The Pinglu Canal, a megaproject designed in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region to handle vessels of the 5,000-metric-ton class, entered the water-testing phase on Wednesday, bringing it a step closer to its official opening in September.
As the first canal built in the country to connect a river system directly to the sea since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the landmark infrastructure project is expected to establish a convenient and cost-effective passage between China and the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Guangxi is the only region that links China to the ASEAN market by both land and sea. "The canal will enable ASEAN members to connect more efficiently and conveniently with China's inland market," Wei Tao, chairman of Guangxi, told China Daily in an earlier interview.
The 134.2-kilometer-long waterway, which stretches from the Xijin reservoir in the city of Hengzhou to Qinzhou port in the Beibu Gulf, is a key project on the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor that connects China's western regions to global markets.
On Wednesday morning, the canal's Madao and Qishi navigation hubs were filled with water, which allowed it to achieve full-channel connectivity and launch comprehensive water-fed commissioning.
With more than 96 percent of the project now complete, the waterway is scheduled to open to traffic during the China-ASEAN Expo scheduled for September in Nanning, the capital of Guangxi, according to Pinglu Canal Group.
Local authorities said that upon completion, the canal will reduce the inland shipping distance for export-quality goods from southwestern China by more than 560 km, compared with the previous route through Guangzhou port, and save around 5.2 billion yuan ($768 million) annually in logistics costs.
Wu Tao, a professor of history at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, said that without convenient access to sea lanes, it was difficult to export goods from western China to global markets through maritime shipping.
By opening a direct river-to-sea link, the Pinglu Canal eliminates developmental bottlenecks and facilitates the gradual shift of western China's economy from an inward-looking inland model to an export-oriented maritime economy, driven by integrated land and sea transportation, he said.
"Despite highly developed road, air and railway transportation systems, inland waterway shipping routes remain irreplaceable. Large cargo capacity and low transportation costs make such routes ideal for bulk outbound shipment of agricultural produce and mineral resources," Wu added.
Ni Yuping, vice-president of the School of Humanities at Tsinghua University in Beijing, said the canal will help to improve China's cross-border logistics systems, and accelerate economic and trade growth in its southwestern hinterland.
"ASEAN member states having economic relations with China can deepen their trade with the country, realizing mutually beneficial outcomes," he said.
The Pinglu Canal inherits the functional quality of ancient waterways to spur endogenous growth of domestic regional economies while drawing on the development concepts behind the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal, which connect global maritime shipping and help expand cross-border trade, Ni added.
According to customs data, from January to April, China's trade with ASEAN economies reached 2.75 trillion yuan, up 15.7 percent year-on-year, accounting for 16.9 percent of the nation's total foreign trade volume. Among ASEAN member states, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia ranked as China's top three trading partners, the data showed.
China has been ASEAN's largest trading partner for 17 consecutive years, while ASEAN has been China's largest trading partner for six years.
1. What is the primary significance of the Pinglu Canal according to the passage?
A) It is the longest canal ever built in China since 1949.
B) It serves as a crucial link connecting China’s river system directly to the sea.
C) It is designed exclusively for military transportation to the ASEAN states.
D) It reduces the cost of importing goods from Europe via the Suez Canal.
2. According to Wei Tao, how will the Pinglu Canal benefit ASEAN member states?
A) By providing them with advanced waterway construction technology.
B) By allowing them to bypass the busy ports of Guangzhou and Hong Kong.
C) By offering them a more efficient connection to China's inland market.
D) By helping them reduce their dependence on land transportation.
3. What does Professor Wu Tao imply about the previous situation in western China?
A) Its economy was overly dependent on exporting high-tech products.
B) It lacked convenient access to sea lanes for maritime shipping.
C) Its agricultural produce was mainly transported via the Yangtze River.
D) Its logistics costs were lower than those in coastal regions.
4. The phrase "endogenous growth" in the last paragraph most probably means growth that is ________.
A) stimulated by international trade agreements
B) dependent on foreign investment and technology
C) generated from within a specific region or system
D) accelerated by global maritime shipping routes
5. What can be inferred from the customs data mentioned in the passage?
A) ASEAN has become increasingly important in China's foreign trade landscape.
