双语科技百科(工程建筑) 第75期:长城
The Great Wall
Construction of the Great Wall began during the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States Period. Several vassal states built wall fortifications successively along the precipitous mountain ridges to ward off the plunder of nomadic people and the invasion of each other. In 221 B. C. when Qin Shihuang united China, he ordered to link the walls up. During the following dynasties, the Great Wall was destroyed continuously by natural disasters and human g the remaining broken pieces of walls, those constructed in the Ming Dynasty are the most well-preserved and splendid ones. The Great Wall stretches some 6,300km from Jiayuguan Pass in the west to the Yalujiang River in the east, traversing 11 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. Not only is it the most magnificent ancient military defense work, but one of the most remarkable ancient buildings in the world.
长城始建于春秋战国时期。各诸侯国为互相防御和抵御北方游牧部落的侵扰，在地形险要之处相继兴筑长城。公元前221年，秦始皇统一中国后，将从前的长城连接起来。在以后的几个历史时期，由于自然和人为因素的毁坏，保存到今天的大都已是断断续续的遗迹。而在这些遗迹中保存最完整、最套固、最雄伟的是明代长城。长城绵亘中国的11个省、市、自治区，西起嘉峪关，东到鸭绿江，全长约12600华里。它不仅是古代最雄伟的军事防御工程，也是世界上最非凡最伟大的古老建筑之一。
