Level II

Chapter 2
Reading

IC3 Section

IC3 | IT | TOEFL | Best Answer
Language
Assessment

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Topic: Water Ecology / Sinh thái học về nước
بوم شناسیِ (اکولوژیِ) آب  

Guiding Question: Who has the responsibility for protecting and preserving the earth’s water supply?	Câu hỏi hướng dẫn: Ai có trách nhiệm bảo vệ và gìn giữ nguồn cung cấp nước của trái đất?
سوال راهنما: چه کسی مسوول حفاظت و نگهداری از منابع آب روی زمین است؟

 

Skills:

In this chapter you will do these things:

English Language Skills:

• Water World and Sanitation
• Reading in Context
• Guessing Meaning from Reading Context
• Identifying the Topic in Reading
• Skimming for Main Ideas

Vietnamese Language: Read a River Story Answer Questions Persian Language: The Persian Language Lesson is found in the Listening and Speaking Chapter. Online it is found on the IC3 website under Learning Platform, Level I, Integrated Skills (far right).

IC3: Water & Health: The Poverty Connection We Will Be Drowned in Drought Taking It Further: Taking Further Explanation TOEFL

Intercultural Communicative Competence

In the article below, the relationship between water, health and poverty are described. Read the article, then discuss in class the issues highlighted in the discussion section following the article.

Water & Health: The Poverty Connection
http://www.worldwaterday.org/2001/report/ch1.html

Poor health and illness are dreaded by almost everyone. Needy people tend to live on what they earn on a daily basis and have no cash reserves to pay for a sudden illness. The loss of income and the inability to pay for the cost of treatment can push a family further into poverty and debt, thereby perpetuating the cycle of poverty.

“If you don't have money today, your disease will take you to your grave.” ---An old man in Ghana, 1995

Poor communities are often forced to over exploit their natural resources in order to survive. Water sources are particularly vulnerable. In too many cases, they are abused to such an extent that they no longer can provide for a community's basic needs and end up posing serious health risks. However, opportunities for reversing this situation exist. What is required is that priority is given to water management and development and that communities play a major role in solving their own problem. This will entail the full involvement of communities in the planning and development of their own water systems.

Almost 70% of the 1.3 billion people living in extreme poverty are women. Women - especially poor women - are often trapped in a cycle of ill-health exacerbated by childbearing and hard physical labour

Eliza Fenlas, a mother of three who lives in Inhambane, one of Mozambique's driest provinces, spends five hours a day trekking 24 kilometres to fetch 20 litres of water. She looks forward with joy and anticipation to the day when her area will benefit from a safe water programme. She says a well nearby will make a big difference in her life. She will have more time for household chores and farming. She will have more water available for washing. She is hopeful that the safe water will put an end to her seven-year-old son's chronic diarrhoea. Source: UNICEF

The right to the highest attainable standard of health is a fundamental human right which embraces a wide range of socio-economic factors that promote conditions in which people can lead a healthy life, and extends to the underlying determinants of health, such as access to safe and potable water and adequate sanitation, and a healthy environment

Gross inequities in the reliability and quality of water supply services create a market for water-vendors and encourage use of unsafe local wells and springs in urban slums.

Similar inequities in access to safe water, especially in rural areas, force women in developing countries to spend hours every day fetching water, causing an enormous drain on their energy, productive potential and health. The lack of good quality, reliable water puts people's health at risk and may force them to extract water from alternative, unsafe sources, exposing them to diseases such as diarrhea or dysentery, cholera, typhoid and schistosomiasis. Traditional wells may become polluted with agrochemical residues as irrigated agriculture intensifies

The gap between rich and poor becomes all too apparent in regard to the lack of water for drinking, irrigation and sanitation, and in their inability to maintain the integrity of ecosystems on which people depend. Time and again, poor people everywhere - in Bangladesh, Viet Nam, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, etc.- cite lack of safe drinking-water as one of their most important problems. Good water, good health and better living are worthy goals in and of themselves. But, basic services for the needy are also a moral and human-rights obligation. This view is too often overlooked by those in control of the developmental purse-strings and by the poor themselves. Because deprived people are frequently unaware that they have a right to properly functioning basic services - to good water and to good health - they have been unable to obtain them.

Lost Opportunities

Where women and children spend hours each day walking to streams and other sources to collect water for their families, they have little time or energy left to pursue an education and other gainful activities. The heavy loads they carry may cause skeletal deformation and

accelerate the deterioration of joints.

Everyone benefits from good sanitation. But girls are among those who benefit the most. Girls often miss out on an education because they have to help with the household chores and, when money is scarce, it's usually the boys who get chosen to go to school. An important reason why girls drop out of school in developing countries - mainly in Africa and Asia - is because of lack of sanitation facilities.

Studies show that school attendance by girls increases when separate latrines for girls and boys are installed. In a school in Bangladesh, where UNICEF began promoting separate facilities in 1992, girls’ school attendance has risen by an average of 11% a year.

The right to the highest attainable standard of health is a fundamental human right which embraces a wide range of socio-economic factors that promote conditions in which people can lead a healthy life, and extends to the underlying determinants of health, such as access to safe and potable water and adequate sanitation, and a healthy environment

The unreliability of rural water supplies in parts of India stimulated people to store water in their houses to bridge periods when the supply ran dry. This resulted in dengue out-breaks, because the stored water provided breeding places for Aedes mosquitoes.

