功效，接下來要介紹清潔系數(shù)高。churn out所在的句子是在說明這種新型公交車在減少大氣污染方面的優(yōu)良性能，根據(jù)語境可猜出詞組的含義。

4. D 細節(jié)題。原文第五段中的hybrid dream意為“混合夢想”，即指下文提到的“節(jié)能清潔”的雙重目標?？梢姶鸢笧镈。

5. C 細節(jié)題。本段指出雖然美國通用汽車公司自詡是最棒的混合動力公共汽車的改革者，但是通用在這一市場中做的并不是獨家生意，也還存在著激烈的競爭，其中主要競爭對手是勁敵西門子公司，而且紐約作為一大客戶，訂購誰家的尚未可知，由此選C。

參考譯文

吉姆·布恩是個對混合事物情有獨鐘的人。他上班開豐田混合動力車，周末開本田混合動力車。作為西雅圖公共交通系統(tǒng)的一位經(jīng)理，他最近訂購了世界上最大一批混合電力公交車。

現(xiàn)在，擁有世界上最大的混合動力公交車隊的西雅圖已經(jīng)成為一塊試驗田，用來檢測這項混合動力車技術(shù)究竟能否大幅度降低空氣污染和燃料消耗。在20世紀90年代，諸如亞利桑那州滕比這樣的城市就曾有過接近35輛這樣的示范車。這些早年的混合動力車至今仍有16輛服務(wù)于意大利的熱那亞。在熱那亞，途經(jīng)城市市區(qū)的建筑瑰寶時，司機就會把柴油動力轉(zhuǎn)換成電力動力。但是沒有哪座城市的做法趕得上西雅圖，去年它以每輛645,000美元的價格購買了235輛美國通用汽車公司生產(chǎn)的混合動力公共汽車。今年12月，當(dāng)最后一輛車生產(chǎn)出來的時候，該地區(qū)的公交系統(tǒng)中混合動力車將占到15%。

可為什么是西雅圖？而且為什么又是現(xiàn)在呢？美國太平洋西北部長期以來一直是綠色政治和尖端科技產(chǎn)生的搖籃。14年前，西雅圖地區(qū)曾購買了236輛意大利制造的布雷達公共汽車，用于一英里長的市區(qū)隧道中。本指望能把它們當(dāng)作潔凈的電力有軌地下電車，但是車上的轉(zhuǎn)換裝置經(jīng)常出毛病，“而且汽車在穿越隧道時就像是輛柴油機，”布恩說，“噪音太大，煙霧太多?！?

2002年，當(dāng)布雷達汽車到了“退休”的年齡時，由布恩進行新的采購。他之所以選擇美國通用汽車是因為他們使用的是自動轉(zhuǎn)換裝置和用來爬斜坡不費力的柴油推進器。在多山的西雅圖，能夠像柴油機（車）那樣上下行駛，加速時又不冒黑煙的混合動力車，其售價比普通汽車高出200,000美元還是合理的?！翱粗裼蜋C冒著黑煙開走的日子終于結(jié)束了，”布恩說，“我們開車駛過鄉(xiāng)村，用手絹擦拭排氣管的內(nèi)部可以發(fā)現(xiàn)手絹一塵不染。”

專家認為公共汽車是實現(xiàn)提高功效和凈化空氣雙贏的關(guān)鍵。按照布恩的預(yù)計，上千輛混合動力小汽車節(jié)省下來的汽油（750,000加侖）才和公共汽車每年為西雅圖節(jié)省的汽油一樣多。美國通用汽車公司聲稱，他們的這種新型汽車產(chǎn)生的一種已知致癌物比傳統(tǒng)柴油機（車）排出的少90%?！肮财囋谌魏我蛔鞘欣锒际侵饕奈廴驹?，”普吉特海灣清潔空氣監(jiān)測站的戴夫·奇瑟說，“汽車一開動，人們就開始在呼吸這種廢氣。因此這是在汽車排放物方面邁出的重要一步?！?

這類車在市場方面的進展也向前邁出了重要的一步：最近幾個月，費城、火奴魯魯、長堤、加州和新墨西哥州的阿爾伯克基都購買了通用生產(chǎn)的公共汽車?，F(xiàn)在，通用汽車公司在廣告中把自己吹噓成最棒的混合動力公共汽車的改革者，但是與通用公司競爭這一新生意的還有全球性的大公司——西門子；紐約計劃到2006年配備325輛BAE系統(tǒng)的混合動力車?！斑@還有得爭?！薄痘旌蟿恿C動車時事通訊》的編輯詹姆士·坎農(nóng)如是說?？磥砗孟癫恢晃餮艌D一座城市想要遠離骯臟。