In News Focus #4, we visit Belfast, Northern Ireland, once the third most industrial city in the U.K. The famous passenger liner, the Titanic was built here 100 years ago. It sailed out of Belfast in April 1912 on its maiden voyage to New York City in the U SA. The owners said that the largest passenger liner the world had ever seen was practically unsinkable and yet five weeks later the huge boat lay in pieces on the ocean floor. 100 years later, the city of Belfast has built a magnificent Titanic visitor center with interactive exhibits to engage visitors and take them back in time to the sights and sounds of the shipyard and the stories of the men and women who built the huge boat. If you are interested in finding out more, then click here. April 2012, Titanic Visitor Centre Opens in Belfast Walk through the old shipyard where the Titanic was built and you ll spy Belfast s newest, shiniest tourist attraction. Opened on March 31, the Titanic Belfast is set to become a prime destination for visitors to Northern Ireland wanting to catch up on the story of the city and its connection to the huge passenger liner. 2012 is one hundred years since the sinking of the Titanic and the city of Belfast has constructed this stunning piece of architecture in memory of the boat that was described as practically unsinkable. National Geographic has named Belfast as one of the world s top 20 travel destinations for 2012 and says the visitor attraction is a must-see. Architect Eric Kuhne s design resembles the hulls of four ships placed together. The building is clad with metal and sunlight reflected from the sides produces the effect of moving water. The iconic six-floor building tells the story of the Titanic from start to finish, from conception to construction, launch, the tragic maiden voyage and the recent recovery of artifacts from the ocean floor using undersea exploration. The ten galleries will be packed with interactive exhibits to help visitors experience the sights, sounds, smells and stories of the old shipyard and its most famous creation. The early years of the 20th century saw an increase in traffic across the Atlantic, with waves of Europeans looking for a new life in the States. The transatlantic route was extremely lucrative and the Cunard shipping line launched the Lusitania and the Mauretania the fastest passenger ships in service. In response, J. Bruce Ismay, the chairman of White Star Line, decided to compete on size rather than speed. He opted for liners that would be bigger than anything that had gone before as well as being fabulously comfortable and luxurious (at least, for those traveling First and Second Class!) The aim was to create a floating hotel with a swimming pool, a gymnasium, libraries and high-class restaurants. No wonder that the Titanic cost $7.5 million to build the equivalent of $400 million in today s figures. The White Star Line decided on three ships: the Olympic, the Titanic and the Britannic (originally called the Gigantic) all of them designed and built in the Belfast shipyard by a company called Harland and Wolffe. Titanic Timeline:
April 2, 1912 After finishing her sea trails, the Titanic leaves Belfast, Northern Ireland at 08:00 am. April 4, 1912 Arrives in Southampton, England, shortly after midnight. April 10, 1912 Departs from Southampton and arrives in Cherbourg, France 90 minutes later. Many American First Class passengers board here after touring Europe. Departs from Cherbourg at 08:10 am. April 11, 1912 Arrives in Cork, Ireland at 11:30 am. Hundreds of Third Class passengers board, many having sold everything to buy a ticket to the new world. Departs at 13:40 pm for New York City with 2,228 people on board. April 13, 1912 Captain Smith receives a message warning of large numbers of icebergs. Confident in the strength of the new liner, he ignores the warning and continues to sail at full speed. April 14, 1912 Hits iceberg at 11:40 pm shortly before midnight. April 15, 1912 Titanic sinks at 02:20 am. Less than two weeks after leaving Belfast the ship lies on the ocean floor. April 18, 1912 Carpathia arrives in New York City with 710 survivors at 21:00 pm. September 1, 1985 The wreck of the Titanic is found. Underwater cameras show that the boat broke into two large pieces as it sank to the ocean floor. As part of the Titanic Belfast attraction, tourists may follow a self-guided walk through 12 locations in Belfast city. The Titanic Trail will lead visitors on a tour of 12 city sites associated with the Titanic story, from City Hall to Queen s Island. Each visitor will carry a lightweight, media player that acts both as a GPS guide and as an interactive source of sound and images. The portable device, called the Node Explorer, is being used for the first time in Belfast. The robust handheld unit uses a combination of the latest GPS technology, still images, video footage, dramatic reconstructions, text and audio clips to take users on a fully interactive trip through time telling the story of the mighty passenger liner and the people associated with her. [A] READING CHECK Are these sentences correct (C) or incorrect (I)?
