新视野大学英语视听说教程第四册 Unit 3 Task 2: Drought in South Africa
South Africa is heading for a disaster in the new year because of a drought. The water level at some dams have dropped below 20% while the ground water table has dropped by as much s 30 meters
Emergency measure have been introduced ensure that millions of people have enough water to survive. In rural areas without dams, the government has to send water by truck and sink new, deeper wells to provide drinking water. Tanked water is provided about 3.5 million South Africans. People here normally use barely 30 liters a day, and is impossible to further limit their usage. That is why agricultural use has to be restricted.
More than 100,000 farm workers might lose their jobs if it does not rain soon. Waterrestrictions, which have a negative influence on the agricultural sector in particular, have already been imposed in several districts. Farmers have been forced to stop irrigatingtheir crops to ensure that enough water is available for domestic use. Maize farmers in the eastern parts of the country have almost no hope of planting their crop in time. They need rain within the next two weeks to be able to start planting. Where farmers did sow, the seedlingshave been scorched under the sun.
An estimated 40,000 head of livestock have died because of the dry spell. Thousands of stock farmers will have to slaughter their livestock on a large scale because there is no grass left.
The parts suffering the most were rural areas without dams. If it does not rain, the people there will face a huge crisis.
Keys: FFTFT
