10.
阅读理解
The world uses about a thousand million (百万) tons of water a day. Water is a human right and everyone should
have his share. Yet more than 700 million people around the world have trouble getting
clean, safe water.
Treating wastewater is a good way to
provide fresh water for us. And it also helps the environment by keeping waste
out of rivers and oceans. 80% of wastewater around the world is not treated at
all, and it is running into oceans. But now we have got the technology to treat
and reuse the wastewater.
While 75% of our planet is covered with
water, only 2%is fresh water—that comes
from rivers, lakes, ice and snow. The rest, 98% of the water, is in seas and
oceans. It is too salty to drink. Then desalination businesses come in. More
than 19, 000 factories have been built around the world, mostly in coastal
countries. They process (加工) more than 92 million tons
of water every day. But the technology they use requires a lot of energy.
Scientists are working to create a less
costly technology. They want to produce 20 times more clean water and make sure
everyone has enough. But for now, the world still faces each day with not
having enough water for everyone.