英语听力精选进阶版 14090

Bangladesh water may still be unsafe

Summary

22 March 2010

A new UN and Bangladesh government report, marking World Water Day, has found that 20 million Bangladeshis could still be drinking unsafe water almost 20 years after the problem was first discovered.

Reporter:

Mark Dummett

Report

The researchers found that arsenic¹ continues to be a major threat to the good health of millions of Bangladeshis, almost two decades after the problem was first detected, despite a massive effort to provide safe drinking water.

They also found that rice, the country's staple² food, can also contain potentially dangerous levels of arsenic, if the crop is irrigated³ with contaminated water, as happens in several parts of the country.

Ministers say that more research is needed on this and that people should not be alarmed.

Arsenic poisoning can cause cancers, heart and lung disease. It first became a problem in Bangladesh in the 1970s after the UN dug millions of new tube wells. The water that these wells tapped was contaminated with arsenic, and millions were affected⁴ in what the World Health Organisation⁵ termed 'the greatest mass poisoning in history'.

Mark Dummett, BBC News, Dhaka

1 arsenic   

n.砒霜，砷；adj.砷的

参考例句：

• His wife poisoned him with arsenic.他的妻子用砒霜把他毒死了。
• Arsenic is a poison.砒霜是毒药。

2 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。

3 irrigated   

[医]冲洗的

参考例句：

• They irrigated their crops with water from this river. 他们用这条小河里的水浇庄稼。
• A crop can be sown, weeded, irrigated, and fertilized uniformly. 一种作物可以均匀一致地进行播种，除草，灌溉和施肥。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。