Good water supply, sanitation, hygiene and water management contribute to preventing: Anaemia, Arsenicosis, Ascariasis, Campylobacteriosis, Cholera, Cyanobacterial poisoning, Dengue, Diarrhoea, Dysentery, Fluorosis, Guinea-worm disease, Japanese encephalitis, Infectious hepatitis, Impetigo, Lead poisoning, Malaria, Malnutrition, Methaemoglobinaemia, Ringworm (Tinea), Scabies, Schistosomiasis, Trachoma and Typhoid

Nutrition, food security and irrigation Malnutrition affects nearly 20% or almost 800 million in the developing world (WHO 2000). Malnutrition plays a major role in their ill-health, making them particularly susceptible to infectious diseases carried by unsafe food and water, which results in further malnutrition. Great progress has been made in feeding the world. Over the past 30 years, food production and distribution have more or less kept up with the growing population. The two factors responsible for this improvement are irrigation and high-yielding varieties of crops. Food production needs to increase further to feed a growing world population; while famine, owing in part to water shortage, is already affecting large parts of the world (particularly Africa). 40% of the world's food now comes from irrigated land and this requires ample supplies of water. For example, 1 000 tons of water are needed to grow one ton of wheat. Solutions include more efficient use of water, recycling and sustainable use of dams and irrigation systems.

Discussion: The article, Water & Health: The Poverty Connection, has brought up a number of issues of concern when thinking of the world’s poor. Look at each section below and discuss the questions.

Exploiting Water for Survival

“Poor communities are often forced to over exploit their natural resources in order to survive.”

“The two factors responsible for this improvement are irrigation and high-yielding varieties of crops. ”

• There are many examples in the developing world in which, for survival, water is exploited. In the second quote above, the efforts to end hunger and malnutrition require a lot of water for irrigation. This, in turn, may cause exploiting water supplies even to the point of creating drought in many regions of the world. How does the world find this balance between the ecology and stewardship of the world and feeding the poor.
• In what other ways is water exploited in efforts to merely survive?

Women’s Health and Loss of Rights

“Almost 70% of the 1.3 billion people living in extreme poverty are women. Women - especially poor women - are often trapped in a cycle of ill-health exacerbated by childbearing and hard physical labour.”

“. . .[I]nequities in access to safe water, especially in rural areas, force women in developing countries to spend hours every day fetching water, causing an enormous drain on their energy, productive potential and health.”

“Where women and children spend hours each day walking to streams and other sources to collect water for their families, they have little time or energy left to pursue an education and other gainful activities.

“The heavy loads they carry may cause skeletal deformation and accelerate the deterioration of joints.”

“An important reason why girls drop out of school in developing countries - mainly in Africa and Asia - is because of lack of sanitation facilities.”

• The necessary act of “fetching water” creates multiple problems for girls and women. Explain what these problems are.
• What would be some solutions to the problems you’ve described?
• Who should be responsible for the burden on women and girls? Who should help eliminate the problems caused by this burden?

The Vulnerability of the Poor to Projects and Others Telling them What to Do.

“Gross inequities in the reliability and quality of water supply services create a market for water-vendors and encourage use of unsafe local wells and springs in urban slums.”

• Perhaps you are familiar with stories in which organizations, governments, institutions or companies have created projects that have taken advantage of people that are poor. Share some of those stories.

• Who should be watching out for the people that are poor?

Water as a Human Right

“The right to the highest attainable standard of health is a fundamental human right which embraces a wide range of socio-economic factors that promote conditions in which people can lead a healthy life, and extends to the underlying determinants of health, such as access to safe and potable water and adequate sanitation, and a healthy environment.”

The U.N. has declared that clean water is fundamental human right. How does the world go about assuring this right to all the people?

We will be Drowned in Drought!
http://www.hamshahrionline.ir/News/?id=36314

Asadollah Aflaki

Many environment experts have warned that inadequacy of clean water is becoming a big problem for Iran in near future. In fact, it is getting worse because, green house gases has been deteriorated the climate and nature situations all around the world, based on the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) reports. The main concern about climate change seems to be inadequacy of clean water. Iran has more concerns about this problem because even now this country doesn’t have enough clean water resources. “Underground water resources in Iran have been falling 6 billions cubic meters ever year. “, said Dr. Forud Sharifi director of Forests, Range and Watershed Management Organization in Iran in the first days of Fall 2007. He also added: “Perhaps it is not obvious in people’s life, but in some parts of Iran, water of wells become salty, so in some parts of Iran people have to dig well for about 400 meters to reach fresh water.” Dr. Sharifi said: “Underground water has been decreasing in some parts as much as some pistachio and citrous gardens dried because of drought.”

Dr. Parwiz Kardowani, professor in Geography, had also repeated what Dr. Sharifi warned about later. Dr. Kardowani is one of the most recognized professors at the University of Tehran. e In In his detailed interview with Hamshahri newspaper titled “digging illegal wells are threatening the country’s water resources.” he warned about digging illegal wells in Iran. In his interview he mentioned about 50, 000 wells have been dug in Iran from 1962 until 1977. Villagers have started digging wells to provide fresh water for living since 1962. Figures has arisen 105, 000 wells in different parts of Iran from 1977 to 1982. Although the Iran Ministry of Energy has been strongly forbidden to dig more wells, it is still going on and is becoming a real threat to damage underground water resources as well as agriculture.

