2012届高考英语二轮专题复习阅读能力综合培养训练集59.docVIP

2012届高考英语二轮专题复习阅读能力综合培养训练集（五十九） A The treadle pump is based on a design developed in the 1970s by Norwegian engineer Gunnar Barnes. It can be made locally. The treadle pump is easy to build from bamboo or other wood and two metal cylinders (圆筒) with pistons (活塞). The pistons go up and down as a person stands on lever devices — treadles — and uses a natural walking motion. How many hours a day the pump needs to be operated depends on the season and how much water is needed for crops. It could be two hours a day. It could be seven hours a day. Small children sometimes stand with their parents on the treadles. Everyone in the family can take turns operating the pump. The Acumen Fund is a nonprofit group that invests in business projects to fight poverty. It studied the effects of treadle pumps in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh has three treadle pump manufacturers and more than seventythree thousand pumps. Acumen reported that families using them ate more vegetables, because they were able to grow more to eat and to sell. Many of these families also drank more milk, because they bought a cow with their added earnings. Men with treadle pumps often no longer have to leave the farm to seek extra work in cities. The pump can also improve education. Farmers often use their extra earnings to buy books for their children or to pay for schooling. A farmer in Zambia said he hoped to have enough money in three years to buy a dieselpowered pump (柴油泵). Then he could grow more crops over a larger area. But the world economic crisis has had an effect on some farmers. IDE executive director Zenia Tata says some who were able to buy diesel pumps now do not have enough money to buy fuel. So they are using their treadle pumps again. [语篇解读]　脚踏泵因其简单、易行、实用之特点，正在世界的广大贫困地区被推广，以帮助农民脱贫致富，且已取得了显著的效果。 1．The treadle pump ________. A. is invented by an American engineer B. is mainly made of metal C. consists of two cylinders with pistons D. consists of two cylinders with an engi