Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning)(15 minutes)

　　Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1.For questions 1-7,choose the best answer from the four choices marked[A],[B],[C]and [D]. For questions 8-10,complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.

　　Will We Run Out of Water?

　　Picture a “ghost ship” sinking into the sand, left to rot on dry land by a receding sea. Then imagine dust storms sweeping up toxic pesticides and chemical fertilizers from the dry seabed and spewing them across towns and villages.

　　Seem like a scene from a movie about the end of the world? For people living near the Aral Sea in Central Asia, it’s all too real. Thirty years ago, government planners diverted the rivers that flow into the sea in order to irrigate (provide water for)farmland. As a result, the sea has shrunk to half its original size, stranding ships on dry land. The seawater has tripled in salt content and become polluted, killing all 24 native species of fish.

　　Similar large-scale efforts to redirect water in other parts of the world have also ended in ecological crisis, according to numerous environmental groups. But many countries continue to build massive dams and irrigation systems, even though such projects can create more problems than they fix. Why? People in many parts of the world are desperate for water, and more people will need more water in the next century.

　　“Growing populations will worsen problems with water,” says Peter H. Gleick, an environmental scientist at the Pacific Institute for studies in Development, Environment, and Security, a research organization in California. He fears that by the year 2025, as many as one-third of the world’s projected 8.3 billion people will suffer from water shortages.

　　Where Water Goes

　　Only 2.5 percent of all water on Earth is freshwater, water suitable for drinking and growing food, says Sandra Postel, director of the Global Water Policy Project in Amherst, Mass. Two?thirds of this freshwater is locked in glaciers and ice caps. In fact, only a tiny percentage of freshwater is part of the water cycle, in which water evaporates and rises into the atmosphere, then condenses and falls back to Earth as precipitation(rain or snow).

　　Some precipitation runs off land to lakes and oceans, and some becomes groundwater, water that seeps into the earth. Much of this renewable freshwater ends up in remote places like the Amazon river basin in Brazil, where few people live. In fact, the world’s population has access to only 12,500 cubic kilometers of freshwater—about the amount of water in Lake Superior. And people use half of this amount already. “If water demand continues to climb rapidly,” says Postel, “there will be severe shortages and damage to the aquatic environment.”

　　Close to Home

　　Water woes may seem remote to people living in rich countries like the United States. But Americans could face serious water shortages, too especially in areas that rely on groundwater. Groundwater accumulates in aquifers, layers of sand and gravel that lie between soil and bedrock. (For every liter of surface water, more than 90 liters are hidden underground.)Although the United States has large aquifers, farmers, ranchers, and cities are tapping many of them for water faster than nature can replenish it. In northwest Texas, for example, over pumping has shrunk groundwater supplies by 25 percent, according to Postel.

　　Americans may face even more urgent problems from pollution. Drinking water in the United States is generally safe and meets high standards. Nevertheless, one in five Americans every day unknowingly drinks tap water contaminated with bacteria and chemical wastes, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. In Milwaukee, 400,000 people fell ill in 1993 after drinking tap water tainted with cryptosporidium, a microbe that causes fever, diarrhea and vomiting.

　　The Source

　　Where do contaminants come from? In developing countries, people dump raw sewage into the same streams and rivers from which they draw water for drinking and cooking; about 250 million people a year get sick from water borne diseases.

　　In developed countries, manufacturers use 100,000 chemical compounds to make a wide range of products. Toxic chemicals pollute water when released untreated into rivers and lakes. (Certain compounds, such as polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, have been banned in the United States.)

　　But almost everyone contributes to water pollution. People often pour household cleaners, car antifreeze, and paint thinners down the drain; all of these contain hazardous chemicals. Scientists studying water in the San Francisco Bay reported in 1996 that 70 percent of the pollutants could be traced to household waste.

　　Farmers have been criticized for overusing herbicides and pesticides, chemicals that kill weeds and insects but that pollute water as well. Farmers also use nitrates, nitrogen?rich fertilizer that help plants grow but that can wreak havoc on the environment. Nitrates are swept away by surface runoff to lakes and seas. Too many nitrates “over enrich” these bodies of water, encouraging the buildup of algae, or microscopic plants that live on the surface of the water. Algae deprive the water of oxygen that fish need to survive, at times choking off life in an entire body of water.

　　What’s the Solution?

　　Water expert Gleick advocates conservation and local solutions to water-related problems; governments, for instance, would be better off building small-scale dams rather than huge and disruptive projects like the one that ruined the Aral Sea.

　　“More than 1 billion people worldwide don’t have access to basic clean drinking water,” says Gleick. “There has to be a strong push on the part of everyone—governments and ordinary people—to make sure we have a resource so fundamental to life.”

