Question

The plan had been made to create a beautiful nature park with a large man-made lake on the outer parts of the city of Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province. However, thanks to a terrible trick played by nature, what the officials have ended up with, is a natural sandy mess!

The government wanted to create a beautiful place where people of this busy industrial city could come to relax. But things did not quite turn out that way---shortly after digging up thousands of tons of sand, the underground water dried up. As a result, the dry sand has changed into a Sahara-like desert. While official reports show that the sand is piled up to 10 meters high, some people say that it is ten times more or about a 100-feet high in certain areas.

If that is not bad enough, the sand hills that now spread across an area the size of four football fields, have influenced the environment. What’s worse is that on windy days, the dry sand moves into the city center, making it almost impossible to drive and forcing people to wear face masks and protective eyewear to prevent the sand from getting into their eyes, nose, and mouth.

In an act of trying to keep the sand and provide the illusion(幻想) of green fields, the officials have even tried covering it with a green plastic netting. However, that has not done much to improve the terrible situation!

As you can imagine, many of Zhengzhou’s residents are upset by the disaster. They think that desert wasteland that looks nothing like the green landscape they were promised, has resulted in polluting their pleasant city environment. Some think it is even stopping businessmen from coming to the city.

1.The author may agree that it is_________ to build a large man-made lake.

A. possible

B. impossible

C. great

D. interesting

2.The dry sand has changed into a Sahara-like desert because________.

A. the weather in Zhengzhou is too dry

B. there are enough trees in Zhengzhou

C. they haven’t finished digging the lake

D. there is no underground water

3.What kind of pollution have the sand hills caused?

A. Light pollution.    B. Water pollution.

C. Air pollution.    D. Sound pollution.

4.What do Zhengzhou’s residents think of the man-made lake?

A. Scary.    B. Small.

C. Helpful.    D. Great.

Answer

1.B

2.D

3.C

4.A

【解析】郑州计划建立大型生态公园，在公园里挖掘大型人工湖，但挖出成千上万吨沙子后不久，底下水源枯竭，干沙犹如撒哈拉沙漠，风吹干沙，漫天飞扬，破坏了当地植被与环境。

1.推理判断题。根据“what the officials have ended up with, is a natural sandy mess!”最终政府所得到的只是一片混乱的沙堆。所以作者认为不可能建成人工湖。故选B。

2.细节理解题。根据“the underground water dried up”地下水干涸了。故选D。

3.推理判断题。根据“What’s worse is that on windy days, the dry sand moves into the city center, making it almost impossible to drive and forcing people to wear face masks and protective eyewear to prevent the sand from getting into their eyes, nose, and mouth.” 更糟糕的是，在有风的日子里，干燥的沙子进入到市中心，几乎不可能驾驶，迫使人们戴上口罩和保护眼镜，以防止沙子进入他们的眼睛，鼻子和嘴。可知干沙引起了环境污染。故选C。

4.推理判断题。根据最后一段“They think that desert wasteland that looks nothing like the green landscape they were promised, has resulted in polluting their pleasant city environment. Some think it is even stopping businessmen from coming to the city.”他们认为，沙漠荒原看起来与他们所承诺的绿色景观毫不相似，已经造成了他们的城市环境的污染。一些人认为它甚至阻止商人来城市。可知郑州市民认为人工湖的建造是可怕的。故选A。