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--- Lesson 64 The Channel Tunnel |
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--- First listen and then answer the question. |
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--- Why was the first tunnel not completed? |
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In 1858, a French engineer, Aime Thome de Gamond, arrived in England with a plan for a twenty-one-mile tunnel under the English Channel. |
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He said that it would be possible to build a platform in the centre of the Channel. |
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This platform would serve as a port and a railway station. |
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The tunnel would be well-ventilated if tall chimneys were built above sea level. |
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In 1860, a better plan was put forward by an Englishman, William Low. |
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He suggested that a double railway-tunnel should be built. |
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This would solve the problem of ventilation, for if a train entered this tunnel, it would draw in fresh air behind it. |
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Forty-two years later a tunnel was actually begun |
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If, at the time, the British had not feared invasion, it would have been completed. |
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The world had to wait almost another 100 years for the Channel Tunnel. |
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It was officially opened on March 7,1994, finally connecting Britain to the European continent. |
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--- end |
