2010年6月大學英語四級考試全真預測試卷七Model Test Seven

　　Part I Writing (30 minutes)

　　Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a composition on the topic: The Importance of keeping A Good Mood. You should write at least 120 words according to the outline given below in Chinese:

　　1. 人們每天都生活在壓力之下

　　2. 所以說保持一個好的心情是十分重要的

　　3. 我的觀點和原因

　　Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes)

　　Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1.

　　For questions 1-7, mark

　　Y (for YES) if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage;

　　N (for NO) if the statement contradicts the information given in the passage;

　　NG (for NOT GIVEN) if the information is not given in the passage.

　　For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.

　　Gulf Wracked By Katrina's Latest Legacy-Disease, Poisons, Mold

　　A month after Hurricane Katrina tore through the U.S. Gulf Coast, medical experts are now struggling with the latest crisis in the region; contamination(污染).

　　Katrina left New Orleans and other communities tainted with oil, sewage, and possibly poisons leached from federal toxic waste sites, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says.

　　The pollution, combined with the lack of regular medical services in the region, has raised serious questions about the safety of New Orleans and other coastal towns as people longing for home begin to go back.

　　"I don't think New Orleans is safe for people to return to, from a public health and environmental health standpoint," said Miriam Aschkenasy, an environmental health expert working with Oxfam America in the region.

　　Much of the contamination rests in the brown, filmy sediment(沉淀物) left behind by Katrina's polluted floodwaters.

　　Recent EPA tests of the sediment confirmed high levels of E. coli bacteria, oil and gas chemicals, and lead, as well as varying quantities of arsenic.

　　The health risks posed by the sediment are immediate, experts say, because the sludge(淤泥) is nearly impossible for returning residents to avoid. In New Orleans, it covers every surface that was flooded, from cars and now-dead lawns to the entire contents of flooded homes, stores, hospitals, and schools.

　　"When people come back, they are exposed to the sediment," said Wilma Subra, a chemist from New Iberia, Louisiana, who is analyzing the sediment. "It's in their yards and houses."

　　Old Pollution Resurfacing

　　Plaquemines Parish, a rural county on the peninsula south of New Orleans, is now covered with even more toxic sediment than it was two weeks ago, thanks to Hurricane Rita.

　　"Six inches up to one foot (15 to 30 centimeters) of sludge," Subra reported.

　　Much of the sludge in Plaquemines is the product of nearby bayous and bay bottoms, where sediment was lifted up by Katrina's and Rita's storm surges.

　　The sediment has been polluted over the years with industrial chemicals and heavy metals, said Subra, who tested the sediment for the Southern Mutual Help Association, a nonprofit organization in New Iberia, Louisiana.

　　"These water bodies have received industrial wastes for decades," she said. "This material has toxic chemicals, metals, and organic petrochemicals(石化產品)."

　　Matters have only been made worse by multiple oil spills caused by Katrina and Rita. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, 11 oil spills have occurred in southern Louisiana, totaling 7.4 million gallons (28 million liters) of oil, most of which has been contained.

　　Bacteria levels are also especially high in the Plaquemines sludge, said Rodney Mallett, spokesperson for the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.

　　"The sewage treatment plants were underwater," he explained. "Between the animal waste and the human waste, you've got a lot of bacteria."

　　Protection Kits

　　Health and environmental agencies are advising people to avoid contact with the sludge. They recommend that people wear gloves, goggles, and dust masks, and that they wash promptly if exposure occurs.

　　EPA officials are directing people to its Web site (www.epa.gov) to inform themselves of the contamination risks.

　　But most people returning to the area don't have computers to get that information, said Erik Olson, an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group.

　　"If you [do] read the Web site," he added, "you practically have to have a degree in chemistry to understand it."

　　To better inform people of health risks, the Southern Mutual Help Association and Oxfam America are developing a program to give every returning resident a protective kit.

　　Each kit would contain waterproof suits, goggles(風鏡), shoe covers, and masks, along with information about potential hazards, Volunteers would give out the kits at the security checkpoints that now stand at the major entrances to affected cities.

　　The groups have made a hundred demonstration kits, which cost about $100 (U.S.) each to produce, and have shown them to state leaders in Louisiana.

　　"The governor is really in favor of this," Subra said. "We just have to determine how we're going to fund them."

　　Toxic Mold Blooms

　　In addition to the toxic sediment, sprawling blooms of mold have now taken hold in many flooded homes. "The mold is growing everywhere-homes are just coated with it," Subra said.

　　The problem has become so widespread that federal health officials warned Wednesday of allergic reactions and toxic responses to the mold. Professionals should be hired to clean mold that covers more than ten square feet (one square meter), they urged.

　　"Those [surfaces] that can't be cleaned need to be removed," said Steven Redd, chief of the Air Pollution and Respiratory Health Branch of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

　　The effects of the mold are already surfacing in Mississippi, where respiratory(呼吸的) problems are among the illnesses doctors there are reporting.