学术综合英语 听力字幕.docx

1、学术综合英语 听力字幕*Lesson 1-A*Road BuildingGood morning, everyone. Today Ill be talking about the relationship between road building and the development of the American economy during the 18th century. About 300 years ago, the United States economy was growing rapidly, mainly because of a booming trade in

2、two important agricultural products: grain and cotton.Grain output in the eastern part of America increased quickly at that time due to the rapidly growing population and the large number of immigrants from Europe. As a result, the demand for grain almost doubled.For this reason, the trade in grain

3、first developed in this part of the country. At the same time, the road system was gradually built up in order to transport the grain from the rural areas to various cities. The road building clearly helped develop the economy quickly in these areas and in the cities as well.During the same period,

4、farmers in the South could get a large amount of laborers from Africa, and they started to grow cotton. As the cotton output increased, the farmers needed to sell it in other places. As a result, many roads were built to link the rural areas to the cities.At first, this trade of grain and cotton too

5、k place along the coast, or near rivers and lakes. It took place there because it was easy and cheap to transport goods from one place to another. Before 1700, it was very expensive to move the goods by road. So, farmers had to rely mainly on rivers to move their crops to markets.At that time, there

6、 was only one continuous road that existed in the US. It ran from north to south along country roads, which were linked together to make one long road. Within a short time, the first east-to-west roads were built. They were called turnpikes. Private companies built these roads and collected fees fro

7、m all vehicles that traveled on them.Eventually, because of the booming trade of grain and cotton, a network of roadways was completed that connected some major cities and towns. Although traveling was still costly for farmers, they soon preferred to move their crops to cities and other areas on roa

8、dways rather than by boat because it was faster and more convenient.So here we can see a rather clear picture of road building in the United States and its impact on economic development during that period.*Lesson 1-B*The Mississippi River in AmericaGood afternoon. Today were going to talk about the

9、 Mississippi River. The Mississippi River is the largest river of the North America. Its major tributaries drain an area of approximately 3,000,000 square kilometers, or about one-eighth of the entire continent. The Mississippi River lies entirely in the United States. From its source at Lake Itasca

10、 in Minnesota, it flows from the North almost due south across the continental interior, collecting the waters of its major tributaries, down to the Gulf of Mexico. The Mighty Mississippi, as it is affectionately known, flows a total distance about 4,000 kilometers from its source. With its tributar

11、ies, the Mississippi drains all or part of 31 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces.As everyone knows, in the past the river was the most important way of transporting goods from the North to the South, or from the South to the North in the United States.The Mississippi River is also a river that c

12、an sometimes get out of control and cause serious flooding in summer. Nowadays engineers use four different methods to control the floodwaters of the river. These four ways are: floodways, dams, levees and reservoirs. Ill discuss each of these here.Floodways are the first way of controlling the floo

13、dwaters of the Mississippi River. Floodways are empty channels ready to hold water from the river. When the Mississippi River is too high, the floodways are opened and some of the water can flow into the floodways. There are several floodways along the lower Mississippi River, which help prevent flo

14、oding effectively.The second way of controlling the floodwaters of the Mississippi River is with dams. Dams are walls that are built across a river to control the water. There are more than 30 dams on the Mississippi River. Dams control the water by holding the water behind them until a decision is

15、made to release it.Levees are a third way of controlling the floodwaters of the Mississippi River. Levees are earthen walls built alongside a river. They hold the water in the river and keep it from covering the land beside the river. There are more than 2,000 miles of levees along the Mississippi R

16、iver.In the 19th and 20th centuries, several reservoirs were built along the Mississippi River to harness the water. They have two functions. One is to hold water, and the other is to generate electricity through hydroelectric power stations. Since the 20th century, no huge flood has broken out of t

17、he Mississippi River.*Lesson 2-A*An Eyewitness to Changes in China(Y: Yang Rui, anchor of Dialogue, CCTV-NEWSR: Sidney Rittenberg, president of Rittenberg & Associates.)Y: Mr. Rittenberg, you are a successful businessman and also a big name to the Chinese due to your close association with the first

18、 generation of the PRC leaders. How do you look at the impact that that experience has had on your current perception of Chinas reform and development?R: I feel in my heart that what Im doing today is a continuation of what I was trying to do in the past. And that is, I had this ambition, this dream

19、, from the time that I began studying Chinese at Stanford University in 1943, I had this dream of working to build bridges between Chinese people and American people, and to help them understand each other and cooperate together. And I tried to do that in the past, working in China in Maos day. And

20、thats exactly what Im trying to do today. I really think that what Im doing today is more effective than what I was able to do in the past.Y: At that time many foreigners came to China, but you were among the very few who got close to the Communist Party of China.R: You know, its quite obvious to me

21、 that the only reason that the Communist Party of China was able to win in the final stages of the Civil War is because of their extremely close relations with the people. The Chinese people that came to know them, trusted them and considered them their representatives. This small peasant army led b

22、y Mao Zedong had no tanks, no big guns, no planes, and was greatly outnumbered by the opposition, which was the most powerful armed force in Asia after the Second World War. And yet in only three and a half years, the Nationalists were completely defeated and driven off to the island province of Tai

23、wan. Why? Because the ties that the Communists had with the Chinese people were unbreakable. They had their trust. They had their confidence and support. And that was something that the Nationalists were not able to get. You know, the Revolutionary Army was a poor army, even in terms of the food the

24、y got. The soldiers had grass sandals that they made themselves along the march. But what made them do it? The fact that they had a vision. They believed that they were fighting for their land, for their family to have their own farmland, and for a fair government that would listen to the people and

25、 do what they needed. So this is the only explanation I can think of for why they were able to win.Y: In the Long March you just talked about, the Communist army had to overcome extreme difficulties. But in the new Long March of modernization today, we are also facing difficulties, though very diffe

26、rent. Whats your view of this new Long March?R: I agree with calling this a new Long March, only the barriers are very different. Those barriers were certainly very grim and threatening. Some of these barriers look very good and inviting but actually they are not. I mean, in the days before and duri

27、ng the Long March, the leaders had the task of studying the Chinese reality and getting everybody that they could influence to study reality and from it to derive a set of policies, practical strategies to guide everybody. So people had a shared vision and dream. They were motivated by this common d

28、ream to work together. And I think, during the current Long March of modernization, China would need to do the same thing, to gradually study Chinese reality and develop a set of strategies, a common vision and a set of values that most people will share. And then youll find that you dont have a pro

29、blem of disconnection between the central government and local governments, or a problem of a big gap between city and country life.Y: Still, people are wondering in this country why we were able to live with poverty but have problems living with the new wealth.R: Again its the lack of a practical,

30、down-to-earth, realistic vision that everyone shares, in my opinion. I remember after the “Great Leap Forward” when there was a famine, many, many people in Beijing, including government workers, professors in schools, their faces were swollen because people werent getting enough food. But nobody ad

31、mitted that it was because of malnutrition. No one said, “Its because we dont have enough food.” You know, I personally dont think that, for most people, they were motivated just for a distant future dream of Communism. It was because of what the new government had actually already done for the peop

32、le: workers got their eight hours a day, farmers got their own land for the first time, the public health campaigns, etc. These things raised the standards of living, especially during the first five or six years from 1949 to 1955. Tremendous social changes made people feel, “This is my government; they represent my interests; they bring me real benefits.”Y: What l