A major new facility to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere started operating in Iceland on Wednesday. The carbon capturing plant is the biggest of its kind, its builder says, increasing global capacity for the technology by more than 40 percent. Many climate experts say that efforts to suck CO₂ out of the air will be key to making the world carbon neutral(碳中和)in the coming decades.

By 2050, humanity will need to pull nearly a billion metric tons of CO₂ from the atmosphere every year through direct air capture technology to achieve carbon neutral goals according to International Energy Agency recommendations in 2021. The plant in Iceland will be able to capture 4,000 metric tons annually—just a tiny amount of what will be necessary, but it can grow rapidly as efficiency improves and costs decrease.

For now, the plant in Iceland is an unlikely global protector. Human-sized fans are built into boxes that are the size of standard 40-foot shipping containers. They sip CO₂ out of the air, catching it in sponge-like filters(过滤器). The filters are heated at a high temperature needed to boil water freeing the gas. Then it combines with water to produce a mixture, which is pumped deep underground, where over time it cools down and turns into dark-gray stone.

Pumping CO₂ into the ground is just one way to dispose of it. It can also go to other uses, as well. Energy companies can mix the carbon dioxide with hydrogen to make fuel. Farmers can feed their plants with it. Soda manufacturers can use it to make their drinks bubble when there is a carbonation shortage.

At the moment, the costs are high: about $600 to $800 per metric ton of carbon dioxide, Gebald, the cofounder of Climeworks, said far from the levels around $100 to $150 per ton that are necessary to turn a profit without any financial help of the government. In the long term, Gebald thinks prices will be half that by the late 2030s—about the price where it will be a competitive method of reducing global emissions.

【小题1】Why is the new facility built in Iceland?

A．To monitor the air quality.	B．To control the release of CO2.
C．To apply the latest technology.	D．To absorb CO2 in the atmosphere.

【小题2】What is the main idea of the second paragraph?

A．The capacity of the carbon plant.

B．The potential of the carbon plant.

C．The challenge of the carbon plant.

D．The disadvantage of the carbon plant.

【小题3】What does the underlined word "it" refer to in the third paragraph?

A．Mixture.

B．Water.

C．CO2.

D．Temperature.

【小题4】What's the author's purpose in writing the text?

A．To persuade people to invest in the plant.

B．To warn people of too much CO2 in the air.

C．To introduce the biggest carbon capturing plant.

D．To explain how to use CO2 in the atmosphere.