【答案解析】不断增长的人口对水、食物、原材料和能源的需求与大自然本身为维持濒危生态系统和我们赖以生存的服务对水的需求之间竞争日趋激烈。日复一日，我们将无数吨未经处理的污水以及工业和农业废物倾倒人地球的水系统。清洁的水已经变得稀缺，随着气候变化的到来它将变得更加稀缺。穷人依然首当其冲地最受污染、缺水和缺乏适当卫生设施的影响。 [听力原文]
Our growing population"s need for water, for food, raw materials and energy is increasingly competing with nature"s own demands for water to sustain already imperiled ecosystems and the services on which we depend. Day after day, we pour millions of tons of untreated sewage and industrial and agricultural wastes into the world"s water systems. Clean water has become scarce and will become even scarcer with the onset of climate change. And the poor continue to suffer first and most from pollution, water shortages and the lack of adequate sanitation.

【答案解析】今年世界水日以“保障清洁水源，创造健康世界”为主题，该主题强调水资源的质和量都面临着威胁。因饮用不卫生的水而死亡的人数超过死于包括战争在内一切形式暴力的死亡人数。这些死亡是对我们共同人性的侮辱，也破坏了许多国家充分发挥其发展潜力的努力。世界已掌握解决这些难题的专门技能，知道如何更好地管理水资源。水对于我们的所有发展目标都至关重要。让我们为穷人、弱势群体和地球上所有生命保护并持续地管理我们的水域。 [听力原文]
The theme of this year"s World Water Day, "Clean Water for a Healthy World", emphasizes that both the quality and the quantity of water resources are at risk. More people die from unsafe water than from all forms of violence, including war. These deaths are an affront to our common humanity, and undermine the efforts of many countries to achieve their development potential. The world has the know-how to solve these challenges and become better stewards of our water resources. Water is central to all our development goals. Let us protect and sustainably manage our waters for the poor, the vulnerable and for all life on Earth.

【答案解析】总统上周得到了他想要的电视行业的承诺，即开发一款有助于电子视觉芯片编程所必需的评级系统，至少在孩子观看时，能够在家庭的电视屏幕上自动屏蔽色情和暴力。很显然，该行业正对政府和那些即使有点虚伪、却对之深感厌恶的公众所施加的压力作出反应。甚至连总统也承认：评级和视觉芯片组合本身不会终结席卷美国社会和美国文化的垃圾浪潮。它只是一种治百病的药，但会起作用。 [听力原文]
The president got what he wanted out of the television industry last week, a pledge to develop the rating system necessary to program electronic V-chips that could automatically block sex and violence from individual home screens, at least in the hours children are watching. Clearly the industry was responding to pressure from the government and a disgusted if somewhat hypocritical public. And even the president conceded that the ratings/V-chip combo would not itself end the trashy tidal waves sweeping American society or American culture. It"s only a panacea, but it will help.

【答案解析】星期一一早，日本开始一周的工作。火车准点运行，东京成千上万高楼里的电梯高效地在楼层之间上下，城市的灯全亮了，连一个故障都没有。这个星期一之所以那么非凡，是因为这是40年来第一次没有任何能量来自核反应堆。周末，日本关闭了仅存的核反应堆，以便进行定期维修。在2011年的核灾难后，核反应堆尚未被允许继续使用。日本现在是当今第一个不使用核电的主要经济体。 [听力原文]
As Japan began its workweek Monday morning, the trains ran exactly on time, the elevators in thousands of Tokyo high-rises efficiently moved between floors, and the lights turned on across cities with nary a glitch. What makes this Monday so remarkable is that for the first time in four decades, none of the energy is derived from a nuclear reactor. Over the weekend, Japan"s last remaining nuclear reactor shut down for regular maintenance. In the wake of the nuclear disaster in 2011, reactors have not been allowed back on. Japan is now the first major economy to see the modern era without nuclear power.