1. The new tourist attraction is located in the shipyard where the Titanic was built. 2. Titanic Belfast opened 150 years after the enormous boat was built. 3. The tourist attraction is a large, rather ugly building. 4. National Geographic does not recommend that tourists visit the center. 5. The Titanic picked up passengers in three different countries. 6. The large ship sank less than three hours after hitting the iceberg. 7. One half of the passengers and crew survived the tragedy. 8. The Node Explorer is part GPS guide and part media player. 9. The Node Explorer will take tourists to 12 locations near Belfast city. 10. Users of the handheld device will be able to watch actors reconstruct important events.
[B] WORD FOCUS Fill in the blanks using the correct words below. April 2012, Titanic Visitor Centre Opens in Belfast Walk through the old (1) where the Titanic was built and you ll spy Belfast s newest, shiniest tourist attraction. Opened on March 31, the Titanic Belfast (2) become a prime destination for visitors to Northern Ireland wanting to catch up on the story of the city and its connection to the huge passenger liner. 2012 is one hundred years since the sinking of the Titanic and the city of Belfast has constructed this (3) piece of architecture in memory of the boat that was described as (4) unsinkable. National Geographic has named Belfast as one of the world s top 20 travel destinations for 2012 and says the visitor attraction is a must-see. Architect Eric Kuhne s design (5) the hulls of four ships placed together. The building (6) metal and sunlight reflected from the sides produces the effect of moving water. The iconic six-floor building tells the story of the Titanic from start to finish, from conception to construction, launch, the tragic maiden voyage and the recent recovery of artifacts from the ocean floor using undersea exploration. The ten galleries will be packed with interactive exhibits to help visitors experience the sights, sounds, smells and stories of the old shipyard and its most famous creation. The early years of the 20th century saw an increase in traffic across the Atlantic with waves of Europeans looking for a new life in the States. The transatlantic route was extremely (7) and the Cunard shipping line launched the Lusitania and the Mauretania the fastest passenger ships in service. In response, J. Bruce Ismay, the chairman of White Star Line, decided to compete on size rather than speed. He (8) liners that would be bigger than anything that had gone before as well as being fabulously comfortable and (9) (at least, for those traveling First and Second Class!) The aim was to create a floating hotel with a swimming pool, a gymnasium, libraries and highclass restaurants. No wonder that the Titanic cost $7.5 million to build the (10) $400 million in today s figures. The White Star Line decided on three ships: the Olympic, the Titanic, and the Britannic (originally called the Gigantic) all of them designed and built in the Belfast shipyard by a company called Harland and Wolffe. 1 (a) factory (b) production line (c) shipyard 2 (a) is set to (b) has already (c) may one day 3 (a) disappointing (b) stunning (c) mediocre 4 (a) basic (b) completely (c) practically 5 (a) resembles (b) similar to (c) reminds of 6 (a) wrapped in (b) is clad with (c) is surrounded by 7 (a) costly (b) lucrative (c) unprofitable 8 (a) compound (b) choose (c) opted for 9 (a) luxurious (b) unpleasant (c) magnificence 10 (a) comparable to (b) equivalent of (c) correspondent
