翻阅passage41原文

    PEOPLE kill each other over diamonds; countries go to war over oil. But the world’s most expensive commodities are worth nothing in the absence of water. Fresh water is essential for life,with no substitute. Although mostly unpriced, it is the most valuable stuff in the world.

    Nature has decreed that the supply of water is fixed. Meanwhile demand rises inexorably as the world’s population increases and enriches itself. Homes, factories and offices are sucking up ever more. But it is the planet’s growing need for food (and the water involved in producing crops and meat) that matters most. Farming accounts for 70% of withdrawals.

    Our special report this week looks at the increasingly visible consequences of the rising demand for water. Few of the world’s great rivers that run through grain-growing areas now reach the sea all the year round or, if they do, they do so as a trickle. Less obvious, though even more serious, are the withdrawals from underground aquifers, which are hidden from sight but big enough to produce changes in the Earth’s gravitational field (引力场) that can be monitored by NASA’s satellites in space. Water tables are now falling in many parts of the world, including America, India and China.

    So far the world has been spared a true water war, though the belligerency(敌对状态) in Darfur comes close to being one, and competition for water can sometimes bring rivals together as well as drive them apart. But since over 60% of the world’s population lives in a river basin shared by two or more countries, the scope for squabbles is plain. Even if acute water shortages were to become widespread in just one country—India, say, or China—they could lead to mass migration and fighting.

    Although the supply of water cannot be increased, mankind can use what there is better—in four ways. One is through the improvement of storage and delivery, by creating underground reservoirs, replacing leaking pipes, lining earth-bottomed canals, irrigating plants at their roots 　　with just the right amount of water, and so on. A second route focuses on making farming less thirsty—for instance by growing newly bred, perhaps genetically modified, crops that are drought-resistant or higher-yielding. A third way is to invest in technologies to take the salt out of 　　sea water and thus increase supply of the fresh stuff. The fourth is of a different kind: unleash the market on water-users and let the price mechanism bring supply and demand into balance. And once water is properly priced, trade will encourage well-watered countries to make water-intensive goods, and arid ones to make those that are water-light.

    翻阅passage41长难句分析：

[FS:PAGE]    为了钻石，人类相互残杀;为了石油，国家之间开战。但是假如没有水，这两样世界上最贵重的商品将会变得一钱不值。淡水是生命的必需品，而且无可替代。尽管水大都无法估价，但却是世界上最珍贵的东西。

    自然规定了水的供给量是固定的。与此同时，需求量会随着世界人口的增加和生活水准的提升而无情地增加。家庭、工厂和办公场所正在吸噬越来越多的水。但是，这个星球对于食物(和在生产庄稼和肉类过程中涉及到的水)日益增长的需求才是最值得担心的。农业耕作要占到耗水量的70%。

    本周的《特别报道》关注的是需水量的增加所会导致的日益显见的后果。世界上流经产粮区的大河现在很少有全年都入海的，假如入海了，也是细流。不如这个明显，却要更为严重的现象是，从地下的蓄水层取水。蓄水层虽然隐蔽在视线之外，却大得足够带来地球引力场的改变(NASA在太空中的卫星就可以观察到这种改变)。目前，在世界上的很多地方——包括美国、印度和中国，地下水位正在下降。

    到目前为止，世界尚未遭遇过一次真正由水引起的战争(尽管达尔富尔的冲突几乎就成了一场战争)，而且竞争水资源除了会让对手间红脸之外，有时也能带来团结。但是因为世界上超过60%的人口生活的江河流域都是由两个或者更多国家共享的，发生争执的范围就显见了。即使水资源严重短缺只在一个国家内蔓延——比如印度，或者中国——也会引起大规模移民和争斗。

