Australians have evidently realized the fact that water means life and we need to he more thoughtful in our use of this rather precious resource．Since the year 2000, Australians have managed to reduce their use of water by 14% ． In the most populous city, Sydney, they've managed to use less water in 2007 than in 1974, even though the city grew by l． 2 million souls in this period．
Across the country nearly 20% of all households have water tanks．That would probably be due, in large part, to the various state governments offering generous rebates． In NSW, for example, where 24,000 households have taken up the offer, you can get $1,500 AUD back if you fix a 7,000 + litre tank and have it attached into your toilet and washing machine．
Creywater use has taken off too． The Australian Bureau of Statistics suggest that it's now the second most common source of water in Australia, with over half of the country's homes reusing water from their washing machines, showers and baths． The state of Victoria leads with 70% using greywater, and Queensland, coming close behind with 63%．
Up in the northern state of．Queensland, some of their dams have been below 20%． Sydney's main dam is only at 56% of its potential capacity．
The country's ongoing drought（干旱） has seen more than 95% of the length of the Murray- Darling Basin （ the two major river systems that supply the nation's  'food basket' ） regarded as ' degraded',  Supply of water has become such an issue that hydro-electric power（水力发电） output has dropped 7% in a recent 9 year period for the states of NSW, Victoria and Tasmania．Not good for promoting our uptake understanding of renewable energy in these climate changing times．But at least the message is getting through about making every drop count．
The underlined word "rebate" in paragraph 2 probably means             ．

A．discount or allowance	B．water tanks for free
C．agreements or payment	D．washing machine of high quality

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．The state of Victoria is playing a leading role in greywater use．

B．More water has been used in Australia with the growing population．

C．The state of Queensland gets its water mostly from the north of its state．

D．Some of the dams in Queensland are too weak to hold potential water．

We can learn from the last paragraph that          ．

A．the country's water shortage is partly due to continuous drought

B．large quantities of water are being used to produce electricity

C．the author hopes water resource could be used to the fullest

D．the author disagrees with the use of renewable energy

The passage is likely to appear in         ．

A．a scientist's diary	B．a history paper
C．a travel guidebook	D．a newspaper