Digital Diet

A

Telecommuting, Internet shopping and online meetings may save energy as compared with in-person alternatives, but as the digital age moves on, its green reputation is turning a lot browner. E-mailing, number crunching and Web searches in the U S. consumed as much as 61 billion kilowatt-hours last year, or 1.5 percent of the nation's electricity—half of which comes from coal. In 2005 the computers of the world ate up 123 billion kilowatt- hours of energy, a number that will double by 2010 if present trends continue, according to Jonathan Koomey, a staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National laboratory. As a result, the power bill to run a computer over its lifetime will surpass the cost of buying the machine in the first place giving Internet and computer companies a business reason to cut energy costs, as well as an environmental one.

B

One of the biggest energy sinks comes not from the computers themselves but from the air-conditioning needed to keep them from overheating. For every kilowatt-hour of energy used for computing m a data center, another kilowatt-hour is required to cool the furnacelike racks of servers.

C

For Internet giant Google, this reality has driven efforts such as the installation of a solar array that can provide 30 percent of the peak power needs of its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters as well as increasing purchases of renewable energy. But to deliver Web pages within seconds, the firm must maintain hundreds of thousands of computer servers in cavernous buildings. "It's a good thing to worry about server energy efficiency," remarks Google's green energy czar Bill Weihl. "We are actively working to maximize the efficiency of our data centers, which account for most of the energy Google consumes worldwide " Google will funnel some of its profits into a new effort, dubbed R￡<€ (for renewable energy cheaper than coal, as Google translates it) to make sources such as solar-thermal, high-altitude wind and geothermal cheaper than coal " within years, not decades," according to Weihl.

D

In the meantime, the industry as a whole has employed a few tricks to save watts. Efforts include cutting down on the number of transformations the electricity itself must undergo before achieving the correct operating voltage; rearranging the stacks of servers and the mechanics of their cooling; and using software to create multiple "virtual" computers, rather than having to deploy several real ones. Such visualization has allowed computer maker Hewlett-Packard to consolidate 86 data centers spread throughout the world to just three, with three backups, says Pat Tiernan, the firm's vice president of social and environmental responsibility.

E

The industry is also tackling the energy issue at the computer-chip level. With every doubling of processing power in recent years has come a doubling in power consumption. But to save energy, chipmakers such as Intel and AMD have shifted to so-called multicore technology, which packs multiple processors into one circuit rather than separating them. "When we moved to multicore—away from a linear focus on megahertz and gigahertz—and throttled down microprocessors, the energy savings were pretty substantial," says A Hyson Klein, Intel's marketing manager for its Ecotech Initiative. Chipmakers continue to shrink circuits on the nanoscale as well, which "means a chip needs less electricity" to deliver the same performance, she adds.

F

With such chips, more personal computers will meet various efficiency standards, such as Energy Star compliance (which mandates that a desktop consume no more than 65 watts). The federal government, led by agencies such as NASA and the Department of Defense may soon require all their purchases to meet the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool standard. And Google, Intel and others have formed the Climate Savers Computing, Initiative, an effort to cut power consumption from all computers by 50 percent by 2010.

G

Sleep modes and other power management tools built into most operating systems tan offer savings today. Yet about 90 percent of computers do not have such settings enabled, according to Klein. Properly activated, they would prevent a computer from leading to the emission of thousands of kilograms of carbon dioxide from power plants every year. But if powering down or unplugging the computer (the only way it uses zero power) is not an option, then perhaps the most environmentally friendly use of all those wasted computing cycles is in helping to model climate change. The University of Oxford's C11matePrcdictioo.net offers an opportunity to at least predict the consequences of all that coal burning.

H

C02Stats is a free tool that can be embedded into any Web site to calculate the carbon dioxide emissions associated with using it. That estimate is based on an assumption of 300 watts of power consumed by the personal computer, network and server involved— or 16.5 milligrams of C02 emitted every second of use. "The typical carbon footprint is roughly equivalent to 1.5 people breathing," says physicist Alexander Wissner-Gross of Harvard University, who co-created the Web tool.

Question 1-6

Use the information in the passage to match the people (listed A-E) with opinions or deeds below. Write the appropriate letters A-E in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.

NB you may use any letter more than once

A Jonathan Koomey

B Ally son Klein

C Pat Tiernan

D Bill Weihl

E Alexander Wissner-Gross

1 Figuring ways to optimize the utilization of energy in certain significant departments in the company

2 A revolutionary improvement in a tiny but quite imperative component of the computers

3 Targeting at developing alternative sources within the near future

4 An astounding estimate on the energy to be consumed by computers in a short period based on an unchangeable trend

5 A powerful technique developed for integration of resources

6 A failure for the vast majority of computers to activate the use of some internal tools already available in them

Question 7-10

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?

