China Practice Gateway
The Three Gorges Dam
Geographic Background:
The Chiang-Jiang (also known as the Yangtze) has flooded more than 1000 times in the last 2000
years. It is the world’s third largest river, after the Nile and the Amazon. The Three Gorges Dam
was built to control its flow, produce electricity, and encourage shipping. In 1993, the Chinese
government began work on the controversial dam and most work was finished in 2009.
Respond to the following essay topic.
Writing Task Choice #1: The Three Gorges Dam
Evaluate the positive and negative impacts of the dam’s construction in terms of:
· China’s economy
· China’s natural environment
· The river’s local human residents
(Documents A through F are related to this writing task.) Be sure to include Prior Knowledge!
Document A
The Three Gorges dam will propel the nation's economy into the 21st century. Engineers are
constructing the largest dam in the world across the great Yangtze River. When completed
the dam will be more than 600 feet high, span a valley over a mile wide. Despite its high
cost, the $24 billion dollar project promises significant power generation along with improved
flood control and safer navigation. When finished, the Three Gorges Dam will produce the
energy of 15 nuclear power plants and tame some of the river's deadliest floods.
-From The People’s Daily, China’s Largest Newspaper
Document B (Photograph to the left)
The dam has displaced more than a million villagers. Towns that
had been inhabited for hundreds of years are now under water.
The dam will create a reservoir nearly 400 miles long. At least
1,000 towns and villages will disappear under the waters of the
reservoir when the dam is finished.
Document C (Photograph below)
The dam has displaced more than 2 million villagers. Towns that had been inhabited for hundreds of
years are now under water.
Document D
TOP ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS IN CHINA
1. Air Pollution:
China’s main source of energy up to this point has been coal. While cheap and plentiful, its environmental
impact is great. Beijing has some of the world’s worst air pollution. Environmentalists hope that the country
can investigate other sources of energy.
2. Extinction:
Scientists scoured the Yangtze River from the Three Gorges Dam to Shanghai, seeking the last members of
the rarest species of all, a white, nearly blind dolphin called the baiji. Because of habitat loss, the dolphin is
now considered, extinct.
Document E
China’s Three Gorges Dam: An Environmental Catastrophe?
By Mara Hvistendahl | March 25, 2008, Scientific American
…[Chinese] Government officials have long defended the $24-billion project as a major source of
renewable power for an energy-hungry nation and as a way to prevent floods downstream. When
complete, the dam will generate 18,000 megawatts of power—eight times that of the U.S.'s Hoover Dam
on the Colorado River. But in September, the government official in charge of the project admitted that
Three Gorges held "hidden dangers" that could breed disaster. …
The comments appeared to confirm what geologists, biologists and environmentalists had been warning
about for years: building a massive hydropower dam in an area that is heavily populated, home to
threatened animal and plant species, and crossed by geologic fault lines is a recipe for disaster. Among
the damage wrought: "There's been a lot less rain, a lot more drought, and the potential for increased
disease," says George Davis, a tropical medicine specialist at The George Washington University (G.W.)
Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
Dam Quake
When plans for the dam were first approved in 1992, human rights activists voiced concern about the
people who would be forced to relocate to make room for it. Inhabited for several millennia, the Three
Gorges region is now a major part of western China's development boom. To date, the government has
ordered some 1.2 million people in two cities and 116 towns clustered on the banks of the Yangtze to be
evacuated to other areas before construction, promising them plots of land and small stipends—in some
cases as little as 50 yuan, or $7 a month—as compensation.
Document F
The Three Gorges Dam Impact - Benefits & Positive Impact
Electrical Power Generation
The Three Gorges Dam is the world’s largest hydroelectric power station by total capacity, which will be
22,500 MW.
The Three Gorges Hydropower Plant ranks the biggest one in the world with remarkable power
generation benefit. Presently, the electricity has been sent unceasingly to Central China, East China,
Guangdong, and Chongqing with maximum transmission range of 1000 Km.
[Annual Production of Electricity at the dam has risen from 8.6 Terrawatt-hours (TWh) a year in 2003 to
more than 60 in 2009 – a chart showing this information was removed to save space]
Flood Control
Controlling flood is one of the most significant functions of the Three Gorges Dam, and flooding used to
be a major problem for the seasonal Yangtze River. With millions of people living downstream of the dam
and many large and important cities like Wuhan, Nanjing and Shanghai situated adjacent to Yangtze
River, flooding control has been one of the most issues for China.
The flood storage capacity of Three Gorges Dam Reservoir is 22 Cubic Meters, and this capacity can
reduce the frequency of major downstream flooding from once every ten years to once every 100 years.
Cruise Ships Navigation
The installment of ship locks and equipped with a ship lift on Dam, the Yangtze Three Gorges cruise
ships heading towards much safer.
Besides, the Three Gorges Dam reservoir goes as far as to the southwest metropolis Chongqing,
therefore it improves 660 kilometers waterway, and largely enable 10000 – tonnage fleets to navigate
between Shanghai and Chongqing. The annual one – way navigation capacity of the Yangtze at the dam
will be upgraded from ten million tons to fifty million tons.
The above is from an advertisement by Chongqing Fengcai International Tours Co., Ltd
Name____________
Date_____________
Three Gorges Dam Essay Assignment
READ THESE DIRECTIONS VERY CAREFULLY!
In a 5 paragraph essay, discuss the positive and negative impacts of the dam’s construction
in terms of China’s economy, China’s natural environment, and the river’s local human
residents.
Pre-Writing:
1. What is the topic of this essay?
2. What is it asking?
3. What Social Studies Words can I use in the essay?
Before you turn in your paper, check off each of the following:
1. A complete sentence should include a subject and a verb.
2. Either indent the first line of a paragraph or put a space between paragraphs! NO
NEED TO DO BOTH!
3. Watch for spelling mistakes, especially there/their/they’re and its/it’s.
4. Do not use First or Second Person.
This includes: I, you, me, mine, our, ours, we, us, let’s, myself, ourselves, your,
yours, yourself, etc.
5. Don’t use rhetorical questions.
6. Be sure to use correct punctuation!
7. Do not use the following words: Interesting, a lot, very, fun, good, stuff, things
8. Concrete details should be specific! No Fluff! Think vocab words!
9. Don’t abbreviate!
10. Be sure to include prior knowledge. Tell me what you already know!
11. Cite the documents! (Doc A)
Name: ____________________________
Box Outline
I. Introduction (w/ THESIS STATEMENT & “Plan of Development”):
II. Body Paragraph #1
III. Body Paragraph #2
IV. Body Paragraph #3
TOPIC #1: ______________
TOPIC #2: _____________
TOPIC#3: ______________
Document References (incl.
letter/# + relevant details):
1.
Document References (incl.
letter/# + relevant details):
1.
Document References (incl.
letter/# + relevant details):
1.
2.
2.
2.
Outside Information & Vocabulary
related to topic:
Outside Information & Vocabulary
related to topic:
Outside Information & Vocabulary
related to topic:
V. Conclusion/Re-state thesis (in new words)
Document Analysis Worksheet
Subject/Main Idea
Doc. # A
Doc. # B
Doc. # C
Doc. # D
Doc. # E
Doc. # F
How does it relate to the prompt/writing
task?