填空题阅读下面的短文，文章中有5处空白，文章后面有6组文字，请根据文章的内容选择5组文字，将其分别放回文章原有位置，以恢复文章原貌。 {{B}}Conservation or Wasted Effort?{{/B}} The black robin (旅鸫) is one of the world’s rarest birds. It is a small, wild bird, and it lives only on the island of Little Mangere, off the coast of New Zealand. In 1967 there were about fifty black robins there; in 1977 there were fewer than ten.{{U}} (46) {{/U}} Energetic steps are being taken to preserve the black robin.{{U}} (47) {{/U}}The idea is to buy another island nearby as a special home, a “reserve”, for threatened wild life, including black robins. The organizers say that Little Mangere should then be restocked (重新准备) with the robin’s food. Thousands of the required plants are at present being cultivated in New Zealand. Is all this concern a waste of human effort?{{U}} (48) {{/U}}Are we losing our sense of what is reasonable and what is unreasonable? In the earth’s long, long past hundreds of kinds of creatures have evolved, risen to a degree of success and died out. In the long, long future there will be many new and different forms of life. Those creatures that adapt themselves successfully to what the earth offers will survive for a long time.{{U}} (49) {{/U}}This is nature’s proven method of operation. The rule of selection—“the survival of the fittest”—is the one by which human beings have themselves arrived on the scene. We, being one of the most adaptable creatures the earth has yet produced, may last longer than most,{{U}} (50) {{/U}}You may take it as another rule that when, at last, human beings show signs of dying out, no other creature will extend a paw (爪) to postpone our departure. On the contrary, we will be hurried out. Life seems to have grown too tough for black robins. I leave you to judge whether we should try to do anything about it. A. Some creatures, certain small animals, insects and birds, will almost certainly outlast (比……长久)man, for they seem even more adaptable. B. Those that fail to meet the challenges will disappear early. C. Detailed studies are going on, and a public appeal for money has been made. D. Both represent orders in the classification of life. E. Is it any business of ours whether the black robin survives or dies out? F. These are the only black robins left in the world.

填空题Sleeping Giant Right now, an eruption is brewing (酝酿) in Yellowstone National Park (黄石国家公园). Sometime during the next two hours, the park's most famous geyser(间歇泉), Old Faithful, will begin gurgling (潺潺地流) boiling water and steam. (46) Old Faithful is not only a spectacular sight; it's also a constant reminder that Yellowstone sits on one of the largest volcanoes in the world. If you have never heard of Yellowstone's volcano, you are not alone. (47) Yet it has erupted three times during the last 2 million pears. And one of those eruptions spewed (喷涌) enough volcanic ash and other debris to blanket half the United States. Yellowstone's volcano is sometimes called a "super volcano", or extremely large and explosive calderas(破火山口)volcano. (48) This super volcano formed over a hot spot, an extremely hot area in Earth's mantle(地幔). John Valley, a volcano professor, said that as the crust moves across a hot spot, the hot spot melts a section of the plate moving over it, forming "one volcano after another". The Yellowstone hot spot melts thick continental(大陆的) crust, which may cause catastrophic (灾难性的) eruptions. According to experts, the eruptions that created each of the three calderas in and around Yellowstone National Park were larger than any other volcanic eruption in recorded history. The most recent eruption, which happened 640,000 years ago, produced at least 1, 000 cubic kilometers of ash and debris and blanketed most of the western half of the United States. (49) Geological evidence shows Yellowstone has blown its stack every 700,000 years or so. "If nature were truly that regular and reliable, we would be due for another eruption soon," said Valley. "However, these processes are subject to variability(可变性的), so we don't really know when the next eruption will happen. " (50) It is the volcanic energy that powers the geysers and hot springs, creates the mountains and canyons(峡谷) and generates the unique ecosystems that support Yellowstone's diverse wildlife. A. Three calderas make up more than a third of Yellowstone National Park. B. The first Yellowstone eruption, 2 million years ago, released more than double that amount of ash and debris. C. The volcano is so inconspicuous (不显眼的) that few people know it exists. D. Then, an enormous fountain will shoot high into the air. E. While the active geologist processes at Yellowstone do pose some risk to the public, they also make it a unique treasure. F. Yellowstone National park at trams the interest of geologists the world over.

