2014高考英语阅读理解专题训练极品题（23）及答案
C8 [2013·大纲全国卷] ----E
The oldest and most common source(来源)of renewable energy known to man, biomass is one of the most important forms of energy production in the United States and elsewhere.Since such a wide variety of biomass materials is everywhere—from trees and grasses to agricultural and city－life wastes—biomass promises to play a continuing role in providing power and heat for millions of people around the world.
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists(UCS), biomass is a kind of renewable energy source that produces no carbon dioxide(二氧化碳), because the energy it contains comes from the sun.When plant matter is burned, it gives off the sun's energy.In this way, biomass serves as a sort of natural battery(电池)for storing the sun's energy.As long as biomass is produced continuously—with only as much grown as is used—the “battery” lasts forever.
According to the Energy Information Administration, biomass has been one of the leading renewable energy sources in the United States for several years running through 2007, making up between 0.5 and 0.9 percent of the nation's total electricity supply.In 2008—although the numbers aren't all in yet—wind power probably took over first place because of the rapid development of wind farms across the country.
