(单词翻译:单击)
America is exploding across the continent.The economy is booming.
整个美国从东到西呈现爆炸式的增长，经济蒸蒸日上。
Cotton in the South,industry in the North.But the new nation is divided.
南方的棉花种植业北方的工业，但这个新生国家内部却并不一致。
In the land where all men are created equal,4 million black Americans live as slaves. And it's tearing the nation apart.
在一个人人生而平等的国度，四百万黑人过着奴隶的生活，它正在加剧着这个国家的分裂。
We are pioneers and trailblazers. We fight for freedom. We transform our dreams into the truth. Our struggles will become a nation.
我们是前锋，也是先驱，我们为自由而战，我们将梦想付诸现实，我们的奋斗将换来一个国家的新生。
1825. All over th e world, the modern era is being born. It's the Industrial Revolution. America is racing to catch up.
1825年，全世界迎来了现代化的曙光，工业革命来临，美国努力迎头追赶。
In upstate New York, a man-made river is cutting through the wilderness.
在纽约州北部，一条人工运河正在郊野中开凿。
The Erie Canal is the biggest construction project in the Western world in the last 4,000 years. Over 300 miles long, dug entirely by hand, and America lacks a single qualified engineer.
伊利运河是四千年来西方世界规模最大的建筑工程，全长超过300英里，完全由手工开凿，而当时美国连一名像样的工程师都没有。
The United States of America isn't about to let nature stand in its way.
美国人不会让大自然阻挡他们的去路。
I think of the spirit of America being imagination combined with tenacity. There's a strong work ethic, a wonderful freedom of creation, combined with the mental muscle and physical labor.
我认为美国精神是想象力与毅力的完美结合，人们有兢兢业业的工作精神，有可以尽情施展的创造力，加上脑力与体力相得益彰。
So to me, it represents the best of the human spirit.
对我来说，它是人类精神的最高体现。
But the land doesn't always cooperate. A wall of solid limestone 60 feet high. Just 30 miles from the finish line, Lake Erie.
然而大自然并不见得愿意合作，一道60英尺高的石灰岩壁挡住了去路，仅仅30英里开外就是终点--伊利湖。
The canal will change everything, linking the Atlantic Ocean to the whole middle of America.
运河将会改变一切，将整个美国中部与大西洋连接起来，
It changes where people live, and why, and turns the North into a global economic powerhouse.
它改变人们的居住地点和人生追求把整个北方变成了全球经济中心。
