Fatimah Bamun dropped out of Balizenda Primary School in the first grade, when her father refused to buy her pencils and paper. Only after her teachers said to him that his daughter showed unusual promise(有希望) did he change his mind. Today, Fatimah, 14, tall and slender, studies math in a dirt-floored fourth-grade classroom.
Whether she will reach the fifth grade is another matter. Fatimah is facing the realities of a school with no toilet, no water, no hope of privacy (隐私) other than the shadow of a bush, and no girlfriends with whom to share feelings. Fatimah is the only girl of the 23 students in her class. In fact, in a school of 178 students, she is one of the only three girls who have made it past the third grade.
“I have no friend in the class,” she said. “Most of my friends have dropped out to get married. So during the break, I just sit in the classroom and read.”
Her father, however, now says he is fully behind her. “The people from the government are all the time telling us to send our daughters to school, and I am listening to these people,” he said.
But in many cases, parents don’t listen. Parents think that if the girls stay home, they can help with the harvesting, fetch the water and collect the firewood. So they take them out of school.
In a region where poverty, tradition and ignorance make about 24 million girls not even have an elementary school education. There are many other barriers (障碍) that prevent girls going to school, such as the lack of school toilets and water.
The issue is not only equality. The World Bank thinks that if women in sub-Saharan Africa had equal education, land and other wealth, the region’s economy could improve greatly. There is a connection between growth in Africa and sex equality. It is of great importance but still ignored by so many people.
【小题1】The author’s purpose in writing the passage is to _______.

The world is not only hungry, but it is also thirsty for water．This may seem strange to you，since nearly 70 percent of the earth's surface is covered with water．But about 97 percent of this huge amount is sea water, or salt water．Man can only drink and use the other 3 percent-the fresh water from rivers，lakes，underground，and other sources．And we cannot even use all of that，because some of it is in the form of icebergs and glacier．Even worse，some of it has been polluted．

However，as things stand today, this small amount of fresh water is still enough for us．But our need for water is increasing rapidly-almost day by day．Only if we take steps to deal with this problem now can we avoid a severe worldwide water shortage later on．

We all have to learn how to stop wasting our valuable water．One of the first steps is to develop ways of reusing it．

Today in most large cities，water is used only once and then sent out into a sewer system．From there it returns to the sea or runs into underground storage tanks．But it is possible to pipe used water to a purifying plant．There it can be treated with chemicals so that it can be used again，just as if it were fresh from a spring．

But even if every large city purified and reused its water，we still would not have enough．All we'd have to do make use of the vast reserves of sea water in the world is to remove the salt．

If we take these steps we'll be in no danger of drying up．

56．The world is thirsty for water because we can only use      percent of the water covering the surface of the earth．

A．3    B．more than 3    C．less than 3    D．97

57．Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?

A．As things remain unchanging，this small amount of fresh water is still enough for us．