　　1.What caused the Aral Sea to shrink?

　　[A]The rivers flowing into it have been diverted.

　　[B]Farmers used its water to irrigate their farmland.

　　[C]Government planners over?pumped its water.

　　[D]High temperature made its water badly evaporate.

　　2.The construction of massive dams and irrigation projects .

　　[A]does more good than harm

　　[B]solves more problems than what they created

　　[C]does more harm than good

　　[D]brings more water to people than expected

　　3.The chief causes of water shortage include .

　　[A]population growth and water waste

　　[B]water pollution and dry weather

　　[C]water waste and pollution

　　[D]population growth and water pollution

　　4.Americans could suffer from greatly serious water shortages?

　　[A]living in rich areas

　　[B]living in big cities but poor condition

　　[C]depending on groundwater

　　[D]bearing high standards of safe drinking water in mind

　　5.What is the main pollutant in developed countries?

　　[A]Untreated toxic chemicals from manufacturers.

　　[B]Raw sewage into rivers and streams.

　　[C]Herbicides and pesticides used by farmers.

　　[D]Household cleaners poured down the drain.

　　6.How does algae make threats to life of a body of water?

　　[A]By covering the whole surface of the water.

　　[B]By competitively using oxygen life in water needs.

　　[C]By living more rapidly than other life in water .

　　[D]By releasing hazardous chemicals into water.

　　7.According to Gleick, who should be responsible for solving water-related problems?

　　[A]government and housewives.

　　[B]farmers and manufacturers.

　　[C]ordinary people and manufacturers.

　　[D]government and every person.

　　8. According to Peter H. Gleick, by the year 2025, as many as of the world’s people will suffer from water shortages.

　　9.Two thirds of the freshwater on Earth is locked in .

　　10.In developed countries, before toxic chemicals are released into rivers and lakes, they should be treated in order to avoid .

　　【全文翻譯】

　　我們會(huì)陷入水資源枯竭的困境嗎?

　　想象一只“幽靈船”沉入了沙土中，任其留在干旱的沙土中腐爛掉。再想象沙塵暴從干旱的海床上席卷起有毒的殺蟲(chóng)劑和化肥，呼嘯著穿過(guò)城鎮(zhèn)和村莊。

　　看起來(lái)像關(guān)于世界末日的電影中的一個(gè)場(chǎng)景?對(duì)于居住在中亞咸海附近的居民而言，這一切都是真實(shí)的。30年前，為了灌溉(提供水)農(nóng)田，政府部門的規(guī)劃專家們改道了引水入海的河流。結(jié)果，咸海縮小為原來(lái)的一半，船只也擱淺在干旱的沙土上。海水受到污染，其鹽含量增到了三倍，導(dǎo)致24種土生土長(zhǎng)的魚類滅絕。

　　根據(jù)眾多環(huán)保組織的調(diào)查，世界其他地方與此類似的大規(guī)模的改道努力也是以生態(tài)危機(jī)而告終的。盡管建造大壩和灌溉系統(tǒng)創(chuàng)造的問(wèn)題要比它們解決的問(wèn)題多，但是許多國(guó)家仍然繼續(xù)這樣的項(xiàng)目。為什么呢?世界許多地方的人都非常需要水;而且，隨著人口的增長(zhǎng)，下個(gè)世紀(jì)將有更多的人需要更多的水。

　　來(lái)自于太平洋發(fā)展、環(huán)境和安全研究所(the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security)的環(huán)境科學(xué)家Peter H. Gleick說(shuō)，“不斷增長(zhǎng)的人口將會(huì)進(jìn)一步惡化缺水問(wèn)題”。該研究所是位于加利福尼亞的一個(gè)研究機(jī)構(gòu)。他擔(dān)心，到2025年，在83億世界預(yù)計(jì)人口中，將有三分之一的人口面臨缺水問(wèn)題。

　　水去了哪里?

　　來(lái)自位于馬塞諸塞州阿默斯特的全球水政策項(xiàng)目的Sandra Postel主任認(rèn)為，地球上只有2.5%的水是適合飲用和種植食物的淡水，其中的三分之一屬于冰川和冰蓋。事實(shí)上，只有極小比例的淡水是水循環(huán)的一部分。在水循環(huán)中，水蒸發(fā)后上升到大氣中，然后凝結(jié)并以降水的形式(雨或雪)回落到地球上。

　　一些降水流經(jīng)陸地進(jìn)入湖泊和海洋，另一些滲入地球變成地下水。大部分這樣的再生淡水最后積聚在諸如巴西亞馬遜河流域這樣很少有人居住的偏遠(yuǎn)地方。事實(shí)上，世界人口能獲得的淡水僅有12，500立方千米——相當(dāng)于Superior湖的湖水量，其一半已為人類所使用。Postel 說(shuō)，“如果水的需求量不斷快速攀升，水資源將嚴(yán)重短缺，水環(huán)境將受到極大破壞�！�

