资源描述:
《学术综合英语听力原文完整版》由会员上传分享,免费在线阅读,更多相关内容在教育资源-天天文库。
1、ComprehensiveAcademicEnglishForGraduatesUnit1PresentingaSpeechRoadBuildingGoodmorning,everyone.TodayI'llbetalkingabouttherelationshipbetweenroadbuildingandthedevelopmentoftheAmericaneconomyduringthe18thcentury.About300yearsago,theUnitedStates'economywasgrowingrapidly,mainlybecauseofaboomingtr
2、adeintwoimportantagriculturalproducts:grainandcotton.GrainoutputintheeasternpartofAmericaincreasedquicklyatthattimeduetotherapidlygrowingpopulationandthelargenumberofimmigrantsfromEurope.Asaresult,thedemandforgrainalmostdoubled.Forthisreason,thetradeingrainfirstdevelopedinthispartofthecountry
3、.Atthesametime,theroadsystemwasgraduallybuiltupinordertotransportthegrainfromtheruralareastovariouscities.Theroadbuildingclearlyhelpeddeveloptheeconomyquicklyintheseareasandinthecitiesaswell.Duringthesameperiod,farmersintheSouthcouldgetalargeamountoflaborersfromAfrica,andtheystartedtogrowcott
4、on.Asthecottonoutputincreased,thefarmersneededtosellitinotherplaces.Asaresult,manyroadswerebuilttolinktheruralareastothecities.Atfirst,thistradeofgrainandcottontookplacealongthecoast,ornearriversandlakes.Ittookplacetherebecauseitwaseasyandcheaptotransportgoodsfromoneplacetoanother.Before1700,
5、itwasveryexpensivetomovethegoodsbyroad.So,farmershadtorelymainlyonriverstomovetheircropstomarkets.Atthattime,therewasonlyonecontinuousroadthatexistedintheUS.Itranfromnorthtosouthalongcountryroads,whichwerelinkedtogethertomakeonelongroad.Withinashorttime,thefirsteast-to-westroadswerebuilt.They
6、werecalledturnpikes.Privatecompaniesbuilttheseroadsandcollectedfeesfromallvehiclesthattraveledonthem.Eventually,becauseoftheboomingtradeofgrainandcotton,anetworkofroadwayswascompletedthatconnectedsomemajorcitiesandtowns.Althoughtravelingwasstillcostlyforfarmers,theysoonpreferredtomovetheircro
7、pstocitiesandotherareasonroadwaysratherthanbyboatbecauseitwasfasterandmoreconvenient.SoherewecanseearatherclearpictureofroadbuildingintheUnitedStatesanditsimpactoneconomicdevelopmentduringthatperiod.TheMississippiRiverinAmericaGoodafternoon.T