IV. Which paragraphs describe advantages of optical fibres and which describe disadvantages?

V. Complete the definitions (1-9) below with the underlined words in the text.

1. A ________ is one millionth of a metre.

2. The _______ is the distance across a circle.

3. A ________ substance is one that burns easily.

4. ______ means joining the ends of two cables together.

5. To _________ means to start to burn.

6. _________ are tubes for carrying cables.

7. _______ is a common short way of saying 'for each'.

8. ____________means to touch with your hands.

9. ___________ means in a way that produces a good result and doesn't waste time, energy, or resources.

VI. Write two advantages and two disadvantages of using optical fibres instead of copper cable. Compare your ideas with the rest of the class.

VII. Use the Internet, magazines, or newspapers to find out about another interesting invention of the last twenty years. Try to find out two advantages and two disadvantages of the invention and tell your class. Decide who found out about the most interesting invention.

Chapter 9

I. Before you start.

Work in pairs. You have one minute. How many different dams or tunnels can you think of? Compare your answers with the rest of the class.

II. Read the text quickly and decide which structure it describes.

a) The Hoover Dam

b) The Arlberg Tunnel

с) The Channel Tunnel

500. The Golden Gate Bridge

Big is the Best

The ... is between Britain and France. It's more than 20 kilometres long. It was built by British and French engineers. They started on opposite sides and met in the middle under the sea. They used specially-designed tunnel boring machines (TBMs) to dig the tunnels through the rock under the seabed. TBMs are enormous machines for digging tunnels. The machines used to dig the main tunnels were about 8.5 metres in diameter and 250 metres long. Work started in 1987 and the teams met under the seabed in 1991. It is a rail tunnel. The first passenger train went through in 1994.

III. Read the text again and answer the questions (1-9) below.

1. Where is it?

2. What is it?

3. How long is it?

4. Who built it?

5. How did they build it?

6. What are TBMs?

7. How big are TBMs?

8. How long did it take to build?

9. When did it open?

IV. First, underline the question words in Exercise 3. Then use them to complete these questions.

1. _____ many Roman roads are there in Europe?

2. _____ designed St Paul's Cathedral in London?

3. _____ is the name of the famous bridge in San Francisco?

4. _____ was the Eiffel Tower built?

5. _____ is the Corinth Canal?

V. Complete the texts by putting one word in each space. Use the words in the box. Check the meaning of any new words in the glossary or your dictionary.

■across ■ around ■ between ■ over ■ through ■ under

The Panama Canal is a 64km waterway (1)__________ the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Before the canal was opened, ships had to travel thousands of miles (2) ____________ South America. To build the canal, engineers had to dam a major river, and dig a channel (3) ______________ a mountain ridge.

Tower Bridge is an openable bascule bridge, designed by Horace lones in 1886. It goes (4) ___________ the River Thames in London. Thousands of vehicles drive (5) ________ it every day. Tall ships cannot pass (6) _____ Tower Bridge, instead, the roadway parts and lifts to let them through.

VI. Write questions about a building, tunnel, or dam. Use who, what,when, where, and how. Make sure you know the answers!

For example: How old is it? Where is it?

VII. Work with a partner. Ask and answer the questions you wrote in Exercise 6.

VIII. Find out about a major new engineering project. Where is it? What will it do? What problems do the engineers have to solve to build?