Dr. Kardowani said deep and half-deep wells are different ways to destroy water resources. He said: “Because of digging illegal wells and irregular using of underground water resources, many salty wells connected and penetrated drinking water. This phenomenon is threatening the wells in different parts even in northern part of Iran which is a green province and water is not a scarce resource there. The grave consequences will make the soil salty too, and then it will ruin the farms and gardens especially around the deserts eras in center, east, and southern part of Iran such as Isfahan, Rafsanjan, Kerman, and South Khorasan. Water is the main concern of Iranian farmers and villagers.” Dr. Kardowani warned about a rapid fall of water resources’ level in Iran in recent years. He added: “We have faced water crises almost in all parts of Iran which is resulted from digging illegal deep and half-deep wells which drove to using too much water from underground water resources. This also caused a rapid fall in underground water resources’ level. Furthermore, the water resources became salty as much as it is almost impossible to use those lands for agricultural purposes.” Dr. Kardawani said: “To protect underground water resources as well as preventing wasting water in the subterranean canals, digging deep and half-deep wells has became widespread in the villages since 60 decade. But, unfortunately the process has caused many new wells during 30 years which have been dug without concise estimation or consideration of current water resources. On the other side, because of digging illegal wells during last years, water resources has decreased; therefore, it is forbidden in half of lands digging new wells.”

Do not waste water!

Dr. Parwiz Kardawani blamed people who try different ways to transfer the villages to the cities. He said: “Nowadays, many organizations are trying to change the villages to the cities. For example, they make new parks in the villages which need a large amount of water which actually must be allocated to the agricultural eras. It is more rational in green provinces such as Gilan and Mazandaran in north part of Iran, to allocate the minimum areas to the grass lands or parks, because we do not even have water for agriculture in other dry provinces of Iran, so how we can use water for watering lawns as it needs a large amount of water. Another point which is obvious in big cities is that municipality decided to wash the streets using clean water. It is absolutely wrong idea when water is a scarce natural resource in Iran to wash streets in big cities with water. On the other hand, wasting water became part of our culture in big cities. It leads to waste clean water as well as to produce more sewage.”

Salt in water is higher than the standard level

Dr. Kardawani also warned about the underground water resources which are getting more salty. He said: “In some areas such as Qazvin lands salt in water is about 16, 000 micromouse. Regarding universal standards which also came in water categorizing in the U.S when the salt’s level in water reaches 5, 000 micrmouse they are not allowed to use it for agricultural purposes. But, we even use water with the salt’s level 5, 6, and 8, 000 micromouse. That’s why the Iran Ministry of Energy forbade digging new wells in the farms. However, even now it is possible for some people to get or buy land from the organization and dig illegal wells in it for different purposes, which will be a real threat for water resources.”

Vietnamese Translation of IC3

Nước và Sức khoẻ: Mối quan hệ với nghèo đói
http://www.worldwaterday.org/2001/report/ch1.html

Ai cũng sợ bệnh tật và ốm yếu. Người nghèo có xu hướng sống bằng thu nhập họ kiếm được hàng ngày và không có tiền để dành cho lúc bệnh tật bất thường. Ốm phải nghỉ làm và tiền chữa bệnh đẩy gia đình họ sâu thêm vào cảnh nghèo đói và nợ nần, làm họ không thoát được vòng khổ cực.

“Nếu không có tiền hôm nay, bệnh tật sẽ dẫn anh tới nghĩa địa” - Lời một người già ở Ghana, 1995

Các cộng đồng người nghèo thường bắt buộc phải khai thác một cách bóc lột tài nguyên thiên nhiên để tồn tại. Các nguồn nước đặc biệt dễ bị phá huỷ. Trong nhiều trường hợp, nguồn nước bị lạm dụng đến độ chúng không còn thoả mãn được nhu cầu cơ bản của cộng đồng và kết cục là gây hại nghiêm trọng cho sức khoẻ. Tuy nhiên, vẫn có cách làm thay đổi được tình thế. Điều cần làm là phải ưu tiên quản lý và phát triển nguồn nước và các cộng đồng phải đóng vai trò chính trong việc giải quyết những vấn đề của chính họ. Điều này đòi hỏi phải có sự tham gia của toàn cộng đồng trong lập kế hoạch và phát triển hệ thống nước của bản thân cộng đồng.

Gần 70% trong số 1.3 triệu người sống trong tình trạng nghèo khổ tuyệt đối là phụ nữ. Phụ nữ - đặc biệt là phụ nữ nghèo - thường bị mắc trong vòng luẩn quẩn của sức khoẻ kém bị làm trầm trọng hơn bởi cảnh nuôi con và công việc lao lực vất vả.

Eliza Fenlas, người mẹ ba con sống ở Inhambane, một trong những tỉnh hạn hán nhất của Mozambique, đi bộ 5 tiếng 1 ngày để mang về 20 lít nước. Bà ta đang chờ mong niềm vui một ngày không xa khu vực nơi bà ở sẽ được hưởng lợi từ chương trình nước sạch. Bà ta nói một cái giếng ở gần đó sẽ làm cuộc sống của bà thay đổi hẳn. Bà ta sẽ có nhiều nước để tắm giặt hơn. Bà ta hi vọng nước sạch sẽ chấm dứt căn bệnh tiêu chảy mãn tính đã 7 năm của con trai bà ta. Nguồn: UNICEF.

