问题详情：
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.”
篇章导读：本文是一篇说明文。水是生命之源，与人类的健康、农业等息息相关，然而在很多地区，水资源短缺已成了一个相当严峻的挑战。
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 主旨大意题。本文讲述了目前在全世界范围内，水资源短缺给人们的健康、生活、经济等带来的不利影响，水资源短缺是人类面临的一个相当严峻的挑战。
10.C 细节理解题。依据文中第三段第一句中的“using some 70 percent, and industrial use needs another 22 percent”可知，世界上约70%的清洁水被农业生产耗用，农业是消耗清洁水最多的产业。
11.C 推理判断题。依据最后两段中Postel的话，尤其是第五段最后一句可知，我们正在消耗我们子孙的水资源。
12.B 推理判断题。文章在讲述水资源的重要*，且用具体例子和数据进行*；再结合尾段倒数第二句“Man's growing thirst also causes a major problem about water and our ecosystems.”可推知，我们要保护我们的生态系统。
知识点：科普环保类阅读
题型：阅读理解
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