Question

One of the world’s richest men has taken a close interest in one of man’s most basic functions：visiting the toilet.Bill Gates’s charitable organization，the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation，is looking for inventors to design the loo of the future，which，they hope，would improve sanitation for millions of people around the world.
So，what’s wrong with the traditional flush toilet？Firstly，it wastes a huge amount of potential drinking water.Secondly，they are more likely to cause pollution.This is a real problem in many areas of the developing world，where，according to United Nations estimates，unsafe sanitation causes half of all hospitalizations.Younger people are particularly at risk.Illnesses which cause diarrhea are responsible for the deaths of about 1.5 million children a year.Finally，standard lavatories simply aren’t practical in remote areas.
The challenge set by Bill Gates was to come up with a latrine which works without running water，electricity or aseptic tank.It also needed to operate for less than 5 cents.28 designs were displayed at the recent Reinvent the Toilet Fair，in Seattle，USA.Among them was one which turned human waste into electricity using microwaves，another which converted human waste into charcoal，and yet another which used urine for flushing.
But the winner was a solar­powered design which generated hydrogen gas and electricity. The team from the California Institute of Technology(CIT) picked up a prize of $100,000.
But clearly Bill Gates doesn’t feel he’s flushing money down the toilet.After the Seattle event he said，“We couldn’t be happier with the response we’ve gotten.” Gates has even pledged $370 million more to the future toilet project.They hope to field test more prototypes over the next three years.
小题1:Why is Bill Gates paying people to invent new toilets?

A．Because he wants to test people’s sense of creativity.

B．Because he wants to improve sanitation for many people.

C．Because he thinks the traditional ones are out of fashion.

D．Because he can’t design this kind of things himself.

小题2:Which of the following is NOT a problem with the traditional flush toilet?

A．They waste too much water.

B．They might cause diseases.

C．They are not always practical.

D．They are too complicated to use.

小题3:The underlined word “latrine” in the third paragraph might have similar meanings to the word “________” in the text.

A．loo	B．sanitation
C．diarrhea	D．prototype

小题4:The team from CIT won the prize because their design ________.

A．can change human waste into electricity

B．can turn human waste into charcoal

C．can produce power with solar energy

D．can use urine for flushing

Answer 1

小题1:B
小题2:D
小题3:A
小题4:C

小题1:　B
解析　根据第一段最后一句“...which，they hope，would improve sanitation for millions of people around the world.”可知他希望这会改善全世界数以百万人的卫生环境。
小题2:　D
解析　第二段讲的是传统抽水马桶的问题。第二段第二句“Firstly，it wastes a huge amount of potential drinking water.”可对应答案A项；第三句“Secondly，they are more likely to cause pollution.”可对应答案B项；最后一句“Finally，standard lavatories simply aren’t practical in remote areas.”可对应答案C项。文中没有提到D项。
小题3:　A
解析　根据第一段前两句可知toilet和loo是同义词，也就是说loo是“厕所”的意思。根据第三段划线词所在的句子的意思可知，比尔·盖茨提出的这个问题的挑战性在于，人们要设计出一个不用流水，不用电和无菌桶的latrine。因此，latrine的意思应该是“厕所”。
小题4:　C
解析　根据倒数第二段第一句“But the winner was a solar­powered design which generated hydrogen gas and electricity.”可知获胜者设计了太阳能装置，能产生氢气和电。