河南专升本2012年专业英语考试题---含答案(下).docVIP

2012年河南专升本的同学发送?【所在学校】到??加??? The problem of what to do with atomic waste, the harmful unwantedproducts of atomic energy, is being studied by many scientific minds. ? ???Large atomic reactors produce harmful radioactiveelements at the same time that they produce energy. The atomic waste is sopowerful that it will be a danger for centuries. What can be done with it?Where can it be placed so that it will not harm human beings? ? ???No one now has the final answer, but hundreds ofscientists are searching for it.? ???What would you do with radioactive atomic waste? Mixit with water and pour it in the ocean? You would not do that if you lived nearthe water. A box the size of a package of cigarettes would hold the radioactivewaste produced by an atomic reactor in five minutes. If you poured it into abody of water more than one hundred miles long and about fifteen miles wide,this small amount of atomic waste could be discovered by a Geiger counteranywhere within its harbors and bays in less than twenty-four hours. This showsthe great size of the problem of what to do with atomic waste. ? ???Atomic waste cannot be burned, boiled away, or madeharmless by mixing it with other minerals. We are not working with a substancethat can be destroyed. We are trying to destroy energy, and that is impossible.The only thing we can do is to keep the waste in a place where it will beharmless.? ???Throwing it into the ocean is one method that has beentried. Atomic waste is placed in metal barrels that are then put in containersas thick and strong as stone. The cases are taken to the deepest part of theocean and thrown in. For several reasons, however, throwing the atomic wasteinto the ocean is not a final answer to the problem. ? ???First, the cost of preparing the double containers andtaking them to sea is very great. Second, it is not known how long these strongcases can endure the deep ocean currents. How long will it be before the metaland stone cases are broken open by the force o