中國人為什么要修長城、在秦始皇時代，每20個人中，就有一個人參與修建過長城。中國人經(jīng)歷了無數(shù)次毀滅性的戰(zhàn)爭，他們深知，保護生靈的城墻總比掩埋尸體的壕溝(trench)好。修建長城有說不盡的艱辛，甚至不少人還因此付出了生命。但與慘烈的戰(zhàn)爭相比，人們更愿意選擇前者。長城在中國歷史上發(fā)揮的作用是巨大的。在冷兵器時代，長城在軍事防御上起到了不容置疑的作用，尤其在防御北方民族所謂的“馬背上的進攻”方面，效果是明顯的。

　　【參考譯文】

　　Why did the Chinese build the Great Wall? During the reign of the first Emperor of Qin, one out of every 20 people tool part in the project. Suffering from the devastating damage of wars, Chinese people realized that building a wall to protect lives was better than burying the dead in trenches. Building walls was extremely hard labor, sometimes even at the cost of life itself. Compared with bloody wars, however, people would rather choose the former. The Great Wall played a significant role in history. It certainly served the purpose of military defense in the age of cool steel, especially in preventing attacks from northern peoples on horseback.

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