联合国青年专业人员考试样题 General_Paper_2009_Intl_Affairs_2003年.pdfVIP

2009 Sample Examination (P-2) GENERAL PAPER Summarize the following text IN YOUR OWN WORDS. The text should be reduced to approximately one third of its original length; the summary should have between 200 and 300 words. Failure to meet these guidelines will result in point loss. TEXT A tree fungus could provide green fuel that can be pumped directly into tanks, scientists say. The organism, found in the Patagonian rainforest, naturally produces a mixture of chemicals that is remarkably similar to diesel. This is the only organism that has ever been shown to produce such an important combination of fuel substances, said the plant scientist from Montana State University who led the work. We were totally surprised to learn that it was making a plethora of hydrocarbons. In principle, biofuels are attractive replacements for liquid fossil fuels used in transport that generate greenhouse gases. The European Union has set biofuel targets of 5.75% by 2010 and 10% by 2020. But critics say current biofuels scarcely reduce greenhouse gas emissions and cause food price rises and deforestation. Producing biofuels sustainably is now a target and this latest work has been greeted by experts as an encouraging step. The fungus, called Gliocladium roseum and discovered growing inside the ulmo tree (Eucryphia cordifolia) in northern Patagonia, produces a range of long-chain hydrocarbon molecules that are virtually identical to the fuel-grade compounds in existing fossil fuels. Details of the concoction, which the scientist calls mycodiesel, will be published in the next issue of the journal Microbiology. The results were totally unexpected and very e