Ep.15 Water Crisis

英語 × 英文 × 樂詞不疲

Intro
The lives of men have always revolved around water. There’s a reason most cities are located on a river or lake. Potable water has always been necessary and somewhat hard to find.
But with increasing population and pollution, it is becoming more and more difficult to hydrate mankind. Some experts say that the next world war will be over water. We’re certainly not there yet, but there’s no reason we shouldn’t be more careful with our most important resource.
Dialogue
Marni: Statistically, a billion people in the world look for clean water every day.
Kevin: That is amazing.
Marni: Yeah, and here we are in the United States and we just turn on our tap and we take it for granted.
Kevin: And we’re watering our lawns…
Marni: That makes me crazy!
Kevin: ...which I find really offensive.
Marni: I do, too. It’s such a waste and I think in this country, in the US, we just really take water for granted. We use it, we waste it and we’re not responsible with it, and, yes we have it…
Kevin: And yet, every summer, there’s some sort of crisis. Oh, you can’t water your lawns in Seattle, or in Phoenix…
Marni: Why do we need to water our lawns? It’s just pure vanity. And people who wash their cars obsessively in the driveway.
Kevin: I used to have a neighbor when I lived in Southeast Portland, and they would wash their cars every other day.
Marni: Ridiculous!
Kevin: White cars to boot. They were white! Like, you couldn’t even see the dirt.
Marni: I just think we’re very spoiled and we really need to think about water long-term.
Discussion
Marni tells Kevin that there are 1 billion people in the world who don’t have regular access to clean water. It’s something that’s easy to forget in a country like the United States where every building has running water, even though, as Kevin points out, there are often water shortages in certain areas of the country.
In fact, it’s so easy to forget that water is precious, that a lot of Americans waste it on things like watering the grass in their yards. Using water in this way makes Marni and Kevin very upset. They also think that Kevin’s former neighbors, who washed their cars every other day, are ridiculous as well. They agree that people need to think about making sure there’s still water for everyone in the future.
How easy is it to get water where you live? Are people careful with water in your town or do they use it on their cars and lawns?
Quiz
❶　Which of these is incorrect?

• Just get some water from the tap.
• Do you have Budweiser on tap?
• I hate drinking tap water.
• None of them. They are all correct.　✓

❷　Why couldn’t you see the dirt on Kevin’s neighbors’ cars?

• They were so clean.
• They were white.　✓
• There was no dirt there to begin with.

❸　Which of these is correct?

• I take for granted you sometimes.
• I take you for granted sometimes.　✓
• I will take you to granted sometime.

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