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
aeronautical navigational electronics
air craft
Aisimi
alpha-beta transition
annunziato
armyworms
as crazy as a loon
bag dust filter
beam bearing
Benangin
bf, bf.
black-cab
blockwood pavement
boisterously
boss-fern
Bukhoro
capacity for public rights
carthon
chlorophyll corpuscle
cladophoran
colloverthwart
computer interconnects
conversation control
Creusot-Loire Uddelholm process
CRSV
current operating performance income statement
derivational compound
diagnostically
digital-advertising
Eaton Park
ejector lift
excursion rate
fail-soft function
fan-guide
ferrobustamite
first-out
glass object
grapeseed oil
hemqtarrhachis
hickenlooper
high-speed sequential processing
Higi
hop on the bandwagon
hydrokonite (hydroconite)
ilmens
inter-organizational
iron halogenide
Isobutylisovalerate
jamt
jen
Jenolan
job dyeing
keystone-type piston ring
kneeboarding
La Cavada
load time his tory
martinhal
measure twice, cut once
mechanical face seals
method analysis
microsoft commercial internet system
midmarket
murska
nanoprocessor
nonreduced
obtuse-angle
optimal growth path
Percy cautery
profit allowance
put it this way
raw casting
readable news
reversal colo(u)r film
rotary slasher
rural erosion rate
scaraboids
Scots Gaelic
seam fat
seepage apron
seiters
self-propelled floating crane
separetionist
soapworts
splicing
splicing vise
spring hoop
submerged tooth
suburban areas
syllogisms
temporomaxillary
topographical parallel
townlets
Tracheophytas
trailing cavity
travelling roller pin
unextraneous
unit mass resolution
unyielding foundation
utility-company
Varaire
wakeys-wakeys
yoruba dance (w. africa)