Quyền có mức sức khoẻ tốt nhất có thể đạt tới là quyền cơ bản của con người bao gồm trong nó một loạt các yếu tố kinh tế xã hội, các yếu tố tạo điều kiện cho con người sống một cuộc sống khoẻ mạnh. Quyền này cũng liên quan rộng ra tới các yếu tố cơ sở quyết định sức khoẻ, như quyền có nước sạch và nước có thể vận chuyển được, điều kiện vệ sinh đầy đủ, và môi trường lành mạnh.

Các bất công lớn trong dịch vụ cung cấp nước cả về số lượng lẫn sự đáng tin cậy của việc cung cấp nước là đất sống của những người kinh doanh nước và khuyến khích việc dung nước giếng và nước suối không an toàn trong những khu ổ chuột ở thành phố.

Những sự bất công tương tự về quyền có được nước sạch, đặc biệt ở các vùng nông thôn, làm phụ nữ các nước đang phát triển bắt buộc phải mất nhiều giờ hàng ngày đi lấy nước, làm kiệt quệ năng lượng, tiềm lực sinh sản và sức khoẻ của họ. Thiếu nước có chất lượng và đáng tin cậy đẩy tình trạng sức khoẻ của con người vào thế rủi ro và có thể buộc con người phải lấy nước từ những nguồn thay thế không an toàn, làm họ phải đối diện với bệnh tật như tiêu chảy, bệnh lỵ, bệnh tả, thương hàn, và bệnh sán máng. Các giếng nước kiểu truyền thống có thể bị ô nhiễm hoá chất nông nghiệp khi nền nông nghiệp tưới tiêu được tăng cường.

Khoảng cách giàu nghèo trở nên rõ ràng hơn bao giờ hết trong hiện tượng thiếu nước uống, tưới tiêu và vệ sinh, và trong sự thiếu khả năng gìn giữ tính toàn vẹn của hệ sinh thái mà con người phụ thuộc. Càng ngày, ngưòi nghèo ở khắp nơi – Băng La Đét, Việt Nam, Kư Git Xtan, Ma La Uy, vân vân – cho rằng thiếu nước uống an toàn là một trong những vấn đề bức xúc nhất của họ. Nước sạch, sức khoẻ tốt, cuộc sống khấm khá hơn, bản thân chúng là những khẩu hiệu đáng đặt ra. Nhưng các dịch vụ tối thiểu cho người nghèo còn là trách nhiệm đạo đức và quyền con người. Quan điểm này thường bị xem nhẹ bởi những người nắm ngân quỹ những chương trình phát triển, và bởi chính cả bản thân những người nghèo. Vì những người bị tước đoạt quyền con người thường không rõ mình có quyền đối với các dịch vụ tối thiểu được điều hành thích hợp – cung cấp nước chất lượng tốt và chăm sóc sức khoẻ tốt - họ không có thể giành được các dịch vụ đó.

Các cơ hội bị đánh mất

Khi phụ nữ và trẻ em đi lấy nước cho gia đình ở suối và các nguồn khác hàng tiếng đồng hồ, họ còn lại ít thời gian và sức lực để học hành và tiến hành các hoạt động bổ ích khác. Các công việc nặng nhọc họ làm có thể gây biến dạng xương và tăng tốc độ thoái hoá các khớp xương.

Tất cả mọi người đều được lợi từ sự cải thiện điều kiện vệ sinh. Nhưng các cô gái trẻ là trong số những người được lợi nhiều hơn cả. Các cô gái thường lỡ mất cơ hội học hành vì phải giúp việc nhà và khi tiền bạc không được dồi dào, thường các cậu con trai trong gia đình được cho đi học. Một nguyên nhân quan trọng khiến các cô gái phải bỏ học ở các nước đang phát triển - chủ yếu là Châu Phi và Châu Á – là không có các điều kiện cải thiện vệ sinh.

Các cuộc nghiên cứu chỉ ra rằng việc đến trường của học sinh nữ tăng khi có nhà xí riêng cho học sinh nam và học sinh nữ. Ở một trường học ở Băng La Đét, nơi Liên Hợp Quốc giúp đỡ xây dựng các khu riêng cho nam và nữ năm 1992, tỷ lệ đi học của học sinh nữ tăng trung bình 11% một năm.

Dinh dưỡng, an toàn lương thực và tưới tiêu

Suy dinh dưỡng ảnh hưởng đến 20% hay gần 800 triệu người các nước đang phát triển (Tổ chức Y tế Thế giới 2000). Thiếu ăn là nguyên nhân chính làm họ ốm yếu, làm họ đặc biệt dễ bị các bệnh truyền nhiễm lây theo đường nước và thức ăn không an toàn, điều này lại càng gây suy dinh dưỡng thêm. Có những tiến bộ lớn trong việc cung cấp lương thực cho thế giới. Hơn 30 năm qua, sản xuất và phân phối lương thực ít nhiều đã theo kịp với mức tăng dân số. Hai yếu tố dẫn đến sự cải thiện này là tưới tiêu nông nghiệp và dùng các giống cao sản. Sản xuất lương thực cần phải tăng nhanh hơn nữa để đủ cung ứng cho dân số thế giới đang tăng nhanh; trong khi đó nạn đói, một phần do hạn hán, đã ảnh hưởng đến phần lớn các vùng trên thế giới (đặc biệt là Châu Phi). 40% lương thực thế giới được sản xuất là từ diện tích đất được tưới tiêu và điều này đòi hỏi một lượng nước lớn. Ví dụ, 1 000 tấn nước cần để sản xuất 1 tấn lúa mỳ. Các giải pháp gồm việc dùng nước có hiệu quả hơn, tái sử dụng và dùng hệ thống tưới tiêu và đập nước một cách bền vững.

