旅游英语阅读教程Unit 8.ppt

Unit8 Ancient water conservancy projects 新世纪高职高专 旅游与酒店管理类课程规划教材 Contents Lead-in Text The Grand Canal The Grand Canal, which cuts a 2,700-kilometre-long course from Beijing in the north to Hangzhou in the south is extolled as a great water conservancy project of ancient China. It is 10 times the length of the Suez Canal and 20 times that of the Panama Canal. Being the longest man-made water canal in the world, it embodies the superb wisdom of the Chinese people. It is also a testimony of the history of China. The series of waterways in eastern China is not only very long, but also very old, which makes the Grand Canal a masterpiece of both the ancient and modern times. The oldest section, between the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River, was constructed during the 4th and 5th centuries BC in the Zhou Dynasty. It was extended during the Qin, Han, Wei, Jin, North and South Dynasties. That is the first stage of the project. Text The second stage is in the Sui Dynasty. At that time, the shifting of China’s “breadbasket” from the wheat and millet producing regions of the North to the rice fields of the South prompted emperors of the Sui Dynasty in 584 to construct the canal to link this productive southern region to the northern cities. The southern section connected the North with Yangzhou by the Yangtze River. A branch that led to the Beijing region was designed to supply the armies protecting the north and northeastern frontiers. The Grand Canal greatly improved the administration and defense of China and served to increase the economic interdependence of the North and South. In addition, the political unity under the Sui Dynasty(581-618) made it possible to build the Grand Imperial Canal. So in 605 Yangdi, Emperor in the Sui Dynasty, ordered to dig a north-south canal, mainly dug the Tongji Channel and Yongji Channel, which lasted 6 years for the primitive techniques. The peasants, who did most of the work, endured much suffering and about half of