America is exploding across the continent.The economy is booming.
整个美国从东到西呈现爆炸式的增长,经济蒸蒸日上 。
Cotton in the South,industry in the North.But the new nation is divided.
南方的棉花种植业北方的工业,但这个新生国家内部却并不一致 。
In the land where all men are created equal,4 million black Americans live as slaves. And it's tearing the nation apart.
在一个人人生而平等的国度,四百万黑人过着奴隶的生活,它正在加剧着这个国家的分裂 。
We are pioneers and trailblazers. We fight for freedom. We transform our dreams into the truth. Our struggles will become a nation.
我们是前锋,也是先驱,我们为自由而战,我们将梦想付诸现实,我们的奋斗将换来一个国家的新生 。
1825. All over th e world, the modern era is being born. It's the Industrial Revolution. America is racing to catch up.
1825年,全世界迎来了现代化的曙光,工业革命来临,美国努力迎头追赶 。
In upstate New York, a man-made river is cutting through the wilderness.
在纽约州北部,一条人工运河正在郊野中开凿 。
The Erie Canal is the biggest construction project in the Western world in the last 4,000 years. Over 300 miles long, dug entirely by hand, and America lacks a single qualified engineer.
伊利运河是四千年来西方世界规模最大的建筑工程,全长超过300英里,完全由手工开凿,而当时美国连一名像样的工程师都没有 。
The United States of America isn't about to let nature stand in its way.
美国人不会让大自然阻挡他们的去路 。
I think of the spirit of America being imagination combined with tenacity. There's a strong work ethic, a wonderful freedom of creation, combined with the mental muscle and physical labor.
我认为美国精神是想象力与毅力的完美结合,人们有兢兢业业的工作精神,有可以尽情施展的创造力,加上脑力与体力相得益彰 。
So to me, it represents the best of the human spirit.
对我来说,它是人类精神的最高体现 。
But the land doesn't always cooperate. A wall of solid limestone 60 feet high. Just 30 miles from the finish line, Lake Erie.
然而大自然并不见得愿意合作,一道60英尺高的石灰岩壁挡住了去路,仅仅30英里开外就是终点--伊利湖 。
The canal will change everything, linking the Atlantic Ocean to the whole middle of America.
运河将会改变一切,将整个美国中部与大西洋连接起来,
It changes where people live, and why, and turns the North into a global economic powerhouse.
它改变人们的居住地点和人生追求把整个北方变成了全球经济中心 。
vt. 转换,变形
vi. 改变
n