Guatemala's Lake Atitlán is known for its amazing scenery: blue waters together with impressive volcanoes and Mayan villages. And now the site is about to add a rather different attraction. The lakeside community of Santa Catarina Palopó is working on a project to turn itself into a beautiful piece of artwork, with a view to creating a source of tourism income for the locals.
It's the brainchild of Harris Whitbeck, a Guatemalan journalist and believer in art as an agent of social change, whose family has links to the lake going back three generations. When he saw how famous Dutch artist Jeroen Koolhaas had decorated the Rio de Janeiro favela (贫民窟) of Vila Cruzeiro with lively color, the idea of painting Santa Catarina Palopó was born. “Studies show that if the physical environment of a community is improved, it is conducive to local people. There's a crimelevel fall and new businesses open up，” Whitbeck said.
One of Central America's largest cement (水泥) companies, Cementos Progreso, donated lime (石灰) to make paints. Whitbeck discovered that limebased paints are cheap to produce. In fact, the villagers' ancestors were using limebased paints 5,000 years ago.
The community came up with the final idea with a Guatemalan design company. There are 800 houses and enough paints for 100 so far, so an “adoptahouse” plan is being set up. Groups of up to five visitors, who pledge (抵押) D|S500, can help the family paint a house. Hotels in the area, including Casa Palopó and Villas Santa Catarina, will offer discounts to volunteers. Whitbeck says it could take up to two years to complete the project, depending on money. The hope is that the village will attract more tourists and make money for homestays, guides, restaurants and weavers (纺织工人). “The community will determine how the project goes on，” said Whitbeck. “Painting is just the beginning.”
语篇解读：危地马拉的一个湖畔社区计划了一个项目，准备把自己打造成一件美丽的艺术品，从而发展旅游业，增加当地居民的收入。
1．When did Whitbeck start to consider beautifying his hometown?
A．When he became an agent of social change.
B．When he learned about the result of the studies.
C．After he called on Dutch artist Jeroen Koolhaas.
D．As he saw the decorated favela of Vila Cruzeiro.
解析：选D 细节理解题。根据第二段“It's the brainchild of Harris Whitbeck ...When he saw how famous Dutch artist Jeroen Koolhaas had decorated the Rio de Janeiro favela (贫民窟) of Vila Cruzeiro with lively color, the idea of painting Santa Catarina Palopó was born.”可知，Harris Whitbeck在看到被装饰的Vila Cruzeiro贫民窟的时候产生了美化Santa Catarina Palopó的想法。
2．What does the underlined word “conducive” in Paragraph 2 mean?
A．Difficult. B．Dangerous.
C．Advantageous. D．Important.
解析：选C 词义猜测题。根据画线词下文的“There's a crimelevel fall and new businesses open up ...”可知，犯罪水平下降，新的生意出现。由此可猜测，自然环境得到改善对当地居民是有好处的。画线词的含义是“有益的”。
3．It can be known that the project of changing Santa Catarina Palopó ________.
A．has reduced the crime levels there
B．got much help from Cementos Progreso
C．is based on the theme of the favela of Vila Cruzeiro
D．is directed by Cementos Progreso
解析：选B 细节理解题。根据第三段“One of Central America's largest cement (水泥) companies, Cementos Progreso, donated lime (石灰) to make paints.”可知，中美洲最大的水泥公司之一Cementos Progreso捐赠石灰来制造颜料。由此可知，改造Santa Catarina Palopó的项目得到了Cementos Progreso的大力的无偿帮助。
4．We can positively predict that Santa Catarina palopó will ________.
A．take more measures to complete the project
B．become the most popular site in Guatemala
C．offer discounts to all visitors
D．complete the project two years later on time
解析：选A 推理判断题。根据最后一段“‘ The community will determine how the project goes on，’ said Whitbeck. ‘Painting is just the beginning.’”可知，Whitbeck说社区会决定这个项目如何进行，涂色只是一个开始。由此可推知，Santa Catarina Palopó还将采取更多的措施来完成这个改造项目。
