篇一：英语四级考试预测试卷及答案一
写作预测：
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay on the topic
Advertisement. You should write at least 120 words following the outline given below in Chinese:
1. 广告的作用
2. 广告的形式多样
3. 广告的夸张性
Advertisement
Advertisements are forcing their way into people’s lives. People refer to
advertisements in their daily lives because they are consumers. The advertisers are usually manufacturers, retailers and salesmen. Their merchandise needs to be advertised to bring it to the attention to the customers. Thus nearly every product is advertised in some way. To a large extent, good advertising leads to success while bad advertising can mean failure.
There are many ways to advertise and ‘ads’ come in different forms. Newspapers carry advertisements. Some products are publicized on TV and radio which bring them into notice of a wide audience. Billboards also carry advertising. Advertising is a big industry now and many agencies have been set up to furnish a variety of forms.. However, advertising is not always truthful. A product is often misrepresented. The advertiser exaggerates the benefits of the merchandise he wants to sell. Thus, he misrepresents the truth. The consumer falls victim to such advertising. Millions of people have bought advertised products and have been dissatisfied with them。 点评：这是一篇说明文，用说明的表达方式来解说事物，阐明事理。写好说明文，不仅要抓住特征，注意条理，而且要巧妙运用说明方法，像下定义、举例子、作比较、分类别、列数字、打比方等
四级阅读：
Baekeland and Hartmann report that the “short sleepers” had been more or less average in their sleep needs until the men were in their teens. But at about age 15 or so, the men voluntarily began cutting down their nightly sleep time because of pressures from school, work, and other activities. These men tended to view their nightly periods of unconsciousness as bothersome interruptions in their daily routines.
In general, these “short sleeps” appeared ambitious, active, energetic, cheerful, conformist(不动摇) in their opinions, and very sure about their career choices. They often held several jobs at once, or workers full-or part-time while going to school. And many of them had a strong urge to appear “normal” or “acceptable” to their friends and associates.
When asked to recall their dreams, the “short sleepers” did poorly. More than this, they seemed to prefer not remembering. In similar fashion, their usual way of dealing with psychological problems was to deny that the problem existed, and then to keep busy in the hope that the trouble would go away.
The sleep patterns of the “short sleepers” were similar to, but less extreme
than, sleep patterns shown by many mental patients categorized as manic(疯人). The “long sleepers” were quite different indeed. Baekeland and Hartmann report that these young men had been lengthy sleeps since childhood. They seemed to enjoy their sleep, protected it, and were quite concerned when they were occasionally deprived of their desired 9 hours of nightly bed rest. They tended to recall their dreams much better than did the “short sleepers.”
Many of the “long sleepers” were shy, anxious, introverted (内向), inhibited (压抑), passive, mildly depressed, and unsure of themselves (particularly in social situations). Several openly states that sleep was an escape from their daily problems.
1. According to the report,______.
A) many short sleepers need less sleep by nature
B) many short sleepers are obliged to reduce their nightly sleep time because they are busy with their work
C) long sleepers sleep a longer period of time during the day
D) many long sleepers preserve their sleeping habit formed during their childhood
