According to UNICEF, around 564 million Indians, nearly half the population, still defecate in the open — in fields, forests, ne

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问题    According to UNICEF, around 564 million Indians, nearly half the population, still defecate in the open — in fields, forests, next to ponds, along highway medians and on the beach.
   That spreads diseases and causes other public and personal problems.
   It is no accident that "Toilet" opens with a beautifully lit scene of women trudging out of their village right before sunrise, each one carrying a little brass jug of water to wash with. They are traveling in a group for safety.
   Rural women sometimes endure taunts and even sexual assault when they relieve themselves outdoors, so they travel in small groups, often before dawn, for protection.
   "This is a real problem, " said Jagmati Sangwan, a women’s rights advocate. "So many women, especially landless women, face a lot of violence when they go to the bathroom outside."
   To avoid being leered at during the day, some women hold on for hours for darkness to fall. Waiting that long can create health problems, particularly for pregnant women, who are highly susceptible to urinary tract infections, experts say.
   A recent study found a troubling correlation between pregnant mothers who had no toilet facilities and low birth weight.
   Not helping matters, hard-liners with the governing Bharatiya Janata Party, or B.J.P., have photographed women who relieve themselves outside in an effort to shame them. Earlier this year, a man who stood up for such women was beaten to death.
   Government officials say they have spent $4 billion to help install 50 million toilets so far, building community latrines and providing subsidies for people to put them in their homes. The Modi government runs a website bestowing on top-performing villages a special "ODF" (Open Defecation Free) status.
   Their efforts have earned praise abroad. Bill Gates, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, wrote on his blog: "I can’t think of another time when a national leader has broached such a sensitive topic so frankly and so publicly. Even better, Modi backed up his words with actions."
   But Mr. Modi’s detractors say there may be more emphasis on image than deed, and that in many areas party apparatchiks are so eager to fall in line with the prime minister’s directives that they are putting up latrines that are not connected to sewers or septic systems. Several businessmen in New Delhi said government agencies are in such a rush that they are awarding contracts left and right with little oversight and often to businesses that know nothing about sanitation. According to Indian news reports, countless rupees have disappeared in shady toilet deals.
   Sanitation specialists say that with less than 5 percent of India’s nearly 8, 000 cities and towns having sewage treatment plants, it is far from clear where all the waste will go.
   "There’s a blind scramble to make a toilet, whether it is usable or not, " said Bezwada Wilson, an official with the Sanitation Workers’ Movement, an advocacy organization. "It has become a business, and resulted in the corporatization of the toilet."
According to the passage, who made efforts to improve the condition of toilet in India?

选项 A、Bill Gates
B、Several businessmen in New Delhi
C、The Modi government
D、Bharatiya Janata Party or B. J. P.

答案C

解析 由第9段可知,C项正确。A项中比尔盖茨只是对莫迪政府的做法表示赞扬,并没有提供实际的帮助,因此A项错误。由第12段可知,新德里的几位商人只是对政府机构的一些做法提出批评,并没有提供帮助,因此B项错误。由第8段可知,同印度人民党一起的强硬派人士对那些在户外如厕的妇女拍照并羞辱她们,因此D项错误。第9段中提到,政府花费40亿美元,安装5000万个厕所;还提供补贴,让人们把厕所安在家里;此外,莫迪政府运营了一个网站奖励村庄安装ODF。答案为C。
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