© 2001 – 2004

Thảo luận : Bài đọc, Nước và Sức khoẻ: Mối liên hệ với nghèo đói, đã nêu lên hàng loạt vấn đề khi suy nghĩ về người nghèo trên thế giới. Hãy xem từng phần và các câu hỏi thảo luận dưới đây.

Phá huỷ nguồn nước để tồn tại

“Các cộng đông người nghèo thường bị đẩy vào thế phải khai thác phá huỷ nguồn nước để tồn tại.”

“Hai yếu tố dẫn đến sự cải thiện này là dung hệ thống tưới tiêu và các giống cao sản trong sản xuất nông nghiệp.”

1.Có rất nhiều ví dụ ở các nước đang phát triển trong đó để tồn tại người ta phải khai thác một cách huỷ hoại nguồn nước. Ở đoạn trích thứ hai ở trên, các nỗ lực để thanh toán nạn đói và suy dinh dưỡng cần rất nhiều nước để tưới tiêu. Điều này đến lượt nó lại có thể làm cạn kiệt nguồn nước thậm chí đến mức gây ra hạn hán ở nhiều vùng trên thế giới. Thế giới làm như thế nào để tìm ra sự cân bằng giữa môi trường sinh thái và cương vị quản lí và cung cấp lương thực cho người nghèo.

2.Theo những cách nào khác nữa mà nước bị khai thác một cách phá huỷ chỉ nhằm mục đích cho con người tồn tại?

Sức khoẻ phụ nữ và các quyền bị mất

“Gần 70% trong số 1.3 tỷ người đang sống trong nghèo đói tuyệt đối là phụ nữ. Phụ nữ - đặc biệt là phụ nữ nghèo - thường kẹt trong vòng luẩn quẩn của sức khoẻ kém bị trầm trọng thêm bởi việc nuôi con và công việc chân tay nặng nhọc.”

“… các bất công trong việc có được nguồn nước, đặc biệt ở các vùng nông thôn, làm người phụ nữ các nước đang phát triển phải mất hàng tiếng đồng hồ đi lấy nước, gây hao mòn lớn về năng lượng, tiềm năng sinh sản và sức khoẻ.”

“Khi phụ nữ và trẻ em mất hàng tiếng đồng hồ mỗi ngày cuốc bộ đến các suối và các nguồn nước khác để lấy nước cho gia đình, họ còn lại rất ít thì giờ cho học tập và các hoạt động bổ ích khác.”

“khối lượng vật nặng họ mang gây biến dạng bộ xương và tăng tốc độ thoái hoá khớp xương.”

“Một nguyên nhân quan trọng khiến học sinh nữ bỏ học ở các nước đang phát triển - chủ yếu ở Châu Phi và Châu Á – là thiếu các điều kiện vệ sinh.”

1.Hành động cần thiết “đi lấy nước” gây ra nhiều vấn đề cho các em gái và phụ nữ. Những vấn đề đó là gì?

2.Có những giải pháp nào cho các vấn đề bạn vừa nêu ra?

3.Ai là người chịu trách nhiệm về gánh nặng của phụ nữ và các em gái? Ai phải giúp giảm bớt hậu quả gánh nặng này gây ra?

Sự bất lực của người nghèo đối với các dự án và những người chỉ đạo họ

“Các bất bình đẳng lớn trong dịch vụ cung cấp nước sạch và độ tin cậy của dịch vụ đó tạo đất sống cho những người kinh doanh nước và khuyến khích ngưòi dân dùng nước không an toàn ở giếng và suối tại chỗ trong những khu ổ chuột đô thị.”

1.Bạn có thể quen với các câu chuyện nói về việc các tổ chức, chính phủ, các cơ quan, hoặc các công ty tiến hành các dự án lợi dụng người nghèo. Hãy kể những chyện đó.

2.Ai phải cảnh giác cho những người dân nghèo?

Quyền có nước là quyền con người

“Quyền có mức sức khoẻ tốt nhất có thể đạt tới là quyền cơ bản của con người bao gồm trong nó một loạt các yếu tố kinh tế xã hội, các yếu tố tạo điều kiện cho con người sống một cuộc sống khoẻ mạnh. Quyền này cũng liên quan rộng ra tới các yếu tố cơ sở quyết định sức khoẻ, như quyền có nước sạch và nước có thể vận chuyển được, điều kiện vệ sinh đầy đủ, và môi trường lành mạnh.”

Liên Hợp Quốc đã tuyên bố quyền có nước sạch là quyền cơ bản của con người. Làm thế nào để bảo đảm được quyền đó cho tất cả mọi người?

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Taking it Further

Taking It Further Explanation

Near the end of each IC3 chapter, professors or instructors are asked to plan "applied learning" events, interviews, research, or service projects on- or off-campus. "Taking It Further" means that our on-campus, classroom learning are just a first step in broader learning that affects our vocations, professions, and community service.

