首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
"Water, which is essential for life, costs nothing. On the other hand, diamonds, which are essential for nothing, cost a lot." U
"Water, which is essential for life, costs nothing. On the other hand, diamonds, which are essential for nothing, cost a lot." U
admin
2011-01-10
37
问题
"Water, which is essential for life, costs nothing. On the other hand, diamonds, which are essential for nothing, cost a lot." Unfortunately, the world has changed considerably since an 18th century economist made this remark.
What was true over 200 years ago is certainly no longer true now. In a number of countries people pay as much for water in their homes as they do for electricity.
Like health, we ignore water when we have it--unless there are floods, of course. Once there is a threat to our water supply, however, water can quickly become the only thing that matters. We know only too well that, without water, there can be no life.
The situation is now becoming so bad that environmentalists feel it may be necessary to shock the world into saving water in a similar way to the shock caused by the oil crises in the 1970’s.
At that time, the oil crisis became such a serious threat to the lives of everyone in the developed countries that it made people conscious of the importance of saving oil and provided powerful encouragement for governments to look for other forms of energy.
The result undoubtedly was of major benefit to energy conservation.
There is now no longer an unlimited supply of fresh water. About 97 percent of the planet’s water is seawater. Another 2 percent is locked in icecaps and glaciers. There are also reserves of fresh water under the earth’s surface but these are too deep for us to use economically.
Unfortunately, competition is growing fiercely for what little water is available. It may be a matter of time before that competition becomes a conflict.
To make matters worse, the world’s population is increasing so rapidly that it is expected to grow to about 8 billion in 15 years.
Moreover, in many developed countries throughout the world, flush lavatories and washing machines mean the average person now uses 300 litres of water a day compared with 50 at the beginning of last century.
At the other extreme, according to the World Health Organization, one quarter of the world’s present population still lacks safe drinking water and proper sanitation. Most live in the southern hemisphere, where supplies of fresh water are put in jeopardy through dirty industrial practices, poor irrigation and erosion.
The social stability of the world is no longer threatened by global wars, the Cold War. However, the supply of water could soon become the chief threat to such stability. There is already evidence of this happening, especially in Africa.
Recently the Egyptian Government threatened to destroy any dams built on the Nile if they considered the dams would affect their supply of fresh water.
What is required immediately is an awareness of the true value of water and the formation of sensible water conservation strategies.
It is also of vital importance to have a consensus on how best to use shared water resources for the benefit of all the countries in the world as well as an examination of the best methods for the distribution of the world’s water.
Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as a factor that is making the water situation in the world more and more severe?
选项
A、The increase of population.
B、The use of washing machines.
C、The use of flush lavatories.
D、The popularity of swimming pools.
答案
D
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/r6QYFFFM
本试题收录于:
NAETI中级口译笔试题库外语翻译证书(NAETI)分类
0
NAETI中级口译笔试
外语翻译证书(NAETI)
相关试题推荐
Ourcompanyhasbeenmadeoneofthelargestmanufacturersinthefieldofchemicalindustry.
AnIndiananthropologist,ChandraThapar,madeastudyofforeigncultures,whichhadcustomssimilarto【C1】______ofhisnative
Themanagerjust______hisresignationtotheboardmeetingyesterdayandtodayanotheronetookhisplace.
Themanhadarathershadyoccupationandmadealotofmoneywithinashortperiodoftime.
Although"namingrights"haveproliferatedinAmericanhighereducationforthepastseveraldecades,thephenomenonhasrecentl
Thesuspectsworethathetoldthetruth,thewholetruth,butnothingandthetruth.
Psychologistsadvisethatbeforemakinganymajorchangesintheirlives,theyneedtofocusonone’sgoals.
Therestaurantfeaturesawide-openkitchensurroundedbywoodencountersonthreesides,whereabrigadeofassiduouschefswit
AnotherAmericanhadbeenkidnappedintheWestBeirut.Fifty-year-oldReedwas________byfourgunmenonChristmasmorning.
下面你将听到的是一段有关矿产开发的讲话。中国经济高速发展,需要大量的矿产品及相关的能源与原材料加工制品。每年消耗的矿石量达60多亿吨,位居世界前列。中国政府为实现经济的可持续发展,在矿产资源勘查、开发领域制定了一系列的法律、法规和政策,
随机试题
简述我国古代丧服“五服”服制。
完全经济一体化
直接影响照片影像密度的是
当室外综合温度谐波的振幅为20.5℃时,若要求围护结构内表面受该温度谐波的作用而产生的温度波动小于2.5℃,围护结构的衰减倍数至少应为()。
以下各项对于风险管理阐述不正确的是()。
道德是反映社会经济关系的特殊意识形态。道德的产生、发展和变化,归根结底根源于社会经济关系,因为,()
原型法是将原型作为对现实的一个【】解答、从而使系统开发风险达到较为满意的程度。
IP地址是
A、Yes,shelikesswimming.B、No,shedoesn’t.C、No,sheisn’t.B
HowlongdoesittakeifyoutraveltoMarseillefromParisintheregularTGVtrain?
最新回复
(
0
)