填空题 阅读下面这篇短文，短文后有2项测试任务：(1)第23～26题要求从所给的6个选项中为第1～4段每段选择1个正确的小标题；(2)第27～30题要求从所给的6个选项中选择4个正确选项，分别完成每个句子。 {{B}}Ford{{/B}}1 Ford's great strength was the manufacturing process--not invention. Long before he started a car company, he was a worker, known for picking up pieces of metal and wire and turning them into machines. He started putting cars together in 1891. Although it was by no means the first popular automobile, the Model T showed the world just how creative Ford was at combining technology and market.2 The company's assembly line alone threw America's Industrial Revolution into overdrive (高速运转). Instead of having workers put together the entire car, Ford's friends, who were great toolmakers from Scotland, organized teams that added parts to each Model T as it moved down a line. By the time Ford's Highland Park plant was humming (嗡嗡作响) along in 1914, the world's first automatic conveyor belt could turn out a car every 93 minutes.3 The same year Henry Ford shocked the world with the ＄5-a-day minimum wage scheme, the greatest contribution he had ever made. The average wage in the auto industry then was ＄2.34 for a 9-hour shift. Ford not only doubled that, he also took an hour off the workday. In those years it was unthinkable that a man could be paid that much for doing something that didn't involve an awful lot of training or education. The Wall Street Journal called the plan "an economic crime", and critics everywhere laughed at Ford.4 But as the wage increased later to daily $10, it proved a critical component of Ford's dream to make the automobile accessible (可及的) to all. The critics were too stupid to understand that because Ford had lowered his costs per car, the higher Wages didn't matter---except for making it possible for more people to buy cars.

填空题Is There a Way to Keep the Britain's Economy Growing 1. In today's knowledge economy, nations survive on the things they do best. Japanese design electronics while Germans export engineering techniques. The French serve, the best food and Americans make computers. 2. Britain specializes in the gift of talking. The nation doesn't manufacture much of anything. But it has lawyers, stylists and business consultants who earn their living from talk and more talk. The World Foundation think tank says the UK's four iconic jobs today are not scientists, engineers, teachers and nurses. Instead, they're hairdressers, celebrities, management consultants and managers. But can all this talking keep the British economy going? The British government thinks it can. 3. Although the country's trade deficit was more than ￡60 billion in 2006, UK's largest in the postwar period. Officials say the country has nothing to worry about. In fact, Britain does have a world class pharmaceutical industry? And it still makes a small sum from selling arms abroad. It also trades services-accountancy, insurance, banking and advertising. The government believes Britain is on the cutting edge of the knowledge economy. After all, the country of Shakespeare and Wordsworth has a literary tradition of which to be proud. Rock "n" roll is an English language medium, and there are billions to be made by their cutting-edge bands. In other words, the creative economy has plenty of strength to carry the British economy. 4. However, creative industries account for only about 4 percent of UK's exports of goods and services. The industries are finding it hard to make a profit, according to a report of the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts. The report shows only 38 percent of British companies were engaged in "innovation activities", 3 percentage points below the EU average and well below Germany (61 percent) and Sweden (47 percent). 5. In fact, it might be better to call Britain a "servant" economy—there are at least 4 million people "in service". The majority of the population are employed by the rich to cook, clean, and take care of their children. Many graduates are even doing menial jobs for which they do not need a degree. Most employment growth has been, and will continue to be, at the low skill end of the service sector—in shops, bars, hotels, domestic service and in nursing and care homes.

填空题The Roadrunner The roadrunner (走雀) lives in the desert zone of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. (1) People gave it its name because they usually see it running across a road, but of course, it spends more time among the plants of the desert than it does on roads. The roadrunner is quite a large bird—about 45 centimeters long and 25 centimeters high. (2) It holds its head straight out in front and its tail sticks straight out in back. It takes long steps and can run 30 kilometers an hour. It eats an amazing variety of food. Although it eats plants once in a while, it is mostly a meat eater. Most of its diet is insects, but it also catches birds, mice, and other small animals. It is even brave enough to catch snakes and black widow spiders (蛛). (3) When he finds one, he gives her presents—a snake to eat or a tiny branch of a tree to use in building a nest. Then they build their nest, the female lays eggs, and they raise their young. (4) One couple in Arizona feeds a pair of roadrunners that come once at a time every day and make a noise outside the window. If someone doesn't give the bird a piece of hamburger immediately, the bird knocks on the window with its beak (喙). Roadrunners are not shy. (5) They will stand on a chair or table and watch television, and they seem really interested in what is happening on the program. A．Roadrunners can also become friendly with people. B．People laugh when it runs because it looks so funny. C．It is a bird, but it can only fly about as much as a chicken can. D．In early spring, the bird doesn't eat anything. E．Another couple feeds a pair of roadrunners that go right into the house. F．In the spring, a male roadrunner begins looking for a female as a mate.