For instance, throughout our completion of chapter 1, all participating campuses and partners to this IC3 exchange are completing "web profiles" that will be used extensively by members of each pod. This "takes further" the relationship building of pod members. Another example, at the end of chapter 2 (Food and Water Security), a language class using IC3 could link with a biology department to examine "best practices" in protecting a clean watershed. In Vietnam, this could involve the students' applied learning of water security in terms of the health of the Mekong River, upstream and downstream inter-state concerns, and the long-term viability of industries alongside fish and rice farming. Here in Virginia (USA), our students will examine our watershed, which flows into the Shenandoah River and the Chesapeake Bay, and from there the Atlantic Ocean. Or at the end of chapters 6, 7 and 10 (Domestic Economics, Regional Trade, Globalization), a class could interview merchants and vendors of one's village or city to discern their wisdom in making a living in an age of globalization.

There is no single set of learning objectives for the Taking It Further exercises. Hopefully, each participating campus and partner to IC3 can share through pod dialogues your lessons learning through this exercise. There may even be collaborative study, research, or service for certain Taking It Further ventures among IC3 partners.

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Information Technology

Lessons and Exercises for this chapter are found in Level 1 Writing Chapter 2 in the IT Exercises and Activities for Developing Ideas Section.

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TOEFL Exercises

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These exercises draw upon an article by Lisa Mastny, “Messing with the Mekong,” Worldwatch magazine. DC: Worldwatch Institute (November/December 2003), pp. 21-28. See www.worldwatch.org.

Directions : In this section, you will read two passages. Each one is followed by a number of questions about the passage. You are to choose the one best answer, A, B, C, or D, to each question. Answer all questions about the information in a passage on the basis of what is stated or implied in that passage.

Example :

The railroad was not the first institution to impose regularity on society, or to draw attention to the importance of precise timekeeping. For as long as merchants have set out their wares at daybreak and communal festivities have been celebrated, people have been in rough agreement with their neighbors as to the time of day. The value of this tradition is today more apparent than ever. Were it not for public acceptance of a single measurement of time, social life would be unbearably chaotic.

What is the main idea of this passage?

• A. In modern society we must make time for neighbors.
• B. The traditions of society are timeless.
• C. An accepted way of measuring time is essential for society to function well.
• D. Society judges people by the times at which they conduct their activities.

The main idea of the passage is that societies need to agree about how time is measured in order to function smoothly. Therefore, you should choose answer C.

Questions 1-10 :

Laos ’s Mekong River residents are in for a rude awakening—particularly if their powerful upstream neighbor, China, continues to have its way with planned developments in the vast river basin. More than 130 years ago, a French expedition set off upriver from the Mekong delta in what is now Vietnam with a single mission: find an inland water route to China. But France’s commercial ambitions were thwarted. From its source in the Tanggula Mountains on the Tibetan plateau, the 4,800-kilometer Mekong River winds southeasterly along a riverbed dotted with jagged rocks, looming sandbars, and deadly whirlpools. In the 1930s, after minor channel improvements, it still took 37 days to sail from the South China Sea to northern Laos—a voyage that British Naval Intelligence reported took longer than sailing to France. China, today, intends to reshape the Mekong to fit modern-day commercial needs. This goal will surely change river life for its neighbors downstream.

Still today, small ferries and cargo boats of 60 to 100 tons ply the waters of the upper Mekong, sailing by day when the obstacles are more visible. During the dry season (November to May) sections above Luang Prabang remain virtually un-navigable, with water levels falling to just half a meter. Downstream along the Lao-Cambodian border, the spectacular Khone Falls, a six-mile stretch of rapids near the legendary “area of 4,000 islands,” prevents vessel passage entirely.

These natural impediments have sheltered the largely free-flowing Mekong from the fate of many of the world’s large rivers, which have long been exploited for shipping and trade. But not for long. In 1992, China initiated plans for waterway alterations that would open up northern segments of the river to year-round navigation by large cargo ships. The $5 million Upper Mekong Navigation Improvement Project involves dynamiting 21 of the most treacherous shoals, rapids, and reefs along a 331-kilometer stretch of the river, from the Sino-Burmese border to Huay Xai.

China ’s primary objective is to facilitate the export of raw materials and other trade goods from its landlocked province of Yunnan to ports in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and the rest of Southeast Asia. If fully implemented, the dredging and subsequent channelization would more than double the annual shipping capacity of the Mekong—from 4 million tons in 2001 to 10 million tons by 2007—allowing passage of as many as a dozen 500-ton ships daily.

1. The words “natural impediments” in the 3 rd paragraph, line 1, are closest in meaning to

• A. channelization
• B. treacherous shoals, rapids, and reefs
• C. both low water levels and rapids
• D. an “area of 4,000 islands”

2. It can be inferred from the 4 th paragraph that China’s channelization of the Mekong

• A. is to further its own self-interest and not necessarily those of other states lining the banks of this river system.
• B. is a fully cooperative project among many states.
• C. will facilitate the export of raw materials.
• D. will more than double the annual shipping capacity of the Mekong River.

3. The main idea introduced in the 1 st paragraph is

• A. China has not been diplomatic in its strategy to develop the Mekong.
• B. that globalization will certainly change the economy of Laos.
• C. that Laotians should welcome China’s brave and costly initiative to develop the Mekong.
• D. that the residents of Laos should be wary of China’s planned development of the Mekong River.

