A. SCATTERED B. RARE C. MIXED D. IDLE III. READ THE FOLLOWING...

10. A. scattered B. rare C. mixed D. idle III. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow. (15 points) THE PANAMA CANAL While the Panama Canal continues to stand as one of the greatest human achievements in history, its locks and canals were not built overnight. Its ultimate completion in 1914 was the result of decades of planning, preparation, and construction, not to mention loss of human life. Two countries, France and the United States, were the main players in its construction, and both faced numerous hardships during the project, so many hardships that France, the instigator of the project, eventually had to sell out to the US., the country that finally completed the canal. Still, the United States faced a trio of major hurdles that threatened its completion. These obstacles were political, environmental, and geographical. Yet, through perseverance and will, the United States was ultimately able to create the canal, a vital link between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. One of the major reasons France had to abandon the Panama Canal project was that it underestimated the environs of the local area. The region of Panama within which the French worked was a dense, tropical jungle. Intense heat and humidity did not help their situation either. Before long, many workers began to succumb to diseases like yellow fever and malaria. Proper measures were not taken to reduce their exposure and vulnerability, and many died as the workforce and the project as a whole suffered greatly. However, once the Americans took over the canal project, they immediately implemented better living conditions and infrastructure for the workforce, including better healthcare facilities. With a stronger workforce and more extensive healthcare system in place, the Americans stood a better chance of completing the project than the French ever did. But, before The United States could continue with the canal project the French had begun, it had to receive permission from Colombia. At the time, Panama was within the borders of the country of Colombia. President Theodore Roosevelt offered the Colombian government ten million dollars, which it immediately rejected. Ever patient, Roosevelt did not press the issue, and before long, the Panamanians revolted against Colombia for independence. This gave Roosevelt the opportunity he had been waiting for. He immediately sent in a substantial military presence to the area to guarantee Panama's independence and to ensure the future construction of the Panama Canal. With Panama free, the door was open for the Americans to continue building a canal, which would save 18,000 miles on a trip from San Francisco to New York and open trade in the Pacific realm. Once the U.S. was able to get its hands on the area, the next immediate obstacle became a geological one. While the verdant hills of Panama looked benign enough, the diversity and makeup of the underlying sediment made it an engineering nightmare. Initially, landslides regularly destroyed weeks or even months of digging and construction as they did to the French. Yet, in a stroke or two of engineering brilliance, through the implementation of a system of dams, this issue was reduced and all but alleviated. Also, as the tidal levels of the Pacific and Atlantic were vastly different, a new canal system, unlike the sea-level canal attempted by the French, had to be erected. The American engineers decided to install a system of locks to raise and lower ships to the designated sea level. This way in which they were able to manipulate water helped the Americans overcome the tough geological conditions which had thwarted the French. Once completed, the Panama Canal stretched for fifty-one miles across Central America, connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans by sheer human ingenuity and patience. The canal opened endless new possibilities for trade and commerce between Asia and the Americans, which still exist today. But the canal did not come about without severe difficulties and tragedy. It took two countries two separate attempts and over twenty years of backbreaking labor to achieve. One of these countries, France, had to pack up and go home in failure. The other, the United States, could relish the milestone it had achieved. Still, in the end, over thirty thousand men lost their lives directly or indirectly in the building of the Panama Canal, which proves once and for all what a monumental task it truly was, especially for the age in which it was attempted.