新探索研究生英语（提高级）unit1passage2.doc

新探索研究生英语（提高级）unit1passage2 Directions: Water scarcity【不足；缺乏】 is becoming an increasingly serious problem in many countries. According to the UN World Water Development Report 2020, 2.2 billion people around the world do not have access to safely managed drinking water.?【全世界22亿人没有办法获得安全管理的饮用水】What can people do to solve water shortage problems? Read the text and find out how vegetarianism, desalination【海水淡化】, cloud seeding【云中散播（促进降雨的技术）】, and reducing water consumption in manufacturing sector might relate to solving the problem. Thirstier than ever 1?Water covers approximately 75% of the Earths surface, yet only 3% of it is drinkable; the rest is salt water.?Of the little that is fresh, a?staggering【adj. extremely great or surprising令人吃惊的是99%的可饮用水藏在地球冰川之下，只有很小一部分是新鲜的饮用水?】?99% is inaccessible, buried deep beneath the worlds glaciers.?According to Kummu et al. (2010), roughly a third of the worlds population is at risk from water scarcity, and population growth is only exacerbating the issue【世界上约有三分之一的人缺水，人口增长只会加速这一问题】. Not only does our species need water to survive, we also rely heavily on it to water our crops【农作物crop的复数】 and sustain our livestock—people typically drink around five liters【公升】 of water per day, while agriculture accounts for【占……比例】 the majority of global fresh water consumption.?In some parts of the world, water scarcity severely【非常严重地；严厉地】 limits food production capabilities.?Coumou and Rahmstorf (2012) have also forecast that climate change will increase?precipitation?variability【降水量变率】 (i.e. the frequency of rain), raising the risk of flooding and drought that?blight?food production.?So, what solutions are available to ensure a consistent and stable fresh water supply?? 2?The agricultural sector accounts for approximately 70% of global fresh water consumption—double that of industrial and domestic use combined.?While more efficient irrigation practices could reduce this volume by an estimated 30%–70%, cutting consumption of animal products【动物制品】 f