单选题 People kill each other over diamonds; countries go to war over oil. But the world's most expensive commodities are worth nothing in the absence of water. Fresh water is essential for life, with no substitute. Although mostly unpriced, it is the most valuable stuff in the world.
Nature has decided that the supply of water is fixed. Meanwhile demand rises as the world's populati on increases and enriches itself. Homes, factories and offices are sucking up ever more. But it is the planet's growing need for food that matters most. Farming accounts for 70% of withdrawals.
Few of the world's great rivers that run through grain-growing areas now reach the sea all the year round or, if they do, they do so as a trickle. Less obvious, though even more serious, are the withdrawals from underground, which are hidden from sight but big enough to produce changes in the Earth's gravitational field that can be monitored by NASA's satellites in space. Water tables are now failing in many parts of the world, including America, India and China.
So far {{U}}the world has been spared a true water war{{/U}}, and competition for water can sometimes bring rivals together as well as drive them apart. But since over 60% of the world's population lives in a river basin shared by two or more countries, the scope for squabbles is plain. Even if acute water shortages were to become widespread in just one country—India, say, or China—they could lead to mass migration and fighting.
Although the supply of water cannot be increased, mankind can use what there is better—in four ways. One is through the improvement of storage and delivery, by creating underground reservoirs, replacing leaking pipes, lining earth-bottomed canals, irrigating plants at their roots with just the right amount of water, and so on. A second route focuses on making farming less thirsty—for instance by growing newly bred, perhaps genetically modified, crops that are drought-resistant or higher-yielding. A third way is to invest in technologies to take the salt out of sea water and thus increase supply of the fresh stuff. The fourth is of a different kind: release the market on water-users and let the price mechanism bring supply and demand into balance. And once water is properly priced, trade will encourage well-watered countries to make water-intensive goods, and arid ones to make those that are water-light.
单选题 Which of the following is true according to the first paragraph?
  • A. The value of diamonds and oil is much less than that of water
  • B. Fresh water is indispensable to human because nothing can take its place
  • C. It is hard to price the value of water, because it is too valuable
  • D. Water is priceless because the world is always in the absence of it
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[考点] 事实细节题 [解析] 根据第一段第三句“fresh water is essential for life, with no substitute”可知，B为正确答案。第一段第二句“the world's most expensive commodities are woah nothing in the absence of water”是指缺水状态下钻石和石油都一文不值，所以排除A，第四句“although mostly unpriced, it is the most valuable stuff in the world”是说尽管无法估价，但水仍是最宝贵的，而C将其说成了因果关系，也是错误的理解，故排除，D在文中没有提及，也排除。
单选题 Which of the following has the largest demand for water?
  • A. Agriculture
  • B. Industry
  • C. Offices
  • D. Family life
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[考点] 事实细节题。 [解析] 第二段第三句“homes, factories and offices are sucking up ever more”意思为“家庭、工厂和办公场所对水的需求日益增大”，但是第四句“but it is the planet's growing need for food that matters most”中说对食物的需求是最为重要的，再结合下文“farming accounts for 70% of withdrawals”可知，A为答案。
单选题 The problem of underground water is more serious because ______.
  • A. the underground water trickles away all the year round
  • B. the underground water is hidden deep beneath the Earth
  • C. the change of it must be controlled by the NASA's satellites
  • D. the dramatic change of it might affect the gravitational field
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[考点] 事实细节题 [解析] 第三段首先提出地表河流的问题，第二句：“...more serious, are the withdrawals from underground”中提到了更严重的地下取水，从定语从句“which are hidden form sight but big enough to produce changes in the Earlh's gravitational field that can be monitored by NASA's satellites in space”中可知，地下水虽埋于地下，但是如果地下水发生巨变就会影响重力场，所以D为答案，而B不是原因。C也不对，因为原文想表达的是地下水对引力场的影响可悲卫星监控。A是对该段第一句的错误理解，排除。因此D为正确答案。
单选题 By saying "the world has been spared a true water war" (line 1, para. 4), the author means ______.
  • A. the water supply in the world is more than needed
  • B. the world has saved enough water to avoid the war
  • C. the world has never suffered a war triggered by water
  • D. the world spares no effort to avoid a war caused by water
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[考点] 语义理解题 [解析] 这句话中的spare有“使免受伤害，免于……”之意，所以C为答案。从第四段第一句的后半部分也可得知对水资源的竞争有时能让对手合作，有时能让他们分道扬镳，从而反推上半句真正由水而引发的战争从未发生过。因此C为正确答案。
单选题 According to the last paragraph, the fourth way is "of a different kind" because ______.
  • A. the first three ways can increase the water supply, while the fourth one can't
  • B. the first three ways can make a better use of water, while the fourth one can't
  • C. the first three ways are technology-based, while the fourth one is market-based
  • D. the first three ways can't balance the supply and demand of water, while the fourth one can
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[考点] 推理判断题 [解析] 最后一段中介绍了四种更好地利用水资源的办法，从第一句“although the supply of water cannot be increased”可判断前三种方法也不能增加水的供应量，故排除A。从“mankind can rise what there is better-in four ways”中可知四种方法都是为了更好地利用水，所以排除B。第四种方法能“bring supply and demand into balance”即平衡水的供需，但是上下文中并未提到前三种方法就做不到，D属于过度判断，故排除。而本段中“crea!ing underground reservoirs”，“growing...genetically modified, crops”和“to invest in technologies to...”都是前三种方法，这些都是技术方式，只有第四种方法中“let the pIice mechanism'’表示其依靠市场，所以C为正确答案。