Reading Comprehension

Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions below.

Energy is defined by Daniel D. Chiras, as “the capacity to do work,” and it is found in many forms, including light, heat, sound, electricity, coal, oil, and gasoline. These forms of energy provide us with the capacity to light our homes, cook our food, travel by car, plane, boat or train, operate factories, and do many other things that we do regularly.

Commonly used energy sources include wood, oil, coal, natural gas, the atom (or nuclear power), and moving water. Humans have used wood as an energy source, mainly to cook food and to provide heat and light, for thousands of years, but the use of other sources is a relatively recent development. Coal, in particular, did not fall into widespread use in Europe until the 1700s, after wood supplies had become scarce. Oil followed near the end of the 1800s, and in the 1900s, still, other sources of energy were brought into use like natural gas, hydropower (using the power of moving water), geothermal power (using power from deep within the earth), and nuclear power. While the use of wood for energy has virtually stopped, the use of all these other sources has grown dramatically.

Energy sources are very diverse. First and foremost, the sun is the primary energy source throughout the world. The radiation from the sun gives plants the ability to produce sugars, which can be used as an energy source for organisms to grow. Energy from the sun is converted into sugars by plants through the process of photosynthesis. The energy stored in the chemical bonds of these sugars is used for plant growth and can be found in plants’ leaves and stems. Animals eat the plants then convert these sugars into energy for their own use through digestion.

However, plants can also rot over time and become the fuel that we use to light our houses, power our trains, and boil our water. After all, gas, oil, and coal are only plants that have rotted for thousands of years. Coal, oil, and natural gas are the most common sources of energy in Ukraine.