Facts and figures

Facts and figures

Listen to the lecturer giving some facts and figures to practise and improve your listening skills.

Do the preparation task first. Then listen to the audio and do the exercises.

Preparation

Transcript

… and the next part of this talk is on the Panama Canal. It's amazing how this one small section of a small country can be so important to the world. Let's learn a little bit about the canal itself, before we look at how it connects to everything else.

The Panama Canal is an artificial waterway in the Central American country of Panama that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. It is only 82 kilometres long. If you go around South America by ship then you need to travel another 15,000 kilometres. So the canal saves a lot of travel time. It takes around 8 to 10 hours to cross the canal.

The French started building the canal in 1881, but they couldn't finish it. The project was started again in 1904 by the United States and the canal was finally finished in 1914. Many people died while they were building the canal, some say up to 25,000. For the rest of the 20th century, the United States controlled the canal, but gave control back to Panama in 2000.

Every year, around 40,000 ships come through the canal. These are mostly commercial ships. They transport goods for trade between Asia and America, or Europe. In 2016 the government of Panama made the canal bigger, so that now 99 per cent of ships can pass through it.

Let's now turn to the role of the Panama Canal in the global economy …

Task 1

Task 2

Discussion

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Average: 4 (57 votes)
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Submitted by fariba on Sat, 09/01/2021 - 10:30

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yes i like numbers they show realities.

Submitted by Minh on Thu, 07/01/2021 - 12:55

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Hi everyone ! I'm interested the number that show me exactly figures about the issue. With number can provide the information which we need to solve. On the other hand, it's so amazing something that anybody surprises.

Submitted by ThihaHtetAung on Sun, 03/01/2021 - 04:16

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This section is so beneficial for me.My listening skill is increase after a section and a section.And I also gained more knowledge.Pls forgive me if I had made mistakes in my comment. I'm just practising:)

Submitted by Rabia Syed on Sat, 02/01/2021 - 14:18

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I don't know about panama canal. But It's Amazing in listening. That why repeat listing audio again and again.

Submitted by Suraj paliwal on Sat, 02/01/2021 - 04:51

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I'm not good with numbers. If anyone want to practice with me English then reply me. This is most effectively way to learn, understand anything.
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Submitted by Khin Yee Mon Khaing on Fri, 01/01/2021 - 00:55

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I am bad with numbers. Thus the lesson teaches me a lot. Thanks a million.
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Submitted by susanavali on Wed, 09/12/2020 - 16:43

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It's difficult to know the differences between some numbers like 14 and 40. How can we find the right numbers?

Hello susanvali,

There are differences in the sound of 'teen' and 'ty' and in the stress patterns here.

 

'14' has the stress on the second syllable (fourTEEN) and the sound of 'teen' is long - the same sound as in three, tree and eat.

 

'40' has the stress on the first syllable (FORty) and the sound of 'ty' is shorter.

 

You can hear the pronunciation in dictionary entries:

> https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/forty

> https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/fourteen

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team