2. Many “short sleepers” are likely to hold the view that _____.
A) sleep is a withdrawal from the reality
B) sleep interferes with their sound judgement
C) sleep is the least expensive item on their routine program
D) sleep is the best way to deal with psychological troubles
3. It is stated in the third paragraph that short sleepers _____.
A) are ideally vigorous even under the pressures of life
B) often neglect the consequences of inadequate sleep
C) do not know how to relax properly
D) are more unlikely to run into mental problems
4. When sometimes they cannot enjoy adequate sleep, the long sleepers might ____.
A) appear disturbed
B) become energetic
C) feel dissatisfied
D) be extremely depressed
5. Which of the following is Not included in the passage?
A) If one sleeps inadequately, his performance suffers and his memory is weakened
B) The sleep patterns of short sleepers are exactly the sane as those shown by many mental patients
C) Long and short sleepers differ in their attitudes towards sleep
D) Short sleepers would be better off with more rest
【答案及详解】
答案：DCBAB
贝克尔和哈特曼报道说，“睡眠少的人”在未进入少年期之前，其正常睡眠时间大致与所需要的时间差不多。但到了15岁左右，由于学校、工作或其它活动的地压力，他们就故意地减少了夜间睡眠的时间。这些人持有这样的观点：夜间睡眠是一件令人讨厌的事情，打断了日常事务。
总的说来，这些“睡眠少的人”表现得雄心勃勃、积极活跃、精力充沛、无意识乐观豁
达、立场坚定，对自己职业的选择胸有成竹。他们往往同时从事几项工作，或者一边上学读书，一边从事专职或兼职工作。其中许多人有强烈愿望，想在朋友和熟人面前表现得“正常”或“合群”。
当让他们回忆梦境时，“睡眠少的人”回忆不起什么来。更有甚者，他们似乎情愿什么都记不住。类似的情况是他们通常处理心理问题的方式：不承认问题的存在，希望只要忙忙碌碌，麻烦总会过去的。
“睡眠少的人”的睡眠模式与被划入疯子之类精神病患者的睡眠模式十分相似，只不过没有那么严重而已。
“睡眠多的人”情形则大不相同。贝克尔和哈特曼报道说，这些年轻人从小的，有抱负的睡眠就一直很长。他们好像注重睡眠，不让睡眠受打搅。偶尔没有所需的9个小时夜间卧床休息，他们便会十分不安。他们比“睡眠少的人”要更能回忆得起梦的内容。许多“睡眠多的人”腼腆、焦躁、内向、压抑、消极和稍微有点儿沮丧，尤其在社交场合缺乏自信。好几个人坦言，睡眠是摆脱每天烦恼的一种方式。
Now let us look at how we read. When we read a printed text, our eyes move across a page in short, jerky movement. We recognize words usually when our eyes are still when they fixate. Each time they fixate, we see a group of words. This is known as the recognition span or the visual span. The length of time ofr which the eyes stop ---the duration of the fixation ----varies considerably from person to person. It also vaies within any one person according to his purpose in reading and his familiarity with the text. Furthermore, it can be affected by such factors as lighting and tiredness.
Unfortunately, in the past, many reading improvement courses have concentrated too much on how our eyes move across the printed page. As a result of this misleading emphasis on the purely visual aspects of reading, numerous exercises have been devised to train the eyes to see more words at one fixation. For instance, in some exercises, words are flashed on to a screen for, say, a tenth or a twentieth of a second. One of the exercises has required students to fix their eyes on some central point, taking in the words on either side. Such word patterns are often constructed in the shape of rather steep pyramids so the reader takes in more and more words at each successive fixation. All these exercises are very clever, but it’s one thing to improve a person’s ability to see words and quite another thing to improve his ability to read a text efficiently. Reading requires the ability to understand the relationship between words. Consequently, for these reasons, many experts have now begun to question the usefulness of eye training, especially since any approach which trains a person to read isolated words and phrases would seem unlikely to help him in reading a continuous text.
Q:
1. The time of the recognition span can be affected by the following facts except ________ .
A. one’s familiarity with the text
B. one’s purpose in reading
C. the length of a group of words
D. lighting and tiredness
2. The author may believe that reading ______.
A. requires a reader to take in more words at each fixation
B. requires a reader to see words more quickly
C. demands an deeply-participating mind
D. demands more mind than eyes
3. What does the author mean by saying “but it’s one thing to improve a person’s ability to see words and quite another thing to improve his ability to read a text efficiently.” in the second parapraph?
A. The ability to see words is not needed when an efficient reading is conducted.
B. The reading exercises mentioned can’t help to improve both the ability to see and to comprehend words.
C. The reading exercises mentioned can’t help to improve an efficient reading.
D. The reading exercises mentioned has done a great job to improve one’s ability to see words.
4. Which of the following is NOT true?
A. The visual span is a word or a group of words we see each time.
B. Many experts began to question the efficiency of eye training.
C. The emphasis on the purely visual aspects is misleading.
D.The eye training will help readers in reading a continuous text.
