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Batteries Built by Viruses

What do chicken pox, the common cold, the flu,and AIDS have in common? They're all disease caused by viruses, tiny microorganisms that can pass from person to person. It's no wonder that when most people think about viruses, find in ways to steer clear of viruses is what's on people's minds.

Not everyone runs from the — tiny diseasecarriers, though. In Cambridge, Massachusetts, scientists have discovered that some viruses can be helpful in an unusual way. They are putting viruses to work, teaching them to build some of the world's smallest rechargeable batteries.

Viruses and batteries may seem like an unusual pair, but they're not so strange for engineer Angela Belcher, who first came up with the idea. At the Massachusetts institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge,she and her collaborators bring together different areas of science in newways. In the case of the virus-built batteries, the scientists combine what they know about biology, technology and production techniques.

Belcher's team includes Paula Hammond, who helps put together the tiny batteries, and Yet-Ming Chiang, an expert on how to store energy in the form of a battery. "We're working on things we traditionally don't associate with nature," says Hammond.

Many batteries are already pretty small. You canhold A, C and D batteries in your hand. The coin-like batteries that powerwatches are often smaller than a penny. However, every year, new electronic devices like personal music players or cell phones get smaller than the year before. As these devices shrink, ordinary batteries won't be small enough to fit inside.

The ideal battery will store a lot of energy ina small package. Right now, Belcher's model battery, a metallic disk completely built by viruses, looks like a regular watch battery. But inside, its components are very small -so tiny you can only see them with a powerful microscope.

How small are these battery parts? To get someidea of the size, pluck one hair from your head. Place your hair on a piece of white paper and try to see how wide your hair is -pretty thin, right? Although the width of each person's hair is a bit different, you could probably fit about 10 0f these virus-built battery parts, side to side, across one hair.These microbatteries may change the way we look at viruses.

1. According to the first paragraph, people try to .

A. kill microorganisms related tochicken pox, the flu, etc.

B. keep themselves away from viruses because they are invisible

C. stay away from viruses because they are causes of various diseases

D. cure themselves of virus-related diseases by taking medicines

2. What is Belcher's team doing at present?

A. It is finding ways to get rid of viruses.

B. It is mass-producing microbatteries.

C. It is making batteries with viruses.

D. It is analyzing virus genes.

3. What expression below is opposite in meaning to the word "shrink" appearing in paragraph 5?

A. Broaden. B.Spread.

C. Extend. D.Expand.

4. Which of the following is true of Belcher's battery mentioned in paragraph 6?

A. It is made of metal.

B. It is a kind of watch battery.

C. It can only be seen with amicroscope.

D. It is a metallic disk with viruses inside it.

5. How tiny is one battery part?

A. Its width is one tenth of a hair.

B. It equals the width of a hair.

C. It is as thin as a piece of paper.

D. Its width is too tiny to measure.

答案:

CCDDA

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