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Bill Gates believes the world needs better toilets. Specifically, toilets that

来源 :焚题库 2022-04-18

共享题干题Bill Gates believes the world needs better toilets. Specifically, toilets that improve hygiene, don’t have to connect to sewage systems at all and can break down human waste into fertilizer.
 So on Tuesday in Beijing, Mr. Gates held the Reinvented Toilet Expo, a chance for companies to showcase their takes on the simple bathroom fixture. Companies showed toilets that could separate urine from other waste for more efficient treatment, that recycled water for hand washing and that sported solar roofs.
 It’s no laughing matter. About 4.5 billion people  more than half the world’s population  live without access to safe sanitation. Globally, Mr. Gates told attendees, unsafe sanitation costs an estimated $223 billion a year in the form of higher health costs and lost productivity and wages.
 The reinvented toilets on display are a culmination of seven years of research and $200 million given by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which the former software tycoon runs with his wife, since 2011. On Tuesday, Mr. Gates pledged to give $200 million more in an effort get companies to see human waste as a big business.
 Mr. Gates said in an interview that “it will be at least a decade” before the reinvented toilets reach tens of millions of people in the poorest areas, and they will have to prove both practical and economical. “Nobody wants overnight solutions” in sanitation,he added.
  Though the products on display on Tuesday were nowhere as flashy, Mr. Gates has drawn criticism for giving thousands of dollars to universities in developed countries to create high-tech toilets that will take years to pay off  if they ever do.
 “Sometimes doubling down is necessary but you’ve got to be reflective.” said Jason Kass, the founder of Toilets for People, a Vermont-based social business that provides off- grid toilets. “Has any of the approaches done in the last five years created any sustainable lasting, positive impact vis a vis sanitation? And the answer, as far as I can see, is no. It might be a thing like the space program where people have fantasies about colonizing the moon and Mars, but it’s really not that practical,” he said.
 Mr. Gates acknowledged that some reinvented toilets, in small volumes, could cost as much as $10,000, but added, “That will pretty quickly come down. The hard part will be getting it from $2,000 to $500. I’d say we are more confident today that it was a good bet than where we started, but we are still not there.”
 The Gates Foundation said the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the African Development Bank would commit $2.5 billion in financing for sanitation projects that provide people in all parts of a city  including the poorest neighborhoods  with safely managed sanitation services.
 “We see ourselves on the cusp of a sanitation revolution,” Mr. Gates told expo attendees on Tuesday.
 At a showroom in an art center in Beijing, companies including China’s Clear,Ecosan and CRRC, Sedron Technologies of the United States, India’s Eram Scientific and Switzerland’s Blue Diversion Autarky displayed toilets that could separate urine and recycle water for hand washing.
 During his opening remarks, Mr. Gates said he started getting interested in sanitation after he stopped working full time at Microsoft and began traveling more frequently to poor countries with his wife, Melinda.
 Holding up a beaker of fecal matter, Mr. Gates reminded the audience that human waste is disgusting, containing 200 trillion rotavirus cells and 100,000 parasitic worm eggs, among other bacteria.
 Mr. Gates’s efforts to bring the discussion of toilets into the mainstream have legitimized a topic that many have avoided talking about for decades, said Jack Sim, the founder of the World Toilet Organization, a Singapore-based nonprofit organization committed to improving toilet and sanitation conditions worldwide. “The subject of toilets has been a neglected subject for some time,” said Mr. Sim. “The Gates Foundation is part of this momentum of breaking the taboo.”
 

单选题第1题“Better toilets” should have the following functions except that().
 

A.they can improve hygiene.

B.they can break down human waste into fertilizer.

C.they are equipped with many amenities.

D.they don’t have to connect to sewage systems.

参考答案:C

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答案解析:根据题干中的better toilet可以定位至第1段“toilets that improve hygiene,don’t have to connect to sewage systems at all and can break down human waste into fertilizer”,C项不在此论述中,因此选C。

 

单选题第2题The reinvented toilets on Toilet Expo are seven-year culmination which cost Mr. Gates()million.
 