In boxes 7-10 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement is true

FALSE if the statement is false

NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage

7 To chill the sever does not take up considerable amount of energy needed for the computer.

8 It seems that the number of the servers has a severe impact on the speed of the internet connection

9 Several companies from other fields have a joint effort with the internet industry to work on the ways to save energy.

10 Actions taken at a governmental level are to be expected to help with savings in the energy in the near future.

Question 11-13

Summury

Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage, using No More than Three words from the Reading Passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet.

The…11…has also been reached 10 save up energy in every possible way and the philosophy behind it lies in the fact that there is a positive correlation between the ability to process and the need for energy. In this context, some firms have switched to…12…which means several processors are integrated into one single circuit to make significant energy savings. What is more, they go on to…13…on an even more delicate level for the chips to save more energy while staying at the constant level in terms of the performance.

文章題目：Digital Diet

篇章結構

體裁

說論文

題目

數碼節食

結構

（一句話概括每段大意）

A段：介紹目前計算機電量消耗情況。

B段：解釋能源消耗的主要來源。

C段：谷歌在解決這個問題所采用的方法以及未來的計劃

D段：互聯網行業其他公司也在使用一些方法來節約電能。

E段：行業從電腦芯片方面解決消耗問題

F段：使用這種芯片可以滿足提高效率的標準。

G段：目前操作系統都通過睡眠模式和電源管理工具來節約能源。

H段：CO2Stats介紹

試題分析

Question 1-6

題目類型：LIST OF HEADINGS

題號

定位詞

文中對應點

題目解析

1

Optimize the utilization

C段第7行

選項中提到optimize the utilization 優化利用率，對應文中maximize the efficiency 最大化效率意思一致。因此選擇D

2

Imperative component

E段最后一句話

選項意思為，重要的革新在一個狹小但是又必要的電腦組件上，那么在文中對應的內容為 a chip needs less electricity but deliver the same performance 一致。因此選B

3

Sources such as,within the near future

C段最后一句話

C段倒數第二句話提到to make sources such as XX,XX and XX,對應題目中的alternative sources,之后Weihl所說的話“within years, not decades.”對應句中，within the near future.因此選擇D

4

Unchangeable trend

A段倒數第五行

文中對應內容為if present trends continue,表明如果目前的趨勢不變的話會怎么樣，選項中based on an unchangeable trend 表達意思相同，所以選擇A

5

Integration of resources

D段倒數第三行

選項中的意思為數據整合，對應文中將86個數據源集中在3個里面，體現了數據整合的概念，因此選擇C

6

already

E段第四行

選項中的句子所呈現的狀態是一個目前已經實現的情況，而對應文中位置，將原來的技術轉移到多核節流處理，來達到節約能源的目的已經實現，事態保持一致所以選擇B

題號

定位詞

文中對應點

題目解析

7

Chill the server

B段最后一行

chill意為冷卻，對應文中cool，文中意思為要冷卻架式服務器需要用一千瓦時的能源，因此是屬于considerable amount of energy范疇，所以原題中的does not為錯誤表達，FALSE

8

Number of the servers

C段第5行

題目意思為the number of the servers 和 the speed of the internet connection之間有沖突，對應文中這部分內容，幾秒內傳輸網頁和數百萬的服務器之間有沖突相一致，TRUE.

9

Several companies

D段第一句

題目的意思是其他領域的公司也參與到這個活動，而原文中提到的是整個互聯網領域，所以并沒有提及除互聯網以外的其他領域是否有參與，NOTGIVEN

10

Governmental level

F段第三行

選項意思為政府層面的活動可以有望在將來達到節能目的，文中對應意思為may soon require all their purchases to meet the standard。 TRUE

題號

定位詞

文中對應點

題目解析

11

Ability to process

E段

確定段落，填空位置在句首講的是整段文章的對象，computer-chip level.

12

Integrated into one single  circuit

E段第四行

對應文中內容為which packs multiple processors into one circuit 符合，前面所提到對象即為so-called multicore technology.

13

performance

E段最后一行

文中最后提到the same performance對應題目中的in terms of the performance, 前面提到的對象為continue to shrink circuits， 因此填空應填內容為shrink circuits.

