To swim across the English Channel takes at least nine hours. It’s a hard work and it makes you short of breath. To fly over the Channel takes only twenty minutes, but it’s an expensive way to travel. You can travel by hovercraft if you don’t mind the noise, and that takes forty minutes. Otherwise you can go by boat, within four hours, you can reach England. If you dream of being able to drive to France in your own ear, "Not possible", you say. Well, wait a minute. People are once again considering the idea of a Channel tunnel or bridge.
This time, the Greater London Council is looking into the possibility of building a Channel link straight to London. A bridge would cost far more than a tunnel, but you would be able to go by rail or by car on a bridge, whereas(然而，而) a tunnel would provide a rail link only.
Why is this idea being discussed again’ Is Britain realizing the need for links with Europe as a result of joining tile EEC(欧共体) Well, perhaps. Tile main reason, though, is that a tunnel or bridge would reach the twenty square kilometers of London’s disused dockland(船坞地). A link from London to the continent would stimulate trade and revitalize (使……重新具有活力) the port, and would make London a main trading center in Europe.
A tunnel is ______.