Our Earth is a blue planet. About 71 percent of the planet is water, but people can only use a small amount of it. Only about 3 percent of the world's water is fresh water. It's in lakes, rivers and underground. According to the UN, wastewater problems make water shortages (短缺) even more serious. Our homes, cities and factories make wastewater every day. It pollutes rivers and lakes.

People from different countries have their own tips for saving water.

In Australia most people have a grass lawn (草坪) around their home. They wash their cars on the lawn. The water will go to the grass!

People in Germany collect rainwater to save water. Most new houses have a rainwater collection device (设备). The device collects rainwater from the roof (屋顶), and then sends it to the toilet. If you don't have the device, just put a bucket (桶) under your roof.

1.Only 3 percent of the world's water is ________.

A.seawater B.fresh water C.rainwater D.wastewater

2.Fresh water is in _______

A.lakes B.rivers C.underground D.A, B and C

3.The underlined word it refers to (指的是) ________.

A.the factory B.our home C.the city D.wastewater

4.The underlined word tips probably means ________.

A.notes B.rules C.ways D.problems

5.Why do people in Germany collect rainwater with the device? They want to ________.

A.clean the toilet B.drink it C.wash their cars D.sell it

6.According to the passage, which of the following is NOT TRUE?

A.People can find fresh water in lakes, rivers and underground.

B.Nobody wants to wash their cars on the lawns to save water in Australia.

C.Most new houses in Germany have a rainwater collection device.

D.People can also use a bucket to collect rainwater under the roof in Germany.

Young Inventor Creates Plastic from Fish Scales

Lucy Hughes, a 24-year-old English inventor, has used fish skin and scales(鳞)to create a new kind of plastic that will break down in about six weeks. Her invention won 2019 James Dyson Award, which was created by the famous English inventor James Dyson to encourage students to try to use their creativity to solve problems in the real world.

Lucy Hughes studied how to design products at the University of Sussex in England. As a designer, she knew a lot about how wasteful many products are. Plastic bags, for example, are often used once for a short time and then thrown away. She decided to challenge herself to make something out of waste instead

The University of Sussex isn't far from the coast. Ms. Hughes spent some time studying the fishing business and the waste from fish that were thrown away. After some tests, she decided that the fish skin and scales seemed like the most likely parts for her product. She tried more than 100 different experiments before getting things just right. Ms. Hughes called her finished product "MarinaTex". It solves two problems: the single-use plastic and fish waste.

MarinaTex is clear and feels like plastic, but it's stronger than normal plastic that is of the same thickness. It is also cheap to make since it's made from fish waste. The process of making MarinaTex also doesn't use much energy. Most importantly, MarinaTex doesn't take hundreds of years to break down. On its own, it breaks down in four to six weeks.

For winning the contest, Ms. Hughes will earn f,30, 000. Her school will get f,5, 000. She is looking forward to moving ahead with her idea. She hopes the award money will help her with the process of getting MarinaTex into use as quickly as possible. She thinks that one of the best uses for MarinaTex will be in some kinds of food packaging.

1.What did Lucy Hughes create?

2.How many experiments did Lucy Hughes try?

3.What problems does MarinaTex solve?

4.What is Paragraph 4 mainly about?

5.How will Lucy Hughes possibly spend the award money?

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