America is in no immediate danger of "running out of water". People in the West have been aware that water is a precious commodity and must be conserved. In the damp East, an excess of water led to complacency until two factors created concern over our water supply. First, the periods of drought from the 1961 to 1966 in the Northeast affected crop production and used up the surface and ground water supplies. Second, attention was called to rapid increases in the rates of pollution of these waters resulting from increased urban and industrial growth. As a result, there is an increasing awareness of the need for conserving the quantity and quality of our nation's water supplies.
Water is a renewable resource, but it is not exhaustible. When used for municipal, industrial, or agricultural purposes, it is not destroyed, but generally finds its way back into our water supply. This used water now carries some waste materials. These dirty waters are often dumped into large bodies of water or are disposed of on land. In the latter instance, evaporation concentrates some of the wastes on the soil surface. On the other hand, water moving through the soil will eventually carry some of the wastes down into the ground water supplies, Eventually, all water evaporates and later returns to the earth as rain or snow in a relatively purer state.
Through this never-ending cycle, there is just as much water in this country now as there ever was. The amount, however, does not increase. Our rapid population growth and our agricultural and industrial expansion have caused our water needs to soar. By withdrawing water from streams too quickly, we have in some instances upset the balance of nature's built-in renewal processes for conserving water. As a result, some of our streams and lakes have become "wet deserts." There is still plenty of water in them, but its water is so polluted that it supports almost no life at all.
1.The passage is mainly about_____.
A. water resources of the United States
B. the renewal processes of water in mature
C. the importance of water conservation
D.water pollution in America
2. The word "drought" in the sentence "First, the periods of drought---ground water supplies." Most probably means_____.
A. catastrophe of too much rain
B. danger of running out of water
C. calamity dry weather
D. damage caused by typhoon
3. Water is relatively purer in_____.
A. fast moving streams and rivers
B. underground water supplies
C. mountainous areas
D. rain and snow
4. When the author says that lakes have become "wet deserts",._____
A. he is being angry
B. he is being optimistic
C. he is being sad
D. he is being humorous
5. It is implied in the passage that______
A. water can be polluted by deserts
B. there are many water conservation programs in America
C. water keeps evaporating from the earth's surface
D. water is not polluted by waster materials
參考答案及解析
1.C
考點(diǎn):這是一道典型的文章主旨題。
解析:文章第一段的最后一句話是文章的中心思想,指出人們?cè)絹碓揭庾R(shí)到保護(hù)水的量和質(zhì)的必要性。第二、三段主要討論節(jié)約用水和水污染 的危害。第二段指出,水雖然百一種可再生的資源,但并不是用之不竭;第三段說,人口的急劇增加,工農(nóng)業(yè)的快速發(fā)展使得用水需求高漲并造成嚴(yán)重的水污染。綜上所述,我們可以看出,文章主要討論保護(hù)水資源的重要性。選項(xiàng)A、B、D都是以偏概全。
2.C
考點(diǎn):這是一道理解題。
解析:題目要求猜測(cè)"drought"一詞的含義,我們可以通過這個(gè)詞的上下文來理解它的意思。文章第一段第四句說,1961至1966年?yáng)|北部地區(qū)的drought影響了農(nóng)作物的生產(chǎn),使地表水和地下水供應(yīng)枯竭。據(jù)此我們可以推斷出這個(gè)詞的含義是旱災(zāi)。
3.D
考點(diǎn):這是一道細(xì)節(jié)題。
解析:答案在文章第二段的最一句:"Eventually, all water evaporates and later returns to the earth as rain or snow in a relatively purer state."(最終所有的水蒸發(fā),然后以更加純凈的形式降雨或降雪回到地球。)
4.D
考點(diǎn):此題考察學(xué)生對(duì)作者態(tài)度的理解。
解析:文章第三段最后一句很好地解釋了"wet desert"的含義,即:一些河流、湖泊中有大量的水,但污染非常嚴(yán)重,幾乎所有的生物都不能使用。根據(jù)這個(gè)解釋,我們可以理解作者說這番話的心情,作者面對(duì)這樣一種情況只能感到悲哀,而不是憤怒,因?yàn)閼嵟瓱o(wú)濟(jì)于事,更不是感到樂觀或幽默。
5.C
考點(diǎn):此題考察學(xué)生的判斷能力。
解析:根據(jù)文章第二段的最后一句:"Eventually, all water evaporates and later returns to the earth as rain or snow in a relatively purer state.",我們可以推斷出水不停地從地球表面蒸發(fā)掉,然后在高空中變成水的固態(tài)形式。選項(xiàng)A和D與文章內(nèi)容不符。選項(xiàng)B在文章中沒有提及。
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