46. The main purpose of the article is to ______________________.
(A) counter rumors
(B) describe a situation
(C) condemn culprits
(D) establish a thesis

Surat is one of the liveliest commercial centers in India.

Its factories and workshops produce chemicals, cut diamonds and textiles.

lively 精力充沛的；活潑的，輕快的      

變化形形變 livelier liveliest

textile  紡織品；紡織原料[C]

The beggars who swarm through other Indian cities are almost nowhere to be seen, making Surat, by many standards, a picture of India’s prosperous future.

beggar乞丐，叫化子

swarm　成群地移動（或飛行）

prosperous 興旺的，繁榮的，昌盛的

What is wrong with the picture, however, is apparent to any visitor to the city of 2 million in Guajarat state.

apparent　明顯的，顯而易見的；明白無誤的[F][（+to）][+that]

Untreated sewage oozes into the Tapi River.

Untreated　未經治療的   未經處理的

sewage 汙水；汙穢物

ooze 滲出；冒出；分泌出[Q]

Factories billow noxious smoke; rats are so numerous that in late 1994, the plague swept through Surat, causing 50 deaths and threatening a nationwide outbreak.

billow使翻騰；使滾滾向前

noxious　有害的；有毒的

plague　瘟疫[C]

nationwide　全國範圍的；全國性的

“Surat is the epitome of India’s shortsighted development policies,” says Ghanshyam Shah, director of the city’s Center for Social Studies.

epitome　縮影；象徵；典型

“The emphasis is on growth, hoping that the quality of life will take care of itself.” High on the list of problems is water. Rivers are increasingly polluted, and groundwater levels are falling 4 of 5 several meters every year. Deeply bored wells are now used to irrigate more than 30 million hectares.

bore 鑽孔；挖井（或通道）

Deeply bored 挖掘地很深的井

well 井，水井；油井；氣井

hectare　公頃

Environmentalists predict fierce competition for the control and use of major waterways.

fierce 兇猛的；殘酷的；好鬥的

Over cultivation is exhausting the soil, leading farmers to clear more forests – or leave farming and crowd into city slums.

slum 貧民窟；陋巷【口】髒亂的地方

Meanwhile, urban messiness is growing.

messiness 混亂

Air pollution in New Delhi is among the world’s worst, and auto sales are nine times as high as a decade ago. Most industrial pollution comes from small factories, which have multiplied from 15,000 to 2 million. That sector has been shielded from environmental regulations by a succession of governments.

sector 【軍】防禦地段；防區；分區   部分；部門

shield 保護；保衛[（+from）]

succession 一連串，一系列[S][（+of）]

She had a succession of colds .   她連續患傷風。

For centuries the eastern Indian town of Chrapunji, the wettest place on earth, averaged a prodigious 1,200 cm of rainfall a year.

prodigious 巨大的；龐大的異常的；驚人的；奇妙的不祥的

Rains still come, but the destruction of pine forests has led to run off and a water shortage.

destruction 破壞；毀滅；消滅[U]

pine松樹[C]

run off   使流走

“If there is no tree,” ponders Freeman Singh, chief of the local tribe, “how will the soil hold the water?” The question echoes across a subcontinent.

ponder 仔細考慮

subcontinent  次大陸