5.5.4 What's the Point? Show your understanding of the reading. Based on the reading, choose the best answer to complete these sentences

1. The new wind turbine being tested at Rocky Plats looks like__________.

a) a normal wind turbine

b) a football field

c) a jet airplane turbine

2. Since 1980, wind turbines have become four times__________.

a) more efficient

b) less expensive

c) smaller

3. The most important innovation of the new wind turbine is_________.

a) flexible, hinged blades that face away from the wind

b) 2 blades instead of the traditional 3

c) greater height than that of existing turbines

4. According to the article, the new turbines would cost less because of_______.

a) cheaper materials

b) lower weight

c. lower manufacturing cost

5. Early light-weight wind turbines __________.

a) were successful in Denmark

b) were used offshore

c) all failed

6. The new wind turbine prototype was designed by __________.

a) the Unites States Department of Energy

b) the National Wind Technology Center, a government agency

c) Wind Turbine, a company in Bellevue, Washington

7. Early American designs failed because they were ___________.

a) too simple

b) too high-tech

c) too expensive

8. Danish designs were successful because the wind turbines were___________.

a) supported by strong, heavy structures

b) designed using advanced aerodynamics

c) constructed from new materials

9. Two important technological advances that made modern turbine designs possible are ____________.

a) power electronics devices and computer modeling

b) computer modeling and weather forecasting

c) weather forecasting and manufacturing

10. Since the early 1980s, the power production of a single wind turbine has _____________.

a) not increased significantly

b) increased four times

c) increased 40 times

11. The new wind turbine could be installed on a higher tower than before, and could thus reach faster winds, because the tower would _____________.

a) be thicker and, therefore, stronger

b) be made of new stronger materials

c) support a lighter turbine

12. For wind power to become more widely accepted and used, it will be necessary ____________.

a) to store wind energy

b) to replace hydroelectric power plants

c) to build all wind turbines off shore

5.5.5 Complete the sentences below based on the article you just read. To complete a sentence, sometimes you may need a single word and sometimes a phrase. You may use your own words or words from the text

1. According to the chart in the article, the number of countries that are "major players" in wind power is __________.

2. An important drawback (negative side) of wind power is _____________.

3. When this article was written, the largest wind power plant was in__________.

4. Wind turbines must be very large in order to______________

5. In the United States, the most abundant and least expensive form of energy for producing electricity is ______________.

6. In Europe, fossil fuels are very costly because of _______________

7. A commercial wind-turbine machine built by Wind Turbine Company will have a combined blade length of _____________.

8. A power-plant wind turbine can produce as much power as ___________kilowatts.