Question

【题目】Complete the following passage with the words in the box. Each can only be used once（将下列单词填入空格。每空格限填一词，每词只能填一次）

A. enough B. serious C. resource D. centuries E. precious

From deserts to beaches to playgrounds, sand is found almost everywhere. It is a common sight. But you might not know that it is very 【1】.

Sand is widely used in glass-making and road-building. It is the second most-used 【2】 after water in the world, the BBC reported. However, the UN said that sand is not limitless and that we might be running out of it.

Sand is made up of very small pieces of rock, soil and minerals. It can take thousands of 【3】 to form, but now we are using sand too quickly. According to the BBC, we use about fifteen billion tons of sand every year to build houses, roads etc. That is 【4】to build a 20-meter-high by 20-meter-wide wall around the equator（赤道）every year. Can you believe it?

A. disappear B. probably C. continue D. sometimes E. seldom

People 【5】 put sand into the sea to make new islands. Singapore, for example, is now 20 percent bigger than it was in 1965. Palm islands are three large man-made islands in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. They took 94 million cubic meters of sand to build.

If people 【6】using this much sand, it will run out in many places. For example, Vietnam may run out of construction sand by 2020, Live Science noted.

Since people need so much sand, they are trying to mine（开采）more of it. But this is bad for the environment. Mining sand may cause beaches to 【7】and more floods to happen in places close to the sea. Also, this will 【8】affect the habitats（栖息地）of many plants and animals.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】E

【2】C

【3】D

【4】A

【5】D

【6】C

【7】A

【8】B

【解析】

这篇短文主要讲述了沙子在我们生活中是非常重要的，有可能沙子会用光。

【1】句意：这是常见的景象。但你可能不知道它很珍贵。

此处缺的是形容词。所给选项中可以排除C和D，根据上下文以及剩余选项，E：precious 珍贵的。故选E。

【2】句意：据英国广播公司报道，它是世界上仅次于水的第二大资源。

此处缺的是名词。句意是“沙子是世界上使用率仅次于水的资源。”， resources 符合题意，意为“资源”。故选C。

【3】句意：它可能需要数千个世纪才能形成，但现在我们用沙子太快了。

此处缺的是名词。根据thousands of 表示“数千的，成千上万的”后加名词复数，该句意为“沙子花费数千个世纪才能形成”。所以centuries “世纪”，根据题意，故选D。

【4】句意：这就足够每年在赤道周围建造一堵20米高20米宽的墙了。

enough表示足够的。根据句意，故选A。

【5】句意：人们有时把沙子放进海里造新的岛屿。

但从后文可从后文新加坡面积变大得出可知用sometimes有时。故选D。

【6】句意：如果人们继续使用这么多沙子，很多地方都会用光。

continue doing sth.表示继续做某事；continue意思是“继续”，根据句意，故选C。

【7】句意：采砂可能导致海滩消失，在靠近大海的地方会发生更多的洪水。

disappear动词， “消失”。根据句意，故选A。

【8】句意：此外，这可能会影响许多动植物的栖息地。

根据句意，采砂也可能影响许多动植物的栖息地。probably可能。根据句意，故选B。