The Three Gorges Dam (Chinese: 长江三峡大坝) is a hydroelectric river dam that spans the Yangtze River in the town of Sandouping, located in the Yiling District of Yichang, in Hubei province, China. It is the world's largest electricity-generating plant of any kind.The dam body was completed in 2006. Except for a ship lift, all of the originally planned components of the project were completed on October 30, 2008 when the 26th generator was brought into commercial operation. Currently, it contains 26 completed generators in the shore power plant, each with a capacity of 700 MW. Six additional generators in the underground power plant are being installed and are not expected to become fully operational until around 2011. Coupling the dam's 32 main generators with 2 smaller generators (50 MW each) to power the plant itself, the total electric generating capacity of the dam will eventually reach 22,500 MW. The project produces hydroelectricity, increases the river's navigation capacity, and reduces the potential for floods downstream by providing flood storage space. From completion until September 2009 the dam has generated 348.4 TWh of electricity, covering more than one third of its project cost.The project management and the Chinese state regard the project as an historic engineering, social and economic success, with the design of state of the art large turbines, and a move toward the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. However, the dam has also flooded archaeological and cultural sites and displaced some 1.3 million people, and is causing significant ecological changes, including an increased risk of landslides. The building of the dam has been a controversial topic both in China and abroad.希望帮到你啦~
The Three Gorges of the Yangtze RiverThe Three Gorges are situated ① in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and are famous throughout the world.The Three Gorges are: the Xiling Gorge(西陵峡), Wu Gorge(巫峡)and Qutang Gorge(瞿塘峡). Along with them there are a number of beautiful places of interest, such as, Zhaojun Village, Qu Yuan Temple and Baidi Town.The Gezhouba Dam is at the entrance to the Gorges. A big power station has been built here. Since the reform and open policies began to be carried out, great changes have taken place and the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River have taken on a new look. At present a large multipurpose water conservancy project ② is under construction.The Three Gorges will benefit ③ the people more and make greater contributions to China.【词语解释】①be situated(in) 位于……②large multi-purpose water conservancy project 大型水利枢纽工程③benefit['benifit] v 有益于