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VOA新闻杂志2024--Limited Water Affects People around the World

时间:2024-04-08 02:34:40

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(单词翻译)

Limited Water Affects People around the World

  People around the world are worried that water for drinking, cooking and cleaning is getting harder to find. Many believe changes in their climate are affecting their ability to get water.

  The problem exists in places such as Corning, California; Lima, Peru; Jakarta, Indonesia; Ras El Ma, Morocco; Makueni County1, Kenya, and Bawal, India.

  The United Nations says 2.2 billion people worldwide do not have safely managed drinking water.

  Lima, Peru

  In Lima, Justina Flores lives with no running water. She is a 50-year-old grandmother who gets water from the government. With the supply, she washes her family's clothing by hand and then uses what is left to bathe her dog.

  The government gives water to 1.5 million of the country's poorest people. Big water trucks make their way up hills to get to places where people need it. Flores tries to limit her water use. She owns a washing machine, but it uses too much water. By washing clothes by hand, she saves about 45 liters2. The family gets 3,000 liters per week. Official information says, in wealthier areas with running water, families use an average of almost 12,000 liters per week.

  Flores has worked in some of those homes. She said, there, people can take a bath every day. She said in her area of Lima, people can only wash themselves two times per week.

  Jakarta, Indonesia

  In Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, people say it is difficult to get clean water.

  Devi Putri Eka Sari is 37. She has three children. Since she was a girl, she has had to purchase water from sellers3 who work in her low-income neighborhood. While the government installed5 water pipes and pumps, the water does not always come.

  Sari said, if the water did flow, she is not sure she would drink it. "It's not healthy," she said. "It's filled with bacteria that will make you sick." She said it also smells like chemicals.

  The World Health Organization says she is right. Seven of 10 households in Indonesia use drinking water that contains the dangerous bacteria known as E. coli.

  As a result, she and many other Indonesians have been buying water all their lives. They either use large, refillable containers or single-use bottles. This creates a lot of waste.

  "It's the option we have," she said.

  Ras El Ma, Morocco

  In the North African country of Morocco, a river flows next to the farm where Mimoun Nadori's family has grown fruits and vegetables for a long time.

  But when he tastes the water from the river today, he makes a bad face. The water is salty. He said it was not that way in the past. Back then, as he said: "Everything was green. We drank from the river and washed with the river. We made a life with it."

  His land is along the Moulouya River, which does not flow like it did in the past. Dams were built and water is pumped upstream. That means Nadori's land gets less water. The water hardly moves, which permits seawater to come in.

  Nadori now has to bring water in for the chickens he raises. He once raised cows, but he discovered the cows were drinking from the tainted6 water. The cows died.

  He admitted there is more than one reason for the lack of water.

  "We won't lie and say the reason is only humans or drought7, it's both," he said. "We don't know how to use water and we waste a lot of water."

  Corning, California, United States

  Fred and Robin8 Imfeld once had no problem filling their swimming pool and watering the plants at their home in rural9 California. But two years ago, their well in the town of Corning went dry. The pool is empty now, and the plants are brown.

  Across California, wells have dried up because people use too much water and there is not enough rain to replace what is used. The supply of groundwater is low. The Imfelds want to drill a new, deeper well. But it would cost a lot: $25,000.

  Until they can drill the new well, they depend on water from the state. Two times each month, they receive a water tank that contains almost 10,000 liters. They use the water to wash themselves, wash dishes and clean their clothes. They get a different shipment10 of 113 liters of water every two weeks that they use for drinking and cooking. When they need more water, Imfeld takes all the containers he has to a friend's home a few kilometers away and fills them.

  He said the worries about water add to the family's personal concerns. They are worried all the time about their own lives and the water. "We're just being emotionally11 drained," he said.

  Makueni County, Kenya

  Joyce Mule13 used to walk two hours each day to find water in Makueni County, Kenya. There are few water pipes in her southeastern village.

  One way to get water is by digging holes in a local riverbed and retrieving14 the collected water.

  But in 2012, she and the others in the village changed to a different method. They now catch water that runs off rocks 30 or more meters above the ground.

  The rock catchment method directs the water through a containing wall and smaller rocks that help to clean it. Eventually the water flows into a pipe and into a large tank that is much closer to the village.

  Her plants and trees are now healthy. There is more fruit and cows are producing more milk. Her life is better now.

  "We used to think the rocks were worthless," she said. "But now we see the benefits."

  Bawal, India

  Ramkrishan Malawat is 52. He remembers the days when people in his village near New Dehli did not have to dig deep wells to get water. They only needed to walk 10 kilometers to find a fast-flowing river. Water was no concern.

  Now, the river is dry, and the water is more than 70 meters below the ground. "We are forced to dig deeper with every passing year," he said. But he must keep digging in order to get water for his farm – he grows mustard15, corn and other grains.

  When he does get to the water, it is not as clean. The water contains chemicals from the ground – including fluoride.

  Drilling for water is common in India. The United Nations says India drills and pumps more groundwater than the United States and China combined.

  There is more need for water as India grows. The Indian population is the world's largest, and it continues to grow. The people need homes and jobs. Every time a new structure is built, it causes runoff, and less water can seep16 into the ground.

  "Water just flows away," Malawat said. He noted17 that the auto18 industry is now bigger than farming in the area.

  "I worry sometimes that in 10 to 15 years, there will be no good water available for farming in my town," he said.

