The oldest and most common source of renewable energy known to man, biomass is one of the most important forms energy production in the United States and elsewhere. Since such a wide variety of biomass materials is everywhere --- from trees and grasses to agricultural and city --- life wastes ---biomass promises to play a continuing role in providing power and heat for millions of people around the world. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists(UCS), biomass is a kind of renewable energy source that produces no carbon dioxide , because the energy it contains comes from the sun. When plant matter is burned, it gives off the sun's energy. In this way, biomass serves as a sort of natural battery for storing the sun's energy. As long as biomass is produced continuously ---with only as much grown as is used-- the "battery" lasts forever. According to the Energy Information Administration, biomass has been one of the leading renewable energy sources in the United States for several years running through 2007, making up between 0.5 and 0.9 percent of the nation's total electricity supply. In 2008---although the numbers aren't all in yet---wind power probably took over first place because of the rapid development of wind farms across the country. Producing power from biomass helps reduce some 11 million tons of carbon dioxide each year. Some homeowners also try to make their own heat by using biomass materials. Such practice may save homeowner's money, but it also produces a lot of pollution. So, the best way is to encourage power plants to use it. Why is biomass considered as " a sort of natural battery"? A) It burns merely plant matter. B) It keeps producing electricity. C) It stores the energy from the sun. D) It produces zero carbon dioxide
C
(Question)
American doctors say that mothers who smoke cigarettes before their babies are born may slow the growth of their babies' lungs. They say reduced lung growth could cause the babies to suffer breathing problems and lung diseases later in life. Doctors in Boston, Massachusetts studied 1,000 children. The mothers of some of the children smoked, while the other mothers did not. Doctors found that the lungs of the children whose mothers smoked were 8% less developed than the lungs of the children whose mothers did not smoke, and that the children whose mothers smoked had 25% more cold and breathing diseases than other children later in life. Another recent study found that children had a greater chance of having lung cancer if their mothers smoked. The study also showed that the danger of cancer increased only for sons and not for daughters, and that the father's smoking did not affect a child's chance of suffering from lung cancer. According to the passage, the writer wants to tell us _ . A) The danger of cancer increased only for girls and not for sons B) The children whose mothers smoked had a quarter more cold and breathing diseases than other children later in life C) The father's smoking influenced a child's chance of suffering from lung cancer D) The lungs of the children whose mothers smoked were 8% more developed than those of the children whose mothers did not smoke
(Answer)
B
Ques: Michael Fish may soon be replaced as a weather forecaster by the shark . Research by a British biology student suggests that sharks could be used to predict storms. Lauren Smith, 24, is close to completing her study on shark's ability to sense pressure. If her studies prove the theory, scientists may be able to monitor the behavior of sharks to predict bad weather. Miss Smith had previously studied the behavior of lemon sharks in the Bahamas. She then used their close relatives, lesser spotted dogfish, for further research at Aberdeen University. Her work---thought to be the first of its kind to test the pressure theory ---- resulted from the observation that juvenile blacktip sharks off Florida moved into deeper water ahead of a violent storm in 2001. Miss Smith said: "I've always been crazy about traveling and diving and this led me to an interest in sharks." "I was delighted to have been able to research in the area for my degree. I know there's so much more we need to understand ---- but it certainly opens the way to more research." It has been discovered that a shark senses pressure using hair cells in its balance system. At the Bimini Shark Lab in the Bahamas, Miss Smith fixed hi-tech sensors to sharks to record pressure and temperature, while also tracking them using GPS (Global Positioning System) technology. In Aberdeen, she was able to study the effects of tidal and temperature changes on dogfish----none of which were harmed. She also used a special lab which can mimic oceanic pressure changes caused by weather fronts. She is due to complete her study and graduate later this year. She says she will be looking for a job which will give her the chance to enrich her experience of shark research. Lauren Smith conducted her research by _ . A) removing hair cells from a shark's balance system B) measuring the air pressure of weather fronts C) recording sharks' body temperature D) monitoring sharks' reaction to weather changes
Ans: D
Ques:Smart phones that react to your moods and televisions that can tell it's you who's watching are in your future as Intel Corporation's top technology expert sets his sights on context-aware computing. Chief technology officer Justin Rattner showed how personal devices will one day offer advice. "How can we change the relationship so we think of these devices not as devices but as assistants or even companions?" he asked. Handheld devices could combine already common geographic location technology with data from microphones, cameras, heart and body monitors and even brain scans to offer their owners advice that today only a friend or relative could give. "Imagine a device that uses a variety of sensors to determine what you are doing at an instant, from being asleep in your bed to being out for a run with a friend, " Rattner said, "Future devices will constantly learn about who you are, how you live, work and play.'' Rattner also demonstrated a television remote control that figures out who is holding it based on how it is held, and then learns the viewer's entertainment preferences. As the world leader for decades in microchips for servers and desktop computers, Intel is hurrying to catch up in the profitable market for smart phones like Apple's iPhone and Research in Motion's Blackberry. Telephones with e-mail, global positioning and media players are pointing the way to a future where ever more functions are packed into ever smaller mobile devices. The smart phone industry, including technology giants like LG and Samsung, is likely to sell 270 million phones this year and grow 25 percent in 2011, according to market research company IDC. "I think you can expect to see features that support context-aware computing starting to appear in Intel products in the near future," Rattner said. But analysts say Intel faces an uphill battle getting its microchips into new phones as Nvidia, Marvell and Qualcomm have already made headway with cheap, lower-power processors based on designs by ARM Holdings. Rattner... The future smart phones can do all of the following except _ . A) giving responses to the moods of the owners B) giving proposals like assistants or companions C) offering advice to their owners' friends or relatives D) telling the phone holders or carriers where they are

Ans:
C