The Panama Canal: Connecting Oceans

連接海洋的巴拿馬運河 A short canal saves ships thousands of miles 巴拿馬運河雖是偉大的構想，卻花了很長的時間才大功告成 A great idea, the Panama Canal took a long time to be completed by Bryan Hagerla.

European sailors in the 1500s sought a shortcut to the west coasts of the Americas. Back then, this trip required sailing around Cape Horn, which is the southernmost tip of South America. But Spanish explorer Vasco de Balboa's discovery offered hope. When he crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513, he discovered how narrow it was. Only 80.5 km of land separated the Atlantic from the Pacific! The Spanish surveyed the area in hopes of building a canal. But the local governor decided it was impossible.

Fast-forward to 1869. Ferdinanad de Lesseps had completed the 163-km-long Suez Canal, a waterway linking Europe and Asia.France asked him to repeat his success at Panama. he agreed to try. When digging started in 1881, de Lesseps thought building a canal across Panama would be easy. But he didn't realize that digging in a jungle would be so dangerous. De Lesseps and his team abandoned their project after thousands of workers died from diseases caused by mosquitoes.

American President Theodore Roosevelt quickly took over where the French crew had left off. He bought the canal property and sent a team of workers to finish the project. Led by John Stevens, the American team got rid of the mosquitoes. This effort helped the team of nearly 40,000 workers to stay healthy and productive.

The team used gigantic steam shovels to make a path for the canal. But even with the help of such large equipment, the work progressed slowly. Finally, after nearly 10 years of non-stop digging, the canal successfully opened in 1914. The story didn't make the headlines, though. The public was focused on World War I. Therefore the canal wasn't dedicated until July 12, 1920.

Since the canal first opened, more than 960,000 ships have traveled through it. The Panama Canal has become an important link in global shipping . A journey that took weeks now takes hours.

Grammar Tips
The story didn't make the headlines......
make the headlines-the title of a newspaper article
headline-to become or be treated as important news.
to make the headlines-
The young girl's daring attempt to rescue a horse in a burning barn made the headlines.
The politician's son made the headlines when he was caught driving without a license.
Make the headlines= make headlines.

Vocabulary Tips
seek-尋找，追求 sought-seek 的過去式，及過去分詞
*The charity organization is seeking financial support from the government.
*We sought a solution to the problem but found no answer.
survey-調查，報告。
*Engineers surveyed the surrounding area before building the dam.
*Victor went to his farm to survey the tornado's damage.
abandon-放棄， 終止。
*We had to abandon the project due to insufficient funds.
*The mountaineers abandoned their attempt to reach the top because of bad weather conditions.
crew-a group of people work on a special task.工作人員。
*The camera crew already set up their equipment in the press conference room.
*The cabin crew started their service after the captain made the announcement. 飛機機組人員
productive (adj)-產量高的，have result, produce positive result. product (n)-產品
a productive land- 產量豐富的土地。
*The meeting was very productive. A lot of important decisions were made.
headline-頭條新聞。bold letter, big print on the heading of the first page of the newspaper. head-頭
make the headlines-成爲頭條新聞
*The scandal surrounding the mayor made today's headlines.
*The couple's wedding was in the headlines of the newspaper today.
dedicate- ceremony a building or a facility that opening to use.

Chat Room
canal-waterway,運河
kennel-dog house 狗屋，或是養狗的地方。
to be in the dog house- did something wrong, was grounded or forbidden to come in the house, stay outside share the dog house with dog. 人做錯事，受到處罰，被冷落。（你若得罪了某人，不讓你進屋，你只得與狗共處於狗室。
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Watch:
the uncountable nouns which can not add "s" -不可數名詞，不可加"s".
equipment-所有的裝備。工具。
luggage-行李。
candy-糖果
work -不加“s" 但job, task, project, chore, 可數,可加“s”=jobs, tasks, projects, chores.
scenery-不加“s” 但view=views
"piece"
A piece of candy.
Three pieces of luggage.
Five pieces of equipment.