Reading Practice

Crisis! freshwater
A . As in New Delhi and Phoenix, policymakers worldwide wield great power over how
water resources and managed. Wise use of such power will become increasingly important
as the years go by because the world’s demand for freshwater is currently overtaking its
ready supply in many places, and this situation shows no sign of abating.

B . That the problem is well-known makes it no less disturbing: today one out of six people,
more than a billion, suffer inadequate access to safe freshwater. By 2025, according to
data released by the United Nations, the freshwater resources of more than half the
countries across the globe will undergo either stress- for example, when people
increasingly demand more water than is available or safe for use-or outright shortages. By
mid-century, as much as three-quarters of the earth’s population could face scarcities of
freshwater.

C . Scientists expect water scarcity to become more common in large part because the
world’s population is rising and many people are getting richer (thus expanding demand)
and because global climate change is exacerbating aridity and reducing supply in many
regions. What is more, many water sources are threatened by faulty waste disposal,
releases of industrial pollutants, fertilizer runoff, and coastal influxes of saltwater into
aquifers as groundwater is depleted.

D . Because lack of access to water can lead to starvation, disease, political instability, and
even armed conflict, failure to take action can have broad and grave consequences.
Fortunately, to a great extent, the technologies and policy tools required to conserve
existing freshwater and to secure more of it are known among which several seem
particularly effective. What is needed now is action. Governments and authorities at every
level have to formulate and execute plans for implementing the political, economic, and
technological measures that can ensure water security now and in the coming decades.

E . The world’s water problems require, as a start, an understanding of how much

freshwater each person requires, along with knowledge of the factors that impede supply
and increase demand in different parts of the world. Main Falkenmark of the Stockholm
International Water Institute and other experts estimate that, on average, each person on
the earth needs a minimum of 1000 cubic meters (m3) of water. The minimum water each
person requires for drinking, hygiene, and growing food. The volume is equivalent to two-
fifths of an Olympic-size swimming pool.

F . Much of the Americas and northern Eurasia enjoy abundant water supplies. But several
regions are beset by greater or lesser degrees of “physical” scarcity-whereby demand
exceeds local availability. Other areas, among them Central Africa, parts of the Indian
subcontinent, and Southeast Asia contend with “economic” water scarcity limit access even
though sufficient supplies are available.

G. More than half of the precipitation that falls on land is never available for capture or
storage because it evaporates from the ground or transpires from plants; this fraction is
called blue-water sources-rivers, lakes, wetlands, and aquifers-that people can tap directly.
Farm irrigation from these free-flowing bodies is the biggest single human use of
freshwater resources, but the intense local demand they create often drains the
surroundings of ready supplies.

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H . Lots of water, but not always where it is needed one hundred and ten thousand cubic
kilometers of precipitation, nearly 10 times the volume of Lake Superior, falls from the sky
onto the earth’s land surface every year. This huge quantity would easily fulfill the
requirements of everyone on the planet if the water arrived where and when people needed
it. But much of it cannot be captured (top), and the rest is disturbed unevenly (bottom).
Green water (61.1% of total precipitation): absorbed by soil and plants, then released back
into the air: unavailable for withdrawal. Bluewater (38.8% of total precipitation): collected in
rivers, lakes, wetlands, and groundwater: available for withdrawal before it evaporates or
reaches the ocean. These figures may not add up to 100% because of rounding. Only
1.5% is directly used by people.

I . Waters run away in tremendous wildfires in recent years. The economic actors had all
taken their share reasonably enough: they just did not consider the needs of the natural
environment, which suffered greatly when its inadequate supply was reduced to critical
levels by drought. The members of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission are now
frantically trying to extricate themselves from the disastrous results of their misallocation of
the total water resource. Given the difficulties of sensibly apportioning the water supply
within a single nation, imagine the complexities of doing so for international river basins
such as that of the Jordan River, which borders on Lebanon, Syria, Israel, the Palestinian
areas, and Jordan, all of which have claims to the shared, but limited, supply in an
extremely parched region. The struggle for freshwater has contributed to civil and military
disputes in the area. Only continuing negotiations and compromises have kept this tense
situation under control.

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Questions 1-5
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage? In
boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE If the statement is true

FALSE If the statement is false

NOT GIVEN If the information is not given in the passage

1..................... The prospect for the need for freshwater worldwide is obscure.

2..................... To some extent, the challenge for freshwater is alleviated by common

recognition.

3..................... Researchers arrive at the specific conclusion about the water crisis based
on persuasive consideration of several factors.

4..................... The fact that people do not actually cherish the usage of water scarcity.

5..................... Controversy can’t be avoided for adjacent nations over the water resource.

Questions 6-10
The readings Passage has eleven paragraphs A-I

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter A-I, in boxes 6-10 on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

6..................... The uneven distribution of water around the world.

7..................... other factors regarding nature bothering people who make the policies.

8..................... Joint efforts needed to carry out the detailed solutions combined with
various aspects.

9..................... No always-in-time match available between the requirements and the actual
rainfall.

10..................... The lower limit of the amount of fresh water for a person to survive.

Questions 11-13
Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage, using No More
than Three words from the Reading Passage for each answer. Write your answers in
boxes 11–13 on your answer sheet.
Many severe problems like starvation and military actions etc result from the storage of water wh

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sometimes for some areas seems 11..................... because of unavailability but other regions suf
another kind of scarcity for insufficient support. 12..................... of the rainfall can’t be achieved b
of evaporation.
Some other parts form the 13..................... which can be used immediately. Water to irrigate the
farmland takes a considerable amount along with the use for cities and industries and the extende
from the people involved.

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Solution:
1. FALSE 8. D
2. FALSE 9. H
3. TRUE 10. E
4. NOT
11. PHYSICAL
GIVEN
12. CAPTURE OF
5. TRUE
SHORTAGE
6. F 13. BULE-WATER
7. I

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