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Four Old Waterways Join a World List

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Four ancient Chinese irrigation systems joined the world heritage list, bringing the country total to forty-six.

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Four Old Waterways Join a World List

On the evening of October the fourteenth, a meeting was held in the French city of Marseille. The group that ran it looks after irrigation across the world, and once a year it names the water systems that deserve to be kept for the future. This time four places in China were added to the list. With them, the country now holds forty-six such sites, more than any other nation.

The oldest of the four is a canal in the north of Henan Province. It was first cut more than two thousand years ago, during the Qin Dynasty, and it has been repaired and widened by almost every dynasty since. What makes it unusual is its shape. Instead of blocking the river with a dam, the builders opened several mouths along the bank and let the water flow in by itself, which saved the cost of moving earth and stone. Even today it waters more than half a million mu of farmland.

The other three show how differently people solved the same problem. In Gansu, where rain hardly falls, farmers dug tunnels through the hills to carry meltwater from the mountains to the fields, and this system still covers close to a million mu. In a mountain valley in Jiangxi, villagers built one small dam after another, working from the low ground upwards, so that each field could be reached by gravity alone. In Fujian, near the sea, engineers held the water back with a low weir and then spread it through ponds and channels, a pattern local people describe as a long vine with melons.

These works were not built to be admired. They were built because a family needed rice and a village needed to eat. That is exactly why the list matters. A site on the list is not a museum piece behind glass. The four waterways are still running, and the water they carry is the same water that keeps the fields green today.

Words to know:

长难句拆解 · 而非结构 instead of 与结果状语从句

第一句：Instead of blocking the river with a dam, the builders opened several mouths along the bank and let the water flow in by itself, which saved the cost of moving earth and stone. Instead of blocking… 是介词短语作状语，放在句首，表示「没有采取……这种做法」。主句的主干是 the builders opened several mouths and let the water flow，两个动词用 and 并列，第一个宾语是 mouths，第二个是省去 to 的不定式 let the water flow。句末 which 引导非限制性定语从句，指代前面整件事，说明这样做的结果；从句中 the cost of moving earth and stone 是动名词作定语，等于「搬运土石的成本」。 直译：建造者没有用一道水坝把河拦住，而是在岸边开了好几个引水口让水自己流进来，这就省下了搬运土石的开支。

第二句：In a mountain valley in Jiangxi, villagers built one small dam after another, working from the low ground upwards, so that each field could be reached by gravity alone. 主干是 villagers built one small dam after another。working from the low ground upwards 是现在分词短语作方式状语，补充说明修建的顺序。so that 引导目的状语从句，里面又用了被动语态 could be reached，因为重点是水能不能自流到田里，而不是谁去放水。 直译：在江西的一条山谷里，村民从低处往高处一段一段地修小水坝，这样每一块田都能仅靠重力被水灌到。

同义替换 · 雅思阅读利器

雅思阅读的题干很少照抄原文，它更喜欢把同一个意思换一种说法。下面这些替换在本题材里很常见，先自己盖住右边，试着回忆。

  • the group that looks after irrigation → the body in charge of watering the land（国际组织的释义）
  • names the water systems that deserve to be kept → picks the sites worth protecting（评选的替换）
  • it has been repaired by almost every dynasty since → each age changed it again（历代修缮的改写）
  • saved the cost of moving earth and stone → cut the money and labour needed（省工的释义）
  • cover close to a million mu → stretch over a huge area of farmland（面积的模糊改写）
  • built to be admired → built for use rather than for show（建造目的的对比）
  • the same water that keeps the fields green today → still working after many centuries（结尾金句的改写）
阅读自测 · 3 题
  1. 判断正误：The Henan canal was built by holding back the river with a large dam.
  2. 简答：How many world irrigation heritage sites does China have after this year’s meeting?
  3. 选词填空：In the Jiangxi valley, water reaches the fields mainly by ____. (A. pumps B. gravity C. hand)
参考答案与解析
  1. False（错误）。原文说 Instead of blocking the river with a dam, the builders opened several mouths along the bank and let the water flow in by itself。题干把「无坝引水」直接颠倒成「用大水坝拦河」，属典型的「偷换做法」干扰项，否定词 instead of 是关键信号。
  2. Forty-six.（四十六项。）原文为 With them, the country now holds forty-six such sites, more than any other nation，本次新增四处之后的总数才是四十六。
  3. B. gravity。原文为 so that each field could be reached by gravity alone，alone 一词排除了其他方式。A 的 pumps 在文中没有出现、C 的 hand 与「自流灌溉」的原理相反，都是「偷换手段」的干扰项。
中文译文

十月十四日晚，法国马赛举行了一场会议。主办这一会议的机构负责照管全世界的灌溉事务，它每年都会公布一批值得为将来保留下来的水利系统。这一次，中国有四处地方被列入名录。加上它们，中国的此类遗产总数已达四十六项，超过任何其他国家。

四处之中最古老的是河南省北部的一条灌渠。它最初开凿于两千多年前的秦代，此后几乎每一个朝代都对它疏浚扩建。让它与众不同的是它的形态。建造者没有用一道水坝把河拦住，而是在岸边开了好几个引水口让水自己流进来，这就省下了搬运土石的开支。直到今天，它仍灌溉着五十多万亩农田。

另外三处则展示了人们用多么不同的办法解决同一个问题。在几乎不下雨的甘肃，农人凿穿山丘，把山上的融雪水引到田里，这套系统至今仍覆盖近百万亩。在江西的一条山谷里，村民从低处往高处一段一段地修小水坝，这样每一块田都能仅靠重力被水灌到。在靠海的福建，工程师用一道低矮的堰把水拦住，再让水经过池塘和沟渠散开去，当地人把这种格局形容为「长藤结瓜」。

这些工程并不是为了供人观赏而修建的。它们被修建，是因为一户人家需要稻米，一个村庄需要吃饭。这也正是这份名录的意义所在。列入名录并不是变成玻璃罩里的博物馆展品。这四处水利工程至今仍在运转，它们送来的水，就是今天让田野保持绿意的那同一股水。