智 课 网 托 福 备 考 资 料 托福阅读材料:加利福尼亚在干旱中崛起的梦想-智课教育旗下智课教育本文是智课教育小编为大家带来的托福阅读材料。大家在积累相关词汇的同时,也要注意学习相关的背景知识。智课教育小编为大家带来托福阅读材料。文章的难词已经标示出来,希望大家可以学习到相关知识,并通过不断的阅读练习提高自己的托福阅读能力。As the northeastern United States fights a losing battle to maintain its population California the Southwest and Florida continue to grow like theres no tomorrow. Only(可是,然而 there will be a tomorrow. And more people changing patterns of rainfall and a culture requiring the desert to bloom have led California Governor Jerry Brown to call for a 25 percent reduction(减少 in household water consumption(家庭用水. Presumably(大概 he is leaving the best for last since 80 percent of the states water is used in agriculture and the problemdoesnt get solved without increased efficiency in agricultural water use. In addition to issues with surface (地表的water Californias farmers are rapidly depleting(耗尽the states groundwater resources.The issue of the physical dimension of sustainability has been cast aside from some notions of economic development for half a century. We stopped paying attention to the reality of natural resources. We werent always this arrogant(傲慢的 and stupid. In the first half of the twentieth century weaddressed(解决 water resource issues with massive infrastructure(基础设施 projects: The Colorado River Project bringing water from western mountains to the arid(干旱的 southwest and New York Citys upstate(北部的 system of water supply bringing fresh water from the citys neighbors to replace the polluted and inadequate sources available locally. It was clear that growth required public investment and resources. In the modern anti-tax anti-government era ushered in (开启by Ronald Reagan we thought that we could have growth without the investment in infrastructure that we once understood to be necessary. The ideology dictated(决定 that the free market could deliver everything we need. Unfortunately it didnt.Of course public investment alone could not address the extreme drought(干旱 now faced by California. There is little question that the extreme drought currentlyunderway(在进行中的 is in part a result of human-induced climate change but from a public policy perspective that understanding does little to address the immediate issue. This is because the real issue is that the rapid growth of population has taken place without enough concern for ensuring adequate backup(支持 for the states water supply system. America has plenty of water it just isnt in the same place that people want to live.The public policy problem is relatively straightforward(直接: People have moved to a place that does not have enough water. How do we improve the supply of water and possibly reduce the demand for this resource? That is what Governor Brown and his team are grappling with(努力应对 today. In an excellent report on this issue New York Times reporters Adam Nagourney Jack Healy and Nelson D. Schwartz observed that:This is hardly the first crisis California has faced; there has always been a tension(紧张 between the natural beauty and delights of living in California and the external threats be they the dizzying(令人不知所措的 ups-and-downs of the state budget the rolling blackouts(停电 during the energy crisis in 2000 and 2001 the earthquakes or periodic(周期性的 droughts. The critical question is the extent to which Mr. Brown has succeeded in persuading people here to shake long-held habits and assumptions. Much like the Gold Rush more than 150 years ago or the rise of Silicon Valley the assumption of cheap and abundant(充足的 water has been a crucial part of Californias identity history and economy. And until recently it seemed that the California dream was sustainable: booming(繁荣的 cities wide lawns in the suburbs(郊区 green golf courses in an otherwise parched(干渴的 landscape and above all(最为重要的是 a vibrant(充满生机的 agricultural sector in places not much wetter than a desert.In a wealthy stable and technologically advanced country the answer is to remedy(改进措施 the disinvestment(撤资 mistakes of the past thirty years and imagine the type of giant infrastructure project that could bring water to the places where people want to live. Unlike the projects of the past we now know a lot more about ecological(生态的 impacts and so the design parameters(限度 for new water supply projects will be more demanding(要求高的 than the ones we pursued in the first part of the twentieth century. All of this is going to cost money. It is going to require increased taxation(征税 or at least increased water fees(注意这里用的不是fare. Here in New York City we saw our household water rates rise by over 165 percent during Mayor Michael Bloombergs three terms in office. No one liked paying higher fees but these funds went to pay the debt service on a third water tunnel to carry water from upstate to the city and for a number of other projects needed to ensure a clean and adequate water supply.The good news from California is that reality has set in. Californians are fortunate that they do not have ananti-gover