According to Rifkin， who runs the Washington-based Foundation on Economic Trends and is a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Management'we still have two choices, although time is fast running OUt．
The first choice is to dig our heads and oil drills deeper into the ground．We can continue searching for tinv and hard to recover oil deposits around the world，supplementing the last few drops with dirtier carbon fuels like coal and heavy oil extracted from tar sand．①This is a short—term solution that would push the atmosphere to breaking point and fry the planet.Backed by an army of statistics’Rifkin calls this path foolish and suicidal．
The sane ahernative is hydrogen，the most abundant element in the universe.It ls eVerywhere. Unlike oil，it is not geographically concentrated，and therefore unlikely to precipitate power struggles and violence．Hydrogen has been dubbed“the forever fuel"，and harnessing it，Rifkin writes'“would provide humanity with a[clean]virtually unlimited source of energy the kind of energy elixir that has Iong eluded alchemists and chemists alike．”
Hydrogen has been used as a commercial fuel since the l920s，and the Soviets produced therst liquid hydrogen-powered airplane in the’70s．Thanks to rapid advances in fuel cell technology’Rifkin thinks a hydrogen-based energy grid could be put in place in time to prevent a global meltdown durlng the fast approaching end of the Oil Age．
In the long view，history is on hydrogen’s side．The story of human-harnessed energY ls also the storv of"de-carbonization”the gradual reduction of the amount of carbon we use ln OUr fuel of choice． Since the industrial revolution，we have moved from first burning wood，and then on to coal，and then oil and now to a lesser extent natural gas． As we have done s0，the level of destruction we haVe visited on our environment has slowed(satanic clouds of soot no longer hang over New York，as they did in the coal age)and this can be explained by the increasing ratio of hydrogen to carbon in the fuels we use.There is only one molecule of hydrogen for every ten molecules of carbon in wood．There is one for every two in coal，and in oil the ratio inverts，with two hydrogens for every coal．In natural gas there are four hydrogen molecules for every molecule of carbon．0ur fuels become cleaner，in other words，as they grow higher in hydrogen content．So pure hydrogen is，logically，the cleanest alternative．[422 words]
1．This passage is mainly about______
A．de-carbonization
B．the oil crisis
C．hydrogen--a sound alternative to oil
D．hydrogen--another commercial fuel
2．According to Rifkin，it is wise______
A．to develop hydrogen powered vehicles
B．to recover more oil deposits
C．to use coa nstead of oil
D．t0 1earn something useful from alchemists
3．The Oil Age______
A．is coming to its end
B．is fast approaching
C．is still in its prime
D．is in the balance
4．In which of the following is there the lowest level of carbon?
A．Burning wood
B．Coal
C．Oil
D．Natural gas
5．The fuel becomes cleaner，when______
A．the ratio of carbon to hydrogen in it increases
B．the ratio of hydrogen to carbon in it increases
C．the amount of carbon in it remains constant
D．the amount of hydrogen ill it remains constant
The first choice is to dig our heads and oil drills deeper into the ground．We can continue searching for tinv and hard to recover oil deposits around the world，supplementing the last few drops with dirtier carbon fuels like coal and heavy oil extracted from tar sand．①This is a short—term solution that would push the atmosphere to breaking point and fry the planet.Backed by an army of statistics’Rifkin calls this path foolish and suicidal．
The sane ahernative is hydrogen，the most abundant element in the universe.It ls eVerywhere. Unlike oil，it is not geographically concentrated，and therefore unlikely to precipitate power struggles and violence．Hydrogen has been dubbed“the forever fuel"，and harnessing it，Rifkin writes'“would provide humanity with a[clean]virtually unlimited source of energy the kind of energy elixir that has Iong eluded alchemists and chemists alike．”
Hydrogen has been used as a commercial fuel since the l920s，and the Soviets produced therst liquid hydrogen-powered airplane in the’70s．Thanks to rapid advances in fuel cell technology’Rifkin thinks a hydrogen-based energy grid could be put in place in time to prevent a global meltdown durlng the fast approaching end of the Oil Age．
In the long view，history is on hydrogen’s side．The story of human-harnessed energY ls also the storv of"de-carbonization”the gradual reduction of the amount of carbon we use ln OUr fuel of choice． Since the industrial revolution，we have moved from first burning wood，and then on to coal，and then oil and now to a lesser extent natural gas． As we have done s0，the level of destruction we haVe visited on our environment has slowed(satanic clouds of soot no longer hang over New York，as they did in the coal age)and this can be explained by the increasing ratio of hydrogen to carbon in the fuels we use.There is only one molecule of hydrogen for every ten molecules of carbon in wood．There is one for every two in coal，and in oil the ratio inverts，with two hydrogens for every coal．In natural gas there are four hydrogen molecules for every molecule of carbon．0ur fuels become cleaner，in other words，as they grow higher in hydrogen content．So pure hydrogen is，logically，the cleanest alternative．[422 words]
1．This passage is mainly about______
A．de-carbonization
B．the oil crisis
C．hydrogen--a sound alternative to oil
D．hydrogen--another commercial fuel
2．According to Rifkin，it is wise______
A．to develop hydrogen powered vehicles
B．to recover more oil deposits
C．to use coa nstead of oil
D．t0 1earn something useful from alchemists
3．The Oil Age______
A．is coming to its end
B．is fast approaching
C．is still in its prime
D．is in the balance
4．In which of the following is there the lowest level of carbon?
A．Burning wood
B．Coal
C．Oil
D．Natural gas
5．The fuel becomes cleaner，when______
A．the ratio of carbon to hydrogen in it increases
B．the ratio of hydrogen to carbon in it increases
C．the amount of carbon in it remains constant
D．the amount of hydrogen ill it remains constant