　　問(wèn)題就在家門口

　　對(duì)于生活在像美國(guó)這樣富裕國(guó)家的人來(lái)說(shuō)，水危機(jī)似乎很遙遠(yuǎn)。但是美國(guó)人可能面臨嚴(yán)重的缺水問(wèn)題，尤其是那些依賴地下水的區(qū)域。地下水儲(chǔ)存于地下含水層和位于泥土和巖床之間的沙石層中。(地球上的地表水與地下水的水量之比大約為1∶90。) 雖然美國(guó)富有含水層，農(nóng)民、農(nóng)場(chǎng)主和城市居民的用水速度超過(guò)了自然界水資源的再生速度。例如，根據(jù)Postel的調(diào)查，在西北部的得克薩斯州，超量的抽取使得地下水供應(yīng)減少了25%。

　　美國(guó)人可能會(huì)面臨更緊迫的污染問(wèn)題。在美國(guó)，飲用水普遍安全，符合高標(biāo)準(zhǔn)要求。不過(guò)，據(jù)環(huán)境保護(hù)署的調(diào)查，每天有五分之一的美國(guó)人在不知不覺(jué)中飲用受到細(xì)菌和化學(xué)廢物污染的自來(lái)水。1993年，密爾沃基有40萬(wàn)人因飲用受到隱孢子蟲(chóng)污染的自來(lái)水而患病。隱孢子蟲(chóng)是一種可引起高燒、腹瀉和嘔吐的微生物。

　　污染源

　　這些污染物從何而來(lái)呢?在發(fā)展中國(guó)家，人們把污水倒入他們從中獲取飲用和烹飪水的同一小溪和河流中，每年大約有250萬(wàn)人感染水傳播疾病。

　　在發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家，制造商使用100,000種化合物來(lái)制造更多種類的產(chǎn)品。未經(jīng)處理就被釋放入河流和湖泊中的化學(xué)物質(zhì)使水受到污染。(某些化合物，如多氯聯(lián)苯，即PCBs，在美國(guó)已被禁用。)

　　但是，水污染幾乎與每個(gè)人都有關(guān)。人們常常將清潔用品、汽車防凍劑、油漆稀釋劑倒入下水道中，而所有這些用品都含有有害的化學(xué)物質(zhì)。1996年，科學(xué)家們對(duì)舊金山海灣的水進(jìn)行了研究，他們說(shuō)，百分之七十的污染物可以追溯到家居廢物。

　　除草劑和殺蟲(chóng)劑既可以殺死雜草和昆蟲(chóng)，也會(huì)污染水源，因此農(nóng)民們一直因過(guò)量使用除草劑和殺蟲(chóng)劑而備受批評(píng)。農(nóng)民們還使用可以促進(jìn)植物生長(zhǎng)的硝酸鹽和富含氮的化肥，但是它們也會(huì)嚴(yán)重破壞環(huán)境。硝酸鹽類物質(zhì)會(huì)被地表徑流沖刷入湖泊和海洋之中。過(guò)多的硝酸鹽使得水域“超級(jí)富有”，從而造成水藻或水面微小植物的大量繁殖。藻類剝奪了魚生存所必需的氧氣，有時(shí)候會(huì)令整個(gè)水域中的生命窒息而亡。

　　解決的方法是什么呢?

　　水資源專家Gleick提倡保護(hù)水資源，通過(guò)因地制宜的方法來(lái)解決與水相關(guān)的問(wèn)題。例如，政府最好建筑小規(guī)模的水壩，而不是像毀掉咸海那樣具有破壞性的大水壩。

　　“全世界有超過(guò)10億的人口缺乏基本的清潔飲用水，”Gleick說(shuō)，“每個(gè)人——政府人員和普通人——都要付諸努力，確保我們有一個(gè)最基本的生活源泉�！�

　　2016年下半年大學(xué)英語(yǔ)四級(jí)口語(yǔ)考試報(bào)名通知 2016年12月英語(yǔ)四級(jí)考試報(bào)名時(shí)間

　　【答案解析】

　　1.【解析】[A]屬細(xì)節(jié)推斷題。根據(jù)題干的意思，是什么原因造成咸海海水量的減少呢?本文的第二段提到了咸海的具體情況。所以根據(jù)題干中的核心詞“Aral Sea”，并結(jié)合第二段的具體內(nèi)容，可以將答案定位在該段的第二、三句話“...government planners diverted the rivers that flow into the sea in order to irrigate(provide water for)farmland. As a result, the sea has shrunk to half its original size,...”，這與A“The rivers flowing into it have been diverted”表示的“流入其的河流被改道”的意思相吻合。所以正確答案是A項(xiàng)。答案B和C均屬于斷章取義，偷換了句子中的部分內(nèi)容，是迷惑項(xiàng)。答案D的內(nèi)容按照常理來(lái)說(shuō)，具有一定正確性，但文章并未提及，也是干擾項(xiàng)。

