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Unit 1 The Panama Canal
Reading Comprehension
For hundreds of years, ships had to travel around the bottom of South
America to travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. This took a lot of
time, and it was also very dangerous. The southern tip of South America is
famous for its terrible storms. Then, in the late 1800s, the French decided to
build a canal in Panama. A canal is like an artificial river that connects two
other bodies of water. In this case, the canal would connect the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans.
The French project had problems from the start. Although the French had
good plans, their equipment was too small, and they had over 50 miles of
canal to dig. They needed huge digging machines, but only America had
machines large enough for the job. In addition, Panama is a jungle. There
were millions of bugs, many of which carried diseases that the French were
not used to. As a result, the French work force was constantly sick, and the
work went very slowly.
In 1888, the French stopped work on the canal. In 1904, the U.S. took over
the building of the canal. First, the Americans killed the bugs to prevent
disease. Then, they brought in their huge digging machines. Even with their
better machines, it took over 39,000 men ten years to finish the canal.
-4-
Reading Comprehension
For hundreds of years, ships had to travel around the bottom of South
America to travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. This took a lot of
time, and it was also very dangerous. The southern tip of South America is
famous for its terrible storms. Then, in the late 1800s, the French decided to
build a canal in Panama. A canal is like an artificial river that connects two
other bodies of water. In this case, the canal would connect the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans.
The French project had problems from the start. Although the French had
good plans, their equipment was too small, and they had over 50 miles of
canal to dig. They needed huge digging machines, but only America had
machines large enough for the job. In addition, Panama is a jungle. There
were millions of bugs, many of which carried diseases that the French were
not used to. As a result, the French work force was constantly sick, and the
work went very slowly.
In 1888, the French stopped work on the canal. In 1904, the U.S. took over
the building of the canal. First, the Americans killed the bugs to prevent
disease. Then, they brought in their huge digging machines. Even with their
better machines, it took over 39,000 men ten years to finish the canal.
-4-