填空题Chemical energy is generated ______.

填空题A Baby"s Growth 1. To describe a baby"s growth, the old saying "one thing leads to another" should really read, "one thing leads to an explosion." The perfection of vision and the ability to hold his head up allow appreciation of visual space. The evolution of increasingly efficient reaching also lets the baby appreciate and participate in his three-dimensional world. 2. You may notice that your baby can grab toys with either hand. This is partly because the baby has learned to grasp an object even if it touches his hand lightly or his eyes are averted. By the end of the fourth month, he can probably alternate hands to grab the toys or transfer a toy from one hand to the other. He may even wave it briskly, then transfer it and repeat the waving, shuttling it back and forth between hands. In imitating the behavior of one hand with the other, the baby may be becoming aware that he can do the same thing with each arm and that each hand is distinct from the other. This awareness is important to his receiving information about space. The baby also begins to see himself act when he repeatedly reaches for and grasps things. He starts to distinguish himself from the outer world. 3. If you would like another sign of this growth process, try one of Gesell"s measures of mental growth, the behavior of a baby before a mirror. According to Gesell, a baby will smile at his image at around twenty weeks of age. Hold your baby up to a mirror and watch him examine the faces there. He will probably attend most to his own image and perhaps smile at it. As his image returns the smile, he may become active and vocalize. He may also look back and forth between your image and you as if the duplication puzzles him. A baby who knows his mother"s face cannot understand two of them. Calling softly to your baby, as he looks at your confusing double, complicates matters even further. His turning back to the real you shows that a baby four months old is likely to have the ability of preference in discrimination. 4. An early attachment to one object—a toy or a stuffed animal—is another index of discrimination, as well as self-development, for the baby"s interests are going beyond himself. Most babies do not prefer one toy this early, but some will. After exploring each toy, your baby may start reaching and playing with one special one. In the months to come, the toy or anything else the baby identifies with himself by wearing or carrying may become a "lovely". A "lovely" will be slept with, chewed, hugged, loved, and "talked to". These "lovelies" give the baby a way of coping with the necessary separations from the mother. A friendly and familiar toy bear may just make him easier on himself. Rather than feeling threatened, a mother should be flattered by her baby"s extension of affection elsewhere. A baby with the heart to find a "lovey" is showing early mental resourcefulness and flexibility.

填空题 下面的短文有5处空白，短文后有6个句子，其中5个取自短文，请根据短文内容将其分别放回原有位置，以恢复文章原貌。 {{B}}Female Bullfighting{{/B}} It was a unique, eye-catching sight: an attractive woman in a shiny bullfighter's suit, sword in hand, facing the sharp horns of a black, 500-kilogram beast. Most people thought the days of female bullfighting were over in Spain. {{U}}(46) {{/U}}. The first woman fighter, Cristina Sanchez, quit in 1999 because of male discrimination (歧视). But Vega is determined to break into what could be Spain's most resistant male field.{{U}} (47) {{/U}}. Spanish women have conquered almost all male professions.{{U}} (48) {{/U}}"The bull does not ask for your identity card," she said in an interview a few years ago. She insisted that she be judged for her skills rather than her femaleness. Vega became a matador (斗牛士) in 1997 in the southwestern city of Caceres. {{U}} (49) {{/U}}She entered a bullfighting school in Malaga at age nine and performed her first major bullfight at age 14. She has faced as much opposition as Sanchez did. And the "difficulties have made her grow into a very strong bullfighter," her brother Jorge says. The 1.68-metre tall and somewhat shy Vega says her love of bullfighting does not make her any less of a woman.{{U}} (50) {{/U}}.A She intends to become even better than Sanchez was.B Her father was an aspiring (有雄心壮志的) bullfighter.C But many bullfighting professionals continue to insist that women do not have what it takes to perform the country's "national show".D "I'm a woman from head to toe and proud of it," she once said.E She looks like a male bullfighter.F But recently, 29-year-old Mari Paz Vega became the second woman in Spanish history to fight against those heavy animals.

填空题A what you say B apair of sunglasses C the listening machine D a visual sensor E who have disabilities F living forever in a computer

填空题 A. born to be more intelligent or less intelligent B. have a better chance to develop his intelligence C. taught to be more intelligent D. that intelligence was something a baby was born with E. and because of the lack of communication with his classmates F. and partly stimulated

填空题Even the most sophisticated Japanese robots are ______.

