I. Bài Đọc
A resort in Vietnam has opened a glass-bottomed foot bridge connecting two mountains. It is the third such bridge in the Southeast Asian country.
The 150-meter-tall bridge crosses a deep, narrow area called a gorge. The aim of the bridge is to bring in thrill-seeking tourists.
The bridge is called the Bach Long suspension bridge. It means “White Dragon” in Vietnamese. A dragon is a huge, imaginary flying animal that can breathe out fire and looks like a reptile.
The bridge is found in the Son La area. Son La is northwest of the capital, Hanoi, and borders Laos.
The opening ceremony included dragon dancing and a ribbon cutting. Vi Thi Thu is a 22-year-old visitor who attended the ceremony and walked on the bridge.
“I dared not look down as I am afraid of heights,” she said. “I imagined in my head what would happen if I fell through….”
The reinforced glass used for the bridge can hold up to 450 people at a time. Each glass piece used for the bridge is 40 millimeters thick.
The bridge is 290 meters long and runs between two mountain tops on either side of a gorge. It also has a 342-meter pathway on the side of a mountain.
Guinness World Records keeps a list of world records. It lists a 562-meter glass-bottomed bridge in Qingyuan, in China’s Guangdong area, as the world’s longest.
The World Record Association is another organization that keeps a list of world records. It listed the two-part Vietnamese bridge as the world’s longest, at 632 meters.
Tran Xuan Tinh is 72 years old and a visitor to the bridge. He seemed happy he walked on the bridge. He said he was frightened at first, but added, “If you walked over around 10 glass panels, that feeling is gone.”
Sources: voaenglish
II. Từ Vựng
glass-bottomed foot bridge: cầu kính
narrow /ˈneroʊ/: chật hẹp
gorge /ɡɔrdʒ/: hẻm núi
thrill-seeking: tìm kiếm cảm giác mạnh (mạo hiểm)
suspension bridge: cầu treo
imaginary /ɪˈmædʒɪˌneri/: tưởng tượng
reptile /ˈreptɪl/: bò sát
ceremony /ˈserəˌmoʊni/: lễ (khởi công, khai trương)
dare /der/: dám (làm cái gì đó), thách (đố ai dám làm cái gì đó)
imagine /ɪˈmædʒɪn/: tưởng tượng
reinforced glass /ˌriɪnˈfɔrs ɡlæs/: kính cường lực
frightened /ˈfraɪt(ə)nd/: sợ sệt
The World Record Association: hiệp hội kỷ lục thế giới