经过考察和论证，造福子孙后代的南水北调工程于近日开工。我国北方一些地区用水困难的局面，将在不久的将来得以有效改善。
Themassivewaterdiversion（调拨）projectplannedfordecadesstartedonDecember27th2002．Theconstruction，whichwilllast50years，aimsatdivertingwaterfromthewater-richsouthtothearid（干旱的'）northofChinatoensureawatersupplyforagriculturalandindustrialproductionandpeople’sdailyuse．
Withanestimatedinvestmentofabout500billionyuan（about60billionUSdollars），theprojectwillchannelwaterfromthreeplacesrespectively（分别）ontheupper，middleandlowerreachesoftheYangtze，China’slongestriver，todestinations（目的地）inthenorth．Expertssaywaterdiversionfromsouthtonorthisnowbothnecessaryandfeasible（可行的），asproblemscannowbeproperlyhandled．
China’swaterresourcesareimbalancedindifferentregions．Inthesouthernpart，waterresourcesarerich，whileinthenorthit’sscarce．WatershortagesinnorthernChinahasbeenhindering（阻碍）economicdevelopment，andaffectingdailylife．“Withoutwater，”accordingtoGuZhaoqi，anexpertonwaterresourcesfromTsinghuaUniversity，“manyplaceshaveturnedintodeserts，withlocaleco-systems（生态）destroyed．”ThisyeartheseveredroughtinShandongProvincealonehascausedover26billionyuanloss．
Oncetheprojectiscompleted，atotalof44．8billioncubicmeters（立方米）ofwaterwillbeannually（每年一度地）channeledfromtheYangtzetothenorthofChinaanditisexpectedtofundamentally（基本上）solvethewaterscarcity（缺乏）innorthernChina．
我国国力的增强也给科技插上了翅膀。中国的无人驾驶宇宙飞船“神舟”四号顺利升空，它标志我国航空业又朝载人技术迈进了一大步。
Chinahassuccessfullylaunched（发射）itsfourthunmannedtestspacecraftintoorbit．ThesuccessfullaunchdemonstratedthatChina’smannedspacescienceandtechnologyprogramisgettingincreasinglymature（成熟）．ThelaunchwasChina’sfourthsuccessfulspacecraftlaunchinthreeyears．Previous（以前的）testswereconductedin1999，2001andearlierthisyear．LikeitsShenzhouIIIpredecessor（前者），ShenzhouIVhasallthefunctionsofamannedspacecraft．
ShenzhouIVisjustonestepawayfromamannedflight．Infact，beforethelaunch，Chineseastronautsenteredthecrafttogetafeelofit．Landandsearescuemissionswerealsorehearsed（演习）．
Thespacecraftwillstayinorbitforaweek．Itsdescentmodule（降落舱）willtouchdowninChina’sInnerMongoliaAutonomousRegion．
Ifallgoeswell，ShenzhouIVshouldbethelastunmannedtestflightoftheShenzhouSeriesspacecraft．ShenzhouVmaybecomethenation’sfirstmannedspacecraft，makingChinathethirdcountryintheworldtosendmanintoouterspace，afterRussiaandtheUS．