题目内容：

    Something’s happening at the lowest point on our planet,some 1,388 feet below sea level.The Dead Sea,a salt lake close to Israel,Jordan and the West Bank,is shrinking at an alarming rate—about 3.3 feet per year,according to the environmentalist group EcoPeace Middle East.

“It’s not just like one country is punishing the Dead Sea;it’s more like the whole region,”said photographer Moritz Küstner,who visited the area in February to work on his series “The Dying Dead Sea”.

The Dead Sea needs water from the other natural sources surrounding it,such as the Jordan River basin.But around the 1960s, the courses of some water sources it relied upon were diverted. Israel, for instance, built a pipeline during that time so it could supply water throughout the country.

Mineral extraction(提取)industries are another main reason why the water levels are declining,experts say.The Dead Sea’s minerals have been popular for their medical power and can often be found in cosmetics(化妆品)and other consumer products.

And then,of course,there’s the Middle East’s hot,dry climate,which makes it difficult for the lake to refill itself.Last year,Israel and Jordan signed a $ 900 million deal in an effort to stabilize the Dead Sea’s water levels.It involves building a canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea which would be able to not only supply water to Israel and Jordan but also to pump much needed water—some 300 million cubic meters annually—into the Dead Sea.

“This is the most important and significant agreement since the peace treaty with Jordan (in 1994),”said Silvan Shalom,Israel’s energy and water resources minister at the time.Whether the canal—estimated to take three years to complete—will work out positively and as planned remains to be seen.

For now, Küstner shows us that the Dead Sea remains very much a place of interest, with people from all over the world going there to swim in its salty waters.

1.How many reasons for the Dead Sea’s shrinking does the author mention in the passage?

A. One. B. Two.

C. Three. D. Four.

2.What does the underlined word “diverted” in paragraph 3 mean?

A. Switch. B. Improve.

C. Accomplish. D. Repair.

3.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A. The Dead Sea is drying out causing water shortage to humans.

B. Küstner visited the Dead Sea to shoot TV series about people’s life.

C. The Dead Sea’s minerals have been used in some products.

D. The Dead Sea’s water levels have been stabilized by building a canal.

4.What is the passage mainly about?

A. How the Dead Sea’s water levels’ decline influences human beings.

B. How important the Dead Sea is in Israel,Jordan and the West Bank.

C. What we should do to save the Dead Sea from being destroyed.

D. Why the Dead Sea is dying and the measure taken to save it.