第二篇 出处不明，感觉上像是一个座谈会讲话，句式比较简单，逻辑比较清楚，难度较低。
China’s economy growth during the last three decades has been most impressive. This growth, however, is achieved with considerable environmental cost, one of which is serious water pollution. With the rising of living standard, people have been aware of the impact of water pollution on their quality of life. In the area of water management, the priority of Chinese government should be on how to provide 1.35 billion people with clean and safe water, that is, water which could be drunk from the tap without any adverse health impact.
中国过去三十年间的经济增长令人瞩目，但获得这一增长付出了很大的环境代价，其实之一就是严重的水污染。随着生活水平的增长，人们意识到对于水污染对其生活质量的影响。在水资源管理领域，中国政府优先考虑如何为13.5亿人提供清洁安全的水源，也就是说，自来水应该能够直接饮用而不会对健康产生负面影响。
My colleagues and I have regularly visited China and we have met few family that drink water from the tap. The distrust of the quality of the tap water can be seen at the sale of bottled water. In 2014, China was expected to overtake the United States as the largest market for bottled water in the world. Although it counts for near one fifth of the world population, China has only seven percent of the world’s fresh water. This means to ensure adequate water for drinking, industrial, agricultural and energy related uses, China’s needs to adopt a new mindset to manage its water, which is becoming increasingly more polluted and scarce.
我和我的同学常常到中国来，我们发现很少有中国家庭直接饮用自来水。对于自来水质量的不信任由瓶装水情况可见一斑。2014年，中国有望超过美国，成为全世界最大的瓶装水市场。虽然中国有世界近五分之一的人口，但只有百分之七的淡水资源。这就意味着为了保证有足够的饮用水，工农业以及与能源相关用水，中国需要采用新思维来管理日益污染和不断减少的。水资源，
What the country needs is a revolution in terms of the water governance, which means the increasing supply is not the automatic answer to the increased demand. One important option is to adjust water price, which is too cheap at present. Consequently, households and industries use too much water. This is also the case for agriculture, which is so far the largest user of water. Neither municipalities nor industries have historically considered extensive treatment and reuse of waste water.
中国需要在水资源管理方面进行革命，也就意味着增加供给不是解决日见增加的需求的直接答案。一个重要的选择是调整水价。中国目前水价过低，因此家庭和工业用水过于浪费。农业同样如此，农业是最大的用水大户。从历史上说，无论是市政还是各项工业都没有认真考虑过大规模污水处理和废水二次使用的问题。
At present, the water expenditure of an average Chinese household is about 0.5 percent of disposable income. This is one of the lowest in the world. The average price of 25 Chinese cities is only 0.46 US dollars per cubic meter, compared with a global average of 2 dollars and 3 cents per cubic meter. the Chinese government has called more efficient use of water and promised that market will play a greater role in setting prices. Accordingly by 2015, there will be a three tier pricing structure in all the cities and towns based on actual water use. The top 5 percent of water users will pay three times the base price. The next fifteen percent will pay 1.5 times the price. However, 80 percent will continue to pay the same cheap price.
目前，中国家庭水费开支只占可支配收入的百分之零点五，为全球最低国家之一。中国城市用水价格平均仅为每立方米0。46美元，而全球均价为2至3美元。中国政府号召提醒用水效率，承诺市场在调整水价方面起到更大作用。与此相关，到2015年，所有城市和乡镇采用三级水价。排名前百分之五的用水大户将支付三倍于基本价的水价。另有百分之十五的用户支付一点五倍水价，而其它百分之八十的用户依然支付原来便宜的水费。
While the new pricing structure is stepping in the right direction, it is not enough to manage demand. The water price has to increase significantly to manage demand. Our general view is that water price should be around 1.5 percent of disposable household incomes. Only those household where water use exceed their income level should receive targeted subsidies. Within the next five to ten years, the objective should be to ensure all cities with a population above a certain level would receive clear water which can be drunk safely from the tap. At the same time, public awareness campaigns such as those in Singapore should be considered. These campaigns are designed to draw public attention to the importance of water to people’s quality of life and the country’s continuous economic development. People should be made aware that the cost of substandard water supply and waste water treatment is probably around 2.5 to 3 percent of the country’s GDP.
虽然新的定价结构向着正确的方向迈出了一步，但不足以管理需求，为了达到管理需求的目的，水价需要大幅度增长。我们通常认为水费应该占到家庭可支配收入的百分之一点五。只有那些用水开支超过其收入水平的家庭才能获得针对性的补贴。在今后五到十年间，我们的目标是保证所有人口超过一定数量的城市获得可以直接饮用的清洁水源。同时，应该象新加坡一样对公众进行用水意识的教育活动。这些活动旨在让公共注意水对于人民生活质量以及国家经济持续发展的重要性。应该教育公众意识到提供非标准水的以及废水处理的成本应该占到国家人均国民生产总值的百分之二点五到三。
With cheap pricing as has been the case historically, there can only be limited water conservation. This has also stopped companies, public and private from carrying out badly needed upgrades and proper and regular maintenance of their water supplying systems and applying the latest technology to improve water management. Water pricing is the one of the important tools available to ensure every Chinese has access to safe water in the foreseeable future. However, like any tool, water pricing has to be used sensitively and properly.
由于低水价由来已久，水资源保护非常有限，使国家和私人公司无法对于供水系统进行急需的升级和日常维护，也不能使用最新技术来提高水资源管理。水价是一项重要的工具，保证中国人能在可预测的未来获得安全用水，但是，像任何一项工具一样，使用水价这一工具也要非常小心而合理。
