时间:2018-12-08 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2014年(九月)


英语课

 


Hundreds of California Households Struggle With No Water 成千上万的加州家庭与缺水斗争


EAST PORTERVILLE, CALIFORNIA— 


California is undergoing its third year of severe drought, and the water shortage is affecting farms, cities, and small communities.  The drought has left hundreds of households in the state's usually fertile Central Valley without water.


The Porterville Area Coordinating 1 Council provides food and other help to needy 2 families.  


Today the need is water in a dusty neighborhood set among farm fields.  Some have gone unplanted for lack of water.  A man pulls up to the charity's headquarters in an old food-packing house, his pickup 3 truck loaded with plastic barrels.  A volunteer fills them from the local water main.


Across the road, cars and vans are being loaded with cases of drinking water. 


Debbie Martinez lives on a ranch 4 and is not connected to the town's water system.  She has a water well but says it's dry.


“Yes, it's been three years.  My neighbor has given me water, but their wells are going dry too," said Martinez.


California's system of aqueducts carries water to cities and small towns.  But for some people in this unincorporated section of Tulare County, a lowered underground water table has left shallow wells with little or no water. 


Council volunteer Fred Beltran says more than 300 households in this neighborhood are affected 5.


“And these are all individual wells that are drying up or they're pumping poor quality of water, which is either sand, dirt or high nitrates," said Beltran.


California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed bills to regulate ground water to prevent shortages, and he authorized 6 delivery of emergency drinking water for residents without it.


Tulare County water analyst 7 Denise England says people need clean water for drinking and cooking.


“But the bigger challenge we're facing now is what we're calling sanitation 8 water, so water that's not potable, that's not drinkable, but you can take a shower with it or do you dishes with it or bathe," said England.


Elva Beltran, director of the Porterville Area Coordinating Council, says her charity has provided large outdoor water tanks for dozens of residents.


“We have 54 tanks right now," she said.


The Council gets funds from residents and churches.  


One resident drops by to donate $50.


Much of the work today involves giving water to people like Michael Burrough.


“I don't know what else to do," he said. "All the water we can get is from the sources like right here.  Other than that, I have to buy water and I don't really have the extra money to buy cases of water."


Officials say that getting water to these families is a priority, but for now, these people rely on their neighbors, local government and private charities to get the water they need to survive. 



1 coordinating
v.使协调,使调和( coordinate的现在分词 );协调;协同;成为同等
  • He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
  • He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的,难道我们不去请他? 来自电影对白
2 needy
adj.贫穷的,贫困的,生活艰苦的
  • Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷,但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
  • They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。
3 pickup
n.拾起,获得
  • I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。
4 ranch
n.大牧场,大农场
  • He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
  • The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。
5 affected
adj.不自然的,假装的
  • She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
  • His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
6 authorized
a.委任的,许可的
  • An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。
7 analyst
n.分析家,化验员;心理分析学家
  • What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务?
  • The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。
8 sanitation
n.公共卫生,环境卫生,卫生设备
  • The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看,这个地段非常糟糕。
  • Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。
学英语单词
ammine ammonation
Apostolie Fathers
arresters
astable multivibrator
Bambara groundnut
ban ta sut
barbudal
bespitting
betweenthe
blast ditching
brakan
braking roller
cake scraper
cervical ligaments
charcoal plate
chirpingly
cold confinement
cold water pipe
combined offer
containant
contestants
couz
dangdang
data-transfer
debearding
duke of edinburgh award
earn income
eena
erogenous zone
first order predicate
galvanisings
general freight department
genus Alopius
geological dating
gorgonariana sodalis
gravity balance
guerin forming
high-voltage current shunt
hotboxin' it
ileocolic plexus
intercostals
Izazi
Jungermanniineales
jupiter fulgurs
ketos
Kingston, Maxine Hong
Lister objective
locating service
maclaine
magnetic measurement apparatus
magnetosheaths
methyl nitrate
mode conversion
molecular weight thermometer
multiprocessor analysis
negative changed
Nelson Lakes National Park
noise profile
nutrient requirements of breeding swine
OceanGate
partial easing of capital controls
passadoes
PC-BMP
Pilot Grove
plightly
pluries
point to point control system
porrorchis elongatus
process timer
quantum gravity
radar collision warning device
rafidains
ranterpike
refeedings
revital
root-mean-square quantity
Rusera
semi-submerged foil
Shetlandic
sixth year
solo (flight)
sotero
speech production
stalker site
substitute character (sub)
Szilard
three dimensional projector
tprt
turning movement
two-dimensional graph
under-hold
unexecuting
utoes
Valeriana wallichii
vicaried
wind wave height
wiring press
wool alcohol
woolens
writ of appraisement
yence
yuen