2024年3月28日发(作者：windows7旗舰版壁纸)

The Water Crisis

Greater efficiency in water use is needed to meet the growing demands of a

changing world

【A】Per capita 人均water usage has been on an upward trend for many years.

As countries industrialise and their citizens become more prosperous, their

individual water usage increases rapidly. Annual per capital water withdrawals取回

in the USA, for example, are about 1,700 cubic meters立方公尺, four times the level

in China and fifty times the level in Ethiopia. In the 21st century, the world’s

limited supply of renewable fresh water is having to meet demands of both larger

total population and increased per capital consumption. The only practicable ways

to resolve this problem in the longer term are economic pricing in conjunction

with结合 conservation measures.

水危机

提高水利用率以满足不断增长的用水需求

A 很多年来，人均用水量一直呈现上升的趋势。随着国家工业化程度和居民生活水平

的提高，个人用水量也随之急剧增加。例如，美国的年人均取水量大约为1700立方米，

相当于中国的4倍，相当于埃塞俄比亚的50倍。在21世纪，有限的可更新淡水供应必须

满足不断增长的总人口和不断增加的人均用水量的諝求。 从长远来看，解决这一矛盾唯一

可行的方法是将征收水费和有效的水储存措施结合起来。

【B】Agriculture consumes about 70% of the world’s fresh water, so

improvements in irrigation can make the greatest impact. At present, average

efficiency in the use of irrigated water in agriculture may be as low as 50%. Simple

changes could improve the rate substantially, though it is unrealistic to expect very

high levels of water-use efficiency in many developing countries, faced as they are

with a chronic lack of capital and a largely untrained rural workforce. After

agriculture, industry is the second biggest user of water and, in terms of value

added per liter used, is sixty times more productive than agriculture. However,

some industrial processes use vast amounts of water. For example, production of 1

kg of aluminium铝 might require 1,500 liters of water. Paper production too is

often very water-intensive. Though new processes have greatly reduced

consumption, there is still plenty of room for big savings in industrial uses of water.

B 农业消耗了世界上大约70%的淡水，因此改进灌溉方式对节水的效果最为显著：目

前，农业灌溉用水的平均使用率可能只是50%。虽然在很多发展中国家，由于长期缺乏资

金以及存在大量未经培训的农村劳动力，其灌溉用水的使用率达到很高的程度是不现实的，

但是简单的改变可以充分提高水的使用率。工业是紧随农业之后的第二大用水行业，就每

升水的附加价值而言，工业的产出量是农业的60倍11然而，某些工业生产过程需要使用

大量的水。例如，生产1公斤铝需要使用1500升水。纸张生产也是水密集型产业。虽然

一些新的加工工艺已经大大降低了用水量_，但是工业用水还是存在很大的节约空间。

【C】In rich countries, water consumption has gradually been slowed down by

price increases and the use of modern technology and recycling. In the USA,

industrial production has risen fourfold since 1950, while water consumption has

fallen by more than a third. Japan and Germany have similarly improved their use

of water in manufacturing processes. Japanese industry, for example, now recycles

more than 75% of process water. However, industrial water consumption is

continuing to increase sharply in developing countries. With domestic and

agricultural demands also increasing, the capacity of water supply systems is under

growing strain.

C 在发达国家，由于水价的提高，现代技术的使用以及循环用水，用水量已经逐渐下

降了。在美国，1950年以后的工业产值增加了4倍，而用水量下降了超过1/3。日本和德

国在制造过程中也类似地改进了用水方式。例如，日本工业循环使用超过75%的处理水。

然而，发展中国家的工业用水量一直在急剧增加。随着家庭用水和农业用水需求的增加，

水供给系统的容量面临着越来越大的压力。

【D】Many experts believe that the best way to counter this trend is to impose

water charges based on the real cost of supplies. This would provide a powerful

incentive for consumers to introduce water-saving processes and recycling. Few

governments charge realistic prices for water, especially to farmers. Even in rich

California, farmers get water for less than a tenth of the cost of supply. In many

developing countries there is virtually no charge for irrigation water, while energy

prices are heavily subsidised too (which means that farmers can afford to run

water pumps day and night). Water, which was once regarded as a free gift from

heaven, is becoming a commodity which must be bought and sold on the open

market just like oil. In the oil industry, the price increases which list the market in

the 1970s, coupled with concerns that supplies were running low, led to new

energy conservation measures all over the world. It was realised that investing in

new sources was a far more costly option than improving efficiency of use.八

similar emphasis on conservation will be the best and cheapest option for bridging

the gap between water supply and demand.