4. The author mentions 19 th and 20 th Century difficulties of passage down the Mekong River in the 1 st paragraph because

• A. China’s plans are part of a larger inter-state design to harness the Mekong for profit.
• B. China’s present ambition to create efficient travel and trade along the Mekong has been an unrealized goal of several states for more than 130 years.
• C. this is a long-term project, one that has lasted 130 years already.
• D. this project will continue to drag out for another century.

5. It can be inferred from this entire passage that

• A. the planners of the Upper Mekong Navigation Improvement Project believe they can reshape and control the flow of the Mekong for profitable human enterprise.
• B. humans can control nature, even a river system as mighty as the Mekong.
• C. due to its size and power, China need not consult with other states that border the Mekong.
• D. Vietnam has as much to fear as does Laos in terms of Chinese exploitation of the Mekong.

6. The phrase “But not for long” in the 3 rd paragraph, lines 2-3, is closest in meaning to

• A. “ fat chance”
• B. “ development will proceed quickly”
• C. “ the proposed dams for the Mekong will kill the river”
• D. “ this river system will now be exposed to exploitation”

7. It can be inferred that the projected increase in annual shipping capacity of the Mekong between 2001 and 2007 will

• A. result from improved governmental links between the various states that line the Mekong River
• B. rely upon the combined governmental efforts of Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, and China
• C. reflect secondarily an increase in Chinese exports
• D. reflect primarily an increase in Chinese exports

8. Why was the French colonial search for an inward water route to China never realized?

• A. Jagged rocks, looming sandbars, and deadly whirlpools were obstacles, but not permanent impediments.
• B. From Tibet to Vietnam’s Mekong delta, there were simply two many natural impediments that blocked the passage of French explorers.
• C. The 1870s French expedition was hampered by severe weather.
• D. The 1930s effort to sail from Vietnam to Laos was defeated by British intelligence.

9. Which of the following does the author demonstrate in the 2 nd paragraph?

• A. Despite skills in averting river obstacles, small farmers and cargo boats still cannot travel safely below Khone Falls.
• B. China merely hopes to increase its export of raw materials and other trade goods.
• C. Small ferries and cargo boats can better navigate the Mekong than larger ships.
• D. Passage down the entire length of the Mekong is possible in the wet season, but not the dry season.

10. The main idea of the entire passage is:

• A. The Mekong River basin has long awaited the benefits of major development.
• B. Since the Chinese have carefully crafted a better development strategy than any power before, no amount of effort by downstream states can stop China’s agenda.
• C. Though major powers have long tried to navigate the entire length of the Mekong River for commercial purposes, China’s ambition since 1992 to do so is likely to more than double the Mekong’s annual shipping capacity.
• D. Laos and Myanmar should block further Chinese expansionism.

Questions 11-20 :

Like its neighbors, Laos is pinning its hopes on the economic prospects of the Mekong. Mountainous and landlocked, it is the poorest country in Southeast Asia and lags at least 30 years behind its prosperous neighbor Thailand on most economic and social indicators. Over the past century, it has suffered the burdens of French imperialism and the American-Vietnam War. It is now trying desperately to catch up. Laos has turned to free market economics in an effort to boost development. By opening the Mekong to increased trade, it hopes to benefit indirectly from China’s economic boom and to free its population of 5.2 million from a largely subsistence farming economy. The Mekong has tremendous hydropower potential that, if fully harnessed, could position Laos as the “battery” of Southeast Asia. Even without a new shipping channel, commerce between China’s southern provinces and Southeast Asia has grown rapidly. In 2001, limited freight and passenger service opened between Yunnan and the Thai border town of Chiang Saen, transforming the once sleepy port into a bustling commercial zone.

But Aviva Imhof of the International Rivers Network warns that, despite its commercial promise, dredging the Mekong may offer “few obvious benefits” for the majority of Laos’s Mekong residents. Most of the larger vessels slotted to ply the new shipping channel belong to China, which has more modern piers and facilities than its downstream neighbors. Officials in Thailand’s Chiang Rai province reported that of the more than 2,400 cargo ships entering Chiang Saen port in 2001, more than three-quarters originated in China. Villagers in Laos and Thailand fear that the incoming Chinese vessels will flood local markets with inexpensive produce, textiles, and other exports that are up to five times cheaper than domestic goods, undermining local shopkeepers and farmers.

Residents and some government officials also worry that local agriculture and habitat could be further undercut by changes to the river current, which could severely erode the river banks. “Without the reefs, the flow in the Mekong is likely to be much stronger, and big waves caused by huge ships would destroy the country’s river banks,” warns Thongpho Vongsriprasom of the Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Only 4 percent of Laos’s land area is suitable for agriculture (most of this along the shores of the Mekong), and many farmers rely on the fertile, sediment-enriched riverbanks for their annual harvests of lettuce, cabbage, and other crops. Critics also worry about blasting and channeling the Mekong. On the one hand, an environmental assessment, sponsored by China and completed in September 2001, concluded that the project’s impacts would be small. On the other hand, the Thai watchdog group Terra and other critics have questioned the adequacy of this Chinese study. First, it was largely technical in nature, involving hydro engineers, but not fisheries experts or social scientists. Second, it was completed in less than six months and relied on only two days of field investigations.

