E
|
80．
The cost of transporting water is determined largely by how far it has to be carried and how high it has to be lifted. Growing cities and towns may have to go hundreds of kilometers to find the water needed to satisfy their increasing thirst. California cities have long imported water from hundreds of kilometers away. And China is constructing three canals that are 1,156 kilometers, 1,267 kilometers, and 260 kilometers long to transfer water from the Yangtze River to Beijing and other rapidly growing areas in the northern provinces.
81．
Pumping water out of the ground or over land to higher elevations is energy-intensive. Pumping 480 cubic meters of water a height of 100 meters requires some 200 kilowatt-hours of electricity. At a price of 10¢ per kilowatt-hour, the cost is $20-not including the cost of the pump, the well, and the piping. One hundred meters is not an unusual lift for wells tapping falling supplies of groundwater. In Beijing and other areas in northern China, for instance, lifts of 1,000 meters are sometimes required.
82．
In most places water is not purchased or exchanged in a market. But formal water markets are developing in the western United States, Australia, and Chile. Where these water markets do exist, they provide examples of how high the scarcity value of the water-that is, the amount that other potential users would be willing to pay for it-can be. Water prices in Australia’s markets peaked at near 75¢ per cubic meter in December 2006, climbing 20-fold in a year in part due to prolonged drought. In the U.S. West, water prices typically range between 3 cents and 10 cents per cubic meter.
83．
In India, water scarcity has prompted some farmers to profit by selling their water instead of farming. The water they formerly used to irrigate their crops is instead pumped from their wells and trucked to nearby cities. The farmers are harvesting water rather than food and at the same time promoting a rapid drop in underground water tables.
84．
Another factor affecting how much people pay for water is the amount it is subsidized (补助). Water subsidies can be very large. For instance, water revenues in the city of Delhi are less than 20 percent of what it spends each year to provide water. On average worldwide, nearly 40 percent of municipal suppliers do not charge enough for water to meet their basic operation and maintenance costs.
第Ⅱ卷(共45分)
Section A
Directions: For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Fill in each bank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.
As Christmas drew near, Ursula was faced with just that problem. She had come to live in an American home and learn English. 50 , she would mind the children and do anything she was asked.
One of her tasks was to keep track of 51 Christmas presents．Ursula did this faithfully, but she became increasingly worried．What could she buy for her 52 with the little money she had that would compare with the gifts she was recording daily? 53 ,even without any of the gifts , her employer seems to have everything．
Ursula _ 54 _ long and hard．On Christmas Eve, she went to a store. She moved slowly through crowds of shoppers, 55 things in her mind．Finally she bought a baby dress．She immediately called 56 . “Excuse me, please, can you help me find a poor family with a baby?” “A poor family?” said the 57 driver. “Yes, a very poor family.” Ursula told the man of what she was trying to do. He 58 in silence, and then said, “I know a family who 59 just about everything.”
|
Early the next day, Ursula 61 everyone for the presents she received. Then, she began to 62 why there seemed to be none from her. She told about what she did the night before. When she finished, there was a long 63 . “You see,” she added, “I try to do a kindness in your 64 . And this is my Christmas present to you.”
50．A．In return B．As a result C．By the way D．In a sense
51．A．delivering B．mailing C．arriving D．sending
52．A．American family B．own family C．friends D．classmates
53．A．Otherwise B．Therefore C．Besides D．However
54．A．talked B．worked C．waited D．thought
55．A．selecting B．matching C．remembering D．organizing
56．A．a shop B．a taxi C．her employer D．her parents
57．A．delighted B．anxious C．surprised D．respectful
58．A．noticed B．listened C．got out D．carried on
59．A．buys B．has C．uses D．needs
60．A．garage B．building C．station D．yard
61．A．thanked B．encouraged C．praised D．admired
62．A．settle B．repeat C．argue D．explain
63．A．delay B．silence C．time D．break
64．A．case B．opinion C．memory D．name
Section B
Directions: Read the following four passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.
A
How Room Designs Affect Our Work and Feelings
Architects have long had the feeling that the places we live in can affect our thoughts, feelings and behaviors. But now scientists are giving this feeling an empirical(经验的，实证的) basis. They are discovering how to design spaces that promote creativity, keep people focused and lead to relaxation.
Researches show that aspects of the physical environment can influence creativity. In 2007, Joan Meyers-Levy at the University of Minnesota, reported that the height of a room’s ceiling affects how people think. Her research indicates that higher ceilings encourage people to think more freely, which may lead them to make more abstract connections. Low ceilings, on the other hand, may inspire a more detailed outlook.
In additions to ceiling height, the view afforded by a building may influence an occupant’s ability to concentrate. Nancy Wells and her colleagues at Cornell University found in their study that kids who experienced the greatest increase in greenness as a result of a family move made the most gains on a standard test of attention.
Using nature to improve focus of attention ought to pay off academically, and it seems to, according to a study led by C. Kenneth Tanner, head of the School Design & Planning Laboratory at the University of Georgia. Tanner and his team found that students in classrooms with unblocked views of at least 50 feet outside the window had higher scores on tests of vocabulary, language arts and maths than did students whose classrooms primarily overlooked roads and parking lots.
Recent study on room lighting design suggests than dim(暗淡的) light helps people to loosen up. If that is true generally, keeping the light low during dinner or at parties could increase relaxation. Researchers of Harvard Medical School also discovered that furniture with rounded edges could help visitors relax.
So far scientists have focused mainly on public buildings. “We have a very limited number of studies, so we’re almost looking at the problem through a straw(吸管),” architect David Allison says. “How do you take answers to very specific questions and make broad, generalized use of them? That’s what we’re all struggling with.”
65．What does Joan Meyers-Levy focus on in her research?
A．Light. B．Ceilings. C．Windows. D．Furniture.
66．The passage tells us that ______.
A．the shape of furniture may affect people’s feelings
B．lower ceilings may help improve students’ creativity
C．children in a dim classroom may improve their grades
D．students in rooms with unblocked views may feel relaxed
67．The underlined sentence in the last paragraph probably means that ______.
A．the problem is not approached step by step
B．the researches so far have faults in themselves
C．the problem is too difficult for researchers to detect
D．research in this area is not enough to make generalized patterns
40．The student asked his teacher to explain it was so?
A．which B．that C．what D．how
Section B
Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.
|
Each year around 800 people – most of them children – need treatment in hospital for injuries caused by fireworks. A third of the accidents take place at back garden firework parties and about a third of the 41 are to children under the age of 13. The cost of medical treatment after firework accidents can be as much as ￡20 million a year.
Martin Pearcey, 11, is one of the lucky ones: he could have been 42 in one eye.
Like hundreds of others on November 5 (Guy Fawkes’s Night), Martin went to his 43 park to see the fireworks display. He was with his brothers, John and Dave.
“A gang of kids had taken the 44 material out of several fireworks and had put it in a pile on the ground,” remembers John.
“When they lit it, it went off and 45 Martin in his eye.”
John 46 Martin to their grandmother’s house nearby, where the eye was immediately bathed in cold water. He was then taken to hospital, where a sterilized (消毒的) patch was put over it.
“At first he couldn’t see a thing because the eye was so swollen,” says Martin’s elder sister, pat. “It was weeks before it would open 47 again.”
His dad agrees. “He was lucky not to lose the sight of that eye.”
“Little kids shouldn’t be able to get hold of fireworks,” adds Pat. “I think organized 48 are much safer.”
And young Martin now says, “I don’t mind fireworks when grown – ups are 49 , but I don’t like it when little kids have them. I think fireworks are a bit stupid, really.”