小镇居民拒绝绿色能源项目

A North Carolina town Woodland was considering zoning changes that would have allowed Strata Solar Company to build a new solar farm near an electrical substation(变电所), but ended up deciding against the measures at a town council meeting earlier this month.

One man opposing the project said that the project would kill plants in the town because it would “suck up all the energy from the sun”. Some opposed the solar farm because they believed it would reduce property values and that the town is not getting any profit while Strata and the electrical company do. They added that it may cause cancer.

However, two residents drew international attention after making questionable scientific claims about the renewable energy source’s impact. Jane Mann, a retired science teacher, said that she was worried that photosynthesis(光合作用) would not happen because of the solar panel and had seen areas near other farms turn brown. One company is already placing solar panels near Woodland’s electrical substation, which is what makes the area attractive for the facilities. She also mentioned a number of cancer cases nearby saying that “no one could tell her that solar panels didn’t cause cancer”. Bobby Mann said that solar farms had made other towns in the area “dry up” and said the farms sucked away all the sun.

Strata Solar Company representative Brent Niemann was also at the meeting and denied the claims and explained that solar panels only use the sunlight that hits them directly. He also said that there were no harmful materials at the site and another representative said that there had been no negative effects on property values in other parts of the state.

After rejecting the zoning changes by a vote of 3-1, the town placed a suspension on all future solar farms.

 

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1.Reasons for objections to the project don’t include _________.

A harming the plants

B cutting the housing price

C making people sick

D bringing in more companies

解析：选D。D 细节理解题。根据第二段的“the project would kill plants”“it would reduce property values”以及“it may cause cancer”可知，人们反对这个项目的理 由包括：该项目会给植物带来伤害、会降低当地 房价以及致癌。并未提及吸引来更多企业。故选 D。

2.What does the author think of the claims by the two residents?

A Unreasonable.

B Meaningful.

C Professional.

D Interesting.

解析：选A。A 推理判断题。根据第三段的“questionable”、 “drew international attention”和第四段“explained” 等可知作者认为他们所谓的主张是可疑的、不合 理的。故选 A。

3.The solar panels near the old electrical substation _________.

A stop plants’ photosynthesis

B bring attraction to the area

C contribute to cancers

D suck up all the sun

解析：选B。B 细节理解题。根据第三段的“...which is what makes the area attractive for the facilities”可知该地 区已经存在的太阳能电池板使得该地区极具吸 引力。故选 B。

4.What does the underlined word “suspension” mean?

A Limit.

B Stop.

C Agreement.

D Debate.

解析：选B。B 词义猜测题。根据最后一段可知，该镇以 3 比 1 的投票结果否定了分区变更，结合第一段可知 只有分区变更才能实施该项目，由此推断该项目 应该是被“暂停，中止”了。故选 B。