TOEFL ITP Reading set 022
Reading Comprehension practice — read the passage and choose the best answer.
การสูญเสียชั้นน้ำบาดาลกับนโยบายชลประทาน
- Line numbers appear every 5 lines.
- Answer all 10 questions, then choose ตรวจคำตอบ to see the Thai translation, score summary, and explanation.
- Use Previous / Next to open the previous or next practice set.
Aquifers are underground layers of rock and sand that store
freshwater for wells, farms, and cities. In many dry regions,
farmers pump this groundwater faster than rain and rivers can
refill it. Over years, water tables drop, wells must be drilled
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deeper, and pumps use more energy. Some aquifers that formed
over millennia may not recover within a human lifetime once
they are heavily drawn down. That imbalance turns a renewable
resource into a one-time stock for irrigation.
Irrigation policy tries to balance harvests with aquifer
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health. When water is priced far below its scarcity value,
growers have little reason to switch to drip lines or
drought-tolerant crops. Subsidies for cheap electricity can
encourage continuous pumping even during dry seasons. By
contrast, quotas that limit seasonal withdrawals, paired with
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metering, give managers clearer data and farmers clearer
rules. Tradable water rights, where allowed, can move limited
supplies toward higher-value uses, but they require careful
design so smallholders are not pushed aside.
Cities share the same aquifers, so urban growth and rural
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irrigation compete underground. Contaminated return flows
from fertilized fields can also degrade groundwater quality,
shrinking the usable supply even when volume remains.
Scientists map recharge zones—areas where rainwater seeps
into the ground—and urge planners to protect them from paving
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and industrial spills. Without those zones, recovery slows
even if pumping declines later.
Policy makers increasingly publish aquifer budgets that
compare annual recharge with pumping. Where deficits persist,
they may require fallowing of some fields, invest in treated
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wastewater for non-food crops, or shift export crops that
demand heavy water use. The hardest choices involve short-term
farm income versus long-term water security. Communities that
treat aquifers as shared capital rather than free private
stock tend to keep wells productive longer—and leave options
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open for the next generation. Transparent rules and local
monitoring make those trade-offs easier to negotiate.