|
Module 6 Old and New The Three Gorges Dam Mao Zedong wrote a poem in which he dreamed of “walls of stone to hold back clouds and rain till a smooth lake rises in the narrow gorges”. Now his dream has come true. The power of the Yangtze River, which is the world’s third longest river, has been harnessed by the Three Gorges Dam. The Three Gorges Dam, which is the biggest construction project in China since the building of the Great Wall and the Grand Canal, has been built to control flooding and provide hydro-electric power for the central region of China. The dam is nearly 200 meters high and 1.5 kilometers wide. It is the largest hydro-electric power station and dam in the world and has cost more than any other construction project in history. Sun yat-sen, who was the leader of the 1911 Revolution, first suggested the idea of a dam across the Yangtze River in 1919. Three quarters of China’s energy is produced by burning coal. In 1993, China used 1.2 billion tons of coal for heating and generating electricity. Unfortunately, burning coal causes serious air pollution and increases global warming. The dam will generate electricity equal to about 40 million tons of coal without causing so much air pollution. The reservoir has flooded 2 cities, 11 counties, 140 towns and more than 4,000 villages. More than a million people who lived in the region have moved from their homes. Now they’re living a happy new life in different areas. The Three Gorges area is one of the most beautiful areas of China and the project has flooded some of China’s most famous historical sites, including the Qu Yuan Temple, the Han Watchtower and the Moya Cliff carvings. About 800 historical relics have been submerged. Some of them are being removed and some are being put into museums. CULTURAL CORNER The Empire State building, New York Most of the tallest buildings in the world were built in the 1990s and in the twenty-first century, but the two tallest buildings in the US were built much earlier. In fact, the second tallest building in the US is more than 75 years old! The Empire State Building, which was the tallest building at the time was finished in May 1931. It was the tallest building in the world until the World Trade Centre was built in New York in 1972. The World Trade Centre twin towers, which were destroyed in September 2001, were 417 and 415 meters high. Facts about the Empire State Buildings: oTen million bricks were used in the construction of the building. oThere are 6,500 windows. oFrom the observatory at the top, on a clear day you can see five US states. oLighting strikes the Empire State Building about 500 times a year. oIn 1946, a US military plane, which was flying over Manhattan on a foggy day, crashed into the building just above the 78th floor. Module 6 三峡大坝 毛泽东写过一首词，在词中，他想象了“更立西江石壁，截断巫山云雨，高峡出平湖”的壮丽景观。如今，他的理想变成了现实。三峡大坝制服了世界第三大河流——长江的激流。 修建三峡大坝是自修筑长城和开凿大运河以来中国最大的建筑工程，它控制了长江的洪灾并为我国中部地区提供电力。大坝高度接近200米，宽1，500米。它是世界上最大的水力发电站和大坝，造价超过历史上的任何一项工程。 早在1919年，领导了辛亥革命的孙逸仙（中山）先生就首次提出了要在长江修筑大坝的设想。中国四分之三的能量是通过燃煤获得的。1993年，中国燃掉了12亿吨煤用于供热和发电。不幸的是，燃煤造成了严重的大气污染，加剧了全球变暖。大坝将要生产相当于燃烧4，000万吨煤所产生的电量，但却不会造成那么严重的空气污染。 水库淹没了两个城市、11个县、140个镇和4,000多座村庄。生活在这些地区的100多万人已经搬迁了。现在，他们在不同的地区幸福地生活着。 三峡是中国风光最美丽的地区之一。由于大坝工程，一些著名的历史遗迹被水淹没，包括屈原祠、汉望塔和摩崖石刻。大约800多处历史遗迹已被淹没。其中有一部分被转移，还有一部分被博物馆收藏。 |
