A 69-year-old grandmother with no teeth of her own has eventually won a long legal battle to stop a Scottish regional council (政务委员会) adding fluoride(氟化物) chemical to the public water supply.

In a case which has already cost the taxpayer £1,000,000, the judge ruled that it was beyond the powers of the local authority to add the chemical to the water in order to reduce tooth decay.

At her home last night Mrs Catherine fluoride to public drinking water made it into some kind of dirty soup. “Where would it stop?” she asked. “They might come up with the idea of putting drugs into the water to keep the unemployed quiet.” It was a horrible poison, she said, that could have caused al kinds of diseases, including cancer.

The judge, however, concluded that there was no evidence to suggest that the inclusion of fluoride in the water supply would have had a negative effect on pulpier health. Although the chemical might serve as an efficient and convenient means of achieving a beneficial effect on the dental health of consumers generally, he said, and its use was greatly favored by the dental profession. He could also understand why some members of the public, Mrs McColl in particular, might be passionately opposed to the action of the Water Authority in assuming the right to improve public well-being without consulting the public in the first case. The Authority’s legal duty to provide “wholesome” water for public consumption which was both safe and pleasant to drink, did not, he said, extend to their right to safeguard public health by chemical means.

【小题1】Mrs McColll felt so strongly about the fluoride issue that she eventually _____.

A．took the local council to court

B．had a physical fight with the judge

C．urged the authority to apologize

D．spent much money removing the chemical

【小题2】According to what the judge said in the passage, adding fluoride to the water______ .

A．wasn’t proved to be harmful

B．was the duty of the local authority

C．was strongly poised by dentists

D．was surely beneficial to the public

【小题3】Form the passage we learn that people like Mrs McColl are more concerned about ____.

A．the improvement of their personal health

B．the problem of unemployment in their community

C．the chemicals to be used for the improvement of water quality

D．their right to be informed of the authorities’ decisions