Nuclear power’s danger to health, safety, and even life itself can be summed up in one word: radiation.
Nuclear radiation has a certain mystery about it, partly because it cannot be detected by human senses. It can’t be seen or heard, or touched or tasted, even though it may be all around us. There are other things like that. For example, radio waves are all around us but we can’t detect them, sense them, without a radio receiver. Similarly, we can’t sense radioactivity without a radiation detector. But unlike common radio waves, nuclear radiation is not harmless to human beings and other living things.
At very high levels, radiation can kill an animal or human being outright (全部地) by killing masses of cells in vital organs. But even the lowest level of radiation can do serious damage. There is no level of radiation that is completely safe. If the radiation does not hit anything important, the damage may not be significant. This is the case when only a few cells are hit, and if they are killed outright, your body will replace the dead cells with healthy ones. But if the few cells are only damaged, and if they reproduce themselves, you may be in trouble. They reproduce themselves in a deformed way. They can grow into cancer. Sometimes this does not show up for many years.
This is another reason for some of the mystery about nuclear radiation. Serious damage can be done without the victim being aware at the time that damage has occurred. A person can be irradiated and feel fine, then die of cancer five, ten, or twenty years later as a result. Or a child can be born weak or liable (易于) to serious illness as result of radiation absorbed by its grandparents.
Radiation can hurt us. We must know the truth.
1．According to the author, the danger of nuclear power lies in .
A．nuclear mystery B．radiation detection
C．nuclear radiation D．radiation level
2．Radiation can hurt us in that it can .
A．affect the healthy growth of our children.
B．damage cells which grow into cancer years later
C．kill large numbers of cells in main organs so as to cause death immediately.
D．all of the above.
3．The word “deformed” in paragraph 3 has the similar meaning with .
A．unnatural B．normal C．usual D．proper
4．What can we infer from the passage?
A．We can’t detect radioactivity even with modern equipment.
B．Only radiation at very high levels can kill an animal or human being.
C．If a few cells are only damaged healthy cells will take the place of dead ones
D．Radiation is harmful no matter what level it is.
5．What’s the author’s main purpose in writing this passage?
A．Discussing the cause of cancer.
B．Solving the mystery about radiation.
C．Emphasizing the importance of protection of radiation.
D．Introducing the nuclear power.