365个英语简短小故事-136. Drought Attacks Georgia

The state of Georgia is in the midst of a major drought. Experts predict that, unless it rains “cats and dogs” real soon, the whole city of Atlanta will have no drinking water in four months. Lake Lanier, the source of Atlanta’s water delivery system, is now at only 20 percent of its usual level. To make matters worse, when Georgia water officials tried to block the flow of the Chattahoochee River southward to Alabama and Florida, those states threatened Georgia with lawsuits¹. They claimed that they were just as desperate for and entitled to that river water as Georgia was.

The Georgia Civil Air Patrol has been trying to seed the clouds overhead for the last six months, to no avail. State officials asked the local Cherokee Indians to do a rain dance. The Indians told them they would do a rain dance when the state returned all the land that it stole from the Cherokees. Officials hired the nation’s number one water finder. He found a still for making whiskey.

Finally, the governor himself held a press conference on the steps of the state capitol building. He asked all the media to bow their heads, raised his hands to heaven, and prayed. “Lord, we are asking for relief, not for us, but for the sick and the young in this state. Thank you, oh most powerful Lord.” The Georgia Association of Atheists immediately sued the governor for conducting prayer sessions on state property.

 

1 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句