Electricity, like clean water, is a resource that’s often taken for granted. But last summer, when blackouts struck much of the northeastern US, Ontario and Rome, consumers on two continents were given a painful reminder of just how easily broken electricity supplies can be. The massive disorder stranded (使陷入困境)commuters, stopped freezers, shut down businesses and refocused attention on where most of the planet’s power comes from：oil-and-gas-fired generators and nuclear plants, These sources not only pollute the environment but also make many consumers feel unacceptable health risks.
Companies are trying to offer an alternative, clean energy from renewable resources that’s plentiful and portable. Lifton’s Medis Technologies, as well as companies like Hydrogenics and Nanosys, is tapping into fuel cells and dolor panels to give people power whenever and wherever they want it, free from dependence on local grids(电网).
The search for alternative energy is nothing new, but the current trend of innovators is focusing on the goal of making clean and sustainable power a mainstream commodity. For example, the fuel cell, which produces electricity from the chemical reaction between oxygen and hydrogen, has been around for about 150 years, though its commercial development did not begin until the 1960s and then only as part of NASA spacecraft. Today this technology is coming down to Earth in places like Tokyo; in nine European cities, from Stockholm to Porto, each operating three hydrogen-fuel-cell buses; and in Iceland, which is trying to create the first fuel free hydrogen economy by 2030.
When hydrogen and oxygen molecules(分子)combine, the reaction produces heat and water. Fuel cells use this reaction to generate electricity. With the cell phone and gadget(小机件)market in mind, Medis has developed a fuel cell with cheap components that produces little heat and effortlessly reduces waste water without turning to energy consuming pumps.
小题1:What is the passage mainly about?
A．The future of alternative energy
B．How the fuel cells works
C．People’s search for alternative energy
D．The damage done by the blackout last summer.小题2:What can we know about the fuel cell?
A．Its commercial use began in the 1960s.
B．Today it’s being used in almost every corner of the world.
C．It has been in widespread used for about 150 years.
D．It supplies electricity to make the combination of oxygen and hydrogen possible.小题3:Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A．Lifton’s Medis Technologies is tapping into fuel cells and solar panels.
B．The fuel cell has been around for about 150 years.
C．The fuel cell’s commercial development did not begin until the 1960s.
D．When hydrogen and oxygen molecules combine, the reaction produces o2 and H2O.小题4:The underlined word “blackouts” in the 1 st paragraph means_____.
A．power failure
B．the delivering of electricity
C．the power of electricity
D．power station