參考譯文：

數碼節食

A

遠程辦公，網上購物和在線會議和傳統的面對面的方式相比可以節省能源，但隨著數字化時代的推進，其具有環保節能的優勢受到了影響。去年美國因為發送電子郵件，進行數字運算和網頁搜索這些方面的消耗高達610億千瓦時，也就是占了全國總耗電量的1.5%，而全國的電力供應一般來自煤炭。2005年全世界的計算機消耗了1230億千瓦時的能量，如果照目前的趨勢繼續發展下去，根據Lawrence Berkeley國家實驗室的科學家Jonathan Koomey估計，這個數字在2010年的時候將翻一番。因此，為了運行一臺電腦所作出的開支將超過購買這臺電腦的成本——這使得互聯網和電腦公司有理由開展削減能源成本的業務，以保護環境。

B

最大的能源消耗并非來自電腦本身，而是來自防止電腦過熱的空調。對于一個數據中心計算器每小時一千瓦時的能源，同時還需要一千瓦時來冷卻向火爐一樣滾燙的架式服務器。

C

對于互聯網巨頭谷歌，上述問題促使其致力于安裝太陽能陣列，用來提供其在加州總部Mountain View公司峰值功率需求的30%，同時增加可再生能源的采購。但是為了使用戶能夠在幾秒鐘內打開網頁，谷歌必須維護在巨大洞穴狀建筑物內成上千萬臺的電腦服務器。谷歌的綠色能源負責人Bill Weihl說“考慮服務器的能源效率是一件好事，我們正在積極努力使我們的數據中心的效率最大化，因其占谷歌全球消耗能量很大一部分。”谷歌將通過新的方式盈利，被成為RE（谷歌公司認為“因為可再生能源比煤更便宜”），使用其他能源加大太陽能光熱，高空風能和地熱能都比使用煤炭便宜。Weihl說“這個想法在幾年之內就可以實現，而不需要等待幾十年。”

D

與此同時，整個互聯網行業都在采用一些方法來節約電能，這方面的努力包括削減實現店里轉換前必須先實現正確的操作電壓：重組成堆的服務器和其冷卻機制，以及使用軟件來創建多個“虛擬”的計算器，而不必部署多個實際的計算機。惠普公司社會與環境部的副主管Pat Tiernan說道，這種虛擬化技術是的電腦生產公司惠普將遍布世界各地的86個數據中心整合成三個，同時只需要三個備份。

E

互聯網行業同時也努力從電腦芯片方面解決能源消耗問題。近年來，隨著電腦處理能力每增加一倍，電力消耗同時增加一輩。但為了節省能源，芯片制造商如英特爾和AMD都轉換到所謂的多核技術，也就是將多個處理器打包成一個電路，而不是把他們分開。英特爾公司的經濟技術合作倡議的營銷精靈Allyson Klein說“當我們從線性兆赫和千兆赫茲轉移到多核，然后通過節流微處理以此節約下的能量是相當客觀的。”芯片制造商繼續縮減在納米尺度上的電路，Allyson Klein補充道“這意味著在保證相同性能的同時一個芯片所需要的電能變少了”

F

通過使用這種芯片，更多的個人電腦將滿足各種提高效率的標準，如能源之星標準（要求桌面所消耗的電能不超過65瓦）。聯邦政府可能很快就會要求以美國國家航空航天局和國防部為首的機構在進行電腦采購時，要滿足電子產品環境評估工具標準。谷歌，英特爾和其他公司已經發起了“電腦產業拯救氣候行動”，以努力實現到2010年時將所有計算機造成的店里消耗消減50%。

G

今天大多數操作系統都有植入睡眠模式和電源管理工具來節約能源。然而根據Klein統計，約90%的計算機不啟用這些設置。如果這些設置都能正確地激活，他們能防止電廠每年因為要供應電腦而排放的上千公斤的二氧化碳。但是如果在一些情況下不能關機或拔下插座（只有這樣，才會是零功耗）時，那么也許是最環保的利用這些被浪費的計算機消耗的方式就是通過計算機建立氣候變化模型。和牛津大學的ClimatePrediction.net就提供一個機會至少用來預測這些煤炭燃燒導致的結構。

H

CO2Stats是一個免費的工具，可以嵌入到任何網站來計算使用計算機導致的二氧化碳的排放量。這一估計是基于這樣一個假設：個人電腦，網絡和服務器每一秒消耗的300瓦的店里需要16.5毫克CO2排放來產生。哈佛大學的物理學家，同時也是CO2Stats這個網頁工具的發明人之一的Alexander Wissner Gross說“典型的碳排放量是大約相當于1.5人呼吸出的含碳量。”

參考答案:

Version 19106 主題 數碼飲食

1

D

2

B

3

D

4

A

5

C

6

B

7

FALSE

8

TRUE

9

NOT GIVEN

37

TRUE

38

computer-chip level

39

so-called multicore technology

40

shrink circuits

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