单选题 Humanity uses a little less than half the water available worldwide. Yet occurrences of shortages and droughts (干旱) are causing famine and distress in some areas, and industrial and agricultural by-products are polluting water supplies. Since the world" population is expected to double in the next 50 years, many experts think we are on the edge of a widespread water crisis. But that doesn"t have to be the outcome. Water shortages do not have to trouble the world—if we start valuing water more than we have in the past, just as we began to appreciate petroleum more after the 1970s oil Crisis. Today we must start looking at water from a fresh economic perspective. We can no longer afford to consider water a virtually free resource of which we can use as much as we like in any way we want. Instead, for all uses except the domestic demand of the poor, governments should price water to reflect its actual value. This means charging a fee for the water itself as well as for the supply costs. Governments should also protect this resource by providing water in more economically and environmentally sound ways. For example, often the cheapest way to provide irrigation (灌溉) water in the dry tropics is through small-scale projects, such as gathering rainfall in depressions (凹地) and pumping it to nearby cropland. No matter what steps governments take to provide water more efficiently, they must change their institutional and legal approaches to water use. Rather than spread control among hundreds or even thousands of local, regional, and national agencies that watch various aspects of water use, countries should set up central authorities to coordinate water policy. (289 words)

单选题 What is the real cause of the potential water crisis?

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】解析：本题属于细节归纳题。人口问题、污染问题及有限的可利用水资源都是潜在的“水危机”的原因。但这些只是表面现象，真正的本质原因是人们没有“valuing water，looking at water from a fresh economic perspective”，故正确答案为D。

单选题 As indicated in the passage, the water problem______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】解析：本题属于细节判断题。选项B不正确，因为专家们并没有夸张。如果不重视水资源的价值，不有效地利用它，肯定有一天会面临危机的。第三、四段谈到政府应采取的一些措施，与选项D所述无关。选项C文中并未涉及。而在文章开头，作者就提到“Yet oecurrenees of shortages and droughts are causing famine and distressing in some areas”，故正确答案为A。

单选题 According to the author, the water price should______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】解析：本题属于观点判断题。综观全文，作者旨在表明他的观点：人们要充分认识水资源的价值，节约用水，以免出现水危机。因此，A“刺激国内需求”、B“降低水的价格”都不正确，选项D看似合理，但非作者的意图。正确答案为C。

单选题 The author says that in some hot and dry areas it is advisable to______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】解析：本题属于细节理解题。答案在文中显而易见，第四段谈到“For example，often the cheapest way to provide irrigation water in the dry tropics is through small—scale projects，such as gathering rainfall in depressions and pumping it to nearly cropland．”通过“small—scale”一词即可选出正确答案C。A、B与文章内容不符，选项D未提及。