HOLLAND

 Far over the sea is a country called Holland. It is not a large country.

The Dutch people live in Holland. They have made dikes to keep the sea from their land.

Do you know what dikes are?

They are huge walls made of stone. They are very large and strong. If a dike¹ should break, the country would be flooded.

There are many canals in Holland. Some of the canals are so large and deep that big ocean steamships² can sail on them.

There are many boats on the canals. People live on the boats all the year round.

1 dike   

n.堤，沟；v.开沟排水

参考例句：

• They dug a dike along walls of the school.他们沿校墙挖沟。
• Fortunately,the flood did not break the dike.还好，这场大水没有把堤坝冲坏。

2 steamships   

n.汽船，大轮船( steamship的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Berths on steamships can be booked a long while in advance. 轮船上的床位可以提前多日预订。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The sailing ships were superseded by the steamships. 帆船已被汽船所取代。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》