Geothermal Energy
Paragraph 1: Earth's internal heat, fueled by radioactivity, provides the energy for plate tectonics and continental drift, mountain building, and earthquakes. It can also be harnessed to drive electric generators and heat homes. Geothermal energy becomes available in a practical form when underground heat is transferred by water that is heated as it passes through a subsurface region of hot rocks (a heat reservoir) that may be hundreds or thousands of feet deep. The water is usually naturally occurring groundwater that seeps down along fractures in the rock; less typically, the water is artificially introduced by being pumped down from the surface. The water is brought to the surface, as a liquid or steam, through holes drilled for the purpose.
1. According to the processes described in paragraph 1, what is the relationship between radioactivity and the steam produced by geothermal heat?
○Geothermally heated steam is produced when water is exposed to radioactivity deep underground.
○ When water is introduced into holes drilled thousands of feet in the ground, it becomes radioactive and turns to steam.
○ Radioactivity heats Earth's interior rock, which in turn can heat water to the point it becomes steam.
○ When a reservoir of steam in subsurface rock is produced by radioactivity, it is said to be geothermally heated.
题型：细节题
定位词： relationship between radioactivity and the steam
解题思路： 关于定位词中的 radioactivity，只有文章开头提到其功能为为地球内部的热能提供燃料，只有选项C中提到了这一功能，所以C为正确选项。
重点句子翻译：
Earth's internal heat, fueled by radioactivity, provides the energy for plate tectonics and continental drift, mountain building, and earthquakes.
地球内部的热量，通过辐射带动，为板块构造和大陆漂移，造山运动，地震提供了能量。
2. The word “practical” in the passage is closest in meaning to
○Usable
○Plentiful
○Economical
○Familiar
题型：词汇题
解题思路： “practical”是一个简单词汇，意为“实用的；实际的”，所以A项正确。
Paragraph 2：By far the most abundant form of geothermal energy occurs at the relatively low temperatures of 80ºto 180º centigrade. Water circulated through heat reservoirs in this temperature range is able to extract enough heat to warm residential, commercial, and industrial spaces. More than 20,000 apartments in France are now heated by warm underground water drawn from a heat reservoir in a geologic structure near Paris called the Paris Basin. Iceland sits on a volcanic structure known as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, is entirely heated by geothermal energy derived from volcanic heat.
3. The word “abundant” in the passage is closest in meaning to
○Economical
○Familiar
○Plentiful
○Usable
题型：词汇题
解题思路： “relatively low temperatures” 说明在这种温度范围内地热能量的形成是最丰富的，所以C项正确。
4. According to paragraph 2, which of the following is true about heat reservoirs with a temperature in the range of 80° to 180° centigrade?
○They are under international control.
○They are more common than reservoirs that have a higher temperature.
○Few of them produce enough heat to warm large industrial spaces.
○They are used to generate electricity.
题型：细节题
定位词： heat reservoirs with a temperature in the range of 80° to 180° centigrade
解题思路：根据定位词中的数字定位到第一句话，根据意思可知在这种温度范围内地热能量的形成是最丰富的，所以B项正确。选项A、C、D的说法原文未提及。
重点句子翻译：
By far the most abundant form of geothermal energy occurs at the relatively low temperatures of 80ºto 180º centigrade.
到目前为止，最丰富的地热能源的形式出现在相对较低的80度至180度摄氏温度。
Paragrapgh3：Geothermal reservoirs with temperatures above 180° centigrade are useful for generating electricity. They occur primarily in regions of recent volcanic activity as hot, dry rock; natural hot water; or natural steam. The latter two sources are limited to those few areas where surface water seeps down through underground faults or fractures to reach deep rocks heated by the recent activity of molten rock material. The world's largest supply of natural steam occurs at The Geysers, 120 kilometers north of San Francisco, California. In the 1990s enough electricity to meet about half the needs of San Francisco was being generated there. This facility was then in its third decade of production and was beginning to show signs of decline, perhaps because of over development. By the late 1990s some 70 geothermal electric-generating plants were in operation in California, Utah, Nevada, and Hawaii, generating enough power to supply about a million people. Eighteen countries now generate electricity using geothermal heat.
5. According to paragraph 3, what is the connection between underground faults and naturally occurring steam?
○ Underground faults enable the heat from molten-rock material to escape upward to regions where it can heat surface water enough to produce steam.
○ Underground faults are created by steam that is produced in geothermal reservoirs deep inside Earth.
○ Underground faults create spaces in which natural steam is sometimes trapped.
○ Underground faults allow surface water to reach deep rocks that are hot enough to turn it into steam.
题型：细节题
定位词： connection between underground faults and naturally occurring steam
解题思路：定位词 natural steam后面的一句话解释了两者的关系，地下断层让水通过、到达深处岩石，使其温度变高成为蒸汽，所以D项正确。
重点句子翻译：
The latter two sources are limited to those few areas where surface water seeps down through underground faults or fractures to reach deep rocks heated by the recent activity of molten rock material.
后两个能源仅限于那些地表水渗入地下断层，到达了被近期熔岩材料活动加热的深处的岩石的领域。
6. In paragraph 3, why does the author mention that in the 1990s The Geysers was in its third decade of production?
○ To provide the historical context of the geothermal production of electricity in the United States
○ To imply that The Geysers was the first geothermal site to be put into production in California
○ To help explain the signs of decline shown by The Geysers
○ To explain why 70 new geothermal sites were put into electricity production in the late 1990s
题型：修辞目的题
定位词： in the 1990s The Geysers was in its third decade of production
解题思路：这是例证目的题，答案在例子的后半句，“该设施当时在其生产的第三十年”是用来更好地说明其下降的迹象。所以c项正确。
重点句子翻译：
This facility was then in its third decade of production and was beginning to show signs of decline, perhaps because of over development.
该设施当时在其生产的第三十年，开始显示出下降的迹象,也许是因为过度开发。
