2007年VOA标准英语-WWF Says World's Mightiest Rivers Are at Risk

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
20 March 2007

Bangladeshi woman clean dirty polythene shopping bags in polluted waters of Buriganga river in Dhaka, 19 Mar1 2007

The World Wide Fund for Nature says some of the world's mightiest² rivers are dying, threatening the livelihoods³ of millions of people. The conservation group has identified 10 top rivers, and called for governments to step up efforts to preserve them. Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi, where the WWF issued its study.

They were once mighty⁴ freshwater bodies on whose banks human civilizations were born. But now, many of the world's great rivers are threatened by over-extraction of water, climate change, construction of large dams, and pollution.

The World Wide Fund for Nature says rivers at risk are found on almost every continent - the Yangtze, Mekong, Salween, Ganges and Indus in Asia, the Danube in Europe, the Plata in South America, the Rio Grande in North America, the Nile in Africa, and the Murray-Darling in Australia.

The conservation group says most rivers no longer run freely from source to sea. It says dams are altering their natural flow, industrial effluents have polluted their waters, and 20 percent of the world's 10,000 freshwater species have become extinct.

The threats vary. For example, the Salween in South East Asia is under pressure due to damming, while the Danube is threatened by the dredging and straightening of banks to ease shipping⁵. The Rio Grande in the United States and the Ganges in South Asia are falling victim to over-extraction of water for irrigation and domestic consumption. The Indus faces a threat from climate change because of its high dependency on glacier⁶ water.

The WWF's coordinator⁷ for freshwater policy, Vidya Moni, outlined some of the problems in New Delhi.

"Large infrastructure⁸ was a big threat to the river Nile, there was a big threat to river Danube in terms of pollution which was extensively caused because of industrialization, river Yangtze in China is over-polluted, with coal mining happening on the fringes," she said.

The report says communities living on riverbanks are the worst affected⁹, threatened with loss of their water-based livelihoods, such as fishing and agriculture.

Gurdev Singh is from Punjab state in northern India. He has witnessed the severe degradation¹⁰ in recent decades of the Ganges, which flows by his village.

Singh says the water was once so clear, it was possible to see fish swimming in the river. Now, industrial effluents have polluted the river severely¹¹. As a result, crop yields have been reduced, and animals drinking the water turn sick. 

The secretary-general of WWF-India, Ravi Singh, has called for governments to radically¹² step up efforts to preserve freshwater sources, and treat river conservation as part of national security and economic policy.

"The risks that we see on these issues are going to multiply unless we change the way we are set today. And these risks are such that [they] are going to affect communities, they are going to effect biodiversity, wild life, climate," said Singh.

WWF says 40 percent of the world's population now lives in river basins that are under stress.

1 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

2 mightiest   

adj.趾高气扬( mighty的最高级 )；巨大的；强有力的；浩瀚的

参考例句：

• \"If thou fearest to leave me in our cottage, thou mightiest take me along with thee. “要是你害怕把我一个人留在咱们的小屋里，你可以带我一块儿去那儿嘛。 来自英汉文学 - 红字
• Silent though is, after all, the mightiest agent in human affairs. 确实，沉默毕竟是人类事件中最强大的代理人。 来自互联网

3 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。

4 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

5 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

6 glacier   

n.冰川，冰河

参考例句：

• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。
• The upper surface of glacier is riven by crevasses.冰川的上表面已裂成冰隙。

7 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

8 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

9 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。

10 degradation   

n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变

参考例句：

• 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。
• Gambling is always coupled with degradation.赌博总是与堕落相联系。

11 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

12 radically   

ad.根本地，本质地

参考例句：

• I think we may have to rethink our policies fairly radically. 我认为我们可能要对我们的政策进行根本的反思。
• The health service must be radically reformed. 公共医疗卫生服务必须进行彻底改革。