Australians have been warned they face a life or death decision over their water — drink recycled sewage (污水) or die.
With the drought (干旱) continuing, the country is set to be forced to use purified (净化的) waste water for drinking, even though there is great opposition to the measure.
Queensland has become the first state to introduce the policy after a warning from its premier.
“I think in the end, because of the drought, all of Australia is going to end up drinking recycled purified water,” said Peter Beattie.
“These are difficult decisions, but you either drink water or you die. There’s no choice. It’s liquid gold; it’s a matter of life and death.”
Beattie said Australia’s second largest state would become the first to use recycled water for drinking.
Water is recycled in Britain and parts of northern Europe along with the US and Israel.
But Australians have never liked the idea.
To try to change the way Australians think, Prime Minister John Howard and Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull have adhered to Queensland’s move.
“I am very strongly for recycling and Mr. Beattie is right and I agree with him completely,” Howard said.
“Australian cities, all now facing water shortages because of the worst drought on record, must start to use recycled water.” added Turnbull, “All of our big cities have to widen the range of water sources to include sources which are not dependent on rainfall.”
【小题1】What is the text mainly about?

A.Australians face the choice of life and death.
B.Premier Beattie is worried about his people’s health.
C.We should avoid drinking recycled water to keep healthy.
D.Continuing drought forces Australians to drink recycled sewage.
【小题2】What can we learn from the last paragraph?
A.Australians have never like drinking purified waste water.
B.Australians should develop more water sources to live through the hard time.
C.Australians can’t depend upon rainwater, which is not suitable for drinking.
D.Australian government has no ability to solve the problem of water shortage.
【小题3】The underlined phrase “adhered to” in Paragraph 9 probably means ______.
A.dislikedB.gone againstC.supportedD.doubted
【小题4】It can be inferred from what Premier Peter Beattie said that ______.
A.he gives orders to drink purified waste water
B.It is painful for him to see people drink recycled sewage
C.If the decision is made, people won’t survive the drought
D.It’s totally up to you to either make a life or death decision

A 34-year-old mother has spoken of how she woke up thinking she was 15 years old and living in 1992.

Naomi Jacobs, from Manchester, was convinced she was still a teenager. In her mind, John Major was Prime Minister and George Bush Sr. was running the White House. She also showed how she screamed when a boy appeared and called her “Mum”. Mobile phones and e-mails were puzzling and Google, Facebook and YouTube sounded like made-up words, she said.

Ms. Jacobs, who had no memory of the years, was told by doctors that she had Transient Global Amnesia (TGA). She has now written a book about the experience which happened in 2008.

“I fell asleep in 1992 as a brave, very confident know-it-all-15-year-old, and woke up as a 32-year-old single mum living in a rented house,” Ms. Jacobs said. “The last thing I remember was falling asleep in my bed, dreaming about a boy in my class. When I woke up, I looked in the mirror and had the fright of my life when I saw an old woman with wrinkles staring back at me. Then a little boy appeared and started calling me Mum. That’s when I started to scream. I didn’t know who he was. I didn’t think he was much younger than I was, and I certainly didn’t remember giving birth to him. I began sobbing uncontrollably. I just wanted my mum. I couldn’t get my head around going to bed one night and waking up in a different century.”

TGA is a rare type of amnesia which can occur suddenly, affecting around three people per 100,000 each year. Fortunately, permanent memory loss is rare. Ms. Jacobs’ memory started to return after eight weeks.

Some people who often suffer from migraines (偏头痛) also appear to be more likely to have TGA. The cause of TGA is unknown. Some think that it may be caused by a temporary cut of blood flow to parts of the brain involved in memory.

1. When a little boy came to call her “Mum”, Naomi Jacobs was _____.

A. excited            B. frightened       C. worried           D. embarrassed

2.What was the last thing Naomi Jacobs could remember?

A. She was a brave and confident girl.

B. She met an old woman with wrinkles.

C. George Bush Sr. was elected President.

D. She fell asleep dreaming of a boy in her class.

3.According to the text, TGA _____.

A. is quite common

B. is caused by brain injuries

C. results in permanent memory loss

D. causes people to lose part of their memory

4.What’s the main idea of the text?

A. Naomi Jacobs has a poor memory.

B. Naomi Jacobs gets an amazing career after TGA.

C. Naomi Jacobs wakes up with the memory of her youth.

D. Naomi Jacobs succeeds in overcoming the disease.

5.According to the passage, we know _______.

A. Ms. Jacobs’ memory returned to normal now

B. Ms. Jacobs often doesn’t remember things

C. Ms. Jacobs has not got married yet

D. Ms. Jacobs is very young now in deed

 

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