寫作題目

In many cities and all over the world, there is a serious shortage of water supplies. What are the causes of and solutions to the scarcity of water resource? Write an essay of about 400 words. You should supply an appropriate title for your essay.

In the ?rst part of your essay you should state clearly your main argument, and in the second part you should support your argument with appropriate details. In the last part you should bring what you have written to a natural conclusion or make a summary.

Marks will be awarded for content, organization, grammar and appropriateness. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks .

寫作思路

本題屬于“問題解決型”，需要按照問題、原因/后果、解決方法三步驟來進行結構安排 。水資源缺乏是人類面臨的一大挑戰(zhàn)，本題要求先分析原因，再提出解決方法，其中原因和解決辦法必須是兩點或兩點以上。在第一段，我們可以先大體介紹一下水資源缺乏的現(xiàn)狀及帶來的可怕后果；隨后用一到兩段來具體分析水資源缺乏的原因，如人口爆炸、環(huán)境污染、或是地球本身淡水資源的匱乏等等；接下來再用一段提出解決方法，如海水淡化、節(jié)約用水、保護環(huán)境等；最后做出總結。

On Water Scarcity

Water, as one of the most important natural resources, is facing serious scarcity. A recent survey conducted by Greenpeace revealed that over two thirds of the nations in the world were af?icted with severe water shortage. Hence, it is essential that we ascertain the causes of this phenomenon and identify the effective solutions.

A number of factors could account for the problem, but the following might be the critical ones. First of all, it is generally arguable that the population explosion is the root cause of the crisis. To illustrate, over the past half a century, the world population has more than doubled and this growth rate shows no sign of slowing down. Therefore, household and industrial use of water has been shooting up since the end of World War II. Further, water resource is polluted by the industrial wastes produced by factories and companies. For instance, currently, a vast number of factories dump their wastes into rivers and lakes, which seriously undermines the world’s eco-system. Finally, the shortage of fresh water can also be attributed to the lower ef? ciency in water? utilization. Some developing countries still use the primitive irrigation system, which is believed?to waste at least 70% fresh water. In most cities in China, fresh water is used to ?ush lavatories.?

Moreover, most citizens use a wash-machine, which consumes a larger volume of fresh water. In view of the seriousness of the problem, effective measures must be taken before things get? worse. Firstly, it is essential that laws and regulations be worked out and enforced to protect water resource. Secondly, national infrastructure has to be improved. For example, new dams should be built and new technology should be invented to save water scienti? cally. Thirdly, man must do his utmost to ? nd alternative sources of fresh water. Research has proved that we can transform seawater into drinking water with the help of modern technology. Last but not the least, governments in all countries should give priority to6 the controlling of the staggering increase of thepopulation. It is necessary that other nations learn from China’s success in curbing its population surge over the past three decades.?

Above all, we should not forget the importance of water or waste it unnecessarily. Any kind of? drought is always a reminder that we should never take our water for granted and that every drop? counts. Therefore, we should take effective steps, including birth control, promotion of sustainable development, and research about new water resource, to alleviate this modern-day scourge . ??

★用詞亮點

be afflicted with ：受 ……的折磨

ascertain ：查 明，弄清

root cause ：根本原 因

shoot up ：猛增

do one s utmost ：盡某人最大的力量 ?

give priority to ：把……放在首位

curb its population surge ：抑制它的人 口暴增趨勢

scourge ：災禍

★句式亮點

To illustrate, over the past half a century, the world population has more than doubled and this growth rate shows no sign of slowing down.

本句最大的特色在于一些短語的使用，如to illustrate、more than doubled、no sign of slowing down，這些表達既有新意又相當準確。本句句意為：例如，在過去的半個世紀中，全世界的人口翻了一倍多，而且這種增長速度并沒有任何減緩的跡象。

Any kind of drought is always a reminder that we should never take our water for granted and that every drop counts.

Any kind of drought is always a reminder...的意思是Any kind of drought always reminds us... ，即“任何形式的干旱都是在提醒我們 ……”。本句句意為 ：任何形式的干旱都是在提醒我們不應該再把水看作是理所當然的東西，每一滴水都是重要的。

★篇章亮點

語言是本文的一大亮點，作者用詞準確、語言表達地道、句式豐富多變。在結構安排上，作者嚴格遵循了問題解決型文章的基本結構 ，主題句? “Hence, it is essential that we ascertain the causes of this phenomenon and identify the effective solutions.”既統(tǒng)領全文 ，又暗含了主體部分的主要內容：即先分析原因，再提出有效方法 。在兩段主體段落中，作者主要采用了分類論證和舉例論證的方法，尤其在分析原因部分，作者將缺水的原因大致分為三類 ，即人口爆炸、水污染、水資源浪費，并輔以恰當?shù)睦C，邏輯性強。此外，作者大量使用連詞，如 ：first of all, further, finally等等，這些連詞很好地將全文的內容連接在了一起。在結尾部分，作者向大家發(fā)起節(jié)水的號召 ，并總結了上文提出的解決方法 。全文結構完整、論述方式多樣、很有說服力 。