EXPLORATIONS - Hoover Dam

EXPLORATIONS - Hoover Dam
By Paul Thompson

Broadcast: Wednesday, July 28, 2004

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VOICE ONE:

This is Bob Doughty¹.

VOICE TWO:

 
Hoover Dam.
And this is Steve Ember with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today we tell about Hoover Dam. It was the largest and most difficult structure of its kind ever built when work started in nineteen-thirty-one.

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VOICE ONE:

Our report today about Hoover Dam must begin with the Colorado River. This river made the dam necessary. The Colorado River begins high in the Rocky Mountains. It begins slowly, during the dark months of winter. Heavy snow falls on the Rocky Mountains.

The snow is so deep in some areas that it will stay on the ground well into the hot days of summer. But the snow does melt. Ice cold water travels down the mountains and forms several rivers -- the Gila River, the Green River, the Little Colorado, the San Juan, the Virgin² and the Gunnison Rivers. These rivers link together and form the beginnings of the Colorado River. The Colorado River flows through or provides water for the states of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California. Then it crosses the border into Mexico.

VOICE TWO:

The Colorado River has always been extremely powerful. The river created the huge Grand Canyon³. The violent water cut hundreds of meters deep into the desert floor of Arizona. The Grand Canyon is proof⁴ of the power of this great river.

The Grand Canyon was cut into the desert floor beginning thousands of years ago. But the power of this river has been demonstrated⁵ in more modern times.

Between nineteen-oh-five and nineteen-oh-seven, the Colorado River caused great amounts of flooding in parts of Arizona and California. Huge amounts of water ran into a low area in the dry, waterless desert that had once been an ancient lake. In two years of flooding, the Colorado River filled the ancient lake. That lake is called the Salton Sea. Today, it is about fifty-six kilometers long by twenty-five kilometers wide. It is even larger in years of heavy rain.

VOICE ONE:

The flooding that created the Salton Sea also flooded homes, towns and farming areas. Many people were forced to flee their homes. Government leaders knew they had to do something to prevent such floods in the future. In nineteen-eighteen, a man named Arthur Davis proposed⁶ building a dam to control the Colorado River. Mister⁷ Davis was a government engineer. He said the dam should be built in an area called Boulder⁸ Canyon on the border between the states of Arizona and Nevada.

VOICE TWO:

Building the dam would not be a simple matter. The people of seven states and the people of Mexico needed and used the water of the Colorado River. Much of that area is desert land. Water is extremely important. Without water from the Colorado River, farming is not possible. Without water, life in the desert is not possible.

On November twenty-fourth, nineteen-twenty-two, officials signed a document in Santa Fe, New Mexico. That document is called the Colorado River Compact⁹. The document tells how the seven states would share the water of the Colorado River. It was agreed this could be more easily done with the aid of a dam. Later an agreement was signed with Mexico to supply it with water from the Colorado River.

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VOICE ONE:

The area chosen for the dam was called Black Canyon. The walls of Black Canyon rise almost two-hundred-forty-three meters above the river. An ancient volcano¹⁰ formed the rock in Black Canyon. Engineers decided¹¹ the rock would provide a good strong support for the proposed dam.

However, the area also presented problems. The nearest railroad¹² was sixty kilometers away. There was no electric power. And, in the summer, the temperature in the desert in Black Canyon could reach as high as forty-eight degrees Celsius¹³.

A great deal of work was done before operations started on the dam. Workers built a town called Boulder City to house employees working on the dam. They built a large road from Boulder City to the area of the dam. They built a railroad from a main line in Las Vegas, Nevada to Boulder City. They built another railroad from Boulder City to the dam area. And they built a three-hundred-fifty kilometer power line from San Bernadino, California. This provided¹⁴ electric power to the area where the dam was being built.

VOICE TWO:

The work on the dam began in April of nineteen-thirty-one. Workers called "high scalers" were some of the first to begin building the dam. They were suspended¹⁵ from ropes as they used heavy air-powered hammers to break any loose rock away from the face of the canyon walls. When they could not use hammers, they used dynamite¹⁶. One high scaler became very famous. His name was Arnold Parks. He caught another worker who had fallen off the top of the canyon.

Mister Parks held the worker to the wall of the canyon until others came to help. Today, visitors can see a statue of the men who worked as high scalers to build Hoover Dam.

The high scalers worked on the sides of the canyon. Other workers dug huge tunnels deep in the floor of the canyon. This was done to permit the Colorado River to flow away from the construction area. This had to be done so the floor of the dam could be built.

On June sixth, nineteen-thirty-three, workers poured the first load of a building material called concrete. Men in two special factories worked day and night to make the concrete building material for the dam.

