According to the US government, wind farms off the Pacific coast could produce 9

According to theUS government, wind farms off the Pacific coast could produce 900 gig watts ofelectricity every year. Unfortunately, the water there is far too deep for eventhe tallest windmills(see picture)to touch bottom. An experiment under way offthe coast of Norway, however, could help put them anywhere.

The project, calledHywind, is the world’s first large-scale deepwater wind turbine(涡轮发电机).Although it uses a fairlystandard 152-ton,2.3-megawatt turbine, Hywind represents totally newtechnology. The turbine will be fixed 213 feet above the water on a floatingspar(see picture),a technology Hywind’s creator, the Norwegian companyStatoilHydro, has developed recently. The steel spar, which is filled withstones and goes 328 feet below the sea surface, will be tied to the ocean floorby three cable(缆索)；these willkeep the spar stable and prevent the turbine from moving up and down in thewaves. Hywind’s stability(稳定性)in the cold and rough seawould prove that even the deepest corners of the ocean are suitable for windpower. If all goes according to plan, the turbine will start producingelectricity six miles off the coast of southwestern Norway as early asSeptember.

To produceelectricity on a large scale, a commercial wind farm will have to use biggerturbines than Hywind does, but it’s difficult enough to balance such a largeturbine so high on a floating spar in the middle of the ocean. To make thatturbine heavier, the whole spar’s to design a new kind of wind turbine, onewhose gearbox(变速箱) sits atsea level rather than behind the blades (see picture )

Hywind is a testrun, but the benefits for perfecting floating wind-farm technology could beextremely large. Out at sea, the wind is often stronger and steadier than closeto shore, where all existing offshore windmills are planted. Deep-sea farms areinvisible from land, which helps overcome the windmill-as-eyesore objection. Ifthe technology catches on, it will open up vast areas of the planet’s surfaceto one of the best low-carbon power sources available.

1.

 The Hywindproject uses totally new technology to ensure the stability of _______.

A. the cables whichtie the spar to the ocean floor

B. the spar which isfloating in deep-sea water

C. the blades drivenby strong and steady sea wind

D. the stones filledin the spar below the sea surface

2.

To balance a biggerturbine high on a flatting spar, a new type of turbine is to be designed withits gearbox sitting ____________.

A. on the seafloor       B. on the spar top

C. at sealevel           D. behind theblades

3.

Wide applications ofdeepwater wind power technology can ____________.

A. solve thetechnical problems of deepwater windmills

B. make financialprofits by producing more turbines

C. settle thearguments about environmental problems

D. explorelow-carbon power resources available at sea

试题答案

【答案】

1.B

2.C

3.D

【解析】

1.细节理解题。根据第二段倒数第三句可知，该工程采用了全新的技术，是为了确保漂浮在深海水域中的圆材的稳定。

2. 细节理解题。根据第三段最后一句可知，为了使较大的涡轮发电机能在圆材上保持平衡，公司计划设计新的发电机，其变速箱在海平面上。

3.  细节理解题。根据最后一段最后一句可知，深海风能技术的广泛应用可能会在海洋上开发出可使用的低碳能源。