2. 外语
  3. The Goulburn Valley was one of Australia’s prosperous dairying regions. But over the last five years, it’s estimated that half t

The Goulburn Valley was one of Australia’s prosperous dairying regions. But over the last five years, it’s estimated that half t

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问题     The Goulburn Valley was one of Australia’s prosperous dairying regions. But over the last five years, it’s estimated that half the dairy farms have gone. Typically, the water has been sold off and the property converted to a hobby farm, or allowed to turn to weed-infested scrub(野草遍布的灌木). This scene of rural ruin is now spreading across Australia’s food bowl. Whole irrigation regions are on the edge of collapse. This disaster is threatening the nation’s food security.
    Politicians blame the drought. But it’s much more than that. Mismanagement and gross policy neglect of irrigation have helped create the water shortages. Further, the federal and state governments, instead of investing in new water storages to increase the supply of water, and instead of turning over environmental flows to needy irrigation farms, are buying up irrigation water, not from willing sellers, but from desperate farmers trying to survive.
    Consequently, investment in rural industries is being cut short. Lenders are rightly judging that they cannot determine if any irrigation farmer or his district will be possible in the future, because nobody can assess how much water will be sold out of that region.
    Once a critical amount of water leaves a region, irrigation channels are no longer possible. That means others who still want to farm are also no longer possible. This sets up a domino(多米诺骨牌) effect—local farm-supply businesses, processors, shops, schools and hospitals are no longer sustainable. Suddenly, a whole regional economy collapses.
    Currently, the Government has put a ban on the Commonwealth Government buying irrigation water and Victoria has prohibited Commonwealth purchase from farmers on main backbone channels. In fact, the total federal government take of water could be at minimum 14 percent of the Basin’s irrigation water, or as high as 29 percent of farmers’ water. According to the Australian Farm Institute, Australian agriculture is worth about 12.2 percent of the nation’s economy, or about $130 billion.  Hence. taking 14～29 per cent of water out of production will reduce Australia’s agriculture by $7～15 billion.
    Furthermore, Australians don’t realize that most of agricultural product is sold into the domestic market. Hence, the Commonwealth Government’s water buy-back scheme is set to push Australia to the brink of becoming a net importer of food.
What caused the disaster in Australia’s dairying regions?
选项 A、The conversion of the dairy farm.
B、The collapse of the irrigation system.
C、Rural ruin.
D、Water shortage.
答案D
解析 根据题干关键词cause，disaster定位到原文第一段最后一句：This disaster is threatening the nation’s food security. 以及第二段的前半部分：Politicians blame the drought. But it’s much more than that. Mismanagement and gross policy neglect of irrigation have helped create the water shortages. 可知，由客观和主观原因导致的缺水问题是澳大利亚乳制品业下滑的主要原因，D)项符合原文。
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