GRE阅读写作分析--A water warning

　　Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chairman of Nestl, argues that water shortage is an even more urgent problem than climate change

　　The rise in the price of basic food has had devastating effects on the most vulnerablethe poor who spend up to two-thirds of their income on food. Some of the measures taken in response, such as export restrictions, have been highly counter-productive. In 2009 the world needs to reflect on the underlying causes of the food crisis and start addressing structural factors, in particular the link to biofuels and water.

Frank Rijsberman, from the Sri Lanka-based International Water Management Institute, gave warning in 2003 that if current trends continued, the livelihoods of one-third of the worlds population could be affected by water scarcity by 2025: We could be facing annual losses equivalent to the entire grain crops of India and the United States combined. Normally, when people hear about water scarcity they think of tap water; he talked about crops. And the dimension of the problem ahead is vast: America and India combined produce about 30% of globally consumed cereals.

　　It was a very hot summer that year. In Paris the heatwave left old people dying in their apartments. The big issue in the media was climate change. Mr Rijsbermans warnings remained unnoticed.

　　So what has happened since to the relevant trends? They have indeed changed, but not for the better. New factorsin particular the craze for biofuelshave added to the urgency of the water issue.

　　Let me quickly illustrate some of the links between food and water. It takes about one litre of water to produce one calorie from food crops. The actual water requirements differ according to plant, climate and the efficiency of irrigation.

　　这样做有两点好处：

　　1、看到最后会发现通过离我们最近的food来入手解释这个问题浅显易懂，容易引起读着兴趣。

　　2、其实也是一种变相对比：连最基本的food方面水资源都供应不及了，还要花那么多用在biofeul上，进而从另一个方面支持作者的观点：必须减少在biofeul上的投入

　　这种引入式地分析问题显得很有思维深度，值得借鉴

　　Diets are another variable. Europeans and Americans have for years had high proportions of meat in their diets, but now this trend is catching on in emerging markets as incomes rise. Meat requires ten times the water withdrawn per calorie by plants. So the average daily diet in California requires some 6,000 litres of water in agriculture, compared with 3,000 litres in countries such as Tunisia and Egypt.

Compare these 3,000-6,000 daily litres withdrawn per head of world population for farming the food we eat with the three to four litres we drink or the 300-600 litres of water needed for other purposes, such as hygiene, or manufacturing .

　　Water withdrawals for agriculture continue to increase rapidly. In some of the most fertile regions of the world overuse of water, mainly for agriculture, is leading to sinking water tables. Groundwater is being withdrawn, no longer as a buffer over the year, but in a structural way, mainly because water is seen as a free good.

　　As if this were not enough, politicians have added another drainbiofuels. It takes up to 9,100 litres of water to grow the soy for one litre of biodiesel, and up to 4,000 litres for the corn to be transformed into bioethanol. What is meant to alleviate a serious environmental problem is making another, even more serious problem worse. Whatever the scenarios for climate change, we must reduce the consumption of fossil energy. But biofuels from crops specifically planted to be transformed into energy are clearly the wrong answer. I am convinced that, under present conditions and with the way water is being managed, we will run out of water long before we run out of fuel.

　　How to avoid running dry

　　There are solutions. They start in politicsfor example, stopping subsidies for biofuels. Even more important, look for ways to use water in agriculture more efficiently. There is enough land and water to supply more meat to people in emerging economies. Efficient irrigation, for instance, would reduce freshwater withdrawals almost by half.

　　And more can be done at international level. Some crops are better grown in water-rich countries, others grow well with relatively little water. If water had a price , and if farm products could be traded freely and without subsidies across borders, a water-efficient allocation of production would follow.

　　What is business doing? At Nestl, we have brought down freshwater withdrawals for our production from five litres per dollar of sales ten years ago to less than 1.8 litres. We actively participate in the public-policy dialogue on water, and together with other companies we have initiated the UN Global Compact CEO Water Mandate, aiming at a more efficient water use in industry.

　　We must all take the water issue seriously, better understand the link to food security and stop the trend towards overuse of freshwater. The decisions of the coming years will determine whether a major global crisis of water and food shortage can be avoided.

　　这篇长但是不难，我觉着亮点是中间的论述部分~很值得AW学习~

　　总体上是是什么，为社么，怎么办

　　在为社么中的论证尤其精彩~

　　基本思路是：提出问题举例说明反例对比问题发展引出更进一步的核心问题

　　感觉步步逼近，很好地呈现出biofeul加重水资源匮乏的可能，最终达到呼吁减少对biofeul的投入的目的，非常有说服力!

　　而且在最后的怎么办中，作者也考虑的相当全面

　　这篇的写作思路太赞了!

　　素材：事物的两面性

　　摹写：

　　1、What is meant to conceal the pain in ones heart is making even more inner worry brighter

　　2、If therere more people concentrate on the issue,and if we join hands to do something,the amelioration of environmental problems will follow.