Question

Mathilda,15, is Turkana, a native people that has survived by raising cattle in a semiarid (半干旱) region. Mathilda's school, like most schools in the area, doesn't have access to clean water and sanitation facilities for its students. So instead of spending their whole school day learning, Mathilda and her classmates start their day by spending two hours to the closest river fetching water ---water that is anyway most likely not safe to drink. They do the same thing again in the afternoon, so they often lose around half of their school day fetching water.

Mathilda has to do the same thing outside of school hours to get the water her family needs at home, leaving her little time for studying. Because of rising temperatures, water has become harder and harder to find here, and people have to spend more and more time trying to find it.

This is just one small example of how climate change is making it harder to realize people’s rights to water, education and security. Unfortunately, most higher-income countries remained silent on the issue.

This is despite studies showing that communities already facing marginalization(邊緣化),such as women and children, mostly suffer from climate change. This is especially the case for those in countries with limited resources and fragile ecosystems.

Meanwhile, women consist of the majority of the world 's poor，and so are more dependent for their livelihood on natural resources that are threatened by climate change. And around the world, women and girls are the most likely to be responsible for fetching water for their families.

This exposes them to danger and leaves them with less time to attend school, earn money, or simply to rest. But the fact is that the effects of climate change will be felt globally.

Despite the difficulties she is facing, trying to get an education, Mathilda says she hopes to serve her community in a leadership role when she grows up.

“All of the world's leaders need to work together to solve this problem that we are all facing,” she said.

1.Mathilda has to spend _______fetching water every school day.

A. two hours B. four hours

C. more than four hours D. almost a whole day

2.The first two paragraphs are intended to tell us____________.

A. the cause and effect of lack of water

B. one serious consequence of climate change

C. the difficulties in fetching water in the semiarid region

D. the hardship of life for the people in the semiarid region

3.We can conclude from the passage that________________.

A. climate change is everyone's business

B. water is becoming rare because of rising temperatures

C. fetching water takes up Mathilda's half of studying time

D. females are more responsible for fetching water for their families

4.The passage is mainly about the problem caused by_______________.

A. rising temperatures B. fetching water

C. climate change D. water shortage

Answer 1