英语新闻与报道—News & Reports 84（在线收听）

 Wk 33 (15 August 1914)

The Panama Canal Is OpenedThis Week in HistoryThe Panama Canal is officially opened after 10 years of construction.

In 1914, the Panama Canal was officially opened. The canal links the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, allowing ships to sail from one ocean to the other without having to go around South America. The canal's construction was financed and supervised by the U.S. government and took 10 years to complete. Over 70,000 people worked on the project, $400 million was spent, and 5,600 deaths were recorded, most caused by malaria or yellow fever. The U.S. government controlled the canal until a treaty allowing Panama to gradually assume control was signed in 1977.