When Regis Mngwiro and the other villagers moved to a new place in southeastern Zimbabwe, Africa, they were happy to find a lake nearby. Now, they would no longer have to walk long distances looking for water. At last, they had a source of water what they call their own. But several days later, two young boys saw something they had never seen before--a huge animal was standing at the edge of the lake, eating grass. When the animal saw the boys, it walked into the lake and disappeared beneath the water. Regis looked into the story of the big creature that vanished into to the lake. "When I took a closer look at the dung , I realized that it was from a hippo ," he said. Twelve hippos were living in the lake. The villagers were worried. In the countrry of Zimbabwe, hippos attack humans more often than lions do. The hippos would often stay on the village side of the lake all day. This meant that the villagers could not go near the lake until the hippos got out. It was too long a wait for the villagers, because they needed the water from the lake to survive . "This is the only source of fresh water in the village," said a villager. "There is no way we can avoid this lake." So the women began moving in groups whenever they went to get water from the lake. Before collecting water, they made sure no hippos were nearby. The men began fishing in pairs, with one man always looking out for hippos. It took time, but these days, the hippos and humans live side by side. The villagers say that when the hippos find people coming, they swim slowly to the other side of the lake and mind their own business. The villagers do not go into the part of the lake where the hippos usually stay. They have learned to share the lake they both need to survive. Before Regis and other villagers moved to the new place, _ . A) Regis had never heard of hippos B) they had their own source of water C) it was not easy for them to find water D) some of them had been attacked by hippos
C
If California were not already so famous for Sillicon Valley and Hollywood, it might be well-known for the groups of water-technology firms in its San Diego County. The reverse-osmosis (RO) spiral module, the technique that supports turning seawater and waste-water into drinkable stuff, began in San Diego in 1964. Today dozens of firms in the area supply many of the world's approximately 13,000 RO plants in places from the Persian Gulf and Israel to Australia and China. Southern California itself, however, has not so far been a big user of its own technology. This is surprising, given that the whole American south-west faces a water problem. But now as the climate gets warmer and the population increases, there is more agreement that the existing infrastructure, consisting of vast pipes that carry water from the Sacramento Delta in the north and the Colorado River in the east, will not be enough. In places such as San Diego, which has inadequate and salty groundwater and currently imports 90% or its water, the answers must be greater conservation, reusing as much water as possible, and getting most of the rest from the sea. The first part, conservation, has been widely accepted by the public. San Diego today uses less water with a larger population than it did in 1989, the year water consumption peaked. The second part, water recycling has been a hard sell, because of an unpleasant factor. Americans still use the term "toilet-to-tap" for recycling, even though properly treated waste-water is nowadays completely clean. Singapore made its programme acceptable in part by renaming it as NEWater. This is where desalination comes in, which means taking the salt out of salt water. A firm called Poseidon Resources is now close to building the biggest desalination plant in America behind a power station by the beach in Carlsbad. The power plant sucks in 304m gallons of seawater a day for cooling, so Poseidon plans to change 104m gallons a day by using the RO spiral module. Lots of people like the idea. Once fully... What is Joe Geever's attitude toward building a large desalination plant at present? A) Supportive. B) Negative. C) Optimistic. D) Vague.
B
(Q).
David is an excellent student and he comes from New York. His family was there until he finished eighth grade. David had no choice but to sleep on park benches. Being alone on the streets was scary. One thing kept David going: his determination to do well in school. Even though many things were difficult in David's life, one thing was going very well. David was accepted to a special high school called MC2STEM.It is a public school in Cleveland for kids who are extremely good at science. The school turned out a peaceful place for David. He especially enjoyed having the chance to learn by doing lots of projects. High school wasn't easy. But David says that the school helped him set high standards for himself. Even when he didn't have a place to stay at night, David kept his focus on his schoolwork. While he was homeless, David would sometimes sleep in the park during the day because it was safer. " If you sleep in the daytime in the park, people won't bother you," he says. "you're just taking a nap. It's acceptable." Then David would study through the night. He showered at a friend's house when his friend's parents were at work. All his hard work paid off. In May 2011, David graduated second in his high school class. He was accepted to 22 colleges. He also won a scholarship form the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It will pay for all his college expenses. Last fall, David began attending Harvard University, one of the top colleges in the US."I found the perfect school for me." He wrote in his blog. In the future, David might look for a job at a company like Google. Even better, he would like to start his own company. David says, " I want to work for myself." What's the best title for the passage? A) A top University B) A Poor Student C) Homeless to Harvard D) Winning a Scholarship
(A).
C