Listen to News with Tara Benwell - Instructions:
1. Preview the vocabulary and read the gapfill text.
2. Play the news report and try to fill in the blanks.
3. Answer the comprehension questions by writing full sentences.
4. Use the discussion question to write an essay or discuss the story with other students.
5. Click "show Answers" to see the full text.
6. Pretend to be a news anchor by reading each story out loud.
dateline: 13 September 2011
NB! For WEEKLY audio stories check out LISTEN & LEARN 🔈
9/11 Memorial Opens To Public
Pre-Listening Vocabulary
- memorial: a structure or service to honour a past event or deceased person
- gather: to get together
- grieve: to express extreme sadness
- engrave: to cut a design or message into stone or another hard material
- perimeter: the length of all sides
- collapse: to fall down suddenly
Comprehension Questions
- What was built at Ground Zero over the last ten years?
- Describe the memorial display in Bryant Park.
- What happened on September 12, 2011?
Discussion Question: What has changed in your country in the last ten years because of 9/11? What has changed in other parts of the world?
show Answershide Answers
9/11 Memorial Opens To Public
On the tenth anniversary of September 11th, the family members of those lost, gathered at Ground Zero to grieve at New York’s memorial for the first time. The memorial includes two man-made waterfalls that have been constructed in the footprints of the Twin Towers. 2753 victims’ names were read out loud at the service, each one engraved on bronze panels that line the perimeter of the twin pools. Respects were also paid at the Pentagon, and at the crash site of the fourth plane in Pennsylvania. In New York City’s Bryant Park, 2753 empty chairs were set out to represent those lost. A moment of silence was held at the exact moment each plane crashed, and at the moment each tower collapsed. When darkness fell, two beams of light filled the sky where the Twin Towers once stood. The memorial site at Ground Zero opened to the public on September 12th.
- Twin pools with waterfalls were built at Ground Zero in New York City.
- The memorial display in Bryant Park featured 2753 empty chairs.
- On September 12, 2011, the memorial at Ground Zero opened to the pubic.
Written and recorded by Tara Benwell for EnglishClub
Tara Benwell is a Canadian freelance writer and editor who specializes in materials and articles for the ELT industry.
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