SECTION 2: STUDY SKILLS(45 minutes)

　　Directions：In this section， you will read severalpassages. Each p assage isf ollowed byseveral questions based on its content. You are to choose ONE best answer， （A），  （B）， （C）or （D）， to each question. Answer all the questionsf ollowing eachpassage on the basisof  what is stated or imp lied in thatp assage and write the letter of  the answer you havechosen in the corresp onding space in your ANS WER BOOKLET.

Questions 1--5     
　　One day， drought may be a thing of the past， at least in any country not too far fromthe sea. Vast areas of desert throughout the world may for the first time come to life andprovide millions of hectares of cultivated land where now nothing grows.
　　By the end of this century this may not be mere speculation. Scientists are alreadylooking into the possibility of using some of the available ice in the Arctic and Antarctic.In these regions there are vast ice-caps formed by snow that has fallen over the past50，000 years. Layer upon layer of deep snow means that， when melted， the snow waterwould be pure， not salty as sea-ice would be. There is so much potential pure water herethat it would need only a fraction to turn much of the desert or poorly irrigated parts ofthe world into rich farmland. And what useful packages would come in ！ It should bepossible to hack off a bit of ice and transport it！Alternatively perhaps a passing icebergcould be captured. They are always breaking away from the main caps and floatingaround， pushed by currents， until they eventually melt and are wasted.
　　Many icebergs are， of course， much too small to be towed any distance， and wouldmelt before they reached a country that needed them anywhere. It would be necessaryto harness one that was manageable and that was big enough to provide a good supplywhen it reached us. Engineers think that an iceberg up to 11 kilometres long and 2kilometres wide could be transported if the tug pulling it was as big as a supertanker！Even then they would cover only 32 kilometres every day. However， once the icebergwas at its destination， say at one end of Hong Kong harbour， more than 7，000 millioncubic metres of water could be taken from it！ That would probably be more thanenough for Hong Kong even in the hottest summer！ But no doubt a use could be foundfor it.
　　Apparently， scientists say， there would not be too much wastage in such ajourney.The larger the iceberg， the slower it melts， even if it is towed through the tropics. This is because when the sun has a bigger area to warm up， less heat actually gets into theiceberg. The vast frozen center would be unaffected.
　　Even with the giant tug that would have to be available to tow an iceberg sevenmiles long， the voyage would take many months from the Antarctic to Hong Kong， forexample， but as stronger engines are built and more is known about sea currents， thejourney could get shorter and shorter and thus the wastage less and less. Airline pilotshave learnt to use jet streams ten miles above the earth to increase speed and save fuelso， surely， a boat towing an iceberg could make use of fast-flowing currents and avoidwarmer water.

1. The main idea of the first paragraph is that _____.
(A) much of desert has been changed into rich farmland already
(B) the problem of drought could easily be solved all over the world
(C) ice from the polar area may be used to solve the problem of drought
(D) it is possible to solve the problem of drought in many countries

2. We learn form the passage that icebergs _____.
(A) took shape as early as 50,000 years ago
(B) are eventually wasted while floating around
(C) melt more slowly in tropics than in any other areas
(D) are often too big to be of any value

3. The difficulty of using ice to solve the drought problem lies in all of the followingEXCEPT _____.
(A) the proper equipment for transportation
(B) the time taken on the journey
(C) the storage of the fresh water
(D) the proper size of icebergs

4. According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?
(A) The time for towing icebergs may be made shorter.
(B) It is possible to use ships to tow icebergs from the polar areas.
(C) Airline pilots may make use ofjet streams to help towing an iceberg.
(D) Not too much of the iceberg would melt while being towed through the oceans.

5. The author s attitude towards the solution to the problem of drought is _____.
(A) doubtful
(B) positive
(C) discouraging
(D) critical