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Read and Analyze The Article in The Magazine

1. The man who wrote the letter is 50 years old but looks 85 due to serious kidney problems from lack of water. 2. When he was a child, there were many trees, beautiful gardens, and people could shower for 30 minutes. Now, there are no trees due to lack of water, people clean with mineral oil and are only allowed half a glass of water per day. 3. All the rivers, lakes, dams and underground water sources are now either dry or contaminated due to overuse and lack of conservation in the past. Water is now a precious resource.

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Ronnie Dalgo
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590 views

Read and Analyze The Article in The Magazine

1. The man who wrote the letter is 50 years old but looks 85 due to serious kidney problems from lack of water. 2. When he was a child, there were many trees, beautiful gardens, and people could shower for 30 minutes. Now, there are no trees due to lack of water, people clean with mineral oil and are only allowed half a glass of water per day. 3. All the rivers, lakes, dams and underground water sources are now either dry or contaminated due to overuse and lack of conservation in the past. Water is now a precious resource.

Uploaded by

Ronnie Dalgo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Read and analyze the article in the magazine, “Cronicas de los Tiempos” published in April 2002.

Answer the questions that


follow.
Letter Written in the Year 2070
By: Miguel Fernandez F. and Iris Guzman O.
This is the Year 2070, I have just turned 50, but my appearance is of somebody of 85. I suffer from serious kidney
problems, because I do not drink enough water. I’m afraid I do not have much time left to live. I am one of the oldest
people in this society. I remember when I was a child of 5. Everything was very different then. There were lots of trees in
the parks, houses with beautiful gardens, and could enjoy having a shower for half an hour. Nowadays we use towels with
mineral oil to clean our skin.

Before, women had beautiful hair. Now, we have to shave our heads to keep them clean without the use of water.
Then, my father washed his car with water coming out of a hosepipe. Now, my son does not believe that water could be
wasted that way. I remember there were SAVE WATER warnings on outside poster, radio and TV, but nobody paid
attention. We thought that water was to last forever. Now all the rivers, lakes, dams and underground water beds are
either dry or contaminated.

Industry came virtually to a standstill and unemployment reached dramatic proportions. Desalination plants are
the main source of employment and workers receive part of their salary in drinkable water. Assaults at gun point on the
streets for a jerry can of water are very common. Food is 80% synthetic. Before, the recommended quantity of water to
drink for an adult was 8 glasses a day. Nowadays, I am only allowed half of a glass. Notes to the Teacher Have the students
be guided on their basic needs in What’s in. Practically, basic necessities like materials needed in school, at home or
personal protective equipment during such situation when they are necessary. We now have to wear disposable clothing,
and this increases the amount of litter. We are using now septic tanks, because the sewerage system does not work for
lack of water.

The outside appearance of the population is horrible: wrinkled, emaciated bodies, due to dehydration, full of sores
caused by ultraviolet radiation, now stronger without the protective shield of the ozone layer. Skin cancer, gastrointestinal
infections and of the urinary tracts are the main cause of death. Due to the excessive drying of the skin, young people of
20 look like 40. Scientists investigate, but there’s no solution to the problem. Water cannot be produced, oxygen is also
degraded due to the lack of trees and vegetation, and the intellectual capacity of the new generations is severely impaired.
The morphology of spermatozoa in many men has changed. As a consequence, babies are born with deficiencies, mutation
and physical deformities. Government makes us pay for the air we breathe, 137 cubic meters per day per adult person.

People who cannot pay are expelled from the “ventilated zones” with huge mechanical lungs driven by solar
power. The air is not good quality, but at least people can breathe. The average life expectancy is 35 years. In some
countries, where there are still some green zones crossed by rivers, these are guarded by heavy armed soldiers. Water
became a very coveted treasure, more precious than gold and diamonds. Where I live, there are no trees, because it
seldom rains. When it happens to register some precipitation, it is of acid rain. The seasons have been severely affected by
the atomic tests and by contamination from the 20th century polluting industries. We were warned to look after the
environment, but nobody cared.

When my son asks me to talk about my youth, I tell him about the green fields, the beauty of the flowers, the rain,
how pleasant was to swim and fish in the rivers and dams, to drink all the water we could, and how healthy people were.
He asks, “Daddy! Why is there no water?” Then, I feel a lump in my throat! I cannot help feeling guilty, because I belong to
the generation who contributed to the destruction of the environment or simply did not take into account all the warning
signs. Now our children pay a very high price! I sincerely believe that within a short time life on earth will not be possible,
as the destruction of nature reached now an irreversible stage. How I would like to go back and make mankind understand
that we still have time to save our planet Earth.
Directions: Answer the following questions in a ½ crosswise intermediate paper.

QUESTIONS:

1. How old is the man who wrote the letter and why does he not look his age?

2. What is the difference between his life in 2070 and when he was 5 years old?

3. What happened to the rivers, lakes and other water sources as mentioned in the article?

4. What happens if we do not take care of water resources?

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