TEM4阅读训练(2)

TEM 4阅读训练（2）

Passage 1 Remember the drinking fountain, that once ubiquitous (到处存在的), and free, source of H2O? It seems quaint now. Instead, bottled water is everywhere, in offices, airplanes, stores, homes and restaurants across the country. We consumed over eight billion gallons of the stuff in 2006, a 10% increase from 2005. It’s refreshing, calorie-free, convenient to carry around, tastier than some tap water and a heck of a lot healthier than sugary sodas. But more and more, people are questioning whether the water, and the package it comes in, is safe, or at least safer than tap water — and if the convenience is worth the environmental impact.

Evocative names and labels depicting pastoral scenes have convinced us that the liquid is the purest drink around. “But no one should think that bottled water is better regulated, better protected or safer than tap,” says Eric Goldstein, co-director of the urban program at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a nonprofit organization devoted to protecting health and the environment.

Yes, some bottled water comes from sparkling springs and other pristine (纯净的) sources. But more than 25% of it comes from a municipal supply. The water is treated, purified and sold to us, often at a thousandfold increase in price. Most people are surprised to learn that they’re drinking glorified tap water, but bottlers aren’t required to list the source on the label. This year Aquafina will begin stating on labels that its H20 comes from public water sources. And Nestle Pure Life bottles will indicate whether the water comes from public, private or deep well sources. Dasani acknowledges on its website, but not on the label itself, that it draws from local water.

Labels can be misleading at best, deceptive at worst. In one notorious case, water coming from a well located near a hazardous waste site was sold to many bottlers. At least one of these companies labeled its product “spring water”. In another case, H2O sold as “pure glacier water” came from a public water system in Alaska.

Lisa Ledwidge, 38, of Minneapolis, stopped drinking bottled water a couple of years ago, partly because she found out that many brands come from a municipal supply. “You’re spending more per gallon than you would on gasoline for this thing that you can get out of the tap virtually for free,” she says. “I wondered, why am I spending this money while complaining about how much gas costs? But you don’t ever hear anyone complain about the price of bottled water.” Ledwidge says she now drinks only filtered tap water.

(Reader’s Digest 2008)

1. Which of the following is CORRECT as to bottled water?

A. It’s tastier than sugary sodas. C. It’s easier to access and take. A. It’s the purest drink around us. B. Its names and labels are out of date. C. It’s better protected and safer than tap water.

B. It’s healthier than tap water. D. It’s more expensive for its package.

2. How does Eric Goldstein think about bottled water?

1

TEM 4阅读训练（2）

D. Its quality may not fit to its advertisement.

3. It can be inferred from the third paragraph that ________.

A. municipal supply is the main source of bottled water B. whether to lable the source depend on the bottlers C. bottlers must lable their bottled water supply source D. bottled water from Aquafina is safer than Dasani’s 4. The two cases were mentioned by the author to ________.

A. reveal the source of spring water C. unveil the deception of labels 5. According to Lisa Ledwidge, ________.

A. gas costs are higher than bottled water costs B. tap water is more economical than bottled water C. bottled water has a price advantage over tap water D. she prefers bottled water to the municipal supply

B. show the danger of waste sites D. introduce the pure glacier water

Passage 2 Researchers are trying to tell parents something about what kinds of video games children should be playing and how much time they should spend doing it. A new study concludes what you’ve already suspected: Young boys who play video games do worse on tests than children who don’t. Researchers who followed 64 boys from the ages of 6 to 9 for four months discovered that those who received a new PlayStation II gaming system earned lower reading and writing test scores than children who did not get the video game player. This comes on the heels of another recently reported study about video games, which concluded that kids who play violent video game become more aggressive and less caring — regardless of age, sex or culture — than young people who don’t play these games.

The study on the effects of video games on schoolwork was conducted by Denison University Associate Professor Robert Weis and Brittany Cerankosky, who graduated from Denison in 2008. It is called “Effects of Video-Game Ownership on Young Boys’ Academic and Behavioral Functioning”, and will be published in Psychological Science.

Boys who received the system also showed greater teacher-reported academic problems at follow-up than children in the comparison group. The researchers followed 64 young boys over four months. Parents of the 64 were promised a PlayStation II gaming system in exchange for their participation, plus three E rated games. But half the families were given the video gaming system immediately and half were promised if after four months. The children underwent a battery of tests before and after the four months and parents and teachers answered questions about how the boys behaved in school and at home.

The conclusion show that, boys who were he first to get the PlayStations spent more time playing video games than the boys who didn’t get it immediately — 39.3 minutes versus 9.3

2

TEM 4阅读训练（2）

minutes. (The boys who didn’t get the gami …… 此处隐藏：8243字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……