We learned that fossil fuels were formed before and during the time of the dinosaurs（恐龙）. We are using up the fuels. We can save fossil fuels by protecting and finding ways to use energy from “endless sources”, like the sun and the wind. Some people suggest that we should start using hydrogen（氢）.

Hydrogen is a colorless, smell-less gas that takes up 75 percent of the whole universe. Hydrogen is found on earth only in mixture with other elements such as oxygen, carbon and nitrogen. To use hydrogen, we must separate it from these other elements.

Hydrogen can be used in NASA’s space program as fuel for the spaceships, and in fuel cells that provide heat, electricity and drinking water for astronauts. Fuel cells are devices that directly change hydrogen into electricity. In the future, hydrogen could be used to fuel vehicles and aircraft and provide power for our homes and offices.

Hydrogen can be made from natural gas. An electrical current can also be used to separate water into its elements of oxygen and hydrogen. Some plants in the sea and bacteria（细菌） give off hydrogen through sunlight under certain conditions.

Hydrogen as a fuel is high in energy. Yet a machine that burns pure hydrogen produces almost zero pollution. NASA has used liquid hydrogen since the 1970s to drive rockets and spacecraft into orbit. Hydrogen fuel cells power the spacecraft’s electrical systems, producing clean by-product-pure water, which the crew drinks.

56. We can get hydrogen from the following EXCEPT ______ according to the passage.

A. natural gas    B. water                     C. creature in the sea          D. bacteria

57. Why could the hydrogen be used widely in the future?

A. Because it is of high quality.               

B. Because it has no pollution. 

C. Because it is easy to get it from all kinds of ways.      

D. Because there are much hydrogen existing in the universe.

58. The passage mainly tells us ________.

A. the usage of a new energy source        B. the future energy sources

C. a new energy source －hydrogen        D. how to get the energy source

One of the world's richest men has taken a close interest in one of man’s most basic functions: visiting the toilet．Bill Gates’s charitable organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is looking for inventors to design the loo of the future, which, they hope, would improve sanitation for millions of people around the world．

So, what's wrong with the traditional flush toilet? Firstly, it wastes a huge amount of potential drinking water．Secondly, they are more likely to cause pollution．This is a real problem in many areas of the developing world, where, according to United Nations estimates, unsafe sanitation causes half of all hospitalizations．Younger people are particularly at risk．Illnesses which cause diarrhea are responsible for the deaths of about 1.5 million children a year．Finally, standard lavatories simply aren’t practical in remote areas．

The challenge set by Bill Gates was to come up with a latrine which works without running water, electricity or aseptic tank(化粪池)．It also needed to operate for less than 5 cents．28 designs were displayed at the recent Reinvent the Toilet Fair in Seattle, USA．Among them was one which turned human waste into electricity using microwaves, another which converted human waste into charcoal, and yet another which used urine for flushing．

But the winner was a solar-powered design which generated hydrogen gas and electricity.The team from the California Institute of Technology（CIT）picked up a prize of $ 100,000.

But clearly Bill Gates doesn’t feel he’s flushing money down the toilet．After the Seattle event he said, “We, couldn’t be happier with the response we’ve gotten,” Gates has even pledged $370m more to the future toilet project．They hope to field test more prototypes over the next three years．

1.Why is Bill Gates paying people to invent new toilets?

A．Because he wants to test people’s sense of creativity．

B．Because he wants to improve sanitation for many people．

C．Because he thinks the traditional ones are out of fashion．

D．Because he can’t design this kind of things himself．

2.Which of the following is NOT a problem with the traditional flush toilet?

A．They waste too much water．

B．They might cause diseases．

C．They are not always practical．

D．They are too complicated to use.

3.The underlined word “latrine” in the third paragraph might have similar meanings to the word “__ ”n the text．

A．Loo              B．sanitation          C．diarrhea          D．prototype

4.The team from CIT won the prize because their design        .

A．can change human waste into electricity

B．can turn human waste into charcoal

C．can produce power with solar energy

D．can use urine for flushing

5.If someone “flush money down the toilet”, they are       .

A．showing off their wealth

B．being angry with their work onditions

C．wasting money for nothing

D．expressing their great determination