纪录片《美国商业大亨传奇》 掌控全局(54)

For years, attempts have been made to build a canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

多年来就已经开始尝试建立一条连接大西洋和太平洋的运河了

Such a canal would cut East to West travel time in half saving ships over eight thousand miles per trip.

这样一条运河能将东西半球的行驶时间 缩短一半 船舶每次可以少走八千多英里

But no one's had the power to make it happen, until now.

但是在此之前没有谁有这么大的能量

J.P. Morgan acts as the middle man for the government and raises forty million dollars - OR seven billion dollars today-- to get the project started.

J·P·摩根充当政府的中间人 筹集了四千万美元 相当于今天的七十亿 项目得以开工

The Panama Canal is the most ambitious construction project the United States has ever undertaken.

巴拿马运河是美国有史以来最雄心勃勃的建设项目

Over 75,000 workers labor¹ in brutal² heat, fighting off deadly diseases, digging a canal 51 miles from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

超过七万五千名工人冒着酷热 以及致命疾病的危险 挖出一条贯穿大西洋与太平洋的51英里长的运河

To assemble the manpower, the material, and the finances; to cut a swath through the middle of Panama and join the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean--only an industrially sophisticated nation could do that.

要整合如此规模的人力物力财力 在巴拿马中间切出一大块 贯通大西洋与太平洋 只有一个成熟的工业国家才能做到这一点

The Panama Canal embodies³ everything that makes America the most powerful country on the planet.

巴拿马运河体现了一切 美国得以成为地球上最强大国家的所有要素

Built on steel, powered by electricity and running on gasoline.

由钢铁打造 电力驱动靠汽油运行

And it's all made possible due to the financial might of one of the country's most powerful men.

而让这一切成为可能的是美国最有权势的人物之一的金融实力

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

3 embodies   

v.表现( embody的第三人称单数 )；象征；包括；包含

参考例句：

• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This document embodies the concern of the government for the deformity. 这个文件体现了政府对残疾人的关怀。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》