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吉米．卡特 (Jimmy
Carter) 总统于1977年9月7日签署巴拿马运河条约 (Panama
Canal Treaty)
在1914年巴拿马运河正式开通之前，来往大西洋与太平洋的船只必须要绕行至南美洲长达8000海里危险的航程。如果能从巴拿马最狭窄的地方直接通过，那么会省下很多时间。但是在那之前必须要先挖一条10英里宽的河道，才能建造一条运河。为了建造这条运河，工程师设计了许多湖泊与水闸来防堵水流，使船只不但能够升到与靠近巴拿马地峡 (Isthmus
of Panama) 之盖统湖 (Gatum
Lake) 一样高的水位，也能够降到与海平面一样的高度。
美国在1915年于旧金山举办之巴拿马－太平洋博览会 (Panama-Pacific
Exposition) 庆祝运河的开通。其间有超过1千8百万人参观了这个长达11个月的博览会，有更多的旅人穿越巴拿马运河这条快捷方式。你是不是其中之一呢？
Before the Panama Canal opened in 1914, ships traveling between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans had to travel a precarious 8,000 nautical miles around the tip of South America. It would be much faster to travel across the narrowest part of Panama, but a canal would have to be dug through the 10-mile wide strip of land. To build the canal, the engineers designed a series of lakes and locks that trap water, raising ships to the height of Gatum Lake near the middle of the Isthmus (a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas) of Panama, and then lowering them again to sea level.
America celebrated the opening of the canal at the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. More than 18 million people came to the 11-month fair. Many more people have traveled the shortcut through Panama. Will you be one of them?
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