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1、Unit 1 Presenting a SpeechRoad BuildingGood morning, everyone. Today Ill be talking about the relationship between road building and the development of the American economy during the 18th century. About 300 years ago, the United States economy was growing rapidly, mainly because of a booming trade
2、in two important agricultural products: grain and cotton.Grain output in the eastern part of America increased quickly at that time due to the rapidly growing population and the large number of immigrants from Europe. As a result, the demand for grain almost doubled. For this reason, the trade in gr
3、ain first developed in this part of the country. At the same time, the road system was gradually built up in order to transport the grain from the rural areas to various cities. The road building clearly helped develop the economy quickly in these areas and in the cities as well.During the same peri
4、od, farmers in the South could get a large amount of laborers from Africa, and they started to grow cotton. As the cotton output increased, the farmers needed to sell it in other places. As a result, many roads were built to link the rural areas to the cities.At first, this trade of grain and cotton
5、 took place along the coast, or near rivers and lakes. It took place there because it was easy and cheap to transport goods from one place to another. Before 1700, it was very expensive to move the goods by road. So, farmers had to rely mainly on rivers to move their crops to markets.At that time, t
6、here was only one continuous road that existed in the US. It ran from north to south along country roads, which were linked together to make one long road. Within a short time, the first east-to-west roads were built. They were called turnpikes. Private companies built these roads and collected fees
7、 from all vehicles that traveled on them.Eventually, because of the booming trade of grain and cotton, a network of roadways was completed that connected some major cities and towns. Although traveling was still costly for farmers, they soon preferred to move their crops to cities and other areas on
8、 roadways rather than by boat because it was faster and more convenient.So here we can see a rather clear picture of road building in the United States and its impact on economic development during that period.Unit 2 Energy ConservationAn Eyewitness to Changes in China(Y: Yang Rui, anchor of Dialogu
9、e, CCTV-9R: Sidney Rittenberg, president of Rittenberg Associates, Incorporated. )Y: Mr. Rittenberg, you are a successful businessman and also a big name to the Chinese due to your close association with the first generation of the PRC leaders. How do you look at the impact that that experience has
10、had on your current perception of Chinas reform and development?R: I feel in my heart that what Im doing today is a continuation of what I was trying to do in the that is, I had this ambition, this dream, from the time that I began studying Chinese at Stanford University in 1943，I had this dream of
11、working to build bridges between Chinese people and American people, and to help them understand each other and cooperate together. And I tried to do that in the past, working in China in Maos day. And thats exactly what Im trying to do today. I really think that what Im doing today is more effectiv
12、e than what I was able to do in the past.Y: At that time many foreigners came to China, but you were among the very few who got close to the Communist Party of China.R: You know, its quite obvious to me that the only reason that the Communist Party of China was able to win in the final stages of the
13、 Civil War is because of their extremely close relations with the people. The Chinese people that came to know them, trusted them and considered them their representatives. This small peasant army led by Mao Zedong had no tanks, no big guns, no planes, and was greatly outnumbered by the opposition,
14、which was the most powerful armed force in Asia after the Second World War. And yet in only three and a half years, the Nationalists were completely defeated and driven off to the island province of Taiwan. Why? Because the ties that the Communists had with the Chinese people were unbreakable. They
15、had their trust. They had their confidence and support. And that was something that the Nationalists were not able to get.You know, the Revolutionary Army was a poor army, even in terms of the food they got. The soldiers had grass sandals that they made themselves along the march. But what made them
16、 do it? The fact that they had a vision. They believed that they were fighting for their land, for their family to have their own farmland, and for a fair government that would listen to the people and do what they needed. So this is the only explanation I can think of for why they were able to win.Y: In the Long March you just talked about, the Communist army had to overcome extreme difficulties. But in the new Long March of modernization today, we a
