The Three Gorges Dam
滾滾長江，泱泱中華。毛澤東暢游長江時，揮毫留下了浪漫之作《水調歌頭?游詠》，為我們描繪了“高峽出平湖，神女應無羌，當驚世界殊”的壯美圖畫。而今，葛洲壩上游興建的三峽工程將成為世界上最大的水力發電站，萬噸巨輪可駛抵重慶，三峽景色將更加絢麗多姿。 the yangtze river is home to one of the most beautiful natural scenes of china —the three gorges. but for generations, chinese people have long dreamed of taming the yangtze river for power generation and flood control. the river’s endless floods have brought destruction and death for centuries —1 million deaths in the 20th century alone. nowadays, along the yangtze river, the third longest river in the world, a great construction project, the three gorges dam is in progress. once completed, it will be the largest and most powerful hydro-electric project in the world. towering 610 feet high and stretching 1.3 miles wide, the dam will create a reservoir that extends nearly 400 miles upstream thus changing the original landscape of this region. the project has been under discussion in china since the idea of the dam was first proposed in 1919. the three gorges dam is both a marvel of engineering and the greatest challenge its designers have ever faced. the three gorges dam has been engineered to store over 5 trillion gallons(加侖) of water and to withstand an earthquake of 7.0 on the richter scale(里氏震級). the reservoir will allow 10,000-ton ships to enter the nation’s interior, which currently limits access to boats under 1,500 tons. in addition, the government says the dam will control terrifying floods and provide electrical power to china’s growing cities. like china’s great wall, it will be one of the few manmade structures that can be seen from space. the chinese government and the dam’s engineers think of the project as a symbol of national pride. in early 1999 chinese premier zhu rongji inspected the dam site. he told the engineers, "the responsibility on your shoulders is heavier than a mountain. any care-lessness or negligence will bring disasters to our future generations."sure enough, engineers do shoulder heavy responsibility. we hope in the near future we’ll see a new wonder they create for china. open questions: 1. what will the people benefit from the three gorges dam? 2. is there any negative influence of the three gorges dam?