Drought causes water shortage, parches crops in China

 　　BEIJING, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Lingering drought has left more than 8.57 million people short of drinking water and huge areas of farmland parched¹ in China, the nation's top drought-relief authority said Friday.

　　As of Friday, droughts have affected² 3.64 million hectares of farmland, mostly in the provinces of Yunnan, Shanxi, Hubei, Sichuan and Gansu, according to the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

　　The amount of farmland and number of people affected by the droughts are both below the average figures registered in previous years, said the office.

　　Since mid-April, arid³ regions in the south have seen rounds of scattered⁴ rainfall, but the rains have been too weak to ease regional droughts, the office said.

　　The headquarters have sent five work teams to affected regions to assist in drought relief work and the Ministry⁵ of Finance channeled 500 million yuan (79.7 million U.S. dollars) to finance the work.

1 parched   

adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干

参考例句：

• Hot winds parched the crops.热风使庄稼干透了。
• The land in this region is rather dry and parched.这片土地十分干燥。

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• 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。

3 arid   

adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的

参考例句：

• These trees will shield off arid winds and protect the fields.这些树能挡住旱风,保护农田。
• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。

4 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。