New Concept English III - 17 (08/22/09)

Lesson 17 The longest suspension bridge in the world世界上最长的

Listen to the tape then answer the question below.


How is the bridge supported?

Verrazano, an Italian about whom little is known, sailed into New York Harbour in 1524 and named it Angouleme. He described it as 'a very agreeable situation located within two small hills in the midst of which flowed a great river.' Though Verrazano is by no means considered to be a great explorer, his name will probably remain immortal, for on November 21st, 1964, the longest suspension bridge in the world was named after him.

The Verrazano Bridge, which was designed by Othmar Ammann, joins Brooklyn to Staten Island. It has a span of 4,260 feet. The bridge is so long that the shape of the earth had to be taken into account by its designer. Two great towers support four huge cables. The towers are built on immense underwater platforms made of steel and concrete. The platforms extend to a depth of over 100 feet under the sea. These alone took sixteen months to build. Above the surface of the water, the towers rise to a height of nearly 700 feet. They support the cables from which the bridge has been suspended. Each of the four cables contains 26,108 lengths of wire. It has been estimated that if the bridge were packed with cars, it would still only be carrying a third of its total capacity. However, size and strength are not the only important things about this bridge. Despite its immensity, it is both simple and elegant, fulfilling its designer's dream to create 'an enormous object drawn as faintly as possible'.
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I intended to lengthen the vowel before the voiced consonant. Does it sound better?

Have a great weekend!

所有跟帖： 

• 给我一个你着重练过的词的单子先。 -北京二号- ♀ (82 bytes) () 08/22/2009 postreply 11:34:01

• 谢谢您的倾听：）。单词在此。。。。。。 -eyeyey- ♀ (442 bytes) () 08/22/2009 postreply 11:57:53

• 供你参考： -北京二号- ♀ (2158 bytes) () 08/22/2009 postreply 12:25:36

• Sorry, pls ignore the messed up font with the last sentences. -北京二号- ♀ (0 bytes) () 08/22/2009 postreply 12:28:40

• 非常感谢！ -eyeyey- ♀ (10 bytes) () 08/22/2009 postreply 12:28:44

• Not "玩", still got backlog to clear. -北京二号- ♀ (0 bytes) () 08/22/2009 postreply 12:33:00

• 回复：Not "玩", still got backlog to clear. -eyeyey- ♀ (39 bytes) () 08/22/2009 postreply 12:40:08

• 看来偷懒不得。 -eyeyey- ♀ (226 bytes) () 08/22/2009 postreply 12:37:54

• Very nice! Envy you! -blueswan- ♀ (0 bytes) () 08/22/2009 postreply 23:22:23

• thanks blueswan. -eyeyey- ♀ (0 bytes) () 08/23/2009 postreply 16:48:27

• Good job as usual. Something you may pay attention -lilac09- ♀ (254 bytes) () 08/24/2009 postreply 07:49:44

• 回复：Good job as usual. Something you may pay attention -eyeyey- ♀ (143 bytes) () 08/24/2009 postreply 14:27:52