Level 4-Day 23.The Welland Canal

词汇提示

1.chore 工作事务

2.fornite 边疆

3.canoes 皮划艇

4.troops 部队

5.rot 腐烂

6.merchants 商人

7.vessels 轮船

8.peninsula 半岛

原文

The Welland Canal

Before railways and automobiles became common, transporting goods over long distances was a difficult chore.

In early North America, roads were often bad or non- existent.

In the winter, snow and cold weather made travel difficult.

Frontier farmers had trouble selling their crops because it was hard to get them to the cities.

Often rivers and lakes were the best ways to travel.

Fur traders carried their furs and other supplies in canoes.

But even large canoes were not big enough to hold a shipment of wheat.

Rapids and waterfalls meant that goods had to be taken out of the canoe and carried to the next body of calm water.

One way to improve water transportation was to build a canal.

In New York State, Governor DeWitt Clinton had constructed the Erie Canal from the Niagara River to the Hudson River, soon after the War of 1812.

Because relations between the United States and Canada were still not very friendly, this was another reason to build a canal on the Canadian side.

Canals could be used to move supplies and troops during wartime.

Sometimes the British government would forbid Canadian farmers to sell food to the U.S.A.

Without a canal to move their farm produce, crops were sometimes left to rot.

A St. Catharines, Ontario, merchant named William Hamilton Merritt thought about all these things in the 1820s.

He also thought that flourmills needed a more reliable source of water to operate.

St. Catharines is on Twelve-Mile Creek below the Niagara Escarpment.

This creek runs towards Lake Ontario.

It rises above the Escarpment, which stands from 150 to 300 feet high, then runs towards Lake Ontario.

If Merritt could join the Twelve-Mile Creek to one of the rivers, which ran to Lake Erie, the canal would provide transportation and waterpower.

The problem was to find a way to move boats up the escarpment.

From 1824 to 1829, Merritt and his friends hired laborers to dig away tons of dirt and rock.

Nearly all the work was done with shovels, pickaxes, horses and wagons.

In places, the ground was soft and landslides occurred.

In other places, the men had to dig through solid granite rock.

Merritt's main problem, however, was raising the money to pay for the construction.

After sinking all the money that he, his family and friends had into the canal, more was needed.

Merritt went to Toronto, New York and finally London, England to get the financial support he needed.

The problem of getting the boats to climb the escarpment was solved by a series of 35 wooden locks.

These carried a ship 327 feet upwards.

The ship would enter a lock with a small amount of water.

More water would come into the lock, lifting the boat another ten or fifteen feet.

Then the ship would move into the next lock, and be lifted up again.

Boats going in the opposite direction were lowered instead of lifted.

The Welland Canal has been rebuilt three times since the first canal opened in 1829.

Now large sea-going and lake vessels cross the Niagara Peninsula from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie.

They carry grain, coal, iron ore, oil and many other bulk products.

The Welland Canal remains one of the most important commercial waterways in the world.

翻译

韦兰运河

在铁路和汽车普及之前，长途运输货物是一项艰巨的工作。

在北美早期，道路往往很糟糕或根本不存在。

冬天，雪和寒冷的天气使旅行变得困难。

边疆农民很难出售他们的作物，因为很难将它们运到城市。

河流和湖泊往往是最好的旅行方式。

毛皮商人用独木舟运送毛皮和其他用品。

但是，即使是大型独木舟也不够大，无法装载一批小麦。

急流和瀑布意味着货物必须从独木舟中取出被带到下一片平静的水域。

改善水运的一种方法是修建一条运河。

1812年战争后不久，纽约州州长德维特·克林顿（DeWitt Clinton）修建了从尼亚加拉河到哈德逊河的伊利运河。

因为美国和加拿大的关系还不太友好，这是在加拿大一侧修建运河的另一个原因。

战时，运河可以用来运送物资和军队。

有时英国政府会禁止加拿大农民向美国出售粮食。

由于没有运河运输他们的农产品，农作物有时会腐烂。

安大略省圣凯瑟琳的一位名叫威廉·汉密尔顿·梅里特的商人在19世纪20年代思考了所有这些事情。

他还认为面粉厂需要更可靠的水源来运作。

圣凯瑟琳位于尼亚加拉悬崖下的12英里小河上。

这条小溪流向安大略湖。

它从150到300英尺高的悬崖上升起，然后向安大略湖延伸。

如果梅里特能够将12英里河与其中一条河流汇合，这条河流将流向伊利湖，运河将提供交通和水力。

问题是要找到一种方法将船只移到悬崖上。

从1824年到1829年，梅里特和他的朋友们雇佣了工人来挖掘成吨的泥土和岩石。

几乎所有的工作都是用铲子、镐、马和马车完成的。

在一些地方，地面很软，发生了滑坡。

在其他地方，人们不得不挖掘坚硬的花岗岩。

然而，梅里特的主要问题是筹集资金来支付建设费用。

在将他、家人和朋友所有的钱都投入运河之后，还需要更多的钱。

梅里特去了多伦多、纽约，最后去了英国伦敦，以获得他所需要的财政支持。

让船只爬上悬崖的问题由一系列35个木闸解决了。

这把船送到了327英尺高的地方。

船将在少量水的情况下进入船闸。

更多的水会流入船闸，使船再上升10或15英尺。

然后船将进入下一个船闸，并再次被提升。

朝相反方向行驶的船只被降下而不是升起。

自1829年第一条运河开通以来，韦兰运河已经重建了三次。

现在，大型海上和湖泊船只从安大略湖穿过尼亚加拉半岛，到达伊利湖。

他们运输粮食、煤炭、铁矿石、石油和许多其他大宗产品。

韦兰运河仍然是世界上最重要的商业水道之一。