Lesson 64 The Channel Tunnel 海峽隧道 Why was the first tunnel not completed? 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. He said that it would be possible to build a platform in the centre of the Channel. This platform would serve as a port and a railway station. The tunnel would be well-ventilated if tall chimneys were built above sea level. In 1860, a better plan was put forward by an Englishman, William Low. He suggested that a double railway-tunnel should be built. This would solve the problem of ventilation, for if a train entered this tunnel, it would draw in fresh air behind it. Forty-two years later a tunnel was actually begun. If, at the time, the British had not feared invasion, it would have been completed. The world had to wait almost another 100 years for the Channel Tunnel. It was officially opened on March 7,1994, finally connecting Britain to the European continent. 1858年，一位名叫埃梅.托梅.德.干蒙的法國(guó)工程師帶著建造一條長(zhǎng)21英里、穿越英吉利海陜的隧道計(jì)劃到了英國(guó)。他說，可以在隧道中央建造一座平臺(tái)，這座平臺(tái)將用作碼頭和火車站。如果再建些伸出海面的高大的煙囪狀通風(fēng)管，隧道就具備了良好的通風(fēng)條件。1860年，一位名叫威廉.洛的英國(guó)人提出了一項(xiàng)更好的計(jì)劃。他提議建一條雙軌隧道，這樣就解決了通風(fēng)問題。因?yàn)槿绻辛谢疖囬_進(jìn)隧道，它就把新鮮空氣隨之抽進(jìn)了隧道。42年以后，隧道實(shí)際已經(jīng)開始建了。如果不是因?yàn)槟菚r(shí)英國(guó)人害怕入侵，隧道早已建成了。世界不得不再等將近100年才看到海峽隧道竣工。它于1994年3月7日正式開通，將英國(guó)與歐洲大陸連到了一起。 tunnel n. 隧道 port n. 港口 ventilate v. 通風(fēng) chimney n. 煙囪 sea level 海平面 double adj. 雙的 ventilation n. 通風(fēng) fear v. 害怕 invasion n. 入侵，侵略 officially adv. 正式地 connect v. 連接 European adj. 歐洲的 continent n. 大陸 ?