Marks . Listening - Marks . Speaking - Marks . Reading - Marks (Any passage) Time – minutes 12th Communicative English Book.indb Practicals Page PASSAGE - Water scarcity is a major threat in many parts of the world, including India.
In the world, over two billion people are dying because of it. The situation would worsen in the future with increased demand for fresh water. The earth is per cent water, as are our bodies. We can last for about two to three weeks without food, but we would be dead within three days without water.
What we do to our water, we do to ourselves. Humans are increasingly putting this essential resource in serious danger. We poison our ground and surface water. We burn fossil fuels that cause acid rain and global warming.
We dam our rivers, interrupting the water flow and destroyed delicate ecosystems downstream. We clear vegetation and pave massive land areas, decreasing the groundwater level and increasing flood and soil erosion. On top of all this, those with access to the most water are wasting vast amounts of it. In September , the United Nations adopted a Millennium Declaration setting out targets to be reached in the coming years.
One target is to reduce by half, “the proportion of people who are unable to reach or afford safe drinking water “ by the year . The Millennium Declaration also aims, “to stop the unsustainable exploitation of water resources by developing water management strategies at the regional, national and local levels, Listening which promote both equitable access and adequate supplied”. Our planet’s system for purification of water, like all its other systems, is delicate and balanced. It is high time that each one of us takes positive decisions to conserve water, the ‘green gold’ essential for all life on earth.
Questions: . is the major threat in many parts of the world a) Resources in danger b) water scarcity c) flood and soil erosion d) global warming . What does the burning of fossil fuel cause? a)