D 许多专家认为应对这种趋势的最好方法是根据水供给的真正成本征收水费。这会强

烈地刺激消费者采用节水系统或者循环用水。很少有政府对水收取实际的费用，尤其是对

农民。即使在富裕的加利福尼亚，农民的水价也不到供应成本的1/10。在很多发展中国家，

实际上对灌溉用水是不收费的，而且能源价格也大幅降低(这意味着农民可以日夜使用水

泵），一度被认为是上天赐予的礼物，现在正逐渐成为一种和石油一样必须在开放市场上

购买和销售的日用品D在石油行业，20世纪70年代轰动市场的石油价格攀升，以及人们

担心供给量会较少，导致了在世界各地出现了很多节能新举措。现实的情况是，投资新能

源的花费远远高于提高使用效率。相似的是，对节水的强调将成为弥补水供给和需求鸿沟

的最好且最经济的选择。

【E】One way to cut back on water consumption is simply to prevent leaks. It is

estimated that in some of the biggest cities of the Third World, more than half of

the water entering the system is lost through leaks in pipes, dripping taps and

broken installations. Even in the UK, losses were estimated at 25% in the early

1990s because of the failure to maintain the antiquated water supply infrastructure.

In addition, huge quantities of water are consumed because used water from

sewage pipes, storm drains and factories is merely flushed away and discharged

into rivers or the sea. The modern approach, however, is to see used water as a

resource which can be put to good use - either in irrigation or, after careful

treatment, as recycled domestic water. Israel, for instance, has spent heavily on

used water treatment.

Soon, treated, recycled water will account for most farm irrigation there. There

are other examples in cities such as St Petersburg, Florida, where all municipal

water is recycled back into domestic systems.

E 减少用水量的一种很简单的方法就是防止漏水。据估算，在第三世界的一些大城市，

一半以上进人管网的水通过管道漏水、水龙头滴水和损坏的装置浪费了。甚至在英国，20

世纪90年代的时候，维持陈旧的给水系统上的失败导致了大约25%的水流失掉了。此外，

因为下水道、暴雨排水沟和工厂用过的水都直接冲走，排人河流或者海洋，大量的水被消

耗掉。然而，现代的观点认为，废水也是一种能够利用的资源，用于 灌溉，或者经过仔细

地处理之后，可以循环用作家庭用水。比如，以色列在废水处理方面投人巨资。很快， 经

过处理的再循环水将成为绝大多数农田的灌溉用水。在其他城市也有类似做法，比如在佛

罗里达的圣彼得堡市，所有的市政用水都循环再生用于家庭用水。

【F】Another way of conserving water resources involves better management

of the environment generally. Interference with the ecosystem can have a severe

effect on both local rainfall patterns and water run-off. Forest clearings associated

with India’s Kabini dam project reduced local rainfall by 25%, a phenomenon

observed in various other parts of the world where large-scale deforestation has

taken place. Grass and other vegetation acts as a sponge which absorbs rainfall

both in the plants and in the ground. Removal of the vegetation means that rainfall

runs off the top of the land, accelerating erosion instead of being gradually fed

into the soil to renew ground water.

F 另一种节约水资源的方法是更好地管理环境对生态系统的干预会对当地降雨格局和

地表径流产生重大的影响。印度Kabini大规工程导致的森领空地使该地区降雨量减少了

25%，这一现象在世界其他大规模被采伐的森林地区已有所发生。苹和其他植物就像海绵

一样吸收植株和地面上的雨水。将植物移走意味着雨水直接从地表流过，加速了侵蚀，而

不是逐渐渗人土壤中以补充地表水。

【G】Global warming is bound to affect rainfall patterns, though there is

considerable disagreement about its precise effects. But it is likely that, as sea

levels rise, countries in low-lying coastal areas will be hit by seawater penetration

of ground water. Other countries experience changes in rainfall which could have a

major impact on agricultural yield - either for better or for worse. In broad terms, it

is thought that rainfall zones will shift northwards, adding to the water deficit in

Africa, the Middle East and the Mediterranean 一 a grim prospect indeed.

G 全球变暖一定会影响降雨格局，尽管对其精确影响存在很多不同的意见。但是影响

很可能是这样的： 随着海平面的升高，位于低洼海岸线地区国家的池表水将会被海水渗透。

其他国家将会在降雨上受到影响，这会给农业生产带来巨大影响——可能是好的，也可能

会是坏的。从广义上讲，通常认力降雨带将会北移，这将加剧非洲、中东和地中海地区缺

水的状况……一个确实很严酷的前景。