Droughts(干旱)areacommonfeatureoftheweatherintheUK,withon...

问题详情：

Droughts (干旱) are a common feature of the weather in the UK, with one around every 5 to 10 years on average. After 18 months since the drought began to hit the UK, most of the east and south-east of England is affected by drought. Luckily, a new water plant in Beckton, East London, is helping to ease the drought by turning seawater into drinking water.

The £270-million plant uses a processcalled desalination, through which salt and other minerals are taken out of seawater. The plant takes seawater from the Thames Estuary when the sea is at low tide, filters (过滤) it and then pumps it through a membrane (薄膜) with lots of little holes in it. The process makes the water so clean that essential minerals have to be put back into it. Around 150 million liters of water will be produced in this way each day, supplying 1.4 million people with water.

With summer drawing near, the project has been developed to help the widespread drought across the UK. Seven water companies have announced the limited use of water, and hosepipe (水龙带) bans are likely to be announced next month. The ban could affect one in three homes and people caught breaking the rules could face a fine of up to £1,000.

As the desalination process is expensive to run and uses a lot of energy, it will only be used in times of drought. Martin Baggs, chief executive of Thames Water, said that more money is needed to help build reservoirs (水库) and develop new technology. He added, “People must use less water during extreme conditions.”

28. The process of desalination refers to the process of       .

  A. removing salt from seawater             B. adding minerals into seawater

  C. taking water from the sea               D. supplying people with water

29. It is implied in the text that in summer,       .

  A. the drought in the UK will be less severe

  B. more methods will be used to ease droughts

  C. more drinking water will be accessible in the UK

  D. the UK will be threatened by more serious droughts

30. The process of desalination might not be widely used mainly because       .

  A. new technology can be developed

  B. it costs too much money and energy

  C. it can’t produce enough drinking water

  D. the water made this way isn’t healthy

31. What is the text mainly about?

  A. Droughts have been common in the history of the UK.

  B. The technology of taking salt out of seawater is being tested.

  C. Seawater is being turned into drinking water in the UK.

  D. Different methods are used to ease the droughts in the UK.

【回答】

ABBC

知识点：*经济文化类阅读

题型：阅读理解