  Words in This Story

  install4 –v. to put a piece of equipment or a part in place

  option –n. a choice that can be made

  upstream –adj. the area nearer to the source of a river or stream

  tainted –adj. containing something that should not be there

  drought –n. an extended19 period of lower-than-normal rainfall for the climate of a place

  drain12 –v. to have something flow away or disappear from where it normally20 is

  seep –v. to slowly flow down into the group


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1 county kO0zE     
n.县,郡
参考例句:
  • When the good news reached there,the whole county rejoiced.喜讯传到那里时,全县的人都欢欣鼓舞起来。
  • In that year county after county fell to the enemy.那一年一个又一个的县城沦入敌人手中。
2 liters ef17a9e7e856103fa742d35eef4c3521     
n.升( liter的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • In the metric system, measurements are made in metres and liters. 在公制中,用米和升作计量单位。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • This can holds five liters of water. 这个容器可装五升水。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 sellers d396cebb1f0e0c0f7cee9aead79c553e     
n.卖者( seller的名词复数 );卖方;销售者;销售商
参考例句:
  • buyers and sellers transacting business 进行交易的买方和卖方
  • All manner of hawkers and street sellers were plying their trade. 形形色色的沿街小贩都在做着自己的买卖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 install b6AxK     
vt.安装,设置,安置;使就职,任命
参考例句:
  • They will install a heating and lighting system in our house. 他们将在我们家装上供热供电系统。
  • He's going to install an air - conditioner in the house. 他要在这屋子里装空调机。
5 installed 73329564760013a7824ff9d5d1af91ff     
安装( install的过去式和过去分词 ); 安顿; 安置; 使…正式就职
参考例句:
  • He's getting a phone installed tomorrow. 他明天要装电话。
  • A professionally installed alarm will cost from about £500. 请专业人员安装的警报器要花费至少500 英镑。
6 tainted qgDzqS     
adj.腐坏的;污染的;沾污的;感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 );使污染;败坏;被污染,腐坏,败坏
参考例句:
  • The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
  • He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 drought nrxxj     
n.旱灾,干旱,久旱
参考例句:
  • The plants are growing in again,despite the drought.尽管干旱,植物又长出来了。
  • The ground is as hard as stone after the drought.长期干旱后土地硬得就像石头一样。
8 robin Oj7zme     
n.知更鸟,红襟鸟
参考例句:
  • The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
  • We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟,知道春天要到了。
9 rural OC8za     
adj.乡下的,田园的,乡村风味的
参考例句:
  • He lived a rural life.他过着田园生活。
  • We left the city for a rural home.我们离开城市,去农村安家。
10 shipment cyVwp     
n.装货,装载的货物
参考例句:
  • The goods are done up in bundles for shipment.货物已打包以备装船。
  • Please advise the date of shipment as soon as possible.请尽快通知装货日期。
11 emotionally pt9zrX     
adv.感情上,情绪上,冲动地
参考例句:
  • a special school for emotionally disturbed children 为精神异常儿童开办的特殊学校
  • A wide range of emotionally stressful events may trigger a relapse. 多种令人情绪紧张的事情都可能引起旧病复发。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 drain kkmza     
n.排水沟,阴沟;消耗,负担;v.排去,放干
参考例句:
  • Drain off the rest of the wine from this barrel.把桶里剩余的酒排出去。
  • First,you have to drain the container of all the old oil.首先,你得从油箱中把所有的陈油都抽去。
13 mule G6RzI     
n.骡子,杂种,执拗的人
参考例句:
  • A mule is a cross between a mare and a donkey.骡子是母马和公驴的杂交后代。
  • He is an old mule.他是个老顽固。
14 retrieving 4eccedb9b112cd8927306f44cb2dd257     
n.检索(过程),取还v.取回( retrieve的现在分词 );恢复;寻回;检索(储存的信息)
参考例句:
  • Ignoring all, he searches the ground carefully for any cigarette-end worth retrieving. 没管打锣的说了什么,他留神的在地上找,看有没有值得拾起来的烟头儿。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
  • Retrieving the nodules from these great depths is no easy task. 从这样的海底深渊中取回结核可不是容易的事情。 来自辞典例句
15 mustard J62zS     
n.芥子,芥末,深黄色,强烈的兴趣,热情的人
参考例句:
  • This meat should be seasoned with salt and mustard.这肉里应该加点盐和芥末调味。
  • This mustard is hot enough to bite your tongue.这种芥末很辣,你的舌头会吃不消的。
16 seep rDSzK     
v.渗出,渗漏;n.渗漏,小泉,水(油)坑
参考例句:
  • My anger began to seep away.我的怒火开始消下去了。
  • If meteoric water does not evaporate or run overland,it may seep directly into the ground.如果雨水不从陆地蒸发和流走的话,就可能直接渗入地下。
17 noted 5n4zXc     
adj.著名的,知名的
参考例句:
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
18 auto ZOnyW     
n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车
参考例句:
  • Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
  • The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。
19 extended Utcz1H     
adj.延伸的;伸展的;延长的;扩大的v.延伸(extend的过去式和过去分词);伸展;延长
参考例句:
  • an extended lunch hour 延长了的午餐时间
  • France has greatly extended its influence in world affairs. 在世界事务中,法国的影响已大大地扩大了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
20 normally ln8zVb     
adv.正常地,通常地
参考例句:
  • I normally do all my shopping on Saturdays.我通常在星期六买东西。
  • My pulse beats normally.我脉搏正常。

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