America is in no immediate danger of "running out of water". People in the West have been aware that water is a precious commodity and must be conserved. In the damp East, an excess of water led to complacency until two factors created concern over our water supply. First, the periods of drought from the 1961 to 1966 in the Northeast affected crop production and used up the surface and ground water supplies. Second, attention was called to rapid increases in the rates of pollution of these waters resulting from increased urban and industrial growth. As a result, there is an increasing awareness of the need for conserving the quantity and quality of our nation's water supplies.

Water is a renewable resource, but it is not exhaustible. When used for municipal, industrial, or agricultural purposes, it is not destroyed, but generally finds its way back into our water supply. This used water now carries some waste materials. These dirty waters are often dumped into large bodies of water or are disposed of on land. In the latter instance, evaporation concentrates some of the wastes on the soil surface. On the other hand, water moving through the soil will eventually carry some of the wastes down into the ground water supplies, Eventually, all water evaporates and later returns to the earth as rain or snow in a relatively purer state.

Through this never-ending cycle, there is just as much water in this country now as there ever was. The amount, however, does not increase. Our rapid population growth and our agricultural and industrial expansion have caused our water needs to soar. By withdrawing water from streams too quickly, we have in some instances upset the balance of nature's built-in renewal processes for conserving water. As a result, some of our streams and lakes have become "wet deserts." There is still plenty of water in them, but its water is so polluted that it supports almost no life at all.

1.The passage is mainly about_____.

A. water resources of the United States

B. the renewal processes of water in mature

C. the importance of water conservation

D.water pollution in America

2. The word "drought" in the sentence "First, the periods of drought---ground water supplies." Most probably means_____.

A. catastrophe of too much rain

B. danger of running out of water

C. calamity dry weather

D. damage caused by typhoon

3. Water is relatively purer in_____.

A. fast moving streams and rivers

B. underground water supplies

C. mountainous areas

D. rain and snow

4. When the author says that lakes have become "wet deserts",._____

A. he is being angry

B. he is being optimistic

C. he is being sad

D. he is being humorous

5. It is implied in the passage that______

A. water can be polluted by deserts

B. there are many water conservation programs in America

C. water keeps evaporating from the earth's surface

D. water is not polluted by waster materials

[难点]

1.run out of 用完，耗尽

2.commodity 商品，货物

3.complacency 自满，满足

4.drought 长期干旱，旱灾

5.result from 是---的结果，由于----而发生

6.inexhaustible 用不完的，无穷尽的

7.municipal 市政的，市办的

8.dispose of 处理，丢掉，清除

9.evaporation 蒸发

10.withdraw 提取，取回

11.deposit 放下，放置

[答案]

1.C

考点：这是一道典型的文章主旨题。

解析：文章第一段的最后一句话是文章的中心思想，指出人们越来越意识到保护水的量和质的必要性。第二、三段主要讨论节约用水和水污染 的危害。第二段指出，水虽然百一种可再生的资源，但并不是用之不竭;第三段说，人口的急剧增加，工农业的快速发展使得用水需求高涨并造成严重的水污染。综上所述，我们可以看出，文章主要讨论保护水资源的重要性。选项A、B、D都是以偏概全。

2.C

考点：这是一道理解题。

解析：题目要求猜测"drought"一词的含义，我们可以通过这个词的上下文来理解它的意思。文章第一段第四句说，1961至1966年东北部地区的drought影响了农作物的生产，使地表水和地下水***枯竭。据此我们可以推断出这个词的含义是旱灾。

3.D

考点：这是一道细节题。

解析：答案在文章第二段的最一句："Eventually, all water evaporates and later returns to the earth as rain or snow in a relatively purer state."(最终所有的水蒸发，然后以更加纯净的形式降雨或降雪回到地球。)

4.D

考点：此题考察学生对作者态度的理解。

解析：文章第三段最后一句很好地解释了"wet desert"的含义，即：一些河流、湖泊中有大量的水，但污染非常严重，几乎所有的生物都不能使用。根据这个解释，我们可以理解作者说这番话的心情，作者面对这样一种情况只能感到悲哀，而不是愤怒，因为愤怒无济于事，更不是感到乐观或幽默。

5.C

考点：此题考察学生的判断能力。

#p#分页标题#e#

解析：根据文章第二段的最后一句："Eventually, all water evaporates and later returns to the earth as rain or snow in a relatively purer state."，我们可以推断出水不停地从地球表面蒸发掉，然后在高空中变成水的固态形式。选项A和D与文章内容不符。选项B在文章中没有提及。