B．Our need for water is becoming larger and larger．

C．There will be no water shortage in the future．

D．We should take steps to deal with the water shortage problem．

58．To reuse water, we should              ．

A．treat it with chemicals              B．use it only once

C．send it out into a sewer system       D．make it flow into underground tanks

59．In order to have enough water．we should also make use of          ．

A．icebergs and glaciers    B．sea water

C．rivers and lakes        D．underground water

Did you ever look up at the moon and think you saw a man’s face there? When the moon is round and full, the shadows(影子) of the moon mountains and the lines of the moon valleys sometimes seem to show a giant nose and mouth and eyes. At least, some people think so.
　　If there were a man on the moon—instead of mountains and valleys that just look like the face of a man—what would he be like?
　　He would not be like anyone you know. He would not be like anyone anybody knows.
　　If the man on the moon were bothered by too much heat or cold the way Earth people are, he could not stay on the moon.
　　The moon becomes very, very hot. It becomes as hot as boiling water. And the moon becomes very, very cold. It becomes colder than ice.
　　Whatever part of the moon the sun shines on is hot and bright. The rest of the moon is cold and dark.
　　If the man on the moon had to breathe to stay alive, he couldn’t live on the moon because there’s no air there. He’d have to carry an oxygen tank, as astronauts do. There’s no food on the moon, either. Nothing grows—not even weeds（grass）.
　　If the man on the moon liked to climb mountains, he would be very happy. There are many high places there, such as the raised land around the holes, or craters(火山口), of the moon. Some of these rims are as tall as Earth’s highest mountains.
　　But if the man on the moon liked to swim, he would be unhappy. There is no water on the moon—just dust and rock.
　　When you think of what it’s like on the moon, you may wonder why it interests our scientists. One reason is that the moon is Earth’s nearest neighbor—it is the easiest place in space to get to.
　　Going back and forth between the moon and Earth, astronauts will get a lot of practice in space travel. Things learned on moon trips will be of great help to astronauts who later take long, long trips to some of the planets.
　　Scientists are also interested in the moon because it has no air. The air that surrounds Earth cuts down the view of the scientists who look at the stars through telescopes. A telescope on the moon would give them a clearer, closer view of the stars.（words: 411）
【小题1】What is the reason why our scientists are interested in the moon.?

In the 19^th century, Americans from the eastern states moved out west to settle in the rich new lands along the Pacific Coast. The most difficult part of their trip was crossing “the Great American Desert” in the western part of the United States by horse and wagon.
The western desert can be very dangerous. There is little water and there are few trees. But the desert also has scenery of great beauty. Tall towers of red and yellow stone rise sharply from the flat, sandy valley floor. The scene has been photographed many times and appears in movies and on TV.
In Arizona, man-made dams across the Colorado River have made two large lakes in the middle of the dry desert country. At Lake Powell, the red stone arch of Rainbow Bridge rises high above the blue lake.
There are few roads. Many areas of Lake Powell’s shore can only be reached by boat or on foot. But hikers in this empty desert land sometimes find very old native American pictures, painted on the rocks.
In Death Valley, California, the summer temperature rises to 130°F—165°F. There is less than inches of rain each year. Death Valley is the lowest place in America---925 metres below sea level. In the 1800s, many travelers died when they tried to cross this waterless valley in the terrible heat.
Although the desert is dry and seems empty, there is plenty of life if you look closely. Snakes and rats have learned how to live in the desert heat. They live underground and come out at night, when it is cool. Plants such as cacti need very little water. When it does rain in the desert (sometimes only once or twice a year), plants grow quickly, and flowers open in a single day. For a short time, the desert is covered with brilliant (very bright) colours.
【小题1】In the 19^th century, Americans moved from east to west because they            .

In the US and Britain, the slogan around colleges was “Save water. Shower with a friend.” Now, Wuhan University has come up with another system for the campus bathhouse. It charges students for the amount of time in a shower. Before entering the bathhouse, students pay for the amount of time they want in the shower with cash or their student ID card. The clock starts ticking the minute the tape is turned on. It pauses when a button is pressed for soap. An integrated circuit (IC) card reader at each tap shows the time. No money, no water. The benefits of the new system can be seen with the old system, which charged 1 Yuan for each person regardless of time in the shower. The university used about 320 tons of water daily under the old system, but only 160 tons now.
Many students use the new system but opinions on it are divided. Some students say it is bad because bathing had become a sort of race. Many people using it for the first time are not sure how long they need to shower. Some might be embarrassed if their time is up and they’re still covered in soap. They have to ask the bathhouse worker to help them buy extra time.
“It’s a flaw in the system that you can not buy extra time on the ID card,” said Ren, a freshman in Wuhan University. The university is also considering some students’ suggestions that they be allowed to pay after they’ve finished the shower. Not surprisingly, some are complaining about losing the hour shower. But many students say the move helps them develop a water-saving sense.
Without the time limits, most students tended to shower for 30 to an hour in the bathhouse.
Some even used the hot water to wash their clothes. “In my experience, 10—20 minutes is enough,” said Dai Zhihua, a third-year student who usually takes 8 minutes.
A similar system has been installed in other universities. Shanghai Normal University introduced it at its Fengxiang Campus in September. The bathing fee there is 0.2 Yuan per minute. One male student responded by setting a record with a two-minute shower.
【小题1】According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?