EXPLORATIONS - Wonders of the World, Part 3, Modern Wonders

EXPLORATIONS - Wonders of the World, Part 3, Modern Wonders
By Paul Thompson

Broadcast: Wednesday, September 08, 2004

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VOICE ONE:

This is Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today, we finish our series of programs about the Wonders of the World. In earlier programs, we told about ancient structures and beautiful natural places. Today we tell about modern structures that are Wonders of the World.

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VOICE ONE:

Any list of modern wonders should include some of the buildings in the great cities of the world. An example in New York City is the Empire State Building. For many years, it was the tallest building in the world. Today, the Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia are taller.

These buildings are important to any list. However, the modern wonders we have selected have changed history. They are important because they made life safer or easier or were useful to a great number of people. We begin with two similar structures in two very different parts of the world.

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VOICE TWO:

More than three thousand years ago, an ancient king of Egypt ordered that a river be built to connect the Mediterranean¹ Sea and the Red Sea. This kind of man-made river is called a canal.

 
The Suez Canal links the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.
Ancient evidence shows the work was done and a canal was built. Experts believe it was possible for small boats of that time to travel from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. Some evidence shows the Nile River may have been used for part of the canal. However, the ancient people of Egypt did not keep this canal in use. As years passed, the sands of the great deserts of Egypt closed the small canal.

As the centuries passed, many people thought it would be a good idea to rebuild the canal. The problem was the huge cost. But the cost could not be compared to the cost of a ship that had to sail from ports on the Atlantic Ocean to ports in Asia. Ships had to sail around the Cape² of Good Hope, the most southern part of the continent of Africa.

VOICE ONE:

A French engineer planned and directed the modern canal connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. His name was Ferdinand de Lesseps. Egyptian workers began building the canal in eighteen fifty-nine.

It was opened and named the Suez Canal during a ceremony on November seventeenth, eighteen sixty-nine. The Suez Canal is about one hundred sixty-three kilometers long and about sixty meters wide.

The Suez Canal has been closed several times because of war or political problems. Today, the Suez Canal is still important. Ships pay money to use the canal. That money is important to the economy of Egypt. The canal saves shipping³ companies a great deal of time and money because it is the fastest crossing from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean.

VOICE TWO:

Our next Modern Wonder of the World is also a canal -- the Panama Canal. It connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. Before it was built, ships often had to spend several weeks traveling around Cape Horn at the end of South America. Many ships were lost in great storms in that dangerous area.

Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa and his men were the first Europeans to travel through the thick jungles in Panama from the Atlantic Coast to the Pacific Coast. That was in fifteen thirteen. Panama quickly became a major shipping area for the Spanish. Their ships from the colonies⁴ in the Western Hemisphere⁵ and from Asia brought treasure to the Pacific Coast. The treasure was taken overland to the city of Portobelo on the Atlantic Side.

The idea of building a way to connect the two great oceans began with the Spanish explorers. They saw the need for a canal to speed up delivery⁶ of their cargo⁷. However, it was impossible to build. The machines needed to build something as big as a canal did not exist.

VOICE ONE:

In eighteen seventy-nine, a French Company tried to build a canal across Panama. It failed. The company did not have enough money to complete the project. Also, thousands of men working on the project died of the disease⁸ Yellow Fever.

In nineteen hundred, an American army doctor, Walter Reed⁹, and his research team discovered that mosquito insects carried the virus that caused Yellow Fever. They worked on methods to destroy the mosquito population.

This development helped make possible an American effort to build the Panama Canal. Panama and the United States signed treaties¹⁰ in nineteen-oh-three and work began on the canal. More than eighty thousand men worked on the huge effort. They made a canal about eighty kilometers long from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

 
The Panama Canal links the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
On August fifteenth, nineteen fourteen, the ship S-S Ancon became the first ship to sail through the new canal. Today, about thirteen thousand ships pass through the canal each year. That number represents about five percent of the world's trade. Both the Suez and the Panama Canals are truly modern Wonders of the World. Both make it possible to safely move from one great ocean to another. And, both save huge amounts of time and money.

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VOICE TWO:

The two great canals we have discussed connect oceans. Our next great Wonder of the World connects land.

This connecting device¹¹ is called the Channel Tunnel, or "Chunnel." It connects the island that is Britain with France. It was one of the largest and most difficult construction projects ever attempted. It is a three-tunnel railroad¹² from Calais, France to Folkestone, England. The tunnels are fifty kilometers long. They were built about forty-five meters below the earth under the English Channel. Two of the tunnels carry trains and one is used for repair work and emergencies.

VOICE ONE:

The idea of a tunnel connecting Britain with other nations of Europe was first proposed¹³ to the French Emperor Napoleon in the early eighteen hundreds. However it was never a serious idea. The technology to make such a tunnel did not exist. But people dreamed of such a tunnel. Crossing the English Channel by ship was often a terrible trip because of storms.

