试题详情
阅读理解
Getting electricity has always been a problem for the 173 people living in Nuevo Saposoa, a small village in Peru, South America. However, things went from bad to worse in March 2015 after heavy rains broke the only power cable (电力电缆) in the area. The villagers were forced to use oil lamps (灯), which are not only expensive but also dangerous because of the terrible smell they produce.
Luckily, researchers at the University of Technology (UT) in Lima, Peru heard about their problem and found a wonderful way. They made a lamp that can be powered by plants and soil (土壤). Both can be easily found in the Amazonian rainforest where the village lies. The lamp takes energy from a plant growing in a wooden box and uses it to light up a LED light bulb (灯泡).
While that may sound amazing and even impossible, the science behind the idea is quite simple. As plants create their food, they produce waste. And the waste returns to the soil. Tiny animals in the soil eat the waste and they produce electrons — the parts of electrical energy. The UT team put special sticks inside the soil to get the energy and keep it in the lamp for later use. The researchers say a single charge (充电) can make a50w LED light work for two hours — enough time for local villagers to get their evening work done.
The university gave ten Plant Lamps to the villagers of Nuevo Saposoa in October 2015. So far, they have been a huge success ! Elmer Ramirez, the UT professor who invented the lamp, believes the Plant Lamp could help improve the lives of many people, especially small rainforest villages. 42% of them have no electricity.
试题所涉知识点
