Question

閱讀下列短文,從每題所給的四個選項(A、B、C和D)中,選出最佳選項。

If you go to Ethiopia,you’ll find a strange palm-like structure,which is called Warka Water.It gathers water from fog and condensation(水珠)and is invented by an Italian firm.

When Italian designer Arturo Vittori and Swiss architect Andreas Vogler first visited Ethiopia in 2012,they were shocked to see women and children forced to walk miles to access what,for them,had always been within easy reach,water.

Only 34 percent of Ethiopians have access to a reliable water supply.Some travel for up to six hours a day to fetch some or,even worse,have to use pond water polluted by human waste,subject to the spread of disease.

Worldwide,about 768 million people—two and a half times the U.S.population—don’t have access to safe drinking water.So just imagine if we could just pull water out of thin air?That’s what Vittori and Vogler asked once they saw the severe problem and promised to take action.Their firm,Architecture and Vision,has since come up with Warka Water,a grand palm-like structure that may look like something you’d see in a modern art museum,but it’s been designed to harvest water from the air.

Warka Water,which is named after an Ethiopian fig tree,is composed of a 30-foot bamboo frame containing a fog-harvesting nylon net that can catch water easily,can be easily lowered for repairs and allow communities to measure the water level.Collecting water through condensation is hardly a new technique,but the creators of Warka Water say their tree-inspired design is more effective,maximizing surface and perfecting every angle to produce up to 26 gallons of drinkable water a day—enough for a family of seven.

Western organizations have been working to provide clean water access in Africa for decades,so Warka Water joins a very long list of earlier attempts.So far,high-tech solutions,like the once promising Playpump,have failed,mostly due to high costs and maintenance issues.

This is where Warka Water stands apart—a lower-tech solution that is easy to repair and far more affordable than digging wells in the rocky Ethiopian plateau.

1.What does the underlined phrase “subject to” in the third paragraph most probably mean?

A.owing to B.opposite to

C.sensitive to D.giving rise to

2.Warka Water is designed mainly to .

A.gather clean water efficiently

B.reduce water supply costs

C.simplify maintenance

D.preserve water supplies

3.According to the sixth paragraph,what caused Playpump to fail?

A.Lack of advanced technology

B.Unsuccessful designs

C.Lack of money and maintenance issues

D.Unreasonable structures

Answer 1