2014年成人英语阅读理解练习及答案八
　Water problem in the future will become more intense and more complex. Our increasing population will tremendously increase urban wasters, primarily sewage. On the other hand, increasing demands for water will decrease substantially the amount of water available for building wasters. Rapidly expanding industries which involve more and more complex chemical processes will produce larger volume of liquid wasters, and many of these will contain chemicals which are noxious. To feed our rapidly expanding population, agriculture will have to be intensified. This will involve ever-increasing quantities of agricultural chemicals. From this, it is apparent that drastic steps must be taken immediately to develop corrective measures for the pollution problem.
  There are two ways by which this pollution problem can be dwindled. The first relates to the treatment of wastes to decrease their pollution hazard. This involves the processing of solid wasters “prior to” disposal and the treatment of liquid wasters, or effluents, to permit the reuse of the water or minimize pollution upon final disposal.
water pollution  A second approach is to develop an economic use for all or a part of the wastes. Farm manure is spread in fields as a nutrient or organic supplement. Effluents from sewage disposal plants are used in some areas both for irrigation and for the nutrients contained. Effluents from other processing plants may also be used as a supplemental source of water. Many industries, such as meat and poultry processing plants, are currently converting former waste products into marketable byproducts. Other industries are exploring potential; economic uses for their waste products.
  1.The purpose of this passage is _____.
  A.to acquaint the reader with water pollution problems
  B.to alert the reader the dwindling water supply
  C.to explain industrial uses of water
  D.to demonstrate various uses of water
  2.Which of the following points is NOT included in the passage?
  A.Expanding industries need larger volume of water.
  B. Demands for water will go up along with the expanding population.
  C. Intensive cultivation of land requires more and more chemicals.
  D.Industrial development includes the simplification of complex chemical processing.
  3.The word “prior to” in Paragraph 2 probably mean____.
  A. duringB. afterC. beforeD. beyond
  4.The reader can conclude that_____.
  A.Countries of the world will work together on pollution problems.
  B. Some industries are now making economic use of wastes
  C. Byproducts from wastes lead to a more prosperous marketplace
  D.Science is making great progress on increasing water supplies
  5.The author gives substance to the passage through the use of ____.
  A.interviews with authorities in the field of water controls
  B. definitions which clarify important terms
  C. opinions and personal observations
  D.strong arguments and persuasions 
　内容提示与分析：
  这是一篇介绍水污染以及水污染解决办法的文章。全文可以分为两个部分：第一部分主要介绍水污染越来越严重，比如人口剧增使城市污水增加，工业扩大使含有害化学物质的污水增加。为了解决这些问题，必须采取一定的方法；第二部分主要介绍了两个解决方法，第一个方法是处理污水以降低其危害，废水再利用。第二个方法是经济有效的利用污水。比如农业灌溉和提供工业用水。
  答案及分析：
  1.A
  分析：这篇文章主要介绍污水的现状以及治理方法。A包含这层意思；B警告读者要缩减水的供应，原文没有这个意思；C解释水在工业上的应用，太片面；D 演示水的不同用法，文中只是介绍污水的使用。故答案为A.
  2.D
  分析：原文中“Rapidly expanding industries which involve more and more complex chemical processes will produce larger volume of liquid wasters,”刚好与答案D的论述相反，所以文章一定没有包含D这个选项的内容。其他选项在文章中都可以到。故答案为D。
  3.C
  分析：按照常理推断，处理污水应该先过滤掉固体物质，然后再对剩下的液体进行处理，所以“prior to”一定是“在…之前”的意思，另外，在文章的第二段的末尾有“minimize pollution upon final disposal”,与前面的“disposal”相对应，应该可以分析出，这个“disposal”
是“final”的，所以“prior to”是“在…之前”的意思。故答案为C。
  4.B
  分析：这几个选项说得都没有错，但是能够从文章中推断出来的只有B。A文章没有提及国家间的合作；C文章指说明副产品可以进入市场，但是不一定会带来市场的繁荣；D文章关于水供给的论述几乎没有，故答案为B。
  5.C
  分析：从全文来看，作者只是在表达个人的观点以及陈述个人观察的结果，并没有采访专家；也不是在争论驳斥，劝服他人；更不是在界定一个重要的术语，故答案为C。 
 In the United States during 1992, any family of four with an annual cash income of less than $ 14, 335 (before taxes) was considered poor. The dollar amount was called the poverty line, an economic measuring rod devised in 1964. The line was set at three times the amount needed to provide the cheapest nutritionally balanced diet. The poverty line is adjusted annually for inflation.
    While the poverty line in the United States was more than $ 14, 000, the average annual per-person income in Bangladesh was $ 200, in Ethiopia $ 130, in Haiti $340, and In Mali 4 265. Anyone in those nations with an income of $ 14, 000 would be considered wealthy. During the Great Depression in the United States, when half the population was considered poor, a family with an income at the 1992 poverty line could afford to buy a house, a car, clothing and food.