题目内容
March 22, 2011---Most restaurants in the United States offer their customers a glass of tap water at no charge with their meal, but this week many restaurants are asking dinners to pay a dollar, or more, for a glass of water. Cards on their tables explain that this small amount helps bring clean water to children around the world. It’s called the UNICEF Tap Project.
“UNICEF’s Tap Project is really all about bringing attention to the fact that over 900 million people around the globe do not have access to good, clean, healthy drinking water,” says Cary Stem, who heads the US Fund for UNICEF. She adds that water-borne illness is the second-highest cause of preventable childhood death in the world.
“Each and every day approximately 4,100 children die just because they don’t have that access - 4,100 every single day.”
The public service campaign encourages people to help change that statistic with a simple, affordable action: paying a dollar to get a glass of tap water at a restaurant.
“One dollar buys enough good, clean water for a child for 40 days,” Stem says.
“The tap project has expanded since it began five years ago with 300 restaurants in New York City. This year, Stem says, about 3,000 restaurants across the country are participating in the campaign. We raised about1 million for the first time. This year we’re hoping to top that.”
Stem credits the continued success of the campaign to an army of volunteers who support the tap project and raise money in their communities.
The UNICEF Tap Project is promoting its efforts with a simple motto: when you take water, give water. Currently, UNICEF works in more than 100 countries around the world to improve access to safe water and sanitation facilities in schools and communities.
Stem hopes that, by participating in the project, more Americans will realize that what they often take for granted is a precious and scarce resource in many other parts of the world
- 1.
Restaurants began to charge for tap water to _______
- A.increase their profit
- B.urge customers to save water
- C.raise people’s awareness of the world water problem
- D.collect money for those without access to safe water
- A.
- 2.
We can learn from the text that the Tap Project ________
- A.began in New York City
- B.was started by volunteers
- C.is hoping to collect $2.5 million this year
- D.provides help for 1,000 countries in the world
- A.
- 3.
It can be learned that _______
- A.the Tap Project began in 2006
- B.America suffers a serious problem
- C.4,100 children die of water pollution every year
- D.water-borne illnesses are the biggest killer of children
- A.
- 4.
How does Cary Stem feel about the work of the Tap Project?
- A.Concerned
- B.Hopeful
- C.Disappointed
- D.Angry
- A.
【文章大意】本文是一篇新闻报道。文章讲述了从2011年3月22日开始美国纽约300多家饭店收取一杯自来水的费用,用来改善世界其他地方饮用水的质量。
1.D考查细节理解。根据文章第一段中的this week many restaurants are asking dinners to pay a dollar, or more, for a glass of water. Cards on their tables explain that this small amount helps bring clean water to children around the world.可知,收取自来水费是为了帮助世界上的孩子们用上清洁的水。故选D。
2.A考查细节理解。根据文章第六段中的The tap project has expanded since it began five years ago with 300 restaurants in New York City可知,5年前纽约的300百个饭店发起的这个活动。故选A。
3.A考查推理判断。根据这篇新闻的发表时间March 22, 2011可知,5年前发起自来水工程,所以首先发起的时间是2006年。故选A。
4.B考查作者的态度。根据文章最后一段中的Stem hopes that, by participating in the project, more Americans will realize that what they often take for granted is a precious and scarce resource in many other parts of the world.可知,越来越的美国人意识到他们常常认为无所谓的对世界许多其他地区来说是很珍贵的。故选B。
考点:考查新闻报道的阅读理解。
NASA’s twin Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have been exploring the Red Planet since 2004. But a little more than a year ago, NASA lost contact with Spirit. The space agency has tried several ways to make contact with the rover, but Spirit has not sent back any signals.
Spirit landed on Mars on January 4, 2004. Three weeks later, Opportunity arrived. Soon after, the rovers went to the opposite side of Mars. Spirit’s original mission was only designed to last for three months, but Spirit has worked for more than five years doing additional missions. Both rovers have made important discoveries about ancient Mars. They have taken thousands of images and found evidence in the rocks of a water, warmer past in Mars’ history.
Spirit is solar-powered. It got stuck in a sand trap in April 2009, trapped deep into the soil and with its wheels turning around and around but not able to move forwards or backwards. Spirit had to agree that there is nothing that can be done to change the situation—it’s never going to move again. However, even if it is a not moving station, it can still study the planet’s atmosphere and deep interior.
NASA has been concentrating on trying to position its solar panels to get as much energy from the sun as possible, or to get the rover leaning in a manner that will allow the most amount of sunlight falling on its solar panels, in order to keep it alive during the coming winter months. Engineers have planned to rock the vehicle back and forth to acquire a more favorable position. However, no matter how many efforts have been made, Spirit still could not get out of the soft soil and could not lean itself toward the sun as the Martian winter approached. Without enough energy reaching its solar panels and with so little energy in its batteries, it went into hibernation, just like a polar bear, and has not communicated with Earth since March 22, 2010.
Whatever the future holds for Spirit, its mission has been an outstanding success. When it landed on the Red Planet in January 2004, no one was really sure how long it would continue working in the cold and dusty environment. As a matter of fact, three months was its original goal.
After so many fruitless efforts, NASA scientists are losing hope of ever reconnecting with Spirit, but they will give it one more try. Ground controllers are contacting Spirit over a range of frequencies and at different times during the day in case its internal clock stopped working and it lost track of time. They also are commanding the rover to turn on its backup radio transmitter in case the main one is dead.
If this final effort to connect isn’t successful, NASA will shift the focus to its twin robot, Opportunity, which is in a different part of Mars. Opportunity is still on the move and continues to travel freely to this day. It has traveled 16.6 miles so far, and is currently rolling towards another crater it has yet to explore.
NASA has spent more than $900 million on the project but shows no sign of giving up on these determined and hard-working robots. The rovers are, though, experiencing gradual wear and tear, the expected damage to something caused by using it repeatedly over a period of time. Even before Spirit got trapped, one of its wheels had failed. And NASA says it’s just a matter of time before both robots break down completely.
【小题1】According to the passage, what can we know about Spirit?
A.It had explored Mars several times. |
B.Its original mission was to work for five years. |
C.It landed on Mars three weeks later than Opportunity. |
D. It discovered that Mars was once a warm and wetter place. |
A.Try to lean Spirit to make it get as much sunlight as possible. |
B.Rock Spirit back and forth to make it acquire a more favorable position. |
C.Make efforts to help Spirit get out of the soft soil where it is stuck. |
D.Contact and order Spirit to turn on its backup radio transmitter. |
A.it didn’t have enough energy | B.it had finished its task |
C.something was wrong with its wheels | D.it met an unidentified creature |
A.NASA will move the center of Spirit out of the sand |
B.NASA will depend on Opportunity to do the exploration |
C.NASA will do nothing but wait for some opportunity |
D.NASA will make opportunity help Spirit |
A.NASA has planned to spend more money on Spirit |
B.Spirit will be brought back to Earth |
C.Spirit will stop operating totally in the future |
D.Spirit will cause damage to Mars |
A.NASA makes the last effort to contact Spirit. |
B.Spirit has made many important discoveries on Mars. |
C.How Spirit got stuck and couldn’t move on Mars. |
D.Why NASA tried many ways to contact Spirit. |