2. 职称英语
  3. From a hillside, Kamal Saadat looked forlornly at hundreds of potential cust

From a hillside, Kamal Saadat looked forlornly at hundreds of potential cust

游客2023-12-03  21
问题     From a hillside, Kamal Saadat looked forlornly at hundreds of potential customers, knowing he could not take them for trips in his boat to enjoy a spring weekend on picturesque Oroumieh Lake, the third largest saltwater lake on earth, which now lay encased by solidifying salt. Saadat lamented that he could not understand why the lake was fading away.
    The long popular lake, home to migrating flamingos, pelicans and gulls, has shrunken by 60 percent and could disappear entirely in just a few years — drained by drought, misguided irrigation policies, development and the damming of rivers that feed it.
    Until two years ago, Saadat supplemented his income from almond- and grape-growing by taking tourists on boat tours. But as the lake receded and its salinity rose, he found he had to stop the boat every 10 minutes to unfoul the propeller — and finally, he had to give up this second job that he’d used to support a five-member family. The visitors were not enjoying such a boring trip, for they had to cross hundreds of meters of salty lakebed just to reach the boat from the wharf.
    Other boatmen, too, have parked their vessels by their houses, where they stand as sad reminders of the deep-water days. And the lake’s ebbing affects an ever-widening circle.
    The receding water has also weakened hotel business and tourism activities in the area, and planned hotel projects remain idle since investors are reluctant to continue.
    Beyond tourism, the salt-saturated lake threatens agriculture nearby in northwest Iran, as storms sometimes carry the salt far afield. Many farmers worry about the future of their lands, which for centuries have been famous for apples, grapes, walnuts, almonds, onions, potatoes, as well as aromatic herbal drinks, candies and tasty sweet pastes.
    Official reports blame the drying mainly on a decade-long drought, and peripherally on consumption of water of the feeding rivers for farming. They put 5 percent of the blame on construction of dams and 3 percent on other factors.
    The first alarm over the lake’s shrinking came in late 1990s amid a nagging drought. Nonetheless, the government continued construction of 35 dams on the rivers which feed the lake: 10 more dams are on the drawing boards for the next few years. Also completed was a lake-crossing roadway. No environmental feasibility study was done in the planning for the road, and environmentalists believe the project worsened the lake’s health by acting as a barrier to water circulation.
    In April, the Iranian government announced a three-prong effort to save the lake: a cloud-seeding program to increase rainfall in the area, a lowering of water consumption by irrigation systems, and supplying the lake with remote sources of water.
    Some experts termed the weather control portion of the program as only a " symbolic action" by government, saying the best answer would be to release more water currently being held back by dams. The evaporation rate has been three times the rainfall rate, making the rivers’ historic role vital to sustaining the lake.
    In the green and beautiful city of Oroumieh, famous for peaceful coexistence between Azeri people, Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians as well as Muslims and Christians, talk about the fate of the lake is common among ordinary people in teahouses and on the streets. Some express happiness with the government decision to manipulate clouds in hopes of increasing rainfall. However, many locals called the cloud-seeding plan "a show" , and the water held back by those dams was the solution.
    Beyond the debates by national and local authorities some folks here suggest another way Oroumieh could be saved. A local legend says wild purple gladiolas have had a miraculous role in doing just that. The flowers have grown every year for a thousand years in the spot where a princess of Oroumieh was killed as she warned the people of the city about an invading enemy. As a recent sunset turned the lake golden, Kamal the boatman tried to find some hope in the returning blossoms.
    " You see, still wild purple gladiolas are appearing in the spring," he said. " The city and its lake can eventually survive." [br] Kamal’s words at the end of the passage imply that______.
选项 A、purple gladiolas were found around the lake
B、purple gladiolas could save the lake
C、the locals hoped the lake would not diminish
D、the locals were sure of the lake’s survival
答案 C
解析 推断题。文章最末Kamal的言辞充分表现了当地人想使Oroumieh湖保留下来的殷切希望，但这并非说明他们有信心Oroumieh湖能保留下来，故C正确。
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