一條友誼、合作、繁榮的致富鐵路

河南 劉同功

中老鐵路作為中老友誼的標志性工程，是一條連接了中國和老撾兩個國家的跨國鐵路，全長1，000多千米，從中國云南的昆明出發，一路穿山越嶺，橫跨兩國邊境抵達老撾首都萬象。 它不僅奏響我國與世界合作發展的新樂章，還架起了國與國之間的友誼橋梁。

主題語境：人與社會 篇幅：348詞 建議用時：7分鐘

China-Laos Railway is a landmark project of China-Laos friendship. This railway is a big project linking China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with Laos's strategy of“transforming itself from a landlocked country to a land-linked country”. In Laos, the railway stretches 414 kilometers from Boten, a border port between southwestern China and northern Laos, to Vientiane in the south. The entire railway is over 1,000 kilometers long, with the section in China being over 508 kilometers. The railway is built according to Chinese technical standards, with a designed speed of 160 kilometers per hour.

China-Laos Railway is the first international railway mainly invested by China, built with Chinese equipment and directly connected with China's railway network. It provides more opportunities to promote people-to-people ties and enhances friendship between the two countries. It has created more than 110,000 jobs for locals in Laos and helped villagers along the route build nearly 2,000 kilometers of roads and canals.

The railway has shortened travel time from Vientiane to China-Laos border from 12 hours to less than three hours. It is also expected to realize direct transportation and same-day access from Vientiane to Kunming, bringing great convenience to the people of China and Laos and everyone along the route.

Furthermore, China-Laos Railway was built with great difficulty given the complex geological structures along the way and abundant rainfall throughout the year. The ratio(比例) of bridge and tunnel to the railway is 87.3 percent with 93 tunnels and 136 bridges, and the construction of the whole railway lasted 11 years. The Chinese and Lao people braved these construction difficulties and forged a profound friendship in the process.

China-Laos Railway is a railway of cooperation. Laos has actively participated in and supported the BRI. The two sides signed the Laos-China Economic Corridor Cooperation Framework Agreement in 2019, laying a foundation for cooperation.

China-Laos Railway is a railway of prosperity. It will inject vitality into the development of emerging industries in Laos, such as tourism, commercial real estate, new energy and enterprise digitization, which will bring more hope and prosperity to the local people.

Reading Check

1. What's the state strategy of Laos?

A. To carry out the BRI in all ways.

B. To develop high speed railways on its own.

C. To connect with the outside world by railway.

D. To introduce railway technologies from China.

2. The China-Laos Railway cuts down the travelling time from Vientiane to China by______.

A. about three hours B. less than five hours

C. over ten hours D. more than nine hours

3. What's Laos's attitude to the BRI?

A. Worried. B. Supportive.

C. Doubtful. D. Uninterested.

4. What information can we get about the China-Laos Railway?

A. The larger section of it is in Laos.

B. All of its constructors come from China.

C. It is mainly made up of tunnels and bridges.

D. It's designed mainly for tourism between China and Laos.

Language Study

Ⅰ. Difficult sentences in the text

1. It is also expected to realize direct transportation and same-day access from Vientiane to Kunming, bringing great convenience to the people of China and Laos and everyone along the route. 它還有望實現昆明和萬象（老撾首都）之間當日直達，這將給中老人民和沿線居民帶來極大的便利。

【點石成金】這是一個簡單句，其中It作形式主語，真正的主語是后面的動詞不定式，bringing在句子中作狀語，表結果。

2. It will inject vitality into the development of emerging industries in Laos, such as tourism, commercial real estate, new energy and enterprise digitization, which will bring more hope and prosperity to the local people. 這條鐵路將給老撾的旅游、 商業房地產、新能源和企業數字化等新興產業注入活力，為當地人民帶來更多希望和繁榮。

【點石成金】這是一個主從復合句，which引導非限制性定語從句，在從句中作主語，which指代前面的整個主句。

Ⅱ. Text-centered chunks

transform v. 轉變

land-linked adj. 與陸路相連的

stretch v. 伸展；延伸

shorten v. 縮短

abundant adj. 豐富的；充裕的

brave v. 勇敢地面對

forge v. 鍛造

foundation n. 基礎；根據

inject v. 注射；注入