Part B Directions: In the following articles, some sentence
have been removed. For Questions 41 -45, choose the most suitable one from the
list A-G to fit into each of the numbered blank. There are two extra choices,
which do not fit in any of the gaps. Mark your answers on ANSWTR SHEET
1.
A significant portion of industry and transportation burns
fossil fuels, such as gasoline. When these fuels burn, chemicals and particulate
matter are released into the atmosphere. Although a vast number of substances
contribute to air pollution, the most common air pollutants contain carbon,
sulfur, and nitrogen. 41 __________. Acid rain
forms when sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide transform into sulfuric acid and
nitric acid in the atmosphere and come back to Earth in precipitation. Acid rain
has made numerous lakes so acidic that they no longer support fish
populations. 42 __________. Estimates suggest
that nearly 1.5 billion people worldwide lack safe drinking water and that at
least 5 million deaths per year can be attributed to waterborne diseases. Water
pollution may come from point sources or nonpoint sources. Point sources
discharge pollutants from specific locations, such as factories, sewage
treatment plants, and oil tankers. The technology exists to monitor and regulate
point sources of pollution, although in some areas this occurs only
sporadically. Pollution from nonpoint sources occurs when rainfall or snowmelt
moves over and through the ground. 43 __________.
With almost 80 percent of the planet covered by oceans, people have long
acted as if those bodies of water could serve as a limitless dumping ground for
wastes. However, raw sewage, garbage, and oil spills have begun to overwhelm the
diluting capabilities of tile oceans, and most coastal waters are now polluted,
threatening marine wildlife. 44 __________.
Water that collects beneath the ground is called groundwater. Worldwide,
groundwater is 40 times more abundant than fresh water in streams and lakes. In
the United States, approximately half the drinking water comes from groundwater.
Although groundwater is a renewable resource, reserves replenish relatively
slowly. Presently, groundwater in the United States is withdrawn approximately 4
times faster than it is naturally replaced. 45 __________. A.
Beaches around the world close regularly, often because the surrounding waters
contain high levels of bacteria from sewage disposal. B. These
chemicals interact with one another and with ultraviolet radiation in sunlight
in dangerous ways. Smog, usually found in urban areas with large numbers of
automobiles, forms when nitrogen oxides react with hydrocarbons in the air to
produce aldehydes and ketones. Smog can cause serious health problems.
C. Acid rain is also responsible for the decline of many forest
ecosystems worldwide, including Germany’s Black Forest and forests throughout
the eastern United States. D. In addition to groundwater
depletion, scientists worry about groundwater contamination, which arises from
leaking underground storage tanks, poorly designed industrial waste ponds, and
seepage from the deep-well injection of hazardous wastes into underground
geologic formations. E. The Ogallala Aquifer, a huge underground
reservoir stretching under eight states of the Great Plains, is drawn down at
rates exceeding 100 times the replacement rate. Agricultural practices depending
on this source of water need to change within a generation in order to save this
groundwater source. F. As the runoff moves, it picks up and
carries away pollutants, such as pesticides and fertilizers, depositing the
pollutants into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters, and even underground
sources of drinking water. Pollution arising from nonpoint sources accounts for
a majority of the contaminants in streams and lakes. G. By
some estimates, on average, 25 percent of usable groundwater is contaminated,
and in some areas as much as 75 percent is contaminated.