Huge equipment moved millions of tons of rock and sand. In the summer months, the terrible desert heat slowed the work but did not stop it. Men who worked at night on the dam suffered less, but the heat was still as high as thirty degrees Celsius.

VOICE ONE:

 
Hoover Dam under construction.
Slowly the great dam began to rise from the floor of the canyon. From the canyon floor it reaches two-hundred-twenty-one meters high. Workers poured the last of the concrete on May twenty-ninth, nineteen-thirty-five. They had used almost four-million cubic meters of concrete in the dam. Workers also used more than twenty-million kilograms of steel to strengthen the concrete in the dam.

VOICE TWO:

The work was dangerous for the more than five-thousand men who worked on the structure. The extreme temperatures, falling objects and heavy equipment caused accidents. The workers were provided with medical care and two emergency vehicles to take them to a new hospital in Boulder City. However, ninety-six men lost their lives during the building of the great dam.

The companies building the dam had been given seven years to complete the work. They did it in only five. The dam was finished on March first, nineteen-thirty-six.

 
Power generators¹⁷ at Hoover Dam.
Other work now began. This work would make the dam into one of the largest producers of electric power ever built. The dam was built to control the powerful Colorado River. But it was also meant to use the river to produce large amounts of electric power.

Today, seventeen huge machines use the river's power to produce electric power. The states of Arizona and Nevada share the power. So do many cities in California, including Los Angeles, Burbank, and Pasadena.

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VOICE ONE:

When the Hoover Dam was finished in nineteen-thirty-six, it was the largest dam in the world. It was also the tallest. And it was the largest power producer that used water power to make electricity. Today this is no longer true. Taller dams, larger dams and a few that produce more power have been created. But Hoover Dam is still a huge and interesting place.

Visitors to Hoover Dam drive on a small road that passes Lake Mead¹⁸. They enter a special visitor's center to learn about the dam and the men who built it. They ride high-speed elevators that go deep inside the dam. They see the huge machines that produce electric power.

Many visitors say they thought the name of the huge structure was Boulder Dam. They are told that Hoover Dam is often called Boulder Dam. However, it is named after former President Herbert Hoover.

Before he was president, Mister Hoover worked for many years to make the construction of the dam possible. It was officially named to honor¹⁹ him in nineteen-forty-seven.

Visitors leave the great dam with an understanding of how difficult the project was. They learn that it still safely controls the great Colorado River. And it also provides water and electric power to millions of people in the American southwest.

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VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced by Mario Ritter. This is Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

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

1 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

2 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

3 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

4 proof   

adj.防...的，耐...的，能防护；n.校样，证据，证明；vt.检验，给...做防护措施

参考例句：

• He is living proof of the wonders of modern medicine.他是当代医学奇迹的活证明。
• The proof was fished up from some old papers.校样在旧文件中被找到了。

5 demonstrated   

举行示威游行（或集会）( demonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )； 示范。展示； 显示； 论证

参考例句：

• All of those demonstrated the correctness of his analysis. 这一切都证明了他分析的正确性。
• The fireman demonstrated great courage in saving the child. 那位消防队员在抢救孩子的过程中，表现了极大的勇气。

6 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

7 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

8 boulder   

n.巨砾；卵石，圆石

参考例句：

• We all heaved together and removed the boulder.大家一齐用劲，把大石头搬开了。
• He stepped clear of the boulder.他从大石头后面走了出来。

9 compact   

adj.紧密的，简明的，紧凑的；v.使紧凑，压缩

参考例句：

• It was a compact package.这是个捆得很紧的包裹。
• The article is compact and well organized.文章严密，又很有章法。

10 volcano   

n.火山

参考例句：

• The volcano unexpectedly blew up early in the morning.火山一早突然爆发了。
• It is most risky to go and examine an active volcano.去探察活火山是非常危险的。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

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 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

14 provided   

conj.假如，若是；adj.预备好的，由...供给的

参考例句：

• Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天气良好，我们的假日将过得非常愉快。
• I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨，我就来。

15 suspended   

a.被暂时搁置的

参考例句：

• A lamp was suspended from the ceiling. 一盏吊灯悬在天花板上。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area. 英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

16 dynamite   

n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破)

参考例句：

• The workmen detonated the dynamite.工人们把炸药引爆了。
• The philosopher was still political dynamite.那位哲学家仍旧是政治上的爆炸性人物。

17 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 mead   

n.蜂蜜酒

参考例句：

• He gave me a cup of mead.他给我倒了杯蜂蜜酒。
• He drank some mead at supper.晚饭时他喝了一些蜂蜜酒。

19 honor   

n.光荣；敬意；荣幸；vt.给…以荣誉；尊敬

参考例句：

• I take your visit as a great honor.您的来访是我莫大的光荣。
• It is a great honor to receive that prize.能拿到那个奖是无上的光荣。