80 years at the top
Report and vocabulary
transcript
The statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro. One of the world's most iconic monuments.
The famous Brazilian landmark, which is perched on top of the 700 metre Corcovado Mountain, is celebrating its 80th birthday.
It took five years to build and was inaugurated in October 1931. Now up to ten thousand visitors flock to the 38 metre tall figure every day.
リオデジャネイロのコルコバードのキリスト像。 世界で最も有名なモニュメントの一つ。 高さ７００メートルのコルコバード山の頂上に置かれたこの有名なブラジルのランドバークが８０回目の誕生日を祝っている。
建造に５年かかって、１９３１年１０月に落成された。 今日、１万人にものぼる人々が毎日この高さ３８メートルの像を訪れる。
iconic：famous or well known. Also, something that represents a place
landmark：place which is easily identifiable
perched：sitting in a position that is close to the edge
inaugurated：opened officially
flock to：gather together in large numbers and go somewhere
Exercise
Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from a BBC news report.
Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence correctly.
iconic/landmarks/perched/inaugurated/flock to
1. One of Glasgow's most notorious ___________ is to be given a new lease of life as part of a scheme to boost cycling and pedestrian travel. The so-called "bridge to nowhere", a pedestrian link over the M8 motorway, has never been used and has no access ramps.
2. [The Maspero] was ________________ in Cairo in 1960 - the first dedicated television building ever built in the Middle East.
3. Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, the Coca-Cola bottle and Christ are history's top ____________ images, according to an Oxford professor.
4. The eastern Canadian fishing town calls itself the iceberg capital of the world, and tourists ___________ visit in the summer when the season for the frozen goliaths is booming.
5. Hong Kong's Ocean Park, which features a vast aquarium and rollercoaster rides all _____________ atop one of Hong Kong's lush craggy peaks, saw attendance figures rise by 6% last year despite the threat from the big-name cross-town rival Disney.