So in response to this Chinese-sponsored study, the Mekong River Commission (MRC), the five-country body that oversees regional management of the river, of which China is the only basin country that is not a member, sponsored its own expert review of this project in October 2001. Reviewers noted the “paucity of basic data and information and the sketchy and unsupported nature of the analyses.” Others concluded that the study failed to assess long-term effects on Mekong hydrology, ecosystems, and communities, including contamination from greater use and economic activity along the river. Still other reviewers voiced their concerns about the project’s consequences for Mekong fisheries, which are already in decline along many stretches of the river. Moreover, the Chinese study lacked not only published lists of fish species and descriptions of their habitats and life histories, but also any investigation of their biological values.

The Laotian government, however, has downplayed these concerns for fear of “rocking the boat.” Chinese investments in Laos alone totaled $87 million in 1999. Laos also benefits from some $500 million in Chinese-run development projects, among them television satellite stations and the proposed Luang Prabang hospital. Plus in November 2001, Beijing agreed to give Laos and Myanmar $5 million to finance the blasting of rapids that slow easy passage down the river. By June 2003, all but one of the 11 major rapids identified for destruction under the project had been altered.

Finally, this project calls for the construction of several dams. With two of the dams already built and the third due for completion in 2012, villagers already report fluctuations in the water levels. During the dry season last December, Thai villagers saw their vegetable plots destroyed by unexpected flooding—which occurred shortly after China opened the floodgates of one of its upstream dams to raise water levels for cargo ships. Critics say China doesn’t always tell downstream countries when the water releases will occur. China’s non-membership in the MRC leaves it still calling the shots. China’s interest in sustaining its own high economic growth rates may not bode well for other people living along the Mekong’s banks.

11. Based on this reading, which of the following might account for Laotian concerns?

• A. China and Laos need stronger diplomatic relations.
• B. With the Mekong River facing the likelihood of dynamite blasting, increased commercial traffic, larger boats and waves, and an influx of cheaper products, Lao farmers and merchants are threatened on all fronts.
• C. Southeast Asian regionalization is too swift for the rate of Laos’s development.
• D. Globalization brings with it many benefits, but also the threat of greater competition from countries such as China and the United States.

12. The author believes that

• A. the Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is too pessimistic about the potential benefits of this river development project.
• B. the Thai group Terra raises environmental concerns that are shared by all governmental and non-governmental organizations.
• C. the Mekong River Commission has voiced solid questions and concerns about the speed, study methods, and thoroughness of China’s plans for developing this complex river system and habitat.
• D. there are few obvious benefits for the people of Laos.

13. It can be inferred from the 2 nd paragraph that

• A. one must thoroughly examine the costs and benefits of any development project of this size and effect.
• B. China and Laos will find ways to use the most modern technology for completing this project.
• C. Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand must unite to stop the influx of cheaper Chinese imports.
• D. at least 75% of the trade at Chiang Saen port is strictly for the benefit of China.

14. The word “battery” in the 1 st paragraph, line 9, is closest in meaning to

• A. hydropower consumer
• B. fuel source
• C. flashlight or beacon
• D. hydropower generator

15. The author mentions the Lao government’s fear of “rocking the boat” in the 5 th paragraph, line 1, because

• A. it cannot stand in the way of Chinese development aid and project investments.
• B. of concerns about the size of waves from Chinese merchant ships, which would turn over smaller vessels on the river.
• C. it cannot impede the flow of investment on account of globalization.
• D. it would risk too much if it protested this regional development plan.

16. What is the main point of the 3 rd and 4 th paragraphs?

• A. The Mekong River Commission is staunchly opposed to this development project.
• B. Several governmental and non-governmental agencies have determined that this project poses substantial agricultural and habitat risks.
• C. The Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry will do whatever it must to protect the arable land of Laos.
• D. This project will go ahead, regardless of local and regional concerns.

17. Why did Lao indicate its willingness to go along with China’s proposed development of the Mekong?

• A. Given its geographic and economic hardships, Lao sees that it has little choice but to support this historic opportunity for the Mekong’s development.
• B. Given Lao’s level of poverty, the government agrees with China that this commercial project will be of equal benefit to both states.
• C. Given the low economic activity of Lao farmers and merchants, the Lao government expects that China will present a model of modernization and trade.
• D. Given the encouragement of many non-governmental groups, such as Terra and the MRC, the Lao government was convinced that this project was good for its people.

18. Which of the following concerns does the author address in the final paragraph?

• A. Even in its initial damming and flooding projects, China has not shown that it acts in a trustworthy and predictable manner.
• B. China’s clear interest is in sustaining high economic growth for all Mekong residents.
• C. The MRC has been able to stop Chinese plans that threaten the agriculture and habitat of many downstream residents along the Mekong.
• D. This river development project is already helping farmers deal with seasonal flooding.

19. The word “indicators” in the 1 st paragraph, line 3, comes closest in meaning to

• A. lists
• B. officials
• C. signposts
• D. measurements

20. The word “sleepy” in the 1 st paragraph, line 12, comes closest in meaning to

• A. resting
• B. underdeveloped
• C. tired and quiet
• D. tired and resting

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"Best Answer"

: After you have completed the Reading, Listening/Speaking, and Writing chapters 2, how would you answer the following question?

Guiding Question: Who has the responsibility for protecting and preserving the earth’s water supply?	Câu hỏi hướng dẫn: Ai có trách nhiệm bảo vệ và gìn giữ nguồn cung cấp nước của trái đất?
سوال راهنما: چه کسی مسوول حفاظت و نگهداری از منابع آب روی زمین است؟

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