A.$230

B.$223

C.$200

D.$250

参考答案:C

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答案解析:可从文中第4段 “The reinvented toilets on display are a culmination of seven years of research and $200 million given by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation(博览会上展示的这些新世代厕所是比尔及梅琳达盖茨基金会捐资2亿美元、耗时7年的研究成果)”得出C为正确答案。

 

单选题第3题Which of the following is NOT the reason that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation invest so much in the toilet project?
 

A.Unsafe sanitation may lead to many health problems.

B.Unsafe sanitation may lead to workforce decline.

C.Human waste is a big business.

D.Bill Gates is not satisfied with the present toilet industry.

参考答案:D

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答案解析:从文中的 “Mr. Gates told attendees,unsafe sanitation costs an estimated $223 billion a year in the form of higher health costs and lost productivity and wages”和“Mr. Gates pledged to give $200 million more in an effort get companies to see human waste as a big business”两句可排除前三项,D为正确答案。

 

单选题第4题The underlined word “sewage” in Paragraph 1 means().
 

A.used water and waste substances

B.excrement and urine

C.garbage

D.leftover

参考答案:A

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答案解析:原文中的sewage system意为“污水系统”,答案为A。

 

单选题第5题The phrase “vis a vis” in Paragraph 7 means().
 

A.according to

B.in relation to

C.compare to

D.on account of

参考答案:B

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答案解析:vis a vis意为“关于、对于”,答案为B。

 

单选题第6题Bill Gates was criticized for giving thousands of dollars to universities in developed countries to create high-tech toilets including the following reasons except that().
 

A.the reinvented toilets are expensive.

B.the reinvented toilets are impractical.

C.his program hasn’t created any lasting positive impact.

D.his program is not practical.

参考答案:B

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答案解析:从原文中的第7、8段中的 “in the last five years created any sustainable lasting,positive impact vis a vis sanitation” “It might be a thing like the space program where people have fantasies about colonizing the moon and Mars, but ifs really not that practical” “Mr.Gates acknowledged that some reinvented toilets,in small volumes,could cost as much as $10,000”可以得出,A、C、D三项正确,B项为干扰项,文中提及他的计划不现实,而不是新型厕所不现实。答案为B。

 

单选题第7题Which of the following organization will NOT invest in sanitation projects?
 

A.The World Bank.

B.The Asian Development Bank.

C.The African Development Bank.

D.The World Toilet Organization.

参考答案:D

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答案解析:定位至原文第9段可得知世界银行、亚洲开发银行和非洲开发银行将投入25亿美元资助卫生项目,为城市的所有地区包括最贫穷的居民区提供安全周到的卫生服务,其中并不包括世界厕所组织。答案为D。

 

单选题第8题Which of the following statements is TRUE?
 

A.The reinvented toilets will be used in some underdevelopment countries.

B.Bill Gates may spend $400 million in his better toilet plan.

C.The World Toilet Organization is an India-based nonprofit organization committed to improving toilet and sanitation conditions worldwide.

D.The discussion of toilets is a mainstream topic for decades.

参考答案:B

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答案解析:文中第9段提到为城市的所有地区包括最贫穷的居民区提供安全周到的卫生服务,所以A选项不正确;最后一段提到世界厕所组织是设在新加坡的非营利组织,其致力于改善全球的厕所和卫生条件,所以C不正确;最后一段提到相当一段时间以来,厕所一直是个被忽视的议题,所以D不正确;文中第4段提到已投资2亿,计划再投资2亿,所以B正确。

 

单选题第9题From this essay, we can learn that the author’s attitude about Bill Gates’s plan is().
 

A.supportive

B.negative

C.unclear

D.neutral

参考答案:A

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答案解析:从文中最后一句可以看出作者的态度是支持的,因此答案为A。


 

单选题第10题Which of the following is the appropriate title of the passage?
 

A.Bill Gates wants to build better toilets.

B.People want to reinvent toilets.

C.The world needs toilets and hygiene.

D.Why we need a better toilet?

参考答案:A

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答案解析:全文都提到了比尔盖茨和他的厕所项目,所以A是正确答案。
 

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