填空题 The Tough Grass that Sweetens Our Lives Sugar cane was once a wild grass that grew in New Guinea and was used by local people for roofing their houses and fencing their gardens. Gradually a different variety evolved which contained sucrose (蔗糖) and was chewed on for its sweet taste. Over time, sugar cane became a highly valuable commercial plant, grown throughout the world. {{U}} {{U}} 1 {{/U}} {{/U}} Sugar became a vital ingredient in all kinds of things, from confectionery (糖果点心) to medicine, and, as the demand for sugar grew, the industry became larger and more profitable. {{U}} {{U}} 2 {{/U}} {{/U}} Many crops withered (枯萎) and died, despite growers' attempts to save them, and there were fears that the health of the plant would continue to deteriorate. In the 1960s, scientists working in Barbodos looked for ways to make the commercial species stronger and more able to resist disease. They experimented with breeding programmes, mixing genes from the more delicate, commercial type. {{U}} {{U}} 3 {{/U}} {{/U}}This sugar cane is not yet ready to be sold commercially, but when this happens, it is expected to be incredible profitable for the industry. {{U}} {{U}} 4 {{/U}} {{/U}}Brazil, which produces one quarter of the world's sugar, has coordinated an international project under Professor Paulo Arrudo of the Universidade Estaudual de Campinas in Sao Paulo. Teams of experts have worked with him to discover more about which parts of the genetic structure of the plant are important for the production of sugar and its overall health. Despite all the research, however, we still do not fully understand how the genes in sugar cane. {{U}} {{U}} 5 {{/U}} {{/U}}This gene is particularly exciting because it makes the plant resistant to rust, a disease which probably originated in India, but is now capable of infecting sugar cane across the world. Scientist believe they will eventually be able to grow a plant which cannot be destroyed by rust. A. Since the 1980s, scientists have been analysing the mysterious of the sugar canes genetic code. B. Unfortunately, however, the plant started to become weaker and more prone to disease. C. The majority of the world's sugar now comes from this particular commercial species. D. One major gene has been identified by Dr. Angellique D'Hont and her team in Montpeller, France. E. Eventually, a commercial plant was developed which was 5 percent sweeter than before, but also much stronger and less likely to die from disease. F. Sugar cane is now much more vigorous and the supply of sugar is therefore more guaranteed.

填空题A. be costlyB. harmfulC. save a lifeD. still open to debateE. reduce the risk of radiation triggering a cancerF. reduced to the minimum

填空题A have higher demands of museums B are open to more people with different social background C to lengthen their opening hours D charge too little for admission E have been built and open to public F by lowering the admission fees

填空题Museums in the Modern World Museums have changed. They are no longer places for the privileged few or for bored vacationers to visit on rainy days. Action and democracy are words used in descriptions of museums now. At a science museum in Ontario, Canada, you can feel your hair stand on end as harmless electricity passes through your body. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, you can look at 17th century instruments while listening to their music. At the Modem Museum in Sweden, you can put on costumes provided by the Stockholm Opera. As these examples show, museums are reaching out to new audiences, particularly the young, the poor, and the less educated members of the population. As a result, attendance is increasing. More and more, museums directors are realizing that people learn best when they can somehow become part of what they are seeing. In many science museums, for example, there are no guided tours. The visitor is encouraged to touch, listen, operate, and experiment so as to discover scientific principles for himself. He can have the experience of operating a spaceship or a computer. He can experiment with glass blowing and papermaking. The purpose is not only to provide fun but also to help people feel at home in the world of science. The theory is that people who do not understand science will probably fear it, and those who fear science will not use it to the best advantage. Many museums now provide educational services and children's departments. In addition to the usual displays, they also offer film showings and dance programs. Instead of being places that one should visit, they are places to enjoy. One cause of all these changes is the increase in wealth and leisure time. Another cause is the rising percentage of young population. Many of these young people are college students or college graduates, they are better educated than their parents. They see things in a new and different way. They are not content to stand and look at works of art; they want art they can participate in. The same is true of science and history. In the US, certain groups who formerly were too poor to care about anything beyond the basic needs of daily life are now becoming curious about the world around them. The young people in these groups, like young people in general, have benefited from a better education than their parents received. All these groups, and the rest of the population as well, have been influenced by television, which has taught them about places and other times. The effect of all this has been to change existing museums and to encourage the building of new ones. In the US and Canada alone, there are now more than 6,000 museums, almost twice as many as there were 25 years ago. About half of them are devoted to history, and the rest are evenly divided between the arts and sciences. The number of visitors, according to the American Association of museums, has risen to more than 700 million a year. In fact, the crowds of visitors at some museums are creating a major problem, admission to museums has always been either free or very inexpensive, but now some museums are charging entrance fees for the first time or raising their prices. Even when raised, however, entrance fees are generally too low to support a museum, with its usually large building and its highly trained staff.

