One afternoon in January in 1998, Susan Sharp, 43, and her 8-year-old son David, were walking across an icy square, when Susan’s cane(手杖) slipped on the ice. Her face   36  first into the mud. David   37  her mother’s side, “Are you all right, Mom”  38 , Susan pulled herself up, “I’m okay, Honey,” she said.
Susan was falling more   39  since she had trouble walking. Every inch of ice was a   40  danger for her. “I wish I could do something,” the boy thought. David, too, was having   41  of his own. The boy had a speech problem, so at school he talked   42 .
　　One day, David’s teacher announced a   43  homework. "Each of you is going to come up with an   44 ," she said. This was for "INVENT AMERICA", a national competition to encourage creativity in children.
　　An idea   45  David one evening. If only his mother’s cane didn’t slip on the ice. “What if I   46  your cane to a nail coming out of the bottom” he asked his mother.
　　“  47  the sharp end would scratch(划破) floors,” Susan said.
　　“No, Mom, I   48  make it like a ball-point pen. You take your hand off the button and the   49  returns back up.” Hours later the cane was finished. David and his father   50  as Susan used it to walk 50 feet about the   51 . Happily Susan cried out, “It   52  !”
　　In July 1999, David was  53  national winner for the "INVENT AMERICA". David began to make public appearance. Thus he was forced to communicate  54 .Today, David is nearly free of his speech problem, and his   55  is becoming well accepted.

Humanity uses a little less than half the water available worldwide. Yet occurrences of shortages and droughts (干旱) are causing famine and distress in some areas, and industrial and agricultural by-products are polluting water supplies. Since the world's population is expected to double in the next 50 years, many experts think we are on the edge of a widespread water crisis.

　 But that doesn't have to be the outcome. Water shortages do not have to trouble the world---if we start valuing water more than we did in the past. Just as we began to appreciate petroleum more after the 1970s oil crises, today we must start looking at water from a fresh economic perspective. We can no longer afford to consider water a virtually free resource of which we can use as much as we like in any way we want.

　 Instead, for all uses except the domestic demand of the poor, governments should price water to reflect its actual value. This means charging a fee for the water itself as well as for the supply costs.

　 Governments should also protect this resource by providing water in more economically and environmentally sound (健康的) ways. For example, often the cheapest way to provide irrigation water in the dry tropics is through small-scale projects, such as gathering rainfall in depressions (凹地) and pumping it to nearby cropland.

　 No matter what steps governments take to provide water more efficiently, they must change their institutional and legal approaches to water use. Rather than spread control among hundreds or even thousands of local, regional, and national agencies that watch various aspects of water use, countries should set up central authorities to coordinate (调整) water policy.

1.What is the real cause of the potentials water crisis.

　　A. Only half of the world's water can be used.

　　B. The world population is increasing faster and faster.

　　C. Half of the world's water resources have been seriously polluted.

　　D. Humanity has not placed enough value on water resources.

2.As is indicated in the passage, the water problem _________ .

A. is already serious in certain parts of the world.

B. has been exaggerated by some experts in the field

　　C. poses a challenge to the technology of building reservoirs(水库)

　　D. is underestimated by government organizations at different levels

3. According to the author, the water price should _______ .

　　A. be reduced to the minimum        B. stimulate domestic demand

　　C. go with its real value             D. take into account the occurrences of droughts

4.In order to raise the efficiency of the water supply, measures should be taken to ______ .

　　A. guarantee full protection of the environment

　　B. centralize the management of water resources

　　C. increase the sense of responsibility of agencies at all levels

D. encourage local and regional water resources