　　2.【解析】[C]屬同義轉(zhuǎn)換題。題干要求回答有關(guān)大壩建設(shè)和灌溉工程的情況，其中的“massive dams and irrigation”是核心詞，定位于文章第三段。該段中的第二句話“...many countries continue to build massive dams and irrigation systems, even though such projects can create more problems than they fix”。這與C項(xiàng)意思“壞處多于好處”一致。所以正確答案是C。答案A和B的意思與原文相反;答案D在文中未提及，屬于故意干擾項(xiàng)。

　　3.【解析】[D]屬段落大意理解題。對(duì)于此類主旨大意題，可以先看題支中各個(gè)選項(xiàng)的區(qū)別和聯(lián)系，然后結(jié)合自己對(duì)文章的理解來(lái)予以選擇或者排除。本題要求回答缺水的主要原因是什么。對(duì)比四個(gè)選項(xiàng)，其中共有四種情況的不同組合：人口增長(zhǎng)、水資源污染、水資源浪費(fèi)和氣候干燥。其中的“人口增長(zhǎng)”在第三段結(jié)尾和第四段開(kāi)頭“Growing population will worsen problems with water”中提到過(guò)，屬于缺水的主要原因之一;“水資源污染”在小標(biāo)題“the source”下面分別從發(fā)展中國(guó)家、發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家、個(gè)人和農(nóng)民的角度作出重要說(shuō)明，也是造成缺水的主要原因之一;“水資源浪費(fèi)和氣候干燥”在文中均未提及，所以正確答案是D。

　　4.【解析】[C]屬同義轉(zhuǎn)換題。根據(jù)題干中關(guān)鍵詞“Americans”，可以定位在小標(biāo)題“Close to home”下第一段的第二句話，“Americans could face serious water shortages, too especially in areas that rely on groundwater”，表明美國(guó)人，特別是依賴地下水的居民可能面臨缺水問(wèn)題，這與答案C的“depending on groundwater”意思一致，屬于同義轉(zhuǎn)換，所以答案選C。答案A、B、D都是文章中與題干內(nèi)容相關(guān)的某句話的斷章取義，屬于干擾項(xiàng)。

　　5.【解析】[A]屬細(xì)節(jié)推斷題。根據(jù)題干中的關(guān)鍵詞“pollutant”，可以將答案定位在小標(biāo)題“The sources”之下，再根據(jù)“in developed countries”，可以定位于第二段前兩句“In developed countries, ... Toxic chemicals pollute water when released untreated into rivers and lakes”。這與A“untreated toxic chemicals from manufacturers”完全吻合，所以答案是A。B是發(fā)展中國(guó)家水污染的主要來(lái)源，C和D分別說(shuō)明的是農(nóng)民和個(gè)人對(duì)水資源造成的污染，屬于干擾項(xiàng)。

　　6.【解析】[B]屬細(xì)節(jié)推斷題。題干中的algae是關(guān)鍵詞，將答案直接定位于小標(biāo)題“The source”之下最后一段的最后一句，“Algae deprive the water of oxygen that fish need to survive, at times choking off life in an entire body of water”，這與B“與水域中的生物競(jìng)爭(zhēng)氧氣”相吻合，所以答案選B項(xiàng)。答案A是對(duì)文中部分內(nèi)容的改寫，與答案無(wú)關(guān);C和D在文中均未提及。

　　7.【解析】[D]屬細(xì)節(jié)推斷題。題干中的“Gleick”和“solving water?related problems”是關(guān)鍵詞，將答案定位在小標(biāo)題“What’s the solution”之下最后一段的最后一句，“...says Gleick. ‘There has to be a strong push on the part of everyone—governments and ordinary people—to make sure we have a resource so fundamental to life’”，這與D“government and every person”意思一致，所以答案選D項(xiàng)。其他選項(xiàng)意思與文章不符。

　　8.【解析】one-third 解題依據(jù)為第四段最后一句話：He fears that by the year 2025, as many as one-third of the world’s projected 8.3 billion people will suffer from water shortages

　　9.【解析】glaciers and ice caps 解題依據(jù)為第五段第二句話：Two?thirds of this freshwater is locked in glaciers and ice caps

　　10.【解析】water pollution 解題依據(jù)為第十段第二句話：Toxic chemicals pollute water when released untreated into rivers and lakes.