Question

Google’s data centres and the offices for its 60,000 staff will be powered entirely by renewable energy from next year,in what the company has called a “l(fā)andmark moment”.The internet giant is already the world’s biggest corporate buyer of renewable electricity,last year buying 44% of its power from wind and solar farms.Now it will be 100%,and an executive said it would no longer refuse to invest in nuclear power in the future.

Oman said it had taken Google five years to reach the 100% target,set in 2012,because of the complexity involved with negotiating power purchase agreements.The company’s biggest demand for energy is its data centres and it admits their overall thirst for power is growing.

Google was now looking to sign 10-year agreements for low-carbon power that was constant,such as hydro,biomass and nuclear.“We want to do contracts on renewable power,it could be biomass if the fuel source is steady and enough,it could be nuclear.We’re looking at all forms of low-carbon generation.”

But he said new nuclear power was “controversial”,the possible safety consequences were much more “dramatic” than with renewable sources,and the price was “much more difficult to guarantee” than when funding solar panels and wind turbines.“We don’t want to refuse to sign a nuclear agreement if it meets our goals of low price,safety,and other factors.We don’t want to rule that out,but today we can’t positively say there are nuclear projects out there that meet this standard,”he said.

The company’s 100% renewable energy does not mean Google is getting all its energy directly from wind and solar power,but that on an annual basis the amount it purchases from renewable sources matches the electricity its operations consume.

1.A “l(fā)andmark moment” for Google refers to 　　　.

A. its efforts in saving energy

B. its growing demand for employees

C. its progress in using renewable energy

D. its becoming the world’s biggest company

2.What made Google slow in achieving its target?

A. Negotiations of agreements. B. High consumption of energy.

C. Shortage of energy. D. Tight budgets.

3.What can be inferred from Paragraph 4?

A. Nuclear power is an ideal choice.

B. Solar and wind power is not safe enough.

C. It’s unwise to invest solar and wind power.

D. Google is unlikely to use nuclear energy soon.

4.What is the purpose in writing this text?

A. To show Google’s profit goal in global market.

B. To talk about Google’s new move to use energy.

C. To recommend a new kind of renewable energy.

D. To urge the public to use renewable energy.

Answer 1