填空题 阅读下面这篇短文，短文后有2项测试任务：(1)第23～26题要求从所给的6个选项中为第2—5段每段选择1个正确的小标题；(2)第27～30题要求从所给的6个选项中选择4个正确选项，分别完成每个句子。 {{B}}Adult Education{{/B}} 1. Voluntary learning in organized courses by mature men and women is called adult education. Such education is offered to make people able to enlarge and interpret their experience as adults. Adults may want to study something*which they missed in earlier schooling, get new skills or job training, find out about new technological developments, seek better self-understanding ,or develop new talents and skills. 2. This kind of education may be in the form of self-study with proper guidance through the use of libraries, correspondence courses, or broadcasting. It may also be acquired collectively in schools and colleges, study groups, workshops, clubs, and professional associations. 3. Modern adult education for large numbers of people started in the 18th and 19th centuries with the rise of the Industrial Revolution. Great economic and social changes were taking place: people were moving from rural areas to cities, new types of work were being created in an expanding factory system. These and other factors produced a need for further education and re-education of adults. 4. The earliest programs of organized adult education arose in Great Britain in the 1790s, with the founding of an adult school in Nottingham and a mechanics’ institute in Glasgow. The earliest adult education institution in the United States was founded by Benjamin Franklin and some friends in Philadelphia in 1727. 5. People recognize that continued learning is necessary for most forms of employment today. For example, parts of the adult population in many countries find it necessary to take part in retraining programs at work or even to learn completely new jobs. Adult education programs are springing up constantly to meet these and other needs.

填空题Earth Angels 1．Joying Brescia was 8 years old when she noticed that cigarette butts (烟头) were littering her hometown beach in Isle of Palms, South Carolina. When she learned that it takes five years for the remains of a cigarette to disintegrate, she decided to take action. Joying launched a "No Butts on the Beach" campaign. She raised money and awareness about the need to keep the beaches clean. With the help of others, Joying also bought or received donations of gallon-size plastic ice-cream buckets. The buckets were filled with sand, and placed at all public-access areas of the beach. The buckets allowed people to dispose of their cigarettes before hitting the beach. Two years later, Joying says the buckets are full and the beach is nearly free of cigarette debris (残片). 2．People who live in or visit Steamboat Springs, Colorado, have Carter Dunham to thank for a new state wildlife refuge that preserves 20 acres of marshland and many species of wildlife. Carter and other students wrote a management plan for the area around the Yampa River. The plan was part of a class project when Carter was a freshman at Steamboat Springs High School. Working with the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Carter and his classmates mapped the area and species of animals living there. They also made decisions about, among other things, where fences and parking areas should be built. 3．Barbara Brown and her friends collect oil. It started as a project for their 4H Club after one of the girls noticed her father using motor oil to kill weeds on their farm in Victoria, Texas. They did some research and discovered that oil can contaminate ground water—a real danger in rural areas, where people live off the water on their land. The girls researched ways to recycle oil and worked with a local oil-recycling company on the issue. Now, the "Don't Be Crude" program runs oil-collection sites—tanks that hold up to 460 gallons—where people in the community can dispose of their oil. 4．Five years ago, 11-year-old Ryan Hreljac was a little boy with a big dream: for all the people in Africa to have clean drinking water. His dream began in the first grade when he learned that people were dying because they didn't have clean water, and that as little as $70 could build a well. "We really take water for granted," says Ryan, of Kemptville, Ontario, in Canada. "In other countries, you have to plan for it. " Ryan earned the first $70 by doing extra chores (零工), but with the help of others, he has since raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. His efforts led to the start of the Ryan's Well Foundation, which raises money for clean water and health-related services for people in African countries and developing countries.

