問題詳情：
About 5,000 children die each day because of preventable diseases such as cholera and dysentery (痢疾), which spread when people use unclean water for drinking or cooking. A lack of water for personal health leads to the spread of totally preventable diseases like trachoma, which has blinded some six million people.
Water troubles also trap many lowincome families in a cycle of poverty and poor education and the poorest suffer most from lack of access to water. People who spend much of their time on ill health, caring for sick children, or collecting water at a distance averaging 3.75 miles a day don't have educational and economic chances to better their lives.
Agriculture is called the lion's share of clean water worldwide, using some 70 percent, and industrial use needs another 22 percent. Water areas have no political borders and nations don't always work together to share common resources, so water can be a frequent source of international problems as well.
Daybyday demand keeps growing, further draining water sources, from great rivers to groundwater. “We're going deeper into debt on our groundwater use，” Postel said, “and that has great effects on global water safety. The rate of groundwater use has doubled since 1960.”
Some of Earth's groundwater is fossil water created when Earth's climate was far different. Today such water is as limited as petrol. “But we're pumping much of them out faster than ever，” Postel explained. “Man's growing thirst also causes a major problem about water and our ecosystems. And that also creates a cost to us, to our sons and to our grandsons, not just to nature.”
篇章導讀：本文是一篇説明文。水是生命之源，與人類的健康、農業等息息相關，然而在很多地區，水資源短缺已成了一個相當嚴峻的挑戰。
9．What does the author mainly discuss in the passage?
A．Water shortage has been a most serious challenge.
B．So many children die of polluted water every day.
C．Diseases should be properly controlled and treated.
D．Wasting water leads to the unrest of the world.
10．Why is agriculture called the lion's share of clean water?
A．Because agriculture is much stronger than industry.
B．Because more people live on the agricultural produce.
C．Because agriculture uses about twothirds of clean water.
D．Because nations don't always work together to save water.
11．According to what Postel said we can know ________.
A．groundwater is rich for us to use
B．there is no need to dig deep for groundwater
C．we are using our next generations' water
D．we should use river water instead of groundwater
12．What can we infer from the passage?
A．We shouldn't use water from rivers.
B．We should protect our ecosystems.
C．Water should be distributed equally.
D．Laws should be passed for groundwater.
【回答】
9.A 主旨大意題。本文講述了目前在全世界範圍內，水資源短缺給人們的健康、生活、經濟等帶來的不利影響，水資源短缺是人類面臨的一個相當嚴峻的挑戰。
10.C 細節理解題。依據文中第三段第一句中的“using some 70 percent, and industrial use needs another 22 percent”可知，世界上約70%的清潔水被農業生產耗用，農業是消耗清潔水最多的產業。
11.C 推理判斷題。依據最後兩段中Postel的話，尤其是第五段最後一句可知，我們正在消耗我們子孫的水資源。
12.B 推理判斷題。文章在講述水資源的重要*，且用具體例子和數據進行*；再結合尾段倒數第二句“Man's growing thirst also causes a major problem about water and our ecosystems.”可推知，我們要保護我們的生態系統。
知識點：科普環保類閲讀
題型：閲讀理解
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