单选题 Whether trying to live with the depressing spectacle of draught or battling rampaging floods or suffering with a debilitating(使衰弱) disease caused by polluted drinking supplies, people in almost every corner of the world have had their problems with unpredictable changes of water. Although water covers much of our planet, more than 97% is in the oceans. Another 2% is unusable ice. And much of the remainder is polluted. So much the supposed abundance! Developed and developing countries alike are now talking about a crisis.
What of the future? Will water needs reach a peak? Unhappily, UN experts expect demands to double in the next 25 years. This will coincide with increasing population and industrialization--and the attendant risk of factory and human wastes further contaminating rivers, lakes, and ground water. So, is there any hope of a solution? The answer, fortunately, is that the problem is being tackled.
Specialists in many countries are developing methods to improve supply and conservation and protect quality, and a number of ambitious programmes have been undertaken. Good forecasting--including predictions of snow, rain, river levels and soil loss--can help scientists head off, or at least cope with floods. Canals can ease one of the major water-related problems: drought. With something like threequarters of the world's fresh water tied up as ice, plans to drag icebergs to drought areas have been around for a long time: attempts to overcome drawbacks--a great deal of energy would be needed to tow the ice and pump the water island, and the ice might melt before reaching its destination --are still being made. In addition, research into desalting sea-water continues with new and improving desalting methods al- though no method can yet promise truly low-cost fresh water. Fossil water---under- ground water dating back to Ice Age --could be drilled for in some areas but supplies are non-renewable. Work continues in all these areas. It is obvious that a lot of time, money and research is going into finding solutions for some of the problems.
However, worldwide, the ugly fact remains that something like 250 million new cases of water borne diseases are discovered every year--and 25,000 people die from them every day. Pollution continues to plague us --all of us. So, whether polluted by industrial waste, sewage or other pollution, unreliable water supplies frequently create breeding grounds for deadly water-borne diseases when safeguards and purification are inadequate.
Millions of people, therefore, continue to be affected by water-related problems and, contrary to popular belief, future water supplies are not inexhaustible. So the situation is serious, especially in view of UN estimates of demand. Although projects to provide ever-increasing supplies of water indicate that a growing number of countries are aware of the present problems and of those to come, these more often than not are highly expensive and not practical--and very time-consuming when time is a commodity in short supply. So, while research in these areas is important, the eventual solution would definitely appear to be worldwide conservation and pollution control --in other words, a greater respect of our most valuable natural resource.
单选题 Which of the following statements would be the central theme of the text?
  • A. Much of the earth is covered with water and so we have limitless water resources in the future.
  • B. A lot of effective methods have been used to improve water supply.
  • C. Water is scarce and much of what is available is polluted.
  • D. Iceberg is the best of water resources.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】
单选题 According to the text, water-related problems refer to ______.
  • A. drought, floods and contamination
  • B. time, money and pollution
  • C. rain, snow and river
  • D. floods, icebergs and underground water
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】
单选题 What is the author's attitude towards the solutions to the problems of water crisis?
  • A. They are feasible and efficient.
  • B. They are expensive, impractical and time-consuming.
  • C. They are cheap, profitable and easily performed.
  • D. They are effective, possible and ambitious.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】
单选题 According to the text, water needs will reach a peak because of ______.
  • A. drought and pollution
  • B. increasing population and industrialization
  • C. less rain and snow
  • D. birth boom
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】
单选题 According to the text, the possible solution to water scarcity is that ______.
  • A. people in the world should greatly cherish water resources.
  • B. a lot of money and time will be spent in the research of water problems.
  • C. people should make best use of underground water
  • D. icebergs will be dragged to drought regions
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】