(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
A recent study suggests that ground water is an answer to water shortages in African countries south of the Sahara Desert.
最近的一项研究表明，地下水可以解决撒哈拉沙漠以南非洲国家的水资源短缺问题。
This finding could help millions of people in an area which is expected to be strongly affected by climate change.
这一调查发现可以帮助这个预计将会受到气候变化严重影响的地区的数百万人。
WaterAid, an international non-profit group, and the British Geological Survey (BGS), a British government organization, carried out the research.
国际非营利组织“水援助”和英国政府组织英国地质调查局进行了这项研究。
It found that underground water could help African countries deal with at least five years of drought.
该研究发现，地下水可以帮助非洲国家应对至少五年的干旱。
The report released in March said underground water could help develop agriculture in the area.
3月发布的这份报告称，地下水可能会有助于发展该地区的农业。
Additional water resources could help farming in an area where only three to five percent of agricultural land is irrigated.
在一个只有3%到5%的农田得到灌溉的地区，额外的水资源有助于农业发展。
For example, BGS information shows Senegal has an aquifer, or underground water supply, that has been kept in good condition by years of rainfall.
例如，英国地质调查局的信息显示，塞内加尔有一个地下蓄水层，即地下水供应，多年的降雨使其保持了良好的状态。
But getting to the water is difficult and costly.
但获得地下水既困难，成本也高。
Experts say it is hard to find scientists who are trained at finding underground water.
专家表示，很难找到接受过寻找地下水培训的科学家。
Tata Bathily is a village in northern Senegal.
塔塔巴蒂利是塞内加尔北部的一个村庄。
When a well there began to dry up in 2010, the government dug another one.
2010年，当那里的一口井开始干涸时，政府又挖了一口井。
That well began to dry up too.
那口井也开始干涸了。
Then the town raised $5,000 to dig a new well last year.
该镇去年筹集了5000美元挖了一口新井。
But that well also failed.
但那口井也失败了。
The most dependable aquifers can be 400 meters underground.
最可靠的含水层可能在地下400米处。
That is 10 times deeper than the Tata Bathily wells.
这是塔塔巴蒂利水井深度的10倍。
Building a well that deep costs about $20,000.
打一口这么深的水井大约需要2万美元。
"We don't drink enough to satisfy our thirst," said Oumou Drame.
乌穆·德拉姆说：“我们没有足够的水来解渴”。
She added that they do not wash themselves or their clothes.
她还说，他们不洗澡，也不洗衣服。
She is 40-years-old and a mother of five.
她今年40岁，是五个孩子的母亲。
She wakes up before the sun rises every day to get what is left from the old well before it runs dry in a few hours.
她每天在太阳升起之前醒来，在之前的水井在几个小时后干涸之前取出水井里面剩余的水。
"We don't sleep at night, we leave our children at home to fetch water.
德拉姆从水井里提上一个几乎空了的水罐后说：“我们晚上不睡觉，我们把孩子留在家里出去打水。
From very early in the morning until now we are looking for water," said Drame, after transporting up a near-empty water can from the well.
从凌晨到现在，我们一直在找水”。
Wells that no longer work are common in the hot and dry area called Matam where Tata Bathily is found.
在塔塔巴蒂利所在的炎热干燥的马塔姆地区，不再运转的水井很常见。
Temperatures can reach 50 degrees Celsius.
气温可能会达到50摄氏度。
Communities there guess where to dig a well.
那里的社区猜在哪里挖井。
When they are wrong, women and children have to go even farther in search of a few liters of water.
如果他们错了，妇女和儿童就不得不走到更远的地方寻找几升水。
In villages visited by Reuters, local people said that the growing population and unpredictable rainfall have reduced supplies.
在路透社走访的村庄中，当地人表示，不断增长的人口和不可预测的降雨导致水的供应量减少。
"The story for Senegal is that the good quality groundwater may not be exactly where you want it to be," said Alan MacDonald.
艾伦·麦克唐纳说：“塞内加尔的情况是，优质的地下水可能根本不在你希望它在的地方。”
He is a scientist who studies water resources at the BGS.
他是一名在英国地质调查局研究水资源的科学家。
International water experts and leaders gathered in Senegal's capital Dakar in March for a meeting of the World Water Council.
今年3月，国际水资源专家和领导人齐聚塞内加尔首都达喀尔参加世界水资源理事会组织的会议。
They called for better availability of drinking water for those who live beyond the reach of piped water networks.
他们呼吁为那些生活在管道供水网络覆盖范围之外的人更好地提供饮用水。
That same week, local people in Tata Bathily, about 700 kilometers away in the northeast, were digging in a dry river bed a few kilometers from the village.
就在同一周，位于东北部约700公里外的塔塔巴蒂利的当地人正在离村子几公里远的干涸河床上挖掘。
They were collecting the dirty water that was available there.
他们正在收集那里可以获得的脏水。
Children quickly drank it, even though it made them sick.
尽管这些水会让孩子们生病，他们还是迅速喝下了它。
I'm Gregory Stachel.
格雷戈里·施塔赫尔为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
