The Great Wall萬(wàn)里長(zhǎng)城

The Great Wall is the world’s longest man-made structure（建筑物）. It looks like a giant（巨大的） dragon. How long is the “dragon”？ It is 21，196.18 kilometers long.

People built the Great Wall in many different time. The oldest part is more than 2，000 years old. It was very difficult to build such a great wall without any modern machines. It’s a miracle（奇跡） created（創(chuàng)造） by the working people in ancient（古代的） China.

In the past， the Great Wall was used to prevent（阻止） the invasion（入侵） of the enemy（敵人）. Today， it has become a popular tourist attraction（旅游景點(diǎn)） all over the world.

Today， the main part of the Great Wall is from the Ming Dynasty（明代，1368-1644）. It starts from the Jiayu Pass（嘉峪關(guān)） in Gansu province（省） and ends in Hushan（虎山）， Liaoning province.

There is a great saying， “One who fails to reach the Great Wall is not a hero（不到長(zhǎng)城非好漢）.” I hope that when you have time， you can visit the Great Wall and enjoy the beautiful scenery（風(fēng)景） there.

It is about 19，950 kilometers from the North Pole to the South Pole. The Great Wall is long enough to connect the two poles of Earth.

Match the answers to the questions：

Where is the Great Wall？" " " " ""It is over 2，000 years old.

How long is the Great Wall？" " " " "It is in northern China.

How old is the oldest part of the Great Wall？" " " " "It is 21，196.18 kilometers.

長(zhǎng)城并非只是一道城墻，它還包括了各種防御工事，如關(guān)隘、城堡、烽火臺(tái)等。像山海關(guān)、嘉峪關(guān)，都是著名的關(guān)隘，其建筑結(jié)構(gòu)和防御體系十分精妙。長(zhǎng)城上的烽火臺(tái)可不是隨便點(diǎn)火的，白天放煙叫“烽”，夜晚舉火叫“燧”。不同的信號(hào)代表著不同的敵情。長(zhǎng)城并非完全是為了抵御外敵而建，在一定程度上也促進(jìn)了民族之間的貿(mào)易和文化交流。