VOA · As It Is
Intermediate · B1–B2learner speed3:472025-03-05public domain
As It Is is VOA Learning English's daily news magazine. Each report covers a current story in clear, learner-speed English with a controlled vocabulary — the closest thing to real news broadcasts that intermediate learners can fully digest, and ideal raw material for dictation.
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01Hoover Dam sits in a large canyon on the border of the western U.S.
02states of Nevada and Arizona.
03When completed in 1936, it was the largest and most difficult structure of its kind ever built.
04The main reason the dam was built was to control movements of the powerful Colorado River.
05This forceful river helped create the Grand Canyon.
06The dam is able to hold water from the river and produce power for more than a million people in several states.
07Hoover Dam is named in honor of former U.S.
08President Herbert Hoover.
09He had worked for many years on efforts to make the dam possible.
10The area chosen for the dam was called Black Canyon.
11The walls of the canyon rose almost 243 meters above the Colorado River.
12An ancient volcano formed the rock in Black Canyon.
13Engineers decided the rock would provide good support for the dam.
14A lot of preparation work was necessary before building could begin.
15For example, a town was built nearby called Boulder City.
16The town housed employees working on the project.
17In addition, a large road was built from Boulder City to areas around the dam.
18A railroad was also built to link Las Vegas, Nevada to Boulder City.
19Another railroad was built from Boulder City to the dam area.
20Also, a 350-kilometer power line was established to bring in electricity from San Bernardino, California.
21The line provided power to the area where building operations were taking place.
22Building work began on Hoover Dam in 1931, and it was completed in just five years.
23More than 20,000 men worked on the project.
24The work was very dangerous.
25Ninety-six workers were killed and many others injured during the building.
26The dam took nearly four million cubic meters of concrete to build.
27Workers also used more than 20 million kilograms of steel to strengthen the concrete structure.
28The dam stands 221 meters tall and weighs more than 6.5 million tons.
29Hoover Dam is one of the largest producers of electric power ever built.
30The U.S.
31National Park Service says the dam produces enough power to serve 1.3 million people each year.
32It also created Lake Mead, the largest man-made lake in America.
33I'm Brian Lynn.
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