《考研英语阅读理解100篇 高分版》 Unit 22 - TEXT TWO

For its supporters, the idea of growing single-celled algae on exhaust gas piped from power stations is the ultimate in recycling. For its detractors, it is a mere pipe dream. Whoever turns out to be right, though, it is an intriguing idea: Instead of releasing the carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels into the atmosphere, why not recapture it by photosynthesis? The result could then be turned into biodiesel (since many species of algae store their food reserves as oil), or even simply dried and fed back into the power station. Of course, if it were really that easy, someone would have done it already. But although no one has yet commercialised the technology, several groups are trying.
One of them is GS CleanTech, which has developed a bioreactor based on a patent held by a group of scientists at the Ohio Coal Research Centre, at the University of Ohio. The GS CleanTech bioreactor uses a parabolic mirror to funnel sunlight into fibre-optic cables that carry the light to acrylic “glow plates” inside the reactor. These diffuse the light over vertical sheets of polyester that form the platform on which the algae grow. Eventually the polyester is unable to support the weight of the algae, and they fall off into a collection duct positioned underneath.
GreenFuel Technologies, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has a different approach. Its reactor is composed of a series of clear tubes, each with a second, opaque tube nested inside. This arrangement makes it possible to bubble the exhaust gas down through the outer compartment and then bubble it back up through the opaque middle. The bubbling gas causes turbulence and circulates the algae around the reactor. The constant shift between light and darkness as the algal cells circulate increases the amount of carbon that they fix, probably by promoting chemical reactions that occur naturally only at night.
A preliminary test of GreenFuel's reactor design, which was performed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's campus power plant, suggested that it can remove 75% of the carbon dioxide from a power station's exhaust. A more serious test is now being carried out by Arizona Public Service, that state's power utility, at its Redhawk plant. Another test is planned in Louisiana.
GreenFuel claims that over the course of a year, a hectare (2.5 acres) of its reactors should be able to produce 30,000 litres (8,000 American gallons) of oil, which could be used as biodiesel, and enough carbohydrates to be fermented into 9,000 litres of ethanol, which can be used as a substitute for petrol.
There is, of course, no free lunch. As Rob Carlson of the University of Washington points out, if money is to be made selling products made from exhaust gas, then that gas goes from being waste matter to being a valuable resource. Far from giving it away, power companies might even start charging for it. That would, indeed, be a reversal of fortune.
1. The word “intriguing” (Line 3, Paragraph 1) most probably means _____.
[A] challenging
[B] promising
[C] complicated
[D] alluring
2. Which one of the following statements is TRUE of the bioreactor developed by GS CleanTech?
[A] No exhaust gas is used in this bioreactor.
[B] The “glow plates” are used to conduct the sunlight.
[C] Sunlight comes into the fiber-optic cables through holes in the parabolic mirror.
[D] Photosynthesis is carried out by the algae in the collection duct.
3. The collection duct positioned underneath is used to _____.
[A] hold the vertical sheets of polyester that fall off
[B] substitute the platform on which the algae grows
[C] obtain the overweight algae
[D] take the place of polyester after light is diffused on it
4. The approach developed by the GreenFuel Technologies is different from that by GS CleanTech in that _____.
[A] there is no photosynthesis in the reactor of GreenFuel Technologies
[B] the light used for photosynthesis is produced by the reactor itself
[C] the algal cells fix carbon in the process
[D] the exhaust gas acts as the motive force
5. The reactors of GreenFuel could produce the following fuels except _____.
[A] biodiesel
[B] ethanol
[C] alcohol
[D] fossil fuel