B) Road and railway transportation have replaced waterway shipping in China.
C) Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia are the top three investors in China.
D) The trade volume between China and ASEAN decreased in the first four months.
参考答案与解析
1. 答案: B
解析： 细节理解题。
文章第二段明确指出：“As the first canal built in the country to connect a river system directly to the sea since the founding of the People's Republic of China...”（这是新中国成立以来国内修建的第一条直接连接内河系统与海洋的运河）。选项B与此表述一致。
A项错在“longest”（最长），文中只说是第一条（first）；C项“exclusively for military”（专用于军事）文中未提及；D项提到苏伊士运河是为了作类比，并非说平陆运河能减少从欧洲进口的成本。
2. 答案: C
解析：细节理解题。
文章第三段引用了Wei Tao的话：“The canal will enable ASEAN members to connect more efficiently and conveniently with China's inland market”（这条运河将使东盟成员国能够更高效、便捷地与中国内陆市场连接）。这与C选项完全一致。
B选项虽然看似合理（避开广州港），但这主要是从中国西南内陆出口的角度（见第六段），而本题问的是Wei Tao的观点以及针对东盟的好处，故C更准确。
3. 答案: B
解析： 推理判断题。
文章第七段引用吴韬教授的话：“...it was difficult to export goods from western China to global markets through maritime shipping.”（...很难通过海运将中国西部的商品出口到全球市场）。这说明西部地区之前缺乏便利的海运通道。因此选B。
A项“高科技产品”、C项“长江”、D项“物流成本更低”在文中均未提及或与文意不符。
4. 答案: C
解析：词义猜测题。
最后一段提到平陆运河继承了古代运河的功能，刺激“endogenous growth of domestic regional economies”（国内区域经济的______增长）。结合上下文，这里指的是依靠自身内部系统（如内河运输、国内市场连接）产生的增长，而非依赖外部。Endogenous意为“内生的”，故选C（由特定区域或系统内部产生的）。
A、B、D都属于外部刺激因素（external factors）。
5. 答案: A
解析：推理判断题。
文章最后一段提供了海关数据：中国与东盟贸易额同比增长15.7%，占中国外贸总额的16.9%，且中国是东盟第一大贸易伙伴已持续17年。这些数据都表明东盟在中国外贸格局中的地位日益重要。故选A。
B项与文中“inland waterway shipping routes remain irreplaceable”相悖；C项文中说的是“trading partners”（贸易伙伴）而非“investors”（投资者）；D项与数据中“up 15.7 percent”（增长）相悖。
答题技巧点拨：
细节理解题在英语六级阅读中占比最大，也是最容易拿分的题型。只要掌握正确方法，不需要读懂全文也能做对。
1. 题干定位法（最关键的一步）
核心原则：先看题干，再读文章。
圈画关键词：在题干中找出专有名词（人名、地名、机构名）、数字、大写字母或特殊标点。
例如刚才题目中的：Pinglu Canal, Wei Tao, January to April, 15.7%。
回文定位：带着关键词回到原文扫描，找到对应的段落和句子。通常一句话就是一道题的答案来源。
2. 同义替换识别法
六级考试不会把原文原封不动地搬过来做选项，一定会进行改写。
词性转换：名词变动词，形容词变副词。
句式转换：主动变被动，肯定变双重否定。
概括总结：用更抽象的词概括具体的描述。
3. 选项排除法
偷换概念：把A的观点安在B身上，或者把A地的数据安在B地上。
无中生有：原文根本没提，属于常识干扰或主观臆断。
正反混淆：原文说“是”，选项说“否”；原文说“难”，选项说“易”。
过于绝对：选项中出现 must, all, only, never*等绝对化词汇时要警惕（除非原文也有同样的绝对词）。
4. 长难句拆解技巧
忽略插入语（两个逗号之间的部分）。
忽略举例（for example, such as）。
重点看转折词（but, however, yet）和因果词（because, lead to, result in）后面的内容，这往往是考点。