5. The tune of the author in writing this article is ________
A critical
B neutral
C prssimistic
D optimistic
【答案及详解】
答案：CCCDA
1 C。事实细节题。第一段提到了影响视幅的因素：不同的人，不同的阅读目的，对材料的熟悉程度，光线，疲劳。C“一组词的长度”不是能影响视幅的因素，是本题的答案。 2 C。观点态度题。作者在第二段第二句提到，眼睛训练课程只注重了阅读的视觉因素。倒数第二句书哦，阅读要求具备理解单词间关系的能力。因此选项C“阅读需要大脑的深度参与”正确。作者没有否定阅读的视觉因素的必要性，但是也没有说读者应该练习拓宽视幅，加快阅读速度。所以AB两项都不正确。作者没有对大脑和眼睛在阅读过程中的重要性进行对比，所以不选D
3 C。 作者在这句话中先是肯定了那些阅读练习提高看单词的能力，然后提出了有效阅读概念。后面句中还指出，有效阅读需要的是理解单词间的联系的能力。所以作者的意思应该是那些(训练眼睛的)阅读练习对与有效的阅读无益。B与文章相反。D句是蕴涵其中一个意思，却不是作者想表达的方向。
4 D。 第二段最后一句说，眼睛训练对于帮助读者阅读连贯文章无益，所以D是错的，是本题答案。
5 A。 参考前面的结构剖析，作者写本文的主要目的是对那些只关注阅读的视觉因素的阅读能力课程进行批判，所以答案应该是A。
As is known to all, the organization and management of wages and salaries are very complex. Generally speaking, the Accounts Department is __1__ for calculations of pay, while the Personnel Department is interested in discussions with the employees about pay.
If a firm wants to __2__ a new wage and salary structure, it is essential that the firm should decide on a __3__ of job evaluation and ways of measuring the performance of its employees. In order to be __4__, that new pay structure will need agreement between Trade Unions and employers. In job evaluation, all of the
requirements of each job are defined in a detailed job description. Each of thsoe requirements is given a value, usually in "points", which are __5__ together to give a total value for the job. For middle and higher management, a special method is used to evaluate managers on their knowledge of the job, their responsibility, and their __6__ to solve problems. Because of the difficulty in measuring management work, however, job grades for managers are often decided without __7__ to an evaluation system based on points.
In attempting to design a pay system, the Personnel Department should __8__ the value of each job with these in the job market. __9__, payment for a job should vary with any differences in the way that the job is performed. Where it is simple to measure the work done, as in the works done with hands, monetary encouragement schemes are often chosen, for __10__ workers, where measurement is difficult, methods of additional payments are employed.
[A]compare
[B]responsible
[C]useful
[D]added
[E]find
[F]reference
[G]indirect
[H]method
[I]successful
[J]combined
[K]Necessarily
[L]capacity
[M]ability
[N]Basically
[O]adopt
【答案及详解】
1.选B)。此处应填形容词。原文意思为“会计部门...计算报酬”，选项中的形容词responsible“负责任的”，useful“有用的”，indirect“间接的”，successful“成功的”，其中indirect不能与for连用，排除;剩余几项中只有B)responsible意义符合原句，其他均不符合，故排除。
2.选O)。此处应填动词原形。本文主题就是采用一种新的工资和薪水制度时需要注意的问题，选项中的动词原形有compare“比较”，find“找到”，adopt“采纳”，分别带入原文，只有adopt最符合原文意思，故选O).
3.选H)。此处应填名词。从原文看，and连接并列结构，所以要填的词应与and后面的ways意思一致，选项中的名词只有mathod = ways，故选H)method。
4.选I)。此处应填形容词。上文说新的工资制度需要一套决定工作评估和衡量雇员表现的方法，说的是制度“是否有用”的问题。这句说的时新的工资制度执行过程中的问题，
篇二：2015大学英语四级预测试卷(一)
2015大学英语四级预测试卷(一)
Part IWriting(30 minutes)
Directions：For this part,you are allowed 3D minutes to write a short essay based on the picture below．You should start your essay with a briefaccount ofthe meaning of“opportunity”and then explain who should be the real creator ofthe opportunities in a person’s life．You should write at least 120 words and no more than 180 words．
I’ve won two dollars in this lottery! Who says we don’t live in an opportunity society? 注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。
Part II Listening Comprehension(30 minutes)
Section A
Directions：In this section．you wilf hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations．At the end of each conversation，one or more questions will be asked about what was said．Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once．After each question there will be a pause．During the pause,you must read the four choices marked A.，B.，C.and D.，and decide which is the best answer．Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet l with a single line through the centre．
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。
1．A.It is a place where is full ofpeople．
B.It is the name of the travel agency．
C.It is an interesting place that people cail visit．
D.It is a place where people can discover interesting things．
2．A.He is good at learnin9．
B.He loves all the lessons very much．
C.He has the confidence in the final exam．
D.He has prepared for the final exam for a month．
3．A.It is always the wife to do the cook．
B.The husband loves his wife very much．
C. The wife is very angry with her husband．
D.This couple always do the cooking together．
4．A. His manager is a strict man．
B.He is very confident about himself．
C.He is popular among the staff members．
D.He is good at acting around his manager．
5．A. The man is showing himself off．
B.The woman is the mail’s manager．
C.The man wants to please the woman．
D.The man works hard and saves his time．
6．A.This talk happens in the store．
B.The man is busy with working now．
C.The mall and the woman are husband and wife．
D.The man is going to buy something in the comer store．
7．A.He is late for a long time．
B.He is a man with good habits．
C.He has come up something bad．
D.He is the colleague of the two talkers．
8．A.He is against losing weight．
B.He thinks the obese people should not eat meat．
C. He suggests the obese people to eat less and lose weight．
D.He thinks that the obese people should do more exercise．
Questions 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you havejust heard．
9．A. He hates watching TV
B.He loves cooking very much．
C. He wants to be together with his wife．
D. He thinks he can relax himself through cooking．
10．A.20．
B.200．
C.180．
D. 380．
11．A. Because the vacuum cleaner is broken．
B. Because she wants the man to 1cave the kitchen．
C. Because she wants the man to do the cleanin9．
D. Because she does not need the man’s help then．
Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you havejust heard．
12．A.To make a dress．
B. Tb make a skirt．
C.To make a cloth．
D. To make a suit．
13．A.Because it is always fashionable．
B.Because it is can be worn for funeral．
C.Because it can be worn for wedding．
D.A11 of the above．
14．A.Because the left one is more expensive．
B.Because the left one is not very fashionable．
C. Because the woman doesn’t like the pattem of it．
D. Because the man suggests the woman not to choose the left one．
15．A. They will go to another shop to buy something else．
B. They will go the upper floor to find someone else．
C. They will go to find the tailor and let the fabric made．
D. They will go to the tailor’s home and have a talk with him．
Section B
Directions：In this section，you will hear 3 shortpassages．At the end ofeach passage,you will hear some questions．Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once．After you hear a question，you must choose the best answerfrom thefour choices marked A.，B.，C.and D.．Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre． 注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。
Passage one
Questions 16 to 18 are based on thepassageyou havejust heard．
16．A.Children read less and less when they get older．
B. The older children read more than the little children．
C.Nowadays，children read more compared with the past．
D.Nowadays，parents read more to their children than the past．
17．A.19 minutes．
B. 30 minutes．
C.45 minutes．
D.53 minutes．
18．A.The children have more homework to do．
B.The education policy affects the reading time．
C. The parents read less to the children than the past．
D.The prevalence of technology provides the children e-reading．
Passage Two
Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard．
19．A.The good colleagues we meet．
B.The location of the company we work in．
C.The amount of the salary we get．
D.The good repute of the company we work in．
20．A.Make your case with data．
B.Speak confidently and professionally．
C.Figure out if you actually deserve one．
D.Use the phases such“I think”“If you want”．
21．A.You should leave ifyou aren’t given a rise．
B.You should ask your colleagues to help you ask for a rise．
C. You should ask for a rise based on the objective information．
D.You should ask for a rise by calling to your leader but not face to face．
Passage Three
Questions 22 to25 are based on the passage you havejust heard．
22．A.The coast is the land along a beach．
B.The coast is a dangerous place to stay．
C.The coast is dynamic，or constantly changing．
D. The boundary of the coast is called the coastline．
23．A.The coast can provide people with oil．
B.The coast can provide people with marine plants．
C.The coast can provide people with marine animals．
D.The coast can provide people with marine insects．
24．A.The polluted coast is not as beautiful as before．
B.The polluted coast becomes smaller than the past．
C.The polluted coast is not a good place for the marine life to live．
D.The polluted coast cannot provide safe marine plants with people．
25．A.People can enjoy the delicious seafood there．
B.People can do some exciting sports such as diving．
C.People can see the beautiful scenery and relax themselves．
D.People can participate in activities like fishing，boating and swimming．
Section C
Directions：In this section，you will hear a passage three times．When the passage is read for thefirst time,you should listen carefullyfor its general idea．When the passage is read for the second time,you are required tofill in the blanks with the exact words you havejust heard．Finally,when the passage is readfor the third time,you should check what you have written． 注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。
Twenty-four years and two days a90，on a Tuesday morning，the space shuttle Discovery(26)__________ to low Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral，Florida．As NASA's newest eye in the sky,the Hubble Space Telescope，is an(27)__________ which can peer deep into the cosmos and capture the universe’s inhabitants in exquisite detail．It had taken(28)__________ 0f design and planning to get the telescope ready for work．The next day,on April 25，astronauts delivered the telescope to space． Then，scientists eagerly(29)__________ Hubble to start revealing cosmic secrets．We all know what happened next．A flaw in the telescope’s(30)__________ mirror meant the images weren’t sharp．(31)__________ incredibly faint objects，such as very distant galaxies，wasn’t possible．It would be three years before the first of five servicing missions let astronauts correct the defect and(32)__________ Hubble’s vision to what it should have been．
Since then，though，the Hubble space telescope has(33)__________ delighted Earthlings with its breathtaking views of stars，galaxies，and our planetary neighbors．Its impact on science has been no less important．Among other discoveries，Hubble helped scientists determine that the universe is expanding at an(34)__________ rate．This discovery,which happened in the late 1990s，is something we still can’t fully explain．
Here，(35)__________ Hubble’s 24th launchiversary,are 25 images that might be slightly less familiar?and I've added one to grow on，just for good measure．
Part HIReading Comprehension(40 minutes)
Section A
Directions：In this section,there is a passage with ten blanks．You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bankfollowing the passage．Read the passage through carefully before making your choices．Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter．Please mark the corresponding lette for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre．You may not use any ofthe words in the bank more than once．
Questions 36 to 45 are based on the following passage.
