Christmas Day in east London. Beatrice Asante empties(倒空，清空) a bag of potatoes into her kitchen sink(水槽，洗涤池) and turns on the tap. Nothing. She turns it off and on again. Still nothing. What now?
东伦敦的圣诞节。比阿特丽斯·阿桑特把一袋土豆倒进厨房水槽，然后打开水龙头。没有水。她关上又打开。还是没有水。现在怎么办？
Asante rushes out(冲出，奔出) to the only shop that is open, the local Nisa convenience store(便利店). She buys several big plastic bottles of water. Enough, she thinks, to make dinner and to last until(持续到，维持到) the taps start running again.
阿桑特冲到唯一还开着的商店——当地的 Nisa 便利店。她买了几大瓶塑料瓶装水。她想，这些水应该够做晚饭，并能撑到水龙头再次出水。
Seven months later and as parts of the country brace for(为…做准备（尤指坏事）) a fifth heatwave(热浪，酷暑期), Asante still cannot rely on tap water. She is one of hundreds of householders(住户，房主) in housing association(住房协会) flats on the Devons Road estate(住宅区，房地产) in Tower Hamlets who have been left for up to a year without a reliable supply. Only now, after months of delay, is the landlord mobilising to have the problem repaired.(直到现在，在拖延数月后，房东才开始动员修复问题。)
七个月后，当英国部分地区准备迎接第五波热浪时，阿桑特仍然无法依赖自来水。她是塔村区德文斯路住宅区住房协会公寓楼中数百名住户之一，这些住户已长达一年没有可靠的供水。直到现在，在拖延数月之后，房东才开始动员修复问题。