The concept of obtaining fresh water from icebergs that are towed to populated areas and arid regions of the world was once treated as a joke more appropriate to cartoons than real life. But now it is being considered quite seriously by many nations, especially since scientists have warned that the human race will outgrow its fresh water supply faster than it runs out of food.
Glaciers are a possible source of fresh water that has been overlooked until recently. Three-quarters of the Earth’s fresh water supply is still tied up in glacial ice, a reservoir of untapped fresh water so immense that it could sustain all the rivers of the world for 1,000 years. Floating on the oceans every year are 7, 659 trillion metric tons of ice encased in 10000 icebergs that break away from t?he polar ice caps, more than ninety percent of them from Antarctica.
Huge glaciers that stretch over the shallow continental shelf give birth to icebergs throughout the year. Icebergs are not like sea ice, which is formed when the sea itself freezes, rather, they are formed entirely on land, breaking off when glaciers spread over the sea. As they drift away from the polar region, icebergs sometimes move mysteriously in a direction opposite to the wind, pulled by subsurface currents. Because they melt more slowly than smaller pieces of ice, icebergs have been known to drift as far north as 35 degrees south of the equator in the Atlantic Ocean. To corral them and steer them to parts of the world where they are needed would not be too difficult.
The difficulty arises in other technical matters, such as the prevention of rapid melting in warmer climates and the funneling of fresh water to shore in great volume. But even if the icebergs lost half of their volume in towing, the water they could provide would be far cheaper than that produced by desalinization, or removing salt from water.
1.What is the main topic of the passage?
2.How are icebergs formed?
3.With which of the following ideas would the author be likely to agree?
4.It can be inferred from the passage that most icebergs （ ） .
问题1选项
A.The movement of glaciers.
B.Icebergs as a source of water.
C.Future water shortages.
D.The future of the world’s rivers.
问题2选项
A.They break off from glaciers.
B.Seawater freezes.
C.Rivers freeze.
D.Small pieces of floating ice funneling.
问题3选项
A.Pulling icebergs to dry areas is economically possible.
B.Removing salt from water is the best way to obtain drinking water.
C.Using water from icebergs is a very short-term solution to water shortage.
D.Icebergs could not be pulled very far before they would melt.
问题4选项
A.become part of glaciers
B.drift toward the polar region
C.move in whichever direction the wind is blowing
D.melt in the oceans
第1题:
1.【选项释义】
1. What is the main topic of the passage? 1. 这篇文章的主题是什么？