    虽然不能增加水源总量，人类却能够更好地使用目前现有的水资源——有四种方法。第一种是改进贮存和运输，可以通过建造地下水库，替换泄漏的管线，连接土质河床的运河，用适量的水在植物根部进行灌溉等方法来达成。第二条途径是让农业少些口渴——比如种植新品种(也可能是转基因品种)，使作物具有抗旱性或是产量更高。第三种办法是投资将盐从海水中剥离的技术，从而增加淡水的供给。第四种和前面三种不太一样：放开市场，让价格机制带来供需平衡。而且一旦水价合理，贸易就会促使富水的国家制造富水的商品，促使缺水的国家制造用水少的商品。

    虽然四种办法都算得是解决之道，但是没有一种能够迅速彻底地将过度抽水的问题解决。比如，虽然新科技甚至新品种可能会增加粮食产量(尤其要关注本周基因组研究的新进展)，但是还没有人能够大幅度地提升单位水的作物产量。没有这个突破，种更多的粮食便不可避免地意味着失去更多的水，因为每一棵额外的作物在光合作用过程中都会将水蒸气带入空气当中。

    脱盐看起来更有希望，因为技术在进步，价格在下降。但是脱盐仍然很贵，尤其是从能源消耗方面来看，这也是为什么脱盐在目前只提供世界0.4%的淡水。毫无疑问，脱盐会增加可饮用水的量，可以增加有些工业过程所必需的高纯水的供给，甚至还能增加高等作物(尤其是为出口而种植的作物)灌溉水的供给。但是，脱盐不会解决多数农民面临的水问题。

    至于市场——当市场遇见水，就遇见了各式的障碍：水很难移动，很难测量，很难定价，很难要价(因为很多人认为水应该免费)。甚至在一滴水值千金的缺水市场，水价也很少会反映水的紧缺。买卖用水权某天可能会为印度两千万的用井人带来一套秩序，但是不会在2025年喂饱到时将预计达到的14亿张嘴。

    如果真的要做，也主要是进行需求管理。这个办法已经在印度和中国开始了，那里的农民正在学习怎样测量抽出的水，学习怎样最大效率地使用水，从而学习怎样保持蓄水层的水位。现在最迫切的是在国内和其它国家传播他们的理念和作法。

[FS:PAGE]    即使各国能够限制水的损耗，很多和水相关的问题依然会存在。大约有10亿人仍然无法得到像样的供水，而另外一部分人却要忍受洪水、污染和卫生状况恶劣的问题。但是如果人们想要解决这些问题，他是能的。人们把更多的金钱和技术都用在比缺水次要的问题上了。而且如果人们确实成功解决了这些问题，造成人类苦难的根源——疾病和贫穷——会自动得到缓解。为更好地利用这个世界上最珍贵的天然商品而投入更多的智力和金钱，这当然是值得做的事。

    翻阅passage41长难句分析

    1) Less obvious, though even more serious, are the withdrawals from underground aquifers, which are hidden from sight but big enough to produce changes in the Earth’s gravitational field (引力场) that can be monitored by NASA’s satellites in space.

    【解析】是一个倒装结构，正常结构应是：the withdrawals are less obvious，though even more serious...。因为名词withdrawals后面的修饰成分太长，句子的平衡不好，所以出现了这种非法语规定的倒装。

    【参考译文】不太显眼却更为严重的现象是，从地下的蓄水层去睡的现象。蓄水层虽然音标在实现之外，其大容量足以带来地球引力场的改变，NASA的太空卫星就可以观察到这种改变。

    2)So far the world has been spared a true water war, though the belligerency(敌对状态) in Darfur comes close to being one, and competition for water can sometimes bring rivals together as well as drive them apart.

    【解析】注意结尾处as well as的用法：它可以引出并列结构，相当于and，也可以成为比较结构，此处是并列结构，并列bring together和drive apart 两个动词成分。

    【参考译文】尽管在达尔富尔地区，冲突差点儿就升级为一场战争，到目前为止，世界尚未真正遭遇过一次由水引起的战争，而且竞争水资源除了会让对手渐行渐远之外，有时也能带来团结。