A carbon capturing device, called Orca, began operating in Iceland in September. The machine was invented and made by a Swiss company called Climeworks. The name comes from the Icelandic word orka which means energy.

Orca can pull carbon dioxide out of the air and send it deep into the ground, where it is turned into stone. The device is made up of four sections which look like giant air conditioners stacked together. Each section contains 12 large fans that suck air from outside into steel compartments.

Inside, the air passes through a filter (过滤器) which gathers the carbon dioxide. It is then heated to a high temperature so the carbon dioxide can be collected from the filter. Then, the carbon dioxide is mixed with water and put deep in the ground into a type of rock called basalt. Basalt causes the carbon dioxide mixture to turn into stone after two or three years.

Orca is an experimental device. It was built to demonstrate that it is possible to permanently remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. It can remove 4, 000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the air each year. That’s about the same amount as the emissions produced by 850 cars in a year. In order to remove enough carbon dioxide to make a big difference to global warming, much larger devices like Orca would have to be built in many countries around the world.

Some environmental activists say governments should spend more time and money on reducing the amount of greenhouse gas we produce each year, instead of investing in carbon capture methods. But others say that, in order for countries to meet their goal of net zero emissions by 2050, they will need to do both: reduce new emissions and remove the carbon dioxide already in the air.

【小题1】What’s the purpose of designing Orca?

A．To conserve energy.	B．To achieve zero emissions.
C．To protect natural resources.	D．To remove carbon dioxide in the air.

【小题2】What does the underlined word “it” refer to in Paragraph 2?

A．Orca.

B．The basalt.

C．The air.

D．Carbon dioxide.

【小题3】How does Orca work?
a. Sucking the air.                     b. Collecting the carbon dioxide.
c. Mixing with water.              d. Filtering and heating.
e. Putting into the ground.

A．a, d, b, c, e

B．a, c, d, b, e

C．a, d, c, b, e

D．a, b, c, d, e

【小题4】Why are some environmentalists not in favor?

A．Reducing emissions is more important.

B．It might result in new pollution.

C．The technology is not mature.

D．It doesn’t work efficiently.