中國採取措施解決水危機
BEIJING -- If you think water is in short supply in California, you should see what's happeningin China. The situation is so dire that next month, the communist governmentwill turn on the taps in the world's biggest water-diversion project.
北京——如果你認爲加州缺水，那你應該去中國看看。中國所面臨的情況是如此的嚴峻，以至於下個月共產主義中國政府將開啓世界上最大的引水工程。
The Yongding River, which once fed Beijing,ran dry along with 27,000 other rivers in China that have disappeared due to industrialization, dams and drought.
曾經供養北京的永定河和中國其他27000條河流都乾涸消失了，主要原因是工業化，大壩和旱災。"Some of the large parts of the north China plane may suffer severe water shortages," said environmentalist Ma Jun. "Some of the cities could literally run out of water."
“中國北方的某些平原可能面臨嚴重的水危機，”環保主義者馬軍如是說。“有些城市可能面臨水乾涸。”
To try to solve the problem, China's government is planning to spend nearly $80 billion to build nearly 2,700 milesof water ways -- almost enough to stretch from New York to Los Angeles.
爲了解決這個問題，中國政府正計劃耗資800億美元建造2700英里長的水路——幾乎是從紐約到洛杉磯的距離。Four-fifths of China's fresh water lies inits south. The idea behind the project is to move some of that water to the parched - and populous - north by connecting existing bodies of water. That's meant relocating 350,000 people to settlements.
中國五分之四的淡水資源分佈在南方。這個項目的理念是通過連接現有水體的方式將南方的水資源輸送到乾旱和人口衆多的北方。這意味着要對35萬人進行移民。
Zhang Xiaofeng, who was moved to a settlement, was asked if she wanted to come to this place."It does not matter if you're willing or not," said Zhang. "We had to move here. If we didn't our homewould be under water."
一名叫做張小鳳的移民被問及是否願意搬到這個地方時，他說：“願不願意都不重要，我們不得不搬到這裏來，如果不搬的話，我們的房屋就會被淹沒在水裏。”She used to sell jade but now scrapes by selling whatever she can from a small shop in her "relocationvillage" -- dubbed "Harmony" by the local government.
她以前以賣玉爲生，但是現在在移民村裏開了一家小店勉強維生，當地政府授予這個移民村以“和諧之村”的稱號。She walked us through her new home but said she misses her old one. Still, she said, her suffering is worth it for more people to have water. But was she being serious or just being polite?
她帶我們看了看她的新家，但是她說想念自己的老房子。但是她說他的犧牲是值得的，因爲可以讓更多人獲得水資源。但是她真的是這麼認爲的嗎，還是隻是出於禮貌？"As a Chinese citizen we all ought to be like this," answered Zhang. "We can survive anywhere."
“作爲一名中國公民，我們都應該這麼做。我們可以在任何地方生存。”Back in Beijing, Ma Jun feels the projectis a short-term "emergency measure."
而在北京的馬軍認爲這個項目是一種短期的“應急措施”。"It will help to buy some time,"said Ma Jun. "I wouldn't call this a real final solution because the current volume of transfer will not be enough to fill up the gap."
“這或許會給我們爭取點時間，但是我不認爲這是最終的解決方案，因爲目前所輸送的水量還無法滿足空缺。”The water supply for some cities, he fears,may someday run out.
他擔心有些城市的供水可能最終會耗盡。