A. The movement of glaciers. A. 冰川的运动。
B. Icebergs as a source of water. B. 作为水源的冰山。
C. Future water shortages. C. 未来的水资源短缺。
D. The future of the world’s rivers. D. 世界河流的未来。
【考查点】主旨大意题。
【解题思路】首先，根据首尾两段核心句，首段最后一句中的“……人类淡水供应的增长速度将超过食物供应的增长速度”，以及尾段最后一句“即使冰山在拖曳过程中失去了一半的体积，它们所能提供的水也远比通过脱盐或从水中除去盐来获得的水便宜”，从中可知，本文主要讲的是冰川作为一种被忽视的淡水资源。B项“作为水源的冰山”符合题意。
【干扰项排除】
A项“冰川的运动”、C项“未来的水资源短缺”只是部分提及，以偏概全；
D项“世界河流的未来”没有提到，无中生有。
第2题:
2.【选项释义】
2. How are icebergs formed? 2. 冰山是如何形成的？
A. They break off from glaciers. A. 它们从冰川断裂。
B. Seawater freezes. B. 海水冻结。
C. Rivers freeze. C. 河流冻结。
D. Small pieces of floating ice funneling. D. 小块的浮冰汇集。
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据第三段第二句“冰山不像海水的冰，海水的冰是由海水本身结冰形成的；冰山完全是在陆地上形成的，当冰川延伸到海洋时就断裂了”，可知，当冰川延伸到海洋时，它就会断裂形成冰山，A项正确。
【干扰项排除】
B项“海水冻结”是海水的冰的形成过程，张冠李戴；
C项“河流冻结”原文未提及，无中生有；
D项“小块的浮冰汇集”，原文第二段三句虽然提到“每年有7659万亿公吨冰漂流在海洋中”，但是与冰山的形成无关，张冠李戴。
第3题:
3.【选项释义】
3. With which of the following ideas would the author be likely to agree? 3. 作者可能同意下列哪一种观点？
A. Pulling icebergs to dry areas is economically possible. A. 从经济上讲，把冰山拉到干旱地区是可行的。
B. Removing salt from water is the best way to obtain drinking water. B. 除去水中的盐分是获得饮用水的最好方法。
C. Using water from icebergs is a very short-term solution to water shortage. C. 从冰山中取水是解决水资源短缺的一种非常短期的方法。
D. Icebergs could not be pulled very far before they would melt. D. 冰山被拉不了多远就会融化。
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据第四段倒数一二句“由于冰山比小块的冰融化得慢，因此在大西洋中，冰山曾向北漂流到赤道以南35度的地方。把它们赶到世界上需要它们的地方不会太困难”以及末段最后一句“即使冰山在牵引的过程中失去一半的体积，它们所能提供的水也要比用脱盐法产生的水便宜得多”，从中可推断，实际操作上，把冰山赶到世界上需要它们的地方不会太困难，从经济的角度看，即使牵引冰山会使得冰山失去一半体积，但是冰山提供的淡水比用其他方法获得淡水更便宜，也就是说把冰山拉到干旱地区是可行的。故A项“从经济上讲，把冰山拉到干旱地区是可行的”符合题意。
【干扰项排除】
B项“除去水中的盐分是获得饮用水的最好方法”，根据解题思路可知，脱盐法不是获得饮用水的最好方法，该项反向干扰；
C项“从冰山中取水是解决水资源短缺的一种非常短期的方法”，根据第二段第二句“全球四分之三的淡水供应被锁在冰川中，冰川就是一个蓄水池，其中未开发的淡水量非常巨大，足够支持全世界的江河达一千年，冰川中的淡水量都能够支持江河一千年”可知，冰山中的淡水量非常巨大，怎么会是短期办法，该项反向干扰；
D项“冰山被拉不了多远就会融化”，根据最后一段第一句“困难出现在其他技术问题上，例如防止在较暖的气候中迅速融化，以及把大量淡水收集到岸上”，文章是说冰山被拉到温暖的地方的时候可能会快速融化，温暖地区肯定离冰山地区很远了，但选项中的very far与温暖地区是不对等的，所以该项反向干扰。
第4题:
4.【选项释义】
4. It can be inferred from the passage that most icebergs ______. 4. 从文章中可以推断出，大多数冰山______。
A. become part of glaciers A. 成为冰川的一部分
B. drift toward the polar region B. 漂向极地地区
C. move in whichever direction the wind is blowing C. 顺着风吹的方向移动
D. melt in the oceans D. 融化在海洋中
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据第四段内容“难题出在其他技术问题上，比如如何防止冰山在较暖的气候中迅速融化以及如何把大量的淡水收集到岸上去。但是，即使在拖曳的过程中冰山失去了一半体积，这样做也远比从海水中脱盐得到的淡水便宜。”，从中我们可知，由于技术问题，在拖曳冰山的过程中，冰山会逐渐融化，人们无法有效利用冰山的淡水资源，所以推断，从极地地区拖曳冰山到温暖的地区肯定是中途在海洋里就融化了，所以选项D正确。
【干扰项排除】
A项“成为冰川的一部分”，原文第三段的第二句指出“……冰山是完全在陆地上形成的，当冰川伸展到海面时，冰山就断裂下来”，也就是说，冰山是冰川延伸到海面断裂后形成的，而不是它的一部分，该项曲解原文；
B项“漂向极地地区”，原文第三段第三句提到“当它们漂离（drift away from）极地时……”，可知，冰山会漂离极地地区而不是漂向，该项反向干扰；
C项“顺着风吹的方向移动”，原文第三段第三句提到“冰山有时候会在次表层洋流的推动下颇为神秘地逆风移动（opposite to the wind）”，从中可知，冰山是逆风漂流，该项反向干扰。
