Hawaii has planned to be the first U.S. state to roll out（正式推出）electric car stations statewide --- a move towards
weaning the islands off oil.Hawaii, which is far away from the U.S. mainland, imports foreign oil for almost 90 percent of its energy needs. One–third of that oil is used to power cars and buses on island streets. This move will help Hawaii meet its goal of reducing fossil fuel use by 70 percent by 2030.
Better Place, a Palo Alto, California-based company, will build the car recharging stations and provide recharged batteries for electric cars. The company will purchase renewable energy --- such as wind power --- from Hawaiian Electric Co.
Better Place picked Hawaii for the first statewide rollout in part because the islands are a contained environment, with few vehicles (车辆) coming in and out. Better Place would need to build a bigger network across several states to serve some mainland markets. Hawaii also has rich renewable energy resources, including wind, solar and wave power. This is important because Better Place won’t use oil. Better Place plans to recharge its batteries at night with power from Hawaii’s wind farms. That power normally goes unused because of Hawaii’s low nighttime energy needs.
Hawaii is an ideal place to show off Better Place technology because the state welcomes over five million tourists each year from the U.S. mainland, Japan, Canada and the rest of the world. “If we can get them into electric cars when they rent, we do two great things,” Shai Agassi, Better Place’s founder and chief executive officer, said. “One, we avoid emissions （排放物）; two, we use the opportunity to educate them, to teach them in Hawaii how it needs to be done in the rest of the world.”
However, Hawaii doesn’t expect to spend any money to improve the network. Maybe it needs to offer tax breaks or other ways to encourage people to buy electric vehicles when they are first offered.
小题1:
The underlined part “weaning the islands off oil” (in Para 1) probably means _________.
| A．exploring the islands for oil |
| B．stopping Hawaii’s dependence on oil gradually |
| C．importing more oil from other islands |
| D．increasing the amount of oil used there |
小题2:
Why is Hawaii chosen to be the first state where car recharging stations will be built statewide? _________
①There are few cars in Hawaii.
②Hawaii can provide environmentally friendly energy.
③Plenty of oil has been found in Hawaii.
④Hawaii is separated from the mainland with few vehicles coming in and out.
小题3:
When visitors to Hawaii rent electric cars, they _________.
| A．will be taught it is necessary to do as Hawaiians do to protect the earth |
| B．will be offered tax breaks |
| C．need to be told what should be done before travelling |
| D．should be given the chance to try two things before driving |
小题4:
We can infer f
rom the passage that _________.
| A．Better Place is a company producing electric cars |
| B．people are not encouraged to buy electric cars |
| C．electric cars will be recharged with power from renewable resources |
| D．Hawaii now has reduced the use oil by 90 percent |