【正文】 hey were on a visit organised by the government.W: How many of them were there?M: Well, I spoke to a man who said there were 25 in the group.Module 6 Listening (workbook, Page 101)A: Did you see the programme about China on TV last night?B: No. Was it interesting?A: It was absolutely fascinating. It39。s an amazing country.B: What was it about?A: It showed some of the big construction projects there. I mean really enormous.B: Like the Three Gorges Dam?A: Yes. They interviewed some people who lived in a village which is now submerged.B: How many people moved their homes?A: Over million. I was absolutely astonished. It39。s hard to believe. Everything in China is bigger than anywhere else. They39。ve started another huge water project there. It39。s absolutely enormous and it39。s going to cost more than the Dam.B: What39。s that?A: They39。re building three canals to take water from the Yangtze up to the north of the country. Mao Zedong suggested it 50 years ago but it39。s only now they have taken the decision. Each canal will be over 1000 km long. They will flow into the Hai, Huai and Yellow Rivers.B: Why are they doing that?A: A third of the population lives in northern China and there isn39。t enough water for people there. It39。s bee c real problem for agriculture and industry. Even in Bejing there is a water problem. And there39。s too much water in the south. There are serious floods in parts of southern China. They hope to solve that problem too.B: Wow! How much is it going to cost?A: They39。re not sure but probably over $24 billion.B: It must be very plicated. How are they going to do it?A: They39。ve already started. They39。re using the Grand Canal for one river. For another one they39。re building a tunnel under the mountains near Tibet. That39。s the most difficult part. And they39。re building another tunnel under the Yellow River. That39。s not easy either. B: Will many people move their homes?A: Yes. Hundreds of thousands. They don39。t know the exact number.B: How long is it going to take?A: Up to 50 years.B: It39。s certainly going to change people39。s lives. Hopefully, it will improve them.Great Britain is an island that lies off the northwest coast of Europe. The nearest country is France, which is twenty miles away, and from which Great Britain is separated by the English Channel. The island is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the North Sea to the east. It is posed of England, Wales and Scotland. Scotland is in the north, while Wales is in the west. Ireland, which is also an island, lies off the west coast of Great Britain. It consists of Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. Great Britain, together with Northern Ireland, constitutes the United Kingdom. The largest of these is England. The capital city, London, is situated in southeast England. Mary: Good morning, Charlie!Charlie: Good morning, Mary! How39。s your holiday? Mary: It39。s really great! I travelled Europe with my family.Charlie: Then you must have been to Paris. You are so crazy about the Eiffel Tower. Mary: Sure. And I39。ve also been to the Acropolis Hill in Athens, the Uffizi Palace in Florence, and the Sagrada Familia in Bacelona. Also, I went to London to see Big Ben. Charlie: That39。s really a nice holiday. The Sinking of the TitanicWhen the Titanic was built, she was the largest ship in the world. It had taken fifty thousand men, two years to build her. She was two hundred and sixtynine meters long, and as high as an elevenstorey building. She was enormous. In fact, the word Titanic is often used to describe something which is very powerful, strong, important, or large. Built because of increased tourist travel between North America and Europe, mainly rich Americans who expected both speed and luxury, the Titanic was like a floating palace—everything about her was beautiful and fortable. She was also impossible to sink, or that39。s what everyone thought. The Titanic left Southampton on the southeast coast of England for New York on the 10th of April, 1912. She stopped first in France, and then in Ireland, before setting off across the Atlantic Ocean. In total, there were 1632 passengers on board. Nine hundred and seven crew members looked after them. Four days, after leaving Southampton, the Titanic captain received not one, but four iceberg warnings. Icebergs are very dangerous for ships: only ten percent of an iceberg can be seen above the water. But the weather was clear, and the captain decided to continue without reducing the ship39。s speed. It is possible that he was trying to break a record for crossing the Atlantic. At 11:40 pm, the ship hit an iceberg, which cut a hole about 100 metres long under water. The passengers were not told, but the Titanic could not survive this terrible damage. It was dark and freezing cold. The ship was filling with water. There was no time to waste. Women and children were told to climb into the ship39。s lifeboats, but there were not enough lifeboats for all the passengers. In addition, some of them were lowered to the sea, half empty. Finally, at 2:20 am, the Titanic sank to the bottom of the sea. Nine hundred and sixteen passengers and 773 crew died in the icy water. It was the biggest disaster at sea the world has known. Many books have been written about the Titanic disaster. Everyone for Himself, the last one on the long list, was published in 1997. In that year, the film Titanic was made. Perhaps you have seen it.11