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CCTV9英语新闻:工农业污染影响饮水安全

时间:2014-05-15 08:56:47

(单词翻译:单击)

The north China plain has always faced a shortage of water. As a result, people have been using underground water for a long time. But this continued use has severely1 depleted2 the water table, leading to a host of concerns.

 

It is the sowing season. Farmers in north China are irrigating3 the wheat field with underground water. In Hengshui city of Hebei Province, half of the city’s water supply comes from the underground water table. As a result, the water level has been dropping by two meters a year.

 

"An underground well is between three to four hundred meters deep. Water levels underground are dropping. Therefore, in order to get more water, the wells are getting deeper. The city now has 75,000 deep wells. Three to four percent of them are being discarded every year." Ma Yingpeng with Hengshui’s Water Affairs Bureau said.

 

For generations, farmers here in the North China Plain have used flooding methods for irrigation. This method consumes the most water. Despite the water shortage in the area, the use of this method hasn’t changed.

 

In Jing Xian county of Hengshui, we found a deep well that became disused last year. Most deep wells use motors to pump out the water. The deeper the well goes, the more the cost.

 

"I have a quarter acre of land. Each time I have to water it, I have to spend four hundred Yuan. The pump often breaks when it gets deep. I may have to spend upto ten thousand Yuan to repair it." Villager Guo Huazhong from Hengshui’s Jingxian County said.

 

"We had a 260 meters deep well. But the water it pumps out is decreasing. People can’t afford the power bill, so we aren’t using it anymore."

 

The provincial4 water resource department says that 90% of deep wells using motors are in rural areas. The depth of these wells ranges from 70 meters to 500 meters. In all, agricultural irrigation constitutes 70% of the total water consumption.

 

"The water reserve per capita in Hebei Province is only one seventh of the country’s average level. For years we have been over using underground water. The volume of pumped out water could reach over five billion cubic meters ever year." Zhang Baoquan with Water Resource Department in Hebei Province, said.

 

The north China plain is one of China’s major grain production and industrial bases. The increasing depletion5 of the groundwater table is not only an ecological6 disaster waiting to happen, but could also become a threat to food security and economic development in the future.


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1 severely SiCzmk     
adv.严格地;严厉地;非常恶劣地
参考例句:
  • He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
  • He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。
2 depleted 31d93165da679292f22e5e2e5aa49a03     
adj. 枯竭的, 废弃的 动词deplete的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • Food supplies were severely depleted. 食物供应已严重不足。
  • Both teams were severely depleted by injuries. 两个队都因队员受伤而实力大减。
3 irrigating 0ed70a12fb6b41d2ac997bf4b7f6026b     
灌溉( irrigate的现在分词 ); 冲洗(伤口)
参考例句:
  • Derrick and I have been laying out the system of irrigating ditches. 德里克跟我在一起修建那个灌溉网。
  • He had been in command at the irrigating ditch the day before. 上一天,在灌溉渠边,是他担任指挥的。
4 provincial Nt8ye     
adj.省的,地方的;n.外省人,乡下人
参考例句:
  • City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
  • Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。
5 depletion qmcz2     
n.耗尽,枯竭
参考例句:
  • Increased consumption of water has led to rapid depletion of groundwater reserves.用水量的增加导致了地下水贮备迅速枯竭。
  • Farmers should rotate crops every season to prevent depletion of the soil.农夫每季应该要轮耕,以免耗尽土壤。
6 ecological IrRxX     
adj.生态的,生态学的
参考例句:
  • The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
  • Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.