Climate change has claimed its latest victim：Limacina helicina，a planktonic，predatory(捕食的)sea snail that’s a member of the taxonomic group more(36)
__________ known as sea butterflies．(The name is(37)__________ from the wing-like lobes(叶瓣)the tiny creatures use to get around．)In a study(38)__________ published in joumal Proceedings of the Royal Society B，a group of scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)and Oregon State University have fQund that the Pacific Ocean’s decreasing pH—its acidifying(酸化)，in other words-is dissolving L．helicina’s thin shells．
The researchers collected sea butterfly(39)__________ from 13 sites along the Pacific coast(between Washington and southern CaliforniA.，going over each with a scanning electron microscope．More than half of the shells(53％)from onshore individuals(40)__________ signs of“severe dissolution damage，”while 24％of(41)
__________ individuals suffered dissolution damage．The study’s(42)__________ investigator,Dr．NinaBednarsek of NOAA，described the affected L．helicina shells as having a texture not unlike“cauliflower”or“sandpaper．”
According to the paper，there was a“strong positive(43)__________ ”between the proportion of sea butterflies with severe shell dissolution damage and“the percentage of undersaturated(未达到饱和的)water”near the ocean’s surface．The researchers conclude“shell dissolution owing to(human．caused ocean(44)_________)
has doubled in near shore habitats since pre．industrial conditions across this region and is on track to triple by 2050，”a truly(45)__________ prediction．Moreover,the broader implications for ecosystem are unclear,as damaged shells make it harder for L．helicina to fight infections，stay buoyant，and protect themselves from predators．
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
A.showed
B.recently
C.protected
D.commonly
E.derived
F.samples
G.offshore
H.principal
I.noticed
J.correlation
K.encouraging
L.seaward
M.acidification
N.grim
O.pollution
Section B
Directions：In this section，you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it．Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs．Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived．You may choose a paragraph more than once．Each paragraph is marked with a letter．Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2．
篇三：大学英语四级新题型预测模拟试卷及答案(一)
大学英语四级新题型预测模拟试卷（一）
大学英语4级考试
College English Model Test one
—Band Four—
Part ⅠWriting(30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed thirty minutes to write
a words following the outline given in Chinese below:
1. 每年，高校许多大学生受到鼓舞去贫困地区支教。
2. 支教活动的意义。
3. 我的看法。
提示:在实考试卷中，该试题在答题卡1上。
Aid--Education in China
Part ⅡReading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning)(15 minutes) Directions:In this part,you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1. For questions 1-7,mark
Y(for YES)if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage; N(for NO)if the statement contradicts the information given in the passage;
NG(for NOT GIVEN)if the information is not given in the passage.
For questions 8-10,complete the sentences with information given in the passage.
Will We Run Out of Water?
Picture a “ghost ship” sinking into the sand, left to rot on dry land by a
receding sea. Then imagine dust storms sweeping up toxic pesticides and chemical fertilizers from the dry seabed and spewing them across towns and villages.
Seem like a scene from a movie about the end of the world? For people living near the Aral sea (咸海) in Central Asia, it?s all too real. Thirty years ago, government planners diverted the rivers that flow into the sea in order to irrigate (provide water for ) farmland. As a result, the sea has shrunk to half its original size, stranding (使搁浅) ships on dry land. The seawater has tripled in salt content and become polluted, killing all 24 native species of fish.
