'SGRANDC

nturies,thepowerofemperorsroseandfellwiththeircontroloftheGrandC.Today,thisimportantwaterwayisshorterthanitoncewas,butitisstillthelongestman-maderiverintheworld,andcontinuestoyanimportantculturalandeconomicroleinmodern.

ConstructionBegins

Theoriginalcsystembeganaroundtheyear605,whenEmperorYangrealizedthat-inordertofeedhisarmy-heneededawaytomovefoodquicklyfrom'ssouthernrice-growingregiontothecountry'snorth.Anestimatedonemillionpeople,mostlyfarmers,workedtobuildthefirstsectionoftheGrandC,whichconnectedexistingcs,lakes,andrivers.Constructiontooksixyearsandwascompletedin611.

Overthenext500years,thec'simportancegrewthroughout,butby1127,partsweredeteriorating1.nn127,,uublaiuhanbegantorepairandbuildnewpartsofthec.Thisrenovationcreatedamoredirectnorth-southroutetoandfromBeijing.Futurerulersthentoexpandandimprovethec.

ANation'sLifeline

nnadditiontomovingricearound,theGrandCwasalsoanimportantculturalconduit.2Soldiers,merchants,andstransportedideas,regionalfoods,andculturalpracticesfromonepartoftoanotheralongthecountry'swateryhighway.Accordingtolegend,thisishowBeijingacquiredtwoofitsbest-known s:Peking3duck,adishfromShProveinthesouth,andPekingopera,fromAnhuiandHubei,alsointhesouth.

TheModernC

Formorethanathousandyears,goodshavebeentransportedalongtheGrandC.Eventoday,thecountry'swateryhighwayysanimportanteconomicrolehina.Boatscontinuetocarrytonsofcoal,food,andothergoodstopointsbetweenHangzhouandJining.nnaddition,localernments-eagertoreasetourismandrealestate4development-areworkingtobeautifyareasalongthec.

1nfsomethingdeteriorates,itgetsworseinsomeway.

2Aconduitissomethingthatconnectstwoormorepeople, ces,orthings.

3PekingistheformernameforBeijing.

4Realestateispropertyintheformoflandandbuildings.

Thisdevelopmentcomesataprice,though.nnYangzhou,thecityhastorndownalmostalloftheolderc-sidebuildings.FarthersouthinthecitiesofZhenjiang,Wuxi,andHangzhou,thesituationissimilar.nnHangzhou,forexample,almostalloftheancientbuildingshavebeendemolished."Traditionallywetalkabout18maincitiesontheGrandC,andeachhadsomethinguniqueandspecialaboutit,"exinsZhouXinhua,theformervicedirectoroftheGrandCmuseuminHangzhou.“Butnowmanyofthesecitiesareallthesame:athousandpeoplewithoneface."

nn2005,agroupofcitizensproposedthatthehistoricGrandCbemadeaUNESCOWorldHeritagesite,5toprotectboththewaterwayandthearchitecturearoundit.“Everygenerationwantsthenextgenerationtounderstandit,tolookatitsmonuments,"saidZhuBingren,anwhocowrotethisproposal.ThehopeisthattheGrandC,asiteofculturalandeconomicimportance-andoneoftheworld'sgreatengineering plishments-willcontinuetolinknorthandsouthnturiestocome.

5AUNESCOWorldHeritagesiteisa cethat'slistedbyUNESCO(Unite tionsEducational,ScientificandCulturalOrganization)ashavingspecialculturalorphysicalsignificance.

ReadingComprehension

MultipleChoice.Choosethebestanswerforeachquestion.

WhywastheGrandC originallybuilt?

toallowthearmytomovequicklyfromthenorthtothesouth

totransportfoodfromthesouthernregionsoftothenorthernregions

toenablemorepeopletovisitremotepartsof

topromotetheculturalandtraditionaldiversityofthesouthof

WhatisNOTtrueabouttheGrandC ?

ntoriginallytooksixyearstocompleteitsconstruction.

Eventoday,itisthelargestman-maderiverintheworld.

Aroundamillionpeopleworkedonthefirstsectionofthec.

ntallowedPekingduckandPekingoperatospreadtosouthern.

Whatwouldbethebestalternativeheadingfortheparagraph(startingline24)?

Renewednmportance

CulturalConnections

TheArmy'sHighway

TheOriginsofPekingOpera

nnline2,,thewordpracticescouldberecedwith .

traditions

repetitions

instructions

improvements

WhichofthefollowingisclosestinmeaningtoThisdevelopmentcomesataprice,though.(line46)?

Butdevelothecinvolvesspendingalotofmoney.

Butevenafterspendingmoney,peoplemightnotlikethedevelopment.

Butdeveloitisalotmoreexpensivethanonecanimagine.

Buttherearesomenegativeconsequencestohavingthisdevelopment.

TheZhuBingrenwouldprobablymostliketoseethat .

thecandtheareaarounditaredeclaredaheritagesite

thecisfurtherexpandedinaneast-westdirection

morechangesaremadetomodernizethec

amonumentiscreatedtohonor'seconomican