2020新高考英语补充训练美国高中阅读理解训练整理11.pdf

2020新高考英语补充训练美国高中阅读理解训练整理11 Paired Passages —Solar Farming Passage 1 The largest solar farm in the world, known as Topaz, opened in late 2014. The plant, which cost $2.5 billion dollars to build, generates a whopping 550 megawatts of power. To put this number into 困perspective, this amount of power will be used to suppl 160,000 homes. This switch from fossil fuels to solar power will save the environment exposure to approximatel 377,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per ear, which is the equivalent of ^retiring 73,000 cars. The benefits of constructing such a large-scale solar farm are not onl environmental. There are also significant economic benefits. Over 400 construction j obs were added to the area during [@the construction phase. $192 million in income was pumped into the local econom as a result. Economic benefits havent stopped since the plant opened. Local energ suppliers are now able to enj o $52 million in economic output. 密Located in San Luis Obispo Count in California, the area where Topaz was built is part of Californias Carrizo Plain. The plain is an area of native grassland northwest of Los Angeles. The land on which the plant sits was used as farmland 困in the past. Because of this, no new land distur­ bance was required in order to complete this large proj ect. The land was no longer suitable for farming due to irrigation practices that stripped the soil of its nutrients. The 4,700 private acres provided 鼬the perfect setting for a solar plant, meeting the developers standards for low-impact development, which was a priorit considering the sites proxim­ it to the Carrizo Plain National Monument, a protected area home to native species and plants. 困The plants setup includes 460 panels mounted on steel support posts. The sunlight taken in b these panels is fed to a power conversion stations. Each panel has its own conversion station. Made up of