Similar large--scale efforts to redirect water in other parts of the world have also ended in ecological crisis, according to numerous environmental groups. But many countries continue to build massive dams and irrigation systems, even though such projects can create more problems than they fix. Why? People in many parts of the world are desperate for water, and more people will need more water in the next century.
“Growing populations will worsen problems with water,” says Peter H.Gleick, an environmental scientist at the Pacific Institute for studies in Development, Environment, and Security, a research organization in California. He fears that by the year 2025, as many as one--third of the world?s projected (预测的) 8.3 billion
people will suffer from water shortages.
WHERE WATER GOES
Only 2.5 percent of all water on Earth is freshwater, water suitable for
drinking and growing food, says Sandra Postel, director of the Global Water Policy Project in Amherst, Mass. Two--thirds of this freshwater is locked in glaciers (冰山) and ice caps （冰盖）. In fact, only a tiny percentage of freshwater is part of the water cycle, in which water evaporates and rises into the atmosphere, then condenses and falls back to Earth as precipitation (rain or snow).
Some precipitation runs off land to lakes and oceans, and some becomes groundwater, water that seeps into the earth. Much of this renewable freshwater ends up in remote places like the Amazon river basin in Brazil, where few people live. In fact, the world?s population has access to only 12,500 cubic kilometers of freshwater—about the amount of water in Lake Superior(苏必利尔湖). And people use half of this amount already. “If water demand continues to climb rapidly,” says Postel, “there will be severe shortages and damage to the aquatic (水的) environment.”
CLOSE TO HOME
Water woes(灾难) may seem remote to people living in rich countries like the United States. But Americans could face serious water shortages, too especially in areas that rely on groundwater. Groundwater accumulates in aquifers (地下蓄水层)，layers of sand and gravel that lie between soil and bedrock. (For every liter of surface water, more than 90 liters are hidden underground.) Although the United States has large aquifers, farmers, ranchers, and cities are tapping many of them for water faster than nature can replenish(补充) it. In northwest Texas, for example,
overpumping has shrunk groundwater supplies by 25 percent, according to Postel.
Americans may face even more urgent problems from pollution. Drinking water in the United States is generally safe and meets high standards. Nevertheless, one in five Americans every day unknowingly drinks tap water contaminated with bacteria and chemical wastes, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. In Milwaukee, 400,000 people fell ill in 1993 after drinking tap water tainted with cryptosporidium (隐孢子虫)，a microbe (微生物) that causes fever, diarrhea (腹泻) and vomiting.
THE SOURCE
Where so contaminants come from? In developing countries, people dump raw (未经处理的) sewage(污水) into the same streams and rivers from which they draw water for drinking and cooking; about 250 million people a year get sick from water borne (饮水传染的) diseases.
In developed countries, manufacturers use 100,000 chemical compounds to make a wide range of products.Toxic chemicals pollute water when released untreated into rivers and lakes. (Certain compounds, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (多氯化联二苯)，or PCBs, have been banned in the United States.)
But almost everyone contributes to water pollution. People often pour household cleaners, car antifreeze, and paint thinners (稀释剂) down the drain; all of these contain hazardous chemicals. Scientists studying water in the San Francisco Bay reported in 1996 that 70 percent of the pollutants could be traced to household waste.
Farmers have been criticized for overusing herbicides and pesticides, chemicals that kill weeds and insects but insects but that pollute water as well.
Farmers also use nitrates, nitrogen--rich fertilizer that helps plants grow but that can wreak havoc (大破坏
) on the environment. Nitrates are swept away by surface encouraging the buildup of algae, or microscopic plants that live on the surface of the water. Algae deprive the water of oxygen that fish need to survive, at times choking off life in an entire body of water.
WHAT’S THE SOLUTION?
Water expert Gleick advocates conservation and local solutions to
water--related problems; governments, for instance, would be better off building small--scale dams rather than huge and disruptive projects like the one that ruined the Aral Sea.
“More than 1 billion people worldwide don?t have access to basic clean drinking water,” says Gleick. “There has to be a strong push on the part of everyone—governments and ordinary people—to make sure we have a resource so fundamental to life.”
提示:在实考试卷中，8-10题在答题卡1上。
1. That the huge water projects have diverted the rivers causes the Aral Sea to shrink.
2. The construction of massive dams and irrigation projects does more good than harm.
3. The chief causes of water shortage are population growth and water pollution.
4. The problems Americans face concerning water are ground water shrinkage and tap water pollution.
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