Question

While other countries debate whether to fix wind turbines(渦輪機(jī)) offshore or in distant areas, Denmark is building them right in its capital. Three windmills(風(fēng)車) were recently introduced in a Copenhagen neighbourhood, and the city plans to add another 97.

“We’ve made a very ambitious commitment to make Copenhagen CO2-neutral by 2025,” Frank Jensen, the mayor, says. “But going green isn’t only a good thing. It’s a must.” The city’s carbon-neutral plan, passed two years ago, will make Copenhagen the world’s first zero-carbon capital.

With wind power making up 33% of Denmark’s energy supply, the country already features plenty of wind turbines. Indeed, among the first sights greeting airborne visitors during the landing at Copenhagen’s Kastrup airport is a chain of sea-based wind towers. By 2020, the windswept country plans to get 50% of its energy from wind power.

Now turbines are moving into the city and these ones will cost less than half the price of those sea-based. Having the energy production closer makes it cheaper, and land-based turbines are the cheapest possible source of energy available today. Fixing them also makes the locals more aware of their energy consumption.

Though considerably less attractive than it was in ancient times, the windmill is enjoying popularity in the 21st century. “Windmills are a symbol of the new and clean Copenhagen,” says resident Susanne Sayers. Meanwhile, fellow Copenhagen citizen Maria Andersen worries about the noise, explaining that she wouldn’t want a wind turbine in her neighbourhood. While Copenhagen citizens approve of the windmills, they’re less willing to live close to one. The answer, the city has decided, is to sell turbine shares.

Each share represents 1,000 kW hours/year, with the profit tax-free. With a typical Copenhagen household consuming 3,500 kW hours/year, a family buying four shares effectively owns its own renewable energy supply. To date, 500 residents have bought 2,500 shares. Involving the local population was a smart move. “There are a lot of things you can do close to people if it’s not too big and if there’s a model where locals feel involved and get to share in the profit. Knowing that you, or your neighbours, own a technology creates a very different atmosphere than if a multinational owned it,” says Vad Mathiesen.

Going green? Yes. Accepted by the population? Yes. Going with centuries-old city architecture? Hardly.

Certainly, the three turbines don’t exactly blight the 18th-century city centre, as they are in a neighbourhood 3 km away. According to the mayor’s office, none of the remaining 97 turbines will rise in architecturally sensitive areas. But Sascha Haselmayer, CEO of city creation group Citymart, warns, “With Denmark being a world-leading producer of windmills, there is a risk that the answer to every energy question is windmills.”

“We’ve destroyed mountains and lakes in order to support our lifestyle,” notes Irena Bauman, an architect and professor at Sheffield University. “Wind turbines are a sign that we’re learning to live with nature. I hope we’ll have them all over the world,” she says. “They may be unpleasant to some, but better-looking ones will come. It’s just that we don’t have time to wait for them!”

1.Denmark has decided to build windmills in its capital mainly to ______.

A. make windmills its cultural symbol

B. advocate an environmentally-friendly lifestyle

C. take advantage of its limited wind power

D. greet tourists coming to Copenhagen by plane

2.How has the city of Copenhagen persuaded its people to accept the windmills around their homes?

A. By promising them that all their income is free of tax.

B. By designing less noisy windmills to ease their worries.

C. By convincing them that land-based turbines are much cheaper.

D. By offering them the chance to get the profit the windmills bring.

3.The underlined word “blight” (Paragraph 8) is closest in meaning to ______.

A. spoil B. improve C. pollute D. occupy

4.Sascha Haselmayer’s attitude to building windmills can best be described as ______.

A. disapproving B. unconcerned C. cautious D. enthusiastic

5.Which of the following words would Irena Bauman most probably agree with?

A. “It benefits us more to fit wind turbines in cities than in mountain areas or by lakes.”

B. “We should sell more wind turbines to other countries to make us one of the richest.”

C. “We should devote more time to developing the wind turbines that go with the city.”

D. “It’s not what wind turbines look like but how we live that really matters at present.”

Answer 1