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Unit 1 The Panama Canal
Listening 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.
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Listening 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.
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