Todays drivers may feel shocked by the high price of gasoline1 when they drive to the gas station. The car industry has the technology to solve the problem. Its the hybrid car.
What is a hybrid car? Any car that uses two or more sources of power is a hybrid car. Most hybrid cars on the road right now are gasolineelectric hybrids. The gasolineelectric hybrid car is just what it sounds like-a cross between a gasolinepowered car and an electric car.
A gaspowered car has a fuel tank, which supplies gasoline to the engine. An electric car, on the other hand, has a set of batteries that provides electricity for the car.
To be useful to you or me, a car should be able to run at least 300 miles （482 km） before refueling, to be refueled2 quickly and easily and keep up with the other traffic on the road.
A gasoline car meets these requirements3 but produces a large amount of pollution. An electric car, however, produces almost no pollution, but it can only go 50 to 100 miles （80 to 161 km） between charges. And the problem has been that the electric car is very slow and inconvenient to recharge4.
A gasolineelectric car combines the advantages of them into one system that uses both gas power and electric power. Some experts believe that a hybrid car is “the next generation of smart cars”. A hybrid car can go up to 50% further than a traditional car can on the same amount of gas! It saves drivers money on gas and cuts air pollution!
【生词注释】
1. gasolinen. 汽油
2. refuelvt.& vi. （给）加油； （给）加燃料
3. requirementn. 要求；必要条件；需要
4. rechargevt. 给（电池）再充电；给（枪）再装弹药
1. What do the underlined words “the problem” （in Paragraph 1） refer to?
A. The price of gasoline goes up and down.
B. The gaspowered car is sold at high price.
C. The gaspowered car causes air pollution.
D. The price of gasoline keeps going up.
2. At present, how many sources of power do most hybrid cars use?
A. Two.
B. Three.
C. Four.
D. It depends.
3. Compared to a gaspowered car, an electric car .
A. is expensive
B. is fast
C. is easy to refuel
D. is green
4. The writer thinks that electric cars .
A. are smart vehicles
B. are best vehicles
C. are not practical
D. are not slow
5. Some experts believe that a hybrid car will have a large market in future because .
A. it is just powered by renewable energy
B. it is fast, ecofriendly and saves money
C. it goes further than a traditional car
D. it is safe, cheap and produces no air pollution
The Internet can be a great way to connect with people. The latest Web craze1 is socialnetworking on Web sites such as MySpace. More than 65 million young people use online socialnetworking sites.
That cyberspace trend is causing problems in schools, however. In a recent survey, nearly 36 percent of school administrators2 said that socialnetworking sites troubled learning in their districts. Should school districts ban sites like MySpace?
Teachers are worried that some students use social networking to post personal information and to cyber3 bully other students. One of the biggest dangers comes from people who find out kids personal information.
Many districts have blocked students from accessing, or using, socialnetworking sites from school computers, and some have suspended4 students for posting harmful material on those sites from their home computers. Nearly twothirds of U.S. kids have computers in their homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“It is important to keep in mind that just blocking access5 to social Web sites at school is not the end of the story,” warns NSBA executive6 director Anne Bryant. “Most of the misuse of these sites takes place at home but still affects the classroom.”
Some educators arent as quick to pull the plug on social networking. They say the main problem with sites like MySpace is that students dont understand the dangers involved in using them. “Many students are posting personal information about themselves without regard to who has access to that information,” Jim Hirsch said. “Schools should focus on educating their students and their parents on how to be safe online.”
Experts argue that too many schools are forbidding students to use social networking Web sites without thinking about their educational benefits. “Social networking Web sites can help connect students in the United States to their peers7 in other countries, providing invaluable lessons in foreign cultures,” explains Hirsch.
【生词注释】
1. crazen. 狂热；大流行
2. administratorn. 管理者
3. cyberadj. 计算机（网络）的；信息技术的
4. suspendvt. 暂停；终止
5. accessn. 通道；入口
6. executiveadj. 执行的；行政的
7. peern. 同辈；同龄人
1. Where does most of the misuse of social networking sites take place?
A. At the teachers office.
B. At the net bar.
C. At the classroom.
D. At home.
2. The underlined sentence in Paragraph 6 may mean .
A. some educators are not against students using social networking sites.
B. some educators cant block students from accessing social networking sites.
