Solar Absorbers and the Future of Electricity PM #4

What kinds of energy does Jeff Chou work with?

• energy from coal, gas, and oil

• solar energy and energy from coal

• electrical energy and energy from oil

• solar energy and electrical energy

What does the passage describe?

• The passage describes electricity and the efforts of a scientist to turn solar energy into electricity.

• The passage describes the reasons that people from all over the world go to study at MIT.

• The passage describes what Jeff Chou does to keep the room where he does his experiments clean.

• The passage describes the few harmful byproducts that are created by people using energy from the sun.

Getting electricity from oil, gas, and coal pollutes the Earth.

What evidence from the passage supports this statement?

• Jeff Chou hopes that his panels will be sensitive enough to absorb electricity from anything hot, not just the sun.

• In order to generate steam for its electricity needs, the United States has to burn a lot of oil, gas, and coal.

• Using oil, gas, and coal burns toxic chemicals and releases them into the sky and the earth, which is harmful to people.

• According to Jeff Chou, testing your ideas to see whether or not they work is at the heart of science.

Why might Jeff and other scientists be working on making electricity from renewable sources, like solar energy?

• because it is much more expensive to make electricity from non-renewable sources than to make it from renewable ones

• because the sources used most are running out very quickly, and renewable sources will not run out any time soon

• because renewable sources can burn more easily, which means we can produce more steam to power more machines

• because using energy from renewable sources is a "wild and crazy idea", and scientists prefer to work on very creative projects

What is this passage mostly about?

• the reasons that the United States of America used more oil and gas than any other country in 2012

• the computer chips that Jeff Chou learned how to build as an electrical engineer

• electrical engineering, the process of burning coal, and the importance of electrical outlets in daily life

• electricity, solar energy, and a scientist working on ways to turn solar energy into electricity

Read the following sentence: "At MIT, Jeff has been 'working on new ways to convert solar energy into electricity."

What does the word convert mean?

• increase

• decrease

• change

• destroy

According to Jeff, why is solar energy "very important"?

• It creates electricity for large numbers of homes and businesses.

• It creates electricity without polluting the earth.

• It creates free electricity.

• It creates electricity easily and more efficiently.