Why was the first tunnel not completed?

In 1858, a French engineer, Aime Thome de Gamond, arrived in England with aplan for a twenty-one-mile tunnel under the English Channel. He said that itwould be possible to build a platform in the centre of the Channel. Thisplatform would serve as a port and a railway station. The tunnel would bewell-ventilated if tall chimneys were built above sea level. In 1860, a betterplan was put forward by an Englishman, William Low. He suggested that a doublerailway-tunnel should be built. This would solve the problem of ventilation, forif a train entered this tunnel, it would draw in fresh air behind it. Forty-twoyears later a tunnel was actually begun. If, at the time, the British had notfeared invasion, it would have been completed. The world had to wait almostanother 100 years for the Channel Tunnel. It was officially opened on March7,1994, finally connecting Britain to the European continent.

New words and expressions 生词与短语新概念英语培训班

tunnel n. 隧道

port n. 港口

ventilate v. 通风

chimney n. 烟囱

sea level 海平面

double adj. 双的

ventilation n. 通风

fear v. 害怕

invasion n. 入侵，侵略

officially adv. 正式地

connect v. 连接

European adj. 欧洲的

continent n. 大陆

本文参考译文

1858年，一位名叫埃梅.托梅.德.干蒙的法国工程师带着建造一条长21英里、穿越英吉利海陕的隧道计划到了英国。他说，可以在隧道中央建造一座平台，这座平台将用作码头和火车站。如果再建些伸出海面的高大的烟囱状通风管，隧道就具备了良好的通风条件。1860年，一位名叫威廉.洛的英国人提出了一项更好的计划。他提议建一条双轨隧道，这样就解决了通风问题。因为如果有列火车开进隧道，它就把新鲜空气随之抽进了隧道。42年以后，隧道实际已经开始建了。如果不是因为那时英国人害怕入侵，隧道早已建成了。世界不得不再等将近100年才看到海峡隧道竣工。它于1994年3月7日正式开通，将英国与欧洲大陆连到了一起。

(兼职编辑：张博)