Three serious attempts were made to build the tunnel. The first two failed. Political differences between France and Britain stopped the first attempt. Financial problems stopped the second.

VOICE TWO:

The third and successful attempt to build the Chunnel began in nineteen eighty-seven after France and Britain signed an agreement. It took seven years to finish the work. To complete the tunnels, construction workers had to move more than seventeen million tons of earth. The cost was more than thirteen thousand million dollars. The Chunnel opened in nineteen ninety-four.

 
 
Today, the Chunnel is very busy. High-speed trains carry cars, trucks and passengers from Britain to France and back again. The trains are famous for their smooth, quiet ride. The money paid for the trip is slowly paying for the huge cost.

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VOICE ONE:

Our last modern Wonder of the World has not yet been completed. It is perhaps the largest construction project ever attempted. It is the Three Gorges¹⁴ Dam Project in China's Hubei Province. Some experts say it is the largest attempted construction project since the ancient Chinese built the Great Wall of China.

The Three Gorges Dam is being built to produce power and control China's Yangtze River. The Yangtze is the third longest river in the world. It is famous for the terrible floods it has caused. Some reports say more than one million people have been killed in Yangtze floods in the past one hundred years.

VOICE TWO:

The Three Gorges Dam will not be finished until two thousand nine. Work began in nineteen ninety-three. About two hundred fifty thousand workers are involved in the project. Experts say the huge dam will cost about twenty-five thousand million dollars. When finished it will be about one hundred eighty-one meters high.

The dam will create a huge lake about six hundred thirty-two square kilometers. Some critics say the dam will harm the environment and damage historical areas. More than one million people will have to be resettled before the dam is finished. The completed dam will produce large amounts of electric power. Chinese government officials say it will lead to increased economic development in cities near the dam. And China says the terrible floods caused by the Yangtze will be memories of the past.

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VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced by Mario Ritter. This is Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another EXPLORATIONS program in VOA Special English.

1 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

2 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

3 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

4 colonies   

n.殖民地( colony的名词复数 )；（侨民等）聚居区；（动植物的）群体；（来自同一地方，职业或兴趣相同的）聚居人群

参考例句：

• They amassed huge wealth by plundering the colonies. 他们通过掠夺殖民地聚敛了大笔的财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• But throughout the colonies, people relied primarily on small farms and self-sufficiency. 但就整个殖民地来说，人们主要依靠小型农场，过着自给自足的生活。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

5 hemisphere   

n.半球，半球地图

参考例句：

• This animal is to be found only in the Southern Hemisphere.这种动物只有在南半球才能找到。
• In most people,the left hemisphere is bigger than the right.多数人的左脑比右脑大。

6 delivery   

n.交付；投递；分娩；解救者；演讲的风格

参考例句：

• The strike caused a great delay in the delivery of the mail.这次罢工严重地延误了邮件的投递。
• He was employed at the local grocery store as a delivery boy.他受雇于当地杂货店当送货员。

7 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

8 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

9 reed   

n.芦苇，芦丛，簧舌，簧片

参考例句：

• The river banks were overgrown with reed.河岸长满了芦苇。
• They inhabit reed huts built on stilts above the water.他们住在建于水中木桩之上的芦苇草屋里。

10 treaties   

n.条约( treaty的名词复数 )；协议，协商

参考例句：

• These unequal treaties were made under duress. 这些不平等条约是在强迫下签订的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The imperialist powers forced the Qing Dynasty to sign a series of unequal treaties. 帝国主义列强迫使清王朝签订了一系列不平等条约。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 device   

n.器械，装置；计划，策略，诡计

参考例句：

• The device will be in production by the end of the year.该装置将于年底投入生产。
• The device will save much time and effort for us.这种装置会使我们节省大量时间和气力。

12 railroad   

n.铁路；vi.由铁路运输

参考例句：

• The railroad connects two cities,namely,New York and Chicago.这条铁路连接两个城市，即纽约与芝加哥。
• My brother is working on the railroad.我兄弟在铁路系统工作。

13 proposed   

被提议的

参考例句：

• There is widespread discontent among the staff at the proposed changes to pay and conditions. 员工对改变工资和工作环境的建议普遍不满。
• an outcry over the proposed change 对拟议的改革所发出的强烈抗议

14 gorges   

n.山峡，峡谷( gorge的名词复数 )；咽喉v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的第三人称单数 )；作呕

参考例句：

• The explorers were confronted with gorges(that were)almost impassable and rivers(that were)often unfordable. 探险人员面临着几乎是无路可通的峡谷和常常是无法渡过的河流。 来自辞典例句
• We visited the Yangtse Gorges last summer. 去年夏天我们游历了长江三峡。 来自辞典例句