4-6 巴拿马运河（在线收听）

Panama Canal

The 51mile Panama Canal made shipping history when it opened a route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is located in the narrowest part of the American continent and the lowest region of the Panamanian¹ isthmus².

People had been trying to find a way to get from the Atlantic to the Pacific since at least the time of Columbus. But it would be four hundred years before anyone gave it a shot³. It's an enormous savings of time and money when the only alternative to get cargo is to take it around the tip of South America. Even today that can take two weeks, compared to a canal journey that takes as little as eight hours.

The French were the first to make a real concerted⁴ effort to build a Panama Canal under Ferdinand de Lesseps⁵ who was the man responsible for the building of the Suez Canal⁶. The Suez Canal in dry and flat Egypt was considered an incredible engineering feat. In 1879 de Lesseps tried to recreate his success in Panama. But he severely misjudged the hurdles presented by Central America's mountainous terrain⁷ and tropical climate. De Lesseps failed spectacularly. It was a complete disaster.

But just twenty years later, president Teddy Roosevelt⁸ persuaded the United States to take on the job. In 1904, the U.S. Congress signed a treaty to lease⁹ the land in the Canal Zone for 96 years.

Chief engineer John F. Stevens was determined to avoid mistakes of the French. The Americans succeeded because they decided to build a lock canal. Using new technology, the American effort slowly burrowed¹⁰ its way into the Panamanian jungle, but old fashioned muscle power played just as big a role. The bulk¹¹ of the labor force in the building of the Panama Canal was West Indian labor, mostly from Barbados¹². And they are really the unsung¹³ heroes of the Panama Canal. Without them, it couldn't have been built. The workers' most important tool was dynamite¹⁴. The explosive power alone that was needed to dig the canal was greater than the explosive power used in all the wars in 1903.

After ten years of intensely physical labor, the Panama Canal was opened to traffic in 1914 and it's been on duty ever since.

For uniting¹⁵ the world's two great oceans, the Panama Canal drops anchor¹⁶ at number four on our list.

注释:

1.Panamanian [7pAnE7meInIEn] a. 巴拿马的

2.isthmus [5ismEs] n. 地峡

3.shot [FCt] n. 尝试，试图

4.concerted [kEn5sE:tid] a. 商定的，一致的

5.Ferdinand de Lesseps 雷赛布（1805～1894，法国外交官、工程师，退出外交界后，组成苏伊士运河公司，监管苏伊士运河工程 [1859～1869] ，成立承建巴拿马运河工程的公司[1878] ，因滥用基金，破产判罪）

6.Suez Canal苏伊士运河 [埃及东北部] （穿经苏伊士地峡，连接地中海和红海）

7.terrain [5terein] n. 地形，地势，岩层

8.Teddy Roosevelt  即 Theodore Roosevelt 罗斯福（1858～1919，美国第26任总统 [1901～1909] ，共和党人，对内执行资源保护政策，对外奉行“大棒政策”，对拉丁美洲实行武装干涉，因调停俄日战争 [1904～1905] 获1906年诺贝尔和平奖。Teddy为其昵称）

9.lease [li:s] vt. 租得，租有（土地等）

10.burrow [5bQrEu] vt. 掘出（洞、通道等）

11.bulk [bQlk] n. 主体，绝大部分，大多数

12.Barbados [bB:5beidEuz] 巴巴多斯 [拉丁美洲国家]

13.unsung [5Qn5sQN] a. 未受赞美或述及的

14.dynamite [5dainEmait] n. 达纳炸药，氨爆炸药

15.unite [ju(:)5nait] vt. 使接合，使联接

16.dropanchor（在某地）暂住，定位

巴拿马运河

长达51英里的巴拿马运河开通了大西洋与太平洋之间的航线，彪炳航运史册。它位于美洲大陆最狭窄的地带和巴拿马地峡最低的区域。

至少从哥伦布时代起，人们就一直试图寻找一条从大西洋到太平洋的航道。但足足400年后，才有人真正进行这一尝试。当时，惟一的运输路线是从南美洲的南端绕行，如果能找到一条捷径将大大地节省时间和金钱。即使在今天，要绕行的话也可能需要两个星期，而走运河则只需8个小时。

在负责苏伊士运河工程的费迪南•德•雷赛布的指挥下，法国人最先开始为建造巴拿马运河采取切实行动。苏伊士运河开凿在干燥平坦的埃及，被视为不可思议的工程奇迹。1879年，雷赛布试图在巴拿马再造辉煌。但他却对中美洲的山岳地势和热带气候做出了极为错误的判断。他经历了惨痛的失败，这是一场灭顶之灾。

仅在20年后，美国总统特迪•罗斯福劝说美国政府继续这项伟业。1904年，美国国会签署了一项租借运河地区96年的条约。

总工程师约翰•史蒂文斯决心避免重犯法国人的错误。美国人成功了，因为他们决定建造一条水闸式的运河。利用新技术，美国人向巴拿马的丛林深处缓慢挺进，而其中运用人力这一老办法仍起了巨大的作用。修建巴拿马运河的大部分劳力是西印度劳工，主要来自巴巴多斯。他们是巴拿马运河真正的无名英雄，没有他们就建不成今天的运河。工人们最重要的工具就是炸药。光是用于挖凿河渠的火药，比1903年全部战争所用的火药都要多。

在10年艰苦的劳作之后，巴拿马运河于1914年通航，此后一直在发挥作用。

由于将世界两大洋连在了一起，巴拿马运河位列我们排行榜的第4名。