段落A

The history of human civilisation is entwined with the history of the ways we have learned to manipulate water resources. As towns gradually expanded, water was brought from increasingly remote sources, leading to sophisticated engineering efforts such as dams and aqueducts. At the height of the Roman Empire, nine major systems, with an innovative layout of pipes and well-built sewers, supplied the occupants of Rome with as much water per person as is provided in many parts of the industrial world today.

段落A：

人类文明的历史与我们学会操纵水资源的方法的历史交织在一起。随着城镇逐渐扩大，水从越来越远的地方引入，导致了像水坝和导水管道这样复杂的工程努力。在罗马帝国鼎盛时期，通过创新的管道布局和良好建造的下水道，罗马居民得到的每个人的用水量与今天世界上许多地区提供的用水量相当。

段落B

During the industrial revolution and population explosion of the 19th and 20th centuries, the demand for water rose dramatically. Unprecedented construction of tens of thousands of monumental engineering projects designed to control floods, protect clean water supplies, and provide water for irrigation and hydropower brought great benefits to hundreds of millions of people. Food production has kept pace with soaring populations mainly because of the expansion of artificial irrigation systems that make possible the growth of 40 % of the world’s food. Nearly one fifth of all the electricity generated worldwide is produced by turbines spun by the power of falling water.

段落B：

在19世纪和20世纪的工业革命和人口爆炸中，对水的需求急剧增加。为了控制洪水、保护清洁水源、为灌溉和水力发电提供水源，修建了数以万计的宏伟工程项目，为数亿人口带来了巨大的利益。食物生产与不断增长的人口同步发展，主要归功于人工灌溉系统的扩张，这使得全球40%的粮食得以生长。全球近五分之一的电力是通过水力发电机发电的。

段落C

Yet there is a dark side to this picture: despite our progress, half of the world’s population still suffers, with water services inferior to those available to the ancient Greeks and Romans. As the United Nations report on access to water reiterated in November 2001, more than one billion people lack access to clean drinking water some two and a half billion do not have adequate sanitation services. Preventable water-related diseases kill an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 children every day, and the latest evidence suggests that we are falling behind in efforts to solve these problems.

段落C：

然而，这个画面有一个阴暗的一面：尽管我们取得了进展，但仍然有一半的世界人口遭受水资源供应不如古希腊和古罗马时代的问题。正如联合国在2001年11月关于水资源获取的报告所强调的，超过10亿人缺乏干净饮用水，约25亿人没有足够的卫生设施。可预防的与水相关的疾病每天导致约1万至2万名儿童死亡，最新证据表明我们在解决这些问题方面落后了。

段落D

The consequences of our water policies extend beyond jeopardising human health. Tens of millions of people have been forced to move from their homes – often with little warning or compensation – to make way for the reservoirs behind dams. More than 20 % of all freshwater fish species are now threatened or endangered because dams and water withdrawals have destroyed the free-flowing river ecosystems where they thrive. Certain irrigation practices degrade soil quality and reduce agricultural productivity. Groundwater aquifers* are being pumped down faster than they are naturally replenished in parts of India, China, the USA and elsewhere. And disputes over shared water resources have led to violence and continue to raise local, national and even international tensions.

段落D：

我们的水政策后果不仅仅危害人类健康。数千万人被迫离开家园，为水库让路–往往是毫无预警或补偿–大坝后面的水库。由于大坝和取水破坏了自由流动的河流生态系统，现在超过20%的淡水鱼类物种受到威胁或濒临灭绝。某些灌溉实践破坏土壤质量，降低农业生产力。在印度、中国、美国和其他地方，地下水含水层正在被抽空得更快而无法自然补充。关于共享水资源的争端已经导致暴力事件，并继续引发地方、国家甚至国际紧张局势。

段落E

At the outset of the new millennium, however, the way resource planners think about water is beginning to change. The focus is slowly shifting back to the provision of basic human and environmental needs as top priority – ensuring ‘some for all,’ instead of ‘more for some’. Some water experts are now demanding that existing infrastructure be used in smarter ways rather than building new facilities, which is increasingly considered the option of last, not first, resort. This shift in philosophy has not been universally accepted, and it comes with strong opposition from some established water organisations. Nevertheless, it may be the only way to address successfully the pressing problems of providing everyone with clean water to drink, adequate water to grow food and a life free from preventable water-related illness.

段落E：

然而，在新千年开始时，资源规划者对水的思考方式开始发生变化。重点慢慢转向将基本人类和环境需求作为首要任务——确保“一些可供所有人使用”，而不是“一些更多可供少数人使用”。一些水资源专家现在要求更加智能地利用现有基础设施，而不是建造新设施，这越来越被视为最后的选择而不是首要选择。这种思维转变并不被普遍接受，并且受到一些已建立的水资源组织的强烈反对。然而，这可能是解决成功提供每个人干净饮用水、足够的农业用水和无法预防的与水相关疾病的问题的唯一途径。

段落F

Fortunately – and unexpectedly – the demand for water is not rising as rapidly as some predicted. As a result, the pressure to build new water infrastructures has diminished over the past two decades. Although population, industrial output and economic productivity have continued to soar in developed nations, the rate at which people withdraw water from aquifers, rivers and lakes has slowed. And in a few parts of the world, demand has actually fallen.

段落F：

幸运的是，需求增长并没有像一些预测的那样快速增长。因此，过去二十年来，建设新水利基础设施的压力已经减小。尽管人口、工业产出和经济生产力在发达国家持续增长，但人们从含水层、河流和湖泊中提取水的速度已经放缓。而且在世界上的一些地区，需求实际上有所下降。

段落G

What explains this remarkable turn of events? Two factors: people have figured out how to use water more efficiently, and communities are rethinking their priorities for water use. Throughout the first three-quarters of the 20th century, the quantity of freshwater consumed per person doubled on average; in the USA, water withdrawals increased tenfold while the population quadrupled. But since 1980, the amount of water consumed per person has actually decreased, thanks to a range of new technologies that help to conserve water in homes and industry. In 1965, for instance, Japan used approximately 13 million gallons* of water to produce $1 million of commercial output; by 1989 this had dropped to 3.5 million gallons (even accounting for inflation) – almost a quadrupling of water productivity. In the USA, water withdrawals have fallen by more than 20 % from their peak in 1980.

段落G：

是什么解释了这一令人惊讶的局面？有两个因素：人们已经找到了如何更有效地使用水，并且社区正在重新思考对水的优先使用。在20世纪的前三个季度，人均消费的淡水平均翻倍；在美国，水取用量增加了十倍，而人口增加了四倍。但自1980年以来，人均消费的水量实际上有所减少，得益于一系列新技术，这些技术有助于节约家庭和工业用水。例如，1965年，日本用大约1300万加仑的水生产100万美元的商业产出；而到****年，即使考虑通货膨胀，这一数字已减少到350万加仑–几乎是水资源利用效率的四倍提高。在美国，自1980年峰值以来，水取用量已经下降了20%以上。

段落H

On the other hand, dams, aqueducts and other kinds of infrastructure will still have to be built, particularly in developing countries where basic human needs have not been met. But such projects must be built to higher specifications and with more accountability to local people and their environment than in the past. And even in regions where new projects seem warranted, we must find ways to meet demands with fewer resources, respecting ecological criteria and to a smaller budget.

段落H：

另一方面，水坝、导水管道和其他基础设施仍然需要修建，特别是在基本人类需求尚未得到满足的发展中国家。但这样的项目必须建设得更高规格，对地方人民及其环境负有更多责任。即使在新项目看似合理的地区，我们也必须找到用更少的资源满足需求的方式，尊重生态标准并控制预算。