1 Surrounded by cliffs in all directions, Xiazhuang village sits “at the bottom of a well” with just an old trail zigzagging 108 turns up and down outward. The trail took villagers about four days to get to the nearest town and return, and was also unsafe, claiming several lives through the years.

2 In the four decades up to 1997, when Mao Xianglin became Party leader of the village, 23 people had died from falling off the cliff while cutting firewood or commuting in and out, and 75 others had been injured or disabled.

3 When Mao took charge, he found that most of the 397 villagers had never seen a TV set, and about 150 had never stepped outside the village. Soon he called a meeting of the villagers and suggested building a road that snakes through the mountains.

4 “A daydream again,” some said. “Yeh, but how?” others questioned “Bare hands are not enough. Where is the money to buy a tool even?”

5 That day, almost no villager agreed because they had no money, no machines and no confidence to take on the tough project.

6 To raise the first round of funding for construction, Mao persuaded his mother to take out all the family’s savings of 700 yuan.

7 “Mountains have isolated us from the outside for generations. We have to do something to ensure the next generation can have a good life,” he kept saying to villagers.

8 Gradually, the villagers began accepting the idea and raised 3,960 yuan in a week. By winter, around 100 villagers aged from 17 to 63 volunteered and made a pledge of “biting a path out of the cliffs,” despite being aware of the risks involved in the work, including fatal accidents.

9 Mao was the first to climb up the hills, the one to ignite the first explosion, as well as the organizer and supervisor.

10 During construction, the workers lived in caves. When they slept at night, they tied a rope around their waists with the other end tied to the root of an old tree to make sure they did not fall off the cliff.

11 In the process of building the road, workers dangled from ropes and used hammers and drills and even explosives to clear obstacles. Falling rocks and other perils led to the deaths of six villagers during construction.

12 Nearly six more years later, the 8-kilometer-long, 2-meter-wide road was finally completed. Mao arranged a truck for a trip along the road upon its completion, with almost all the villagers following him. He helped the villagers overcome poverty at last.

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1. Surrounded by cliffs in all directions, Xiazhuang village sits “at the bottom of a well” with just an old trail zigzagging 108 turns up and down outward. 在

四面绝壁的环绕下，下庄村就像坐落在井底，只有一条古道，要来回蜿蜒108个弯才能走到村外。这句中，Surrounded by cliffs in all directions 是过去分词短语作状语，表示状态，其逻辑主语就是句子的主语Xiazhuang village.

2. Soon he called a meeting of the villagers and suggested building a road that snakes through the mountains.

于是，他召集大家开村民大会，建议修建一条盘山公路。 snake在这里作动词，意为“蛇行，曲折前行”。

3. “A daydream again,” some said. “Yeh, but how?” others questioned. “

又是一个白日梦,” 有人说。“好啊，可是怎么修呢？”有人质疑。这里是两个省略句。完整的句子是： “This is a daydream again,” some said. “Yeh, but how do we build it?” others questioned.

4. To raise the first round of funding for construction, Mao persuaded his mother to take out all the family’s savings of 700 yuan.

为了筹集第一轮修路款，毛说服他的母亲拿出家里全部的700元积蓄。To raise the first round of funding for construction是不定式作状语，表示目的。

5. By winter, around 100 villagers aged from 17 to 63 volunteered and made a pledge of “biting a path out of the cliffs”...

到了冬天，大约100名17至63岁的村民自愿加入，发誓要“硬生生在悬崖上咬出一条路”…… 这里out of the cliffs可以理解为from the cliffs。

6. In the process of building the road, workers dangled from ropes and used hammers and drills and even explosives to clear obstacles.

在修路的过程中，工人们腰系长绳悬在空中，用大锤、钻头甚至炸药清除障碍物。clear在这里的意思是“移走，清除”。