Humanity uses a little less than half the water available worldwide. Yet occurrences of shortages and droughts are causing famin

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问题     Humanity uses a little less than half the water available worldwide. Yet occurrences of shortages and droughts are causing famine and distress in some areas, and industrial and agricultural by-products are polluting water supplies. Since the world’s population is expected to double in the next 50 years, many experts think we are on the edge of a widespread water crisis. But that doesn’t have to be the outcome. Water shortages do not have to trouble the world, if we start valuing water more than we have in the past. Just as we began to appreciate petroleum more after the 1970s oil crises, today we must start looking at water from a fresh economic perspective. We can no longer afford to consider water a virtually free resource of which we can use as much as we like in any way we want.
    Instead, for all uses except the domestic demand of the poor, governments should price water to reflect its actual value. This means charging a fee for the water itself as well as for the supply costs.
    Governments should also protect this resource by providing water in more economically and environmentally sound ways. For example, often the cheapest way to provide irrigation water in the dry tropics is through small-scale projects, such as gathering rainfall in depressions and pumping it to nearby cropland.
    No matter what steps governments take to provide water more efficiently, they must change their institutional and legal approaches to water use. Rather than spread control among hundreds or even thousands of local, regional, and national agencies that watch various aspects of water use, countries should set up central authorities to coordinate water policy.
What is the real cause of the potential water crisis?

选项 A、Only half of the world’s water can be used.
B、The world population is increasing faster and faster.
C、Half of the world’s water resources have been seriously polluted.
D、Humanity has not placed sufficient value on water resources.

答案D

解析 根据文章第一段第四、五句“But that doesn’t have to be the outcome.Watershortages do not have to trouble the world, if we start valuing water more than we have in the past.”可知,今天,如果人类珍惜水资源的话,大范围的水资源危机不会成为现实。这问题不会困扰人类的。可见,水资源危机的真正原因是人类不重视、珍惜水资源。据此判断,答案是D。
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