Listen in English - Hong Kong Bridge

Directions

REVIEW the vocabulary.
WATCH the video.
ANSWER the questions.
CHECK your answers. (Show Answers)

Vocabulary

scale [n] - size
ambition [n] - desire to do/get more
marvel [n] - feat, incredible accomplishment
access [n] - ability to go in and see
peak [n] - highest point
roughly [adv] - approximately
densely [adv] - large amount in small space
metropolis [n] - city area
permit [n] - visa, permission to enter
erode [v] - slowly disappear
integrated [adj] - joined, functioning together
restrictions [n] - limits
feat [n] - accomplishment
showcase [v] - show off, display
infrastructure [n] - systems of a country (like transportation)
influence [n] - cause different behavior
ring road [n] - road connecting a circle of areas
delta area [n] - [image]
mainland [n] - not an island
former [adj] - in the past
manlander [n] - person who lives on the mainland
initially [adv] - at first
super power [n] - 1 of the most powerful countries
sums [n] - amounts

[n] - noun, [v] - verb, [adj] - adjective, [exp] - expression

Questions

How many countries can match China's ambition?
None
Not many
Several
China is not ambitious.
What is the new bridge?
The world's busiest waterway
It goes over a busy body of water.
The most recent Chinese engineering project
A scene in a Marvel movie
Which three areas does the bridge connect?
Macau, HongKong, Zhuhai
Macau, Taiwan, Zhuhai
Macau, HongKong, Beijing
Beijing, Hong Kong, Zhuhai
Which statements are true about these areas?
They currently function like 1 connected city.
China wants them to function like 1 connected city.
If they were connected they would be the largest metropolis (city area) in the world.
They are densely populated.
What benefits does the bridge bring?
Faster transport
Spreading development to the mainland
Spreading development to Hong Kong
More tourism
What document do mainland Chinese need to visit Hong Kong and Macau?
A visa
A resident card
A driver’s license
A special permit
Why can only 10,000 cars cross the bridge into Hong Kong and Macau per day?
The bridge is not strong enough yet.
The toll tax is too high.
The road rules are different.
They are testing the new bridge.
What are the possible problems with the bridge?
Hong Kong's freedom will be taken.
Integration will hurt business.
Planes fly directly across the bridge's path.
Tunnels are safer.
Where does China plan to expand next?
Only in Asia
Only outside of Asia
Both in Asia and beyond Asia
It does not plan to expand.
How could China expand its influence?
By borrowing money from other countries
By loaning money
By loaning money for projects that they build
By building new projects

Discussion

How can the newly built bridge help china’s development?
What is the role of infrastructure development in a country’s development?
Do you think Hong Kong should be worried about losing its freedom?

Script

When it comes to scale and ambition, few countries can match china. And this bridge, over one of the world’s busiest waterways, is its latest engineering marvel. We’ve been given access ahead of the official opening. After more than eight years of construction, the first cars are ready to cross.

At the peak of construction, there were about 14000 workers building this bridge. And 300 ships. It was an extraordinary construction site.

The Pearl River delta is home to roughly 60 million people. If the densely populated cities around this waterway were combined, it would be the world’s biggest metropolis. And that’s the long-term thinking from china’s government in linking Hong Kong to Zhuhai and Macau.

The bridge will act like a ring road for the Pearl River delta area. It will not only speed up transport, it will also help spread Hong Kong’s development to the cities on the mainland side.

But the three cities the bridge is connecting are quite different. The former colonies Hong Kong and Macau have their own legal systems, road rules, and require special permits for mainlanders to visit.

Initially, the different road rules will affect the number of cars that can cross the bridge. So at first it will only be about 10,000 a day. But eventually, that will rise.

Some critics in Hong Kong fear the city’s freedoms will further erode as it becomes more integrated with the mainland. A more practical problem is a flight path for an international airport cutting right across the bridge. Height restrictions meant engineers had to build a seven-kilometer tunnel.

Engineering feats, like this one, showcase china’s drive to be an infrastructure super power. And under its belt and road plan, Beijing wants to build ambitious projects throughout Asia and beyond.

It’s a plan, critics say, would see china expand its influence; as other countries borrow huge sums from Beijing to pay for the Chinese built projects. But over here, it is all about speeding up the flow of people and goods. And when this bridge opens, that’s exactly what will happen

Hong Kong Bridge

Published: 11.2.2018

Level 4 | Time: 2:34

Accent: British

ABC(4.15.2018)

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Script