Great Wall Needs Urgent Protection

[영어도우미]

 

Great Wall Needs Urgent Protection

 

 

 

 www.chinaview.cn  2006-06-12 08:40:15

 

BEIJING, June 12 - Parts of the Great Wall may collapse and disappear in the near future unless protection efforts are improved, a leading expert has warned.

Only about 20 per cent of the 6,300-kilometre wall is in reasonable shape, another 30 per cent is in ruins, and the rest has disappeared permanently, the China Great Wall Society, a non-governmental organization that champions restoration of the wall, announced on Thursday.

What remains of the wall is "in danger of collapse" because of weathering, erosion and human damage, said Dong Yaohui, secretary-general of the society.

He said he was distressed to find that even though long-time weathering and erosion have changed the inner structure of many sections of the wall and roots of wild plants have made brick crevices even larger, "no rescue efforts have been made."

Dust is another problem. In some areas it can be as thick as one meter, providing suitable growing conditions for wild plants. "The situation is especially serious in Beijing, Tianjin and North China's Hebei Province," he warned.

Human damage is also hastening the collapse of the wall. In a village near the Panjiakou section in Hebei's Qianxi County, almost all pigsties and henhouses are built of bricks stolen from the wall, the inspection found.

 In Fugu County, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, local villagers have dug coal mines under the wall. When Dong spoke with a local farmer, the man pointed at the wall and said, "What's the use of this?"

Amateur renovation often does more harm than good, for example at the Shahukou section in Youyu County, North China's Shanxi Province. During the renovation, the local government did not follow the original design, and it did not get approval from the county's cultural relics administration bureau.

Dong said a few sections of the Great Wall are listed as conservation sites at the moment, but the majority, especially those in rural areas, receive no attention at all. Added to this, there are no laws to punish people who damage sections that are not conservation sites.

He argued that the Great Wall should be protected as a whole, as "the value of the wall lies in its unique size and complexity, not in a few towers."

The society is pushing for an adopt-a-wall scheme with tablets erected every kilometer citing who is responsible for that section. In remote areas, Dong said, farmers or forest rangers should be mobilized to perform guard duty.

 "Greater publicity is needed to educate people, and help them understand the great value of the wall and the severe, irrecoverable damage inflicted upon it by humans," he urged.

 The central government plans to conduct an inspection of the whole Great Wall to measure its exact length this year. Dong disclosed that the State Council might pass a law on protection of the Great Wall by the end of this year.

 

 

 

VOCABULARY

 

pigsty   - the building and enclosed area where pigs are kept  (also pigpen)

 

crevice   -a small narrow crack or space, especially in the surface of rock

weather   - to change in color or form over a period of time because of the effects of sun, wind or other weather conditions

 

erosion -is the displacement of solids (soil, mud, rock and other particles) by the agents of wind, water or ice, by downward or down-slope movement in response to gravity or by living organisms

 

hasten- to quickly do something

 

irrecoverable  - impossible to get back

 

DISCUSSION POINTS

 

* Do you think the Great Wall of China should be restored to keep it standing for a long time? Why or why not?

* What is the use of the Great Wall in our modern times?

* Do you think the Great Wall is important not only to China but also to the world? Why or why not?

* Why do you think some Chinese don't see the importance of the Great Wall anymore?

* Have you seen any of the world heritage sites in your country? (See the list below.)

* Why do you think these sites were chosen by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to be part of the world heritage list?

* Which do you think is the best among these sites? Which is the most popular?

* How does the Korean government preserve these sites?

* Do you personally think that these sites should be given importance by the government and the Korean people? Why or why not?

* Have you seen other world heritage sites outside of your country?