[C] KEY PHRASES Complete these key phrases by matching words in column A and B. column A column B 1 Walk through the old shipyard a create a floating hotel 2 2012 is one hundred years since b and you ll spy the newest tourist attraction 3 National Geographic has named the c produces the effect of moving water city 4 The architect s design resembles d cost so much money to build 5 Sunlight reflecting from the sides e the sinking of the huge passenger liner 6 The chairman opted for liners that f would be bigger than anything that had gone before 7 The aim was to g as one of the world s top 20 travel destinations 8 No wonder that the Titanic h the hulls of four ships placed together [D] SUMMARY Complete the summary by putting the sentences in the correct time order. a 1. The Lusitania, the fastest passenger ship, is built by Cunard shipping line. b The wreck of the Titanic is found on the ocean floor. c The Titanic, the largest passenger liner the world has ever seen, sails from Belfast. d A visitor center is opened in the old shipyard in memory of the enormous liner. e The Titanic collects many 3 rd Class passengers from Cork in Ireland. f Mr. Ismay asks Harland and Wolffe to build three huge passenger liners. g The Carpathia sails into New York City. Answers [A] READING CHECK Are these sentences correct (C) or incorrect (I)? 1. The new tourist attraction is located in the shipyard where the Titanic was built. (C) 2. Titanic Belfast opened 150 years after the enormous boat was built. (I) 100 years after the boat was built. (April 1912 to March 31, 2012) 3. The tourist attraction is a large, rather ugly building. (I) This stunning building = impressive, beautiful 4. National Geographic does not recommend that tourists visit the center. (I) National Geographic calls it a must-see = it does recommend the center 5. The Titanic picked up passengers in three different countries. (C) (Southampton, UK; Cherbourg, France; Cork, Ireland) 6. The large ship sank less than three hours after hitting the iceberg. (C)
7. One half of the passengers and crew survived the tragedy. (I) (only onethird, 710, of the 2,228 passengers survived. Note that different sources will give different numbers for passengers and survivors passenger lists were very inaccurate) 8. The Node Explorer is part GPS guide and part media player. (C) 9. The Node Explorer will take tourists to 12 locations near Belfast city. (I) 12 locations in Belfast city 10. Users of the handheld device will be able to watch actors reconstruct important events. (C) dramatic reconstructions = actors reconstructing important events [B] WORD FOCUS Fill in the blanks using the correct words below. 1 (a) factory (b) production line (c) shipyard 2 (a) is set to = is (b) has already (c) may one day destined to 3 (a) disappointing (b) stunning = magnificent (c) mediocre = not special 4 (a) basic (b) completely (c) practically = basically = almost 5 (a) resembles = is (b) similar to (c) reminds of similar to, reminds us of 6 (a) wrapped in (b) is clad with = is wrapped in (c) is surrounded by 7 (a) costly (b) lucrative = profitable (c) unprofitable 8 (a) compound (b) choose (c) opted for = chose 9 (a) luxurious = (b) unpleasant (c) magnificence magnificent 10 (a) comparable to (b) equivalent of = which is comparable to = which corresponds to (c) correspondent [C] KEY PHRASES Complete these key phrases by matching words in column A and B. column A column B 1 Walk through the old shipyard b and you ll spy the newest tourist attraction 2 2012 marks 100 years since e the sinking of the huge passenger liner 3 National Geographic has named the city g as one of the world s top 20 travel destinations 4 The architect s design resembles h the hulls of four ships placed together 5 Sunlight reflecting from the sides c produces the effect of moving water 6 The chairman opted for liners that f would be bigger than anything that had gone before
7 The aim was to a create a floating hotel 8 No wonder that the Titanic d cost so much money to build [D] SUMMARY Complete the summary by putting the sentences in the correct time order. a 1. The Lusitania, the fastest passenger ship, is built by Cunard shipping line. f 2. Mr. Ismay asks Harland and Wolffe to build three huge passenger liners. c 3. The Titanic, the largest passenger liner the world has ever seen, sails from Belfast. e 4. The Titanic collects many 3 rd Class passengers from Cork in Ireland. g 5. The Carpathia sails into New York City. b 6. The wreck of the Titanic is found on the ocean floor. d 7. A visitor center is opened in the old shipyard in memory of the enormous liner.