英语听力：自然百科 神奇水世界 Water-9

 But the human's struggle to pin down water is forever balanced on a knife edge. Get that balance wrong, and you pay the price. For all their ingenuity¹, the Garamantes over-exploited their ground water. Eventually, it ran out, and so did their civilization. Now all that remains² are the bats.

 

Today, modern Libyans have tapped into the same ground water supply by using pumps to reach deeper than the Garamantes could. But just like their ancient predecessors³, they are exploiting a finite resource. At most, it will last only another fifty years. But water in this most inaccessible⁴ stage of the water cycle is found in many other places.

 

It's at its most spectacular in Tallahassee in Florida. Here, divers⁵ are just beginning to explore a mysterious series of caves, called the Karst System, carved out by ground water over millions of years. This is one of the planet's least known frontiers. When they began, these divers had no idea of the extents of the cave network. To explore these caves, the've  made the longest dives in history, traveling more than seven miles from the cave entrance. They are sometimes underwater for twenty hours at a time.

 

Their efforts have revealed one of the world's largest underwater cave systems. It's part of a huge store of ground water of varying depths that underlies⁶ all of Florida and reaches into neighboring states. And it's not just the U.S.A.. There is ground water in the most unexpected places. More than 30% of all the fresh water on Earth is under our feet. Looked at this way, our apparently⁷ solid planet is more like a sponge.

 

In our early history, the need for reliable supplies of water led us to rivers and ground water. But as humans spread across the planet, they learned to exploit the vagaries⁸ of the water cycle in many different ways.

1 ingenuity   

n.别出心裁；善于发明创造

参考例句：

• The boy showed ingenuity in making toys.那个小男孩做玩具很有创造力。
• I admire your ingenuity and perseverance.我钦佩你的别出心裁和毅力。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 inaccessible   

adj.达不到的，难接近的

参考例句：

• This novel seems to me among the most inaccessible.这本书对我来说是最难懂的小说之一。
• The top of Mount Everest is the most inaccessible place in the world.珠穆朗玛峰是世界上最难到达的地方。

5 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

6 underlies   

v.位于或存在于（某物）之下( underlie的第三人称单数 )；构成…的基础（或起因），引起

参考例句：

• I think a lack of confidence underlies his manner. 我认为他表现出的态度是因为他缺乏信心。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Try to figure out what feeling underlies your anger. 努力找出你的愤怒之下潜藏的情感。 来自辞典例句

7 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

8 vagaries   

n.奇想( vagary的名词复数 )；异想天开；异常行为；难以预测的情况

参考例句：

• The vagaries of fortune are indeed curious.\" 命运的变化莫测真是不可思议。” 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• The vagaries of inclement weather conditions are avoided to a certain extent. 可以在一定程度上避免变化莫测的恶劣气候影响。 来自辞典例句