A few degrees can make a big difference when it comes to food storage. Foods can go bad if they get too warm. But for many of the world’s poor, finding a good way to keep food cool is difficult. Refrigerators are costly and they need electricity.

Yet spoiled food not only creates health risks but also economic losses. Farmers lose money when they have to throw away products that they cannot sell quickly.

But in nineteen ninety-five a teacher in northern Nigeria named Mohammed Bah Abba found a solution. He developed the “Pot-in-Pot Preservation/Cooling System.” It uses two round containers made of clay. A smaller pot is placed inside a larger one. The space between the two pots is filled with wet sand. The inner pot can be filled with fruit, vegetables or drinks. A wet cloth covers the whole cooling system.

Food stored in the smaller pot is kept from spoiling through a simple evaporation(蒸发) process. Water in the sand between the two pots evaporates through the surface of the larger pot, where drier outside air is moving.

The evaporation process creates a drop in temperature of several degrees. This cools the inner pot and helps keep food safe from harmful bacteria. Some foods can be kept fresh this way for several weeks.

People throughout Nigeria began using the invention. And it became popular with farmers in other African countries. Mohammed Bah Abba personally financed the first five thousand pot-in-pot systems for his own community and five villages nearby.

In two thousand, the Rolex Watch Company of Switzerland honored him with the Rolex Award for Enterprise. This award recognizes people trying to develop projects aimed at improving human knowledge and well-being. A committee considers projects in science and medicine, technology, exploration and discovery, the environment and cultural history. Winners receive financial assistance to help develop and extend their projects.

【小题1】Which is the best title of the passage?

A．A Few Degrees can Make a Big Difference for Storage

B． A Cool Way to Keep Food from Spoiling

C． Spoiled Food Creates Health Risks and Economic Losses

D． The Evaporation Process Creates a Drop in Temperature

【小题2】What does the third paragraph mainly talk about?

A．the structure of the invention

B．the usage of the invention

C．the cost of the invention

D．the inspiration of the invention

【小题3】What is it that essentially keeps the food in the container from spoiling?

A．the wet cloth covering the cooling system.

B．the moving drier air outside the container

C．the wet sand between the containers

D．a drop in temperature by evaporation

【小题4】According to the passage, where can we possibly see the invention?

A．rich and advanced families

B．scientific experiment laboratory

C．poor and underdeveloped area

D．supermarket needing to store goods

【小题5】We can know from the passage that Mohammed Bah Abba ____________.

A．invented the controversial cooling system

B．financed the systems in all communities

C．received financial assistance for his invention

D．invented more complicated cooling system later

答案

【小题1】B

【小题2】A

【小题3】D

【小题4】C

【小题5】C

解析

文章介绍了穆罕默德巴林神父发明的“罐内冷却系统”的储藏食物的方法。他利用两个套在一起的罐子中间的湿沙子蒸发水分降温的原理来保存食物。这一发明还获得了瑞士的劳力士公司授予他的“劳力士雄才伟略大奖”。

【小题1】主旨题，通过阅读全文可知本文介绍了一种降温方法来防止食物腐坏。故选B。

【小题2】推理题，阅读第三段可知介绍了这种发明的组成和原理。故选A。

【小题3】推理题。根据第五段中“The evaporation process creates a drop in temperature of several degrees.”蒸发的过程会产生几度的温度下降，根据常理可知降低了温度会使食物保鲜。故选D。

【小题4】推理题，阅读文章可知这个发明最初是在尼日利亚北部的人们使用，后整个尼日利亚人们都是用，再后来还在其他非洲国家的农民中流行起来，由此可知是在不发达地区和穷人中运用。故选C。

【小题5】推理题，根据文章最后一句“ Winners receive financial assistance to help develop and extend their projects.”获奖者会获得财务援助以帮助开发和扩大他们的项目。根据文章可知穆罕默德巴林神父也获得这个奖项，因此可知穆罕默德巴林神父获得对他的发明的财务支持。故选C。

考点：考查科教类短文