For the first time in five decades, Taiwan buys water from the mainland of China to help soothe(缓解) a severe drought.

Sat May 4,5:21 a.m. ET

By WILLIAM IDE, Associated Press Writer

TAIPEI, Taiwan―Facing its worst drought in decades, Taiwan is buying water from the mainland of China   21  since the two rivals split amid civil war 54 years ago.

A Taiwanese ship on Sunday was expected   22  2,300 metric tons (2,530 short tons) of water back from the mainland of China to Taiwan’s outlying island of Matsu, just off China’s southeastern coast.

Buying water from the mainland of China has been an issue of serious debate in Taiwan because the government does not want to become too   23  its communist neighbor, which has repeatedly said to   24  Taiwan.

But the serious drought has left Taiwan   25  ,and Taiwan’s top China policy―maker, Tsai Ingwen, said on Saturday that this weekend’s water purchase would be a “trial run,” the semiofficial Central News Agency   26  .

“  27  it will become a model for easing needs in drought―stricken Taiwan depends on the needs of other areas,” Tsai, chairwoman of the Mainland Affairs Council, was quoted as saying.

There are no direct   28  air links between the mainland of China and Taiwan’s main island, separated by   29  160―kilometer―wide  Taiwan Strait. But last year, Taiwan opened shipping links between the mainland of China and the outlying Taiwanese islands of Kinmen and Matsu―an experiment   30  links between the mainland of China of Taiwan’s main island.

For the first time in five decades, Taiwan buys water from the mainland of China to help soothe(缓解) a severe drought.

Sat May 4,5:21 a.m. ET

By WILLIAM IDE, Associated Press Writer

TAIPEI, Taiwan—Facing its worst drought in decades, Taiwan is buying water from the mainland of China   1  since the two rivals split amid civil war 54 years ago.

A Taiwanese ship on Sunday was expected   2  2,300 metric tons (2,530 short tons) of water back from the mainland of China to Taiwan’s outlying island of Matsu, just off China’s southeastern coast.

Buying water from the mainland of China has been an issue of serious debate in Taiwan because the government does not want to become too   3  its communist neighbor, which has repeatedly said to   4  Taiwan.

But the serious drought has left Taiwan   5  ,and Taiwan’s top China policy—maker, Tsai Ingwen, said on Saturday that this weekend’s water purchase would be a “trial run,” the semiofficial Central News Agency   6  .

“  7  it will become a model for easing needs in drought—stricken Taiwan depends on the needs of other areas,” Tsai, chairwoman of the Mainland Affairs Council, was quoted as saying.

There are no direct   8  air links between the mainland of China and Taiwan’s main island, separated by   9  160—kilometer—wide YC Taiwan Strait. But last year, Taiwan opened shipping links between the mainland of China and the outlying Taiwanese islands of Kinmen and Matsu—an experiment   10  links between the mainland of China of Taiwan’s main island.

1.       A．the first time B．for the first time C．first time D．at first

2.       A．fetching       B．to bring       C．to take        D．borrowing

3.       A．dependent of   B．independent of C．dependent on   D．relied on

4.       A．turn over      B．hand over      C．take over      D．give over

5.       A．with few other choices           B．for the few other choices

C．with few choices                 D．for several choices

6.       A．was said       B．was believed   C．announces      D．reported

7.       A．That           B．Whether or not C．If             D．Where

8.       A．shipping or    B．shipping of    C．shipped and    D．shipping

9.       A．a              B．the            C．an             D．/

10.    A．which could lead                 B．that could lead to  

C．that resulted from               D．which could lie in