1998 text 1（3）

But big dams tend not to work as intended. The Aswan Dam, for example, stopped the Nile flooding but deprived Egypt of the fertile silt that floods left – all in return of a giant reservoir of disease which is now so full of silt that it barely generates electricity.

And yet, the myth of controlling the waters persists. This week, in the heart of civilized Europe, Slovaks and Hungarians stopped just short of sending in the troops in their contention over a dam on the Danube. The huge complex will probably have all the usual problems of big dams. But Slovakia is bidding for independence from the Czechs, and now needs a dam to prove itself.

1. tend v.往往会，趋向于

tend to do 倾向做某事

tendency n. 趋势，倾向

2. intend v.计划，想要；意指

intend to do 计划做某事

intended adj.计划中的

as intended 按照预期/计划

3. deprive v.剥夺，使不能享有

  deprived adj.贫穷的

4. fertile adj.肥沃的，能生育的

5. silt n.土壤，淤泥 v.淤塞

6. in return for 作为…的回报

7. reservoir n.水库；大量储备

8. disease n.疾病，弊病；恶习

9. bare adj.赤裸的，荒芜的；基本的 v.使暴露

barely adv.勉强，几乎不，仅仅，刚刚

10. generate electricity 发电

11. myth n.神话；（很多人相信的）错误看法

12. persist v.延续，持续

13. in the heart of 在…的中心

14. stop just a short of doing 差一点就做了某事

15. send in the troops 派遣军队

16. contention n.争吵，争执；（争论时的）看法

17. complex adj.复杂的，难懂的 n.综合建筑群

18. prove v.证明，证实；展现

19. bid v.努力争取，企图获得 n.努力，争取

   bidding n.命令