How does water scarcity affect people？ First of all, it 【B1】______ their health. It is not

that they will die of thirst; rather, the poor quality of the water 【B2】______ for cooking and drinking may make them iii.

【B3】______ our bodies require water to treat waste products, plentiful water is required for proper sanitation (卫生) —water that for much of mankind is simply not available. 【B4】______ people without adequate sanitation rose from 2.6 billion in 1990 to 2.9 billion in 1999, And sanitation is literally a matter of life and death. In a 【B5】______ statement, United Nations officials warned: "When children lack water that is fit for drinking and sanitation, virtually every aspect of their health and development is 【B6】______ ."

Food production is dependent on water. Many crops, of course, are watered by rain, but in recent times irrigation has become the key 【B7】______ the world's booming population. Today 36 percent of the world's harvest depends on irrigation.

If plentiful water flows out of every tap in our home and if we have a clean toilet (抽水) that conveniently washes out waste, it may be 【B8】______ to believe that the world is running out of an adequate supply of water. We should remember, however, that only 20 percent of mankind enjoy such 【B9】______ . In Africa many women spend as much as six hours a day 【B10】______ water.

【B1】

A．hurts

B．harms

C．injures

D．destroys