But big dams tend not to work as intended. The Aswan Dam, for example, stopped the Nile flooding but deprived Egypt of the fertile silt that floods left – all in return of a giant reservoir of disease which is now so full of silt that it barely generates electricity.

And yet, the myth of controlling the waters persists. This week, in the heart of civilized Europe, Slovaks and Hungarians stopped just short of sending in the troops in their contention over a dam on the Danube. The huge complex will probably have all the usual problems of big dams. But Slovakia is bidding for independence from the Czechs, and now needs a dam to prove itself.

1. tend v.往往會，趨向于

tend to do 傾向做某事

tendency n. 趨勢，傾向

2. intend v.計劃，想要；意指

intend to do 計劃做某事

intended adj.計劃中的

as intended 按照預(yù)期/計劃

3. deprive v.剝奪，使不能享有

??deprived adj.貧窮的

4. fertile adj.肥沃的，能生育的

5. silt n.土壤，淤泥 v.淤塞

6. in return for 作為…的回報

7. reservoir n.水庫；大量儲備

8. disease n.疾病，弊??；惡習(xí)

9. bare adj.赤裸的，荒蕪的；基本的 v.使暴露

barely adv.勉強，幾乎不，僅僅，剛剛

10. generate electricity 發(fā)電

11. myth n.神話；（很多人相信的）錯誤看法

12. persist v.延續(xù)，持續(xù)

13. in the heart of 在…的中心

14. stop just a short of doing 差一點就做了某事

15. send in the troops 派遣軍隊

16. contention n.爭吵，爭執(zhí)；（爭論時的）看法

17. complex adj.復(fù)雜的，難懂的 n.綜合建筑群

18. prove v.證明，證實；展現(xiàn)

19. bid v.努力爭取，企圖獲得 n.努力，爭取

?? bidding n.命令