湖北黄冈市2017高考英语阅读理解二轮精练(17)及(解析)答案 阅读下列四篇短文,从每小题后所给的A,B,C或D四个选项中,选出最佳选项。 The need to feed a growing population is putting much pressure on the world’s supply of water. With 97% of the world’s water too salty to be drunk or used in agriculture, the worldwide supply of water needs careful management, especially in agriculture. Although the idea of a water shortage (短缺) seems strange to someone fortunate enough to live in a high rainfall country, many of the world’s agricultural industries experience constant water shortages. Although dams can be built to store water for agricultural use in dry areas and dry seasons, the costs of water redistribution (重新分配) are very high. Not only is there the cost of the engineering itself, but there is also an environmental cost to be considered. Where valleys (山谷) are flooded to create dams, houses are lost and wildlife homes destroyed. Besides, water may flow easily through pipes to fields, but it cannot be transported from one side of the world to the other. Each country must therefore rely on the management of its own water to supply its farming requirements. This is particularly troubling for countries with agricultural industries in areas dependent on irrigation (灌溉). In Texas, farmers’ overuse of irrgation water has resulted in a 25% reduction of the water stores. In the Central Valley area of southwestern USA, a huge water engineering project provided water for farming in dry valleys, but much of the water use has been poorly managed. |