Give water, save lives
A bottle of water may not seem like much to you, but thousands of bottles will be of great help for people who live in drought-hit(遭受旱灾) areas in China.
Since last autumn, there has been very little rain in Southwest China. Some places, especially in Yunnan . Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, have experienced a serious drought. Crops (庄稼) died, the land cracked, and wells (井) and rivers dried up. More than 20 million people are having difficulty in finding safe drinking water.
After learning about the drought, many people around the country helped by giving water, money and other things.
Last week, every member of the Communist Youth League (共青团员) and Young Pioneers(少先队员) were encouraged to give one bottle of water to the drought-hit areas. Students in primary schools and middle schools quickly joined the activity. In Yuhua Primary School in Xi’ an, 900 students bought over 1,000 bottles of water with their pocket money. They also wrote their wishes on the bottles.
The serious drought has also made students realize the importance of saving water.
Students from Nanshan Middle School in Huizhou in Guangdong went on the street to tell people to take part in water-saving activities.
“I’ve heard that some children in drought-hit areas don’ t have enough drinking water. They have to drink muddy ( 含有泥土的 ) water. I feel really sad about that," said one student. “I decide to take a shower twice a week instead of every day to save water.”he said.
Why did a serious drought happen in Southwest China?  
___________________________________________________________________________                     What does the underlined (划线的) word "cracked" probably mean in Chinese?
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What did people do after learning about the drought?
                                                                  
Is a bottle of water helpful for the people in drought-hit areas?
                                                                              
What can you learn from the passage?