首页
登录
职称英语
The World Faces a Fresh Water Hazard In many places wate
The World Faces a Fresh Water Hazard In many places wate
游客
2024-09-29
1
管理
问题
The World Faces a Fresh Water Hazard
In many places water is becoming scarcer. Treating it as a right makes the scarcity worse. Ideally, efficient water use would be encouraged by charging for it, but attempts to do so have mostly proved politically impossible. A more practicable alternative is a system of tradable water-usage rights.
As our explains, many water problems have global causes: population growth, climate change, urbanization and, especially, changing diets. It takes 2,000 liters of water to grow a kilo of vegetables but 15,000 liters to produce a kilo of beef—and people are eating more meat. The problems also have global implications. Without a new green revolution, farmers will need 60% more water to feed the 2 billion extra people who will be born between now and 2025.
Yet there is, globally, no shortage of water. Unlike other natural resources (such as oil), water cannot be used up. It is recycled end-lessly, as rain, snow or evaporation. On average, people are extracting for their own uses less than a tenth of what falls as rain and snow each year.
The central problem is that so much water is wasted, mainly by farmers. Agriculture uses three-quarters of the world’s water. Because water is usually free, thirsty crops like alfalfa (苜蓿) are grown in arid California. Wheat in India and Brazil uses twice as much water as wheat in America. Dry countries like Pakistan export textiles though a 1 kg bolt of cloth requires 11,000 liters of water.
Any economist knows what to do: price water to reflect its value. But decades of trying to do that for agriculture have run into powerful resistance from farmers. They reject scarcity pricing for the reason that water falls from the skies. No government owns it, so no government should charge for it.
There is a way out. Australian farmers have the right to use a certain amount of water free. They can sell that right to others. But if they want more water themselves, they must buy it from a neighbor. The result of this trading is a market that has done what markets do: allocate resources to more productive use. Australia has endured its worst drought in modern history in the past ten years. Water supplies in some farming areas have fallen by half. Yet farmers have responded to the new market signals by switching to less thirsty crops and kept the value of farm output stable. Water productivity has doubled. Australia’s system overcomes the usual objections because it confirms farmers’ rights to water and lets them have much of it for nothing. [br] According to the passage, what could be an efficient way to use water?
选项
A、Adopting the system of water right owned by the government.
B、Charging for water in places where water is becoming scarcer.
C、Taking political measures to interfere with the water issue.
D、Making it a free market for people to trade water-usage rights.
答案
D
解析
事实细节题。根据题干关键词an efficient way to use water定位到原文第一段第三句:Ideally,efficient water use would be encouraged by charging for it,but attempts to do so have mostly proved politically impossible.A more practicable alternative is a system of tradable water-usage rights.由此可知,在理想的情况下,为有效利用水源我们应该鼓励收费,但此做法已经被证明在政治上不可行。有一个可行替代方案是水交易使用权系统,因此选[D]项。原文提到把水当作一项权利会使水源本已稀缺的情况变得更加糟糕,故[A]项与原文不符;[B]项忽略了ideally一词;[C]项是原文politically impossible的干扰项。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3778893.html
相关试题推荐
Awellconstructedplot,therefore,mustneitherbeginnorendathaphazard,but
InsomecitiesinChina,peoplearenolongerallowedtosmokeinpublicplaces.
TheWorldFacesaFreshWaterHazardInmanyplaceswate
TheWorldFacesaFreshWaterHazardInmanyplaceswate
TheWorldFacesaFreshWaterHazardInmanyplaceswate
Whichofthefollowingplacesismostprobablywherethemanworks?[br][origi
Please______yourselffromsmokingandspittinginpublicplaces,sincethelawf
Manysmallculturalgroupsliveinplacesfarawayfrommoderncities.Some
Manysmallculturalgroupsliveinplacesfarawayfrommoderncities.Some
Theactivitiesofeachday,______visitingthefamousplacesofinterestorant
随机试题
WilliamPenn,thefounderofPennsylvania,______defendedtherightofeverycit
审计报告是反映审计结果的重要载体,审计报告的质量是审计质量的集中反映。请论述审计
全口义齿牙列排好后,在架上调整前伸平衡时,前牙不接触,后牙接触,采取的主要调整方
下列关于高中数学课程变化的内容,说法不正确的是()。A.高中数学课程中的向量既
变电站异常及故障处理,详细检查()动作信号、故障相别、故障测距等故障信息
古汉语在我国中小学、大学有着完善的教育方案,而艺术类及其他非文学专业到了硕博阶段
A市居民王某于1995年参加职工基本养老保险,2011年退休。A市在岗职工月平均
男性,48岁,胃镜活检病理为胃中分化腺癌,腹部增强CT未见肝转移结节,手术探查发
下列化学骨架名称为咪唑
某施工机械购置费为120万元,折旧年限为6年,年平均工作250个台班,预计净残值
最新回复
(
0
)