Rivers are one of our most important natural resources (自然资源). Many of the world's great cities
are located on rivers, and almost every country has at least one river flowing through it that plays an
important part in the lives of its people.
     Since the beginning of history, people have used rivers for transportation. The longest one in the
United States is the Mississipi. The lifeline of Egypt is Nile. To the people of India, the Ganges is great,
but it is also important for transportation; ships can travel along it for a thousand miles. Other great rivers
are the Congo in Africa and the Mekong in Southeast Asia. The greatest of all for navigation (航海),
however, is the Amazon in Brazil (巴西). It is so wide and so deep that large ships can go about two
thousand miles upon it.
     Besides transportation, rivers give food to eat, water to drink, water for crops, and chances for fun
and recreation for the people who live along their banks. In order to increase the supply of water for
crops, engineers sometimes build a dam (大坝) across a river and let a lake form behind the dam. Then
people can use the water not only to irrigate (灌溉) their fields but also to make electricity for their homes
and industries. However, large cities and industries that are located upon rivers often make problems. As
the cities grow in size and industries increase in number, the water in the rivers becomes polluted
with chemicals and other materials. {people are learning the importance, however, of doing more to keep
their rivers clean if they want to enjoy the benefits (利益) of this natural resource.
1. Which of the following is WRONG according to the passage?
A. The Mile is in India.    
B. Almost every country has at least one important river.
C. Many cities are located on rivers.
D. Rivers play an important part in the lives of people.
2. From a dam, people can use the water for                        .           
A. keeping the rivers clean        
B. only making electricity
C. washing clothes              
D. irrigating and making electricity
3. The water in the river is polluted because of                          .          
A. people's drinking water too much    
B. people's swimming in the river too much
C. chemicals and other materials      
D. people's building a dam across a river
4. The best title of the passage is                        .        
A. Rivers in Cities              
B. The Importance of Rivers  
C. Transportation              
D. Natural Resources

     Rivers are one of our most important natural resources (自然资源). Many of the world's great cities
are located on rivers, and almost every country has at least one river flowing through. That plays an
important part in the lives of its people.
     Since the beginning of history, people have used rivers for transportation. The longest one in the
United States is the Mississippi. The lifeline of Egypt is Nile. To the people of India, the Ganges is great,
but it is also important for transportation; ships can travel along it for a thousand miles. Other great rivers
are the Congo in Africa and the Mekong in Southeast Asia. The greatest of all for navigation (航海),
however, is the Amazon in Brazil. It is so wide and so deep that large ships can go about two thousand
miles upon it. 　　
     Besides transportation, rivers give food to eat, water to drink, water for crops, and chances for fun
and recreation for the people who live along their banks. In order to increase the supply of water for crops,
engineers sometimes build a dam (大坝) across a river and let a lake form behind the dam. Then people
can use the water not only to irrigate (灌溉) their fields but also to make electricity for their homes and
industries. However, large cities and industries that are located upon rivers often make problems. As the
cities grow in size and industries increase in number, the water in the rivers becomes polluted with
chemicals and other materials. People are learning the importance, however, of doing more to keep their
rivers clean if they want to enjoy the benefits (利益) of this natural resource.

1. The greatest river for navigation is           .

A. the Amazon
B. the Nile
C. the Mekong
D. the Mississippi

2. Which of the following is WRONG according to the passage?

A. The Nile is in India.
B. Almost every country has at least one important river.
C. Many cities are located on rivers.
D. Rivers play an important part in the lives of people.

3. From a dam, people can use the water for            .

A. keeping the rivers clean
B. only making electricity
C. washing clothes
D. irrigating and making electricity

4. The water in the river is polluted because of            .  

A. people's drinking water too much
B. people's swimming in the river too much
C. chemicals and other materials
D. people's building a dam across a river

5. The best title of the passage is ______.

A. Rivers in Cities
B. The Importance of Rivers
C. Transportation
D. Natural Resources

   The world is not only hungry, but it is also thirsty for water. This may seem strange to you, since nearly
70% of the earth's surface (表面) is covered with water. But about 97% of that is sea water, or salt water.
Man can only use the other 3% the fresh water from rivers, lakes, underground, and other sources (源泉).
And we can not even use all of that. Even worse, some of it has been made dirty.
    However, as things stand today, this fresh water is still enough for us. But our need for water is becoming
larger and larger quickly-almost day by day. We should take steps to do with this problem now and in this
way we can get away from a serious world-wide water shortage (缺乏) later on.
    We all have to learn how to stop wasting (浪费) our valuable water. One of the first steps is to develop
(开发) ways of reusing it. Today in most large cities, water is used only once and then sent out into a sewer
system(下水道). From there it returns to sea or runs into underground places. But even if every large city
reused its water, we still would not have enough. All we'd have to do to make use of sea water in the world
is to remove the salt. If we take these we will be in no danger of drying up.

1. The world is thirsty for water because ___.

A. man has not got enough food to eat
B. we haven't got enough fresh water
C. only 70% of the earth's surface is water
D. more water is sent into sewer system

2. The underlined word "valuable" means ___ and ___.

A. much, salty
B. fresh, enough
C. dear, useful
D. clean, helpful

3. What should we do if we want to have enough fresh water? ___.

A. Make full use of the sea water
B. Carry salt water into lakes or rivers
C. Try to save the fresh water as much as possible
D. Do our best to use the water again

4. The best but the most difficult way to solve (解决) the water problem of the world is to ___.

A. remove the salt from sea water
B. make the water in cities clean
C. take the water from underground
D. make the need for water smaller

5. What is the best title for this passage? ___.

A. The Importance of the Water
B. The World's Water Problem
C. The Thirsty World
D. Fresh Water and Sea Water