填空题Houses of Future What will houses be like in thirty years' time? No one really knows, but architects are trying to predict (46) . Future houses will have to be flexible. In thirty years' time even more of us will be working at home. So we will have to be able to use areas of the house for work for part of the day and for living for the rest. Families grow and change with children arriving, growing up and leaving home. (47) , nothing will be as fixed as it is now. The house will always be changing to meet changing needs. Everyone agrees that in thirty years' time we will be living in "intelligent" houses. We will be able to talk to our kitchen machines and discuss with them what to do. Like this, "we'll be having a party this weekend. What food shall we cook?" (48) . We will be able to leave most of the cooking to the machines, just tasting things from time to time to check. The house of the future will be personal-each house, (49) , you won't have to paint them, you'll be able to tell the wall to change the color! And if you don't like the color the next day, you will be able to have a new one. (50) .A. you will be able to change the color of the wall easilyB. The only thing you won't be able to do is moving the house somewhere elseC. And the machine will tell us what food we will have to buy and how to cook itD. what our home will be likeE. The house of the future will have to grow and change with the familyF. he kids might take their bedrooms with them as they have

填空题 False Fear of Big Fish Many people believe sharks(鲨鱼)are dangerous and will always try to hurt or even kill humans. {{U}} {{U}} 1 {{/U}} {{/U}} A shark exhibition at the National Aquarium(水族馆)in Baltimore, U.S., proves this. Visitors can touch young sharks, see their eggs develop and watch a dozen different species swim smoothly around a huge tank. Most people fail to realize that shark attacks don't happen very often. Humans are more likely to be killed by lightning than by a shark. {{U}} {{U}} 2 {{/U}} {{/U}}There, kids can learn, from an early age, not to fear sharks. "People fear what they don't know," said Nancy Hotchkiss, an organizer of the exhibition. "Sharks have been around for 400 million years and play an important role in the ocean's foodchain. We want people to discover that sharks are amazing animals that need our respect and protection." {{U}} {{U}} 3 {{/U}} {{/U}}A study, published in January in the U.S. magazine, Science, found that almost all recorded shark species have fallen by half in the past 8 to 15 years. Thousands of sharks are hunted in Asia for special foods, such as shark fin(鱼翅)soup. And many others get caught in nets, while fishermen are hunting other fish.{{U}} {{U}} 4 {{/U}} {{/U}} "Some fishing methods are actually cleaning out the ocean for sharks," said Dave Schofield,the manager of the aquarium's ocean health program me.{{U}} {{U}} 5 {{/U}} {{/U}} A. They can watch them develop inside their eggs and feed the skin of the older swimmers. B. A shocking 100 million sharks are killed every year around the world by humans. C. In fact, 94 percent of the world's 400 species are harmless to humans. D. It is a worrying situation and some areas have put measures in place to protect these special fish. E. And to make this point clear, the museum has set up a special touching pool for children. F. More than half of the sharks caught are smaller than 1 meter long.

填空题Geothermal (地热) Energy 1 Since heat naturally moves from hotter regions to cooler ones, the heat from the earth"s center flows outwards towards the surface. In this way, it transfers to the next layer of rock. If the temperature is high enough, some of this rock melts and forms magma (岩浆). The magma ascends in its turn towards the earth"s surface. It often remains well below the earth"s surface, creating vast areas of hot rock. In such regions, there are deep cracks, which allow rainwater to descend underground. Some of the heated rainwater travels back up to the earth"s surface where it will appear as a hot spring. However, if this ascending hot water reaches a layer of impermeable (不可渗透的) rock, it remains trapped, forming a geothermal reservoir. If geothermal reservoirs are close enough to the surface, they can be reached by drilling wells. Hot water and steam shoot up the wells naturally, and can be used to produce electricity in geothermal power plants. 2 A few geothermal power plants depend on dry-steam reservoirs which produce steam but little or no water. In these cases, the steam is piped up directly to provide the power to spin a turbine generator. The first geothermal power plant, constructed at Lardarello in Italy, was of this type, and is still producing electricity today. 3 Most currently operating geothermal power plants are either "flash" steam plants or binary (双重的) plants. Flash plants produce mainly hot water ranging in temperature from 300° to 700° Fahrenheit. This water is passed through one or two separators where, released from the pressure of the underground reservoir, it "flashes" or boils into steam. Again, the force of this steam provides the energy to spin the turbine and produce electricity. The geothermal water and steam are then reinjected directly back down into the earth to maintain the volume and pressure of the reservoir. Gradually they will be reheated and can then be used again. 4 A reservoir with temperatures below 300° Fahrenheit is not hot enough to flash steam but it can still be used to generate electricity in a binary fluid. The steam from this is used to power the turbines. As in the flash steam plant, the geothermal water is recycled back into the reservoir.