2 READING &

LISTENING EXTRA
INTERMEDIATE PLUS UNIT 2 3 Read the article again and answer the questions.
1 Work in pairs and discuss the questions. 1 Where and when was the first skyscraper built?
2 Who designed the first skyscraper?
1 Are there any skyscrapers where you live? What do
you know about their construction? 3 How was its construction different from previous
buildings?
2 Can you name any famous skyscrapers? What do
you know about them? 4 What was William Le Baron Jenney’s relationship
with Gustave Eiffel?
2 Read the article. What was the building and why 5 How did he come up with the idea of the
was it special? skyscraper?
6 Why did the Home Insurance company want the
building constructed?
7 Why was construction stopped?
8 What was the effect of William Le Baron Jenney’s
idea on architecture?

4 Match definitions 1–8 with the words in bold in the

article.
1 made from wood
2 a building or a part of a building that has been
constructed
3 to be in an upright position
4 floors or levels of a building
A building that changed the world: 5 hard rock used in construction
The Home Insurance Building 6 to destroy a building
Where do you think the first ever skyscraper in the world was 7 to take the weight of something and prevent it
built? It’s not Manhattan. Whilst New York City is home to the from falling
second most skyscrapers in the world (237) after Hong Kong (303),
the first skyscraper was in fact constructed in Chicago in 1885. It
8 an arrangement that gives an object strength and
was called the Home Insurance Building and was ten storeys high. shape
It’s architect, William Le Baron Jenney, was a trained engineer
who had been a classmate of Gustave Eiffel, the designer of the
5 Work in pairs and discuss the questions.
Eiffel Tower, at the École Centrale de Paris. At the time buildings 1 What is the tallest building you have ever been up?
were constructed entirely from stone. However, one day Jenney 2 How did it make you feel?
saw his wife put a heavy book on a bird cage. He realised that a
metal frame could support a huge amount of weight and
be safe.
6 2.1 Listen and match speakers 1–3 with tall
buildings a–c.
The Home Insurance Company wanted a building that would
1 Dan a Eiffel Tower
be safe if there was a fire and have many smaller offices in one
place. The company had seen the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 2 Bernadette b Burj Khalifa
during which a three-square mile section of mostly wooden 3 Harriet c Empire State Building
buildings in the centre of the city burnt to the ground. As a
result, they decided to hold a design contest to find the safest
building they could.
7A 2.1 Listen again and answer the questions.
1 Who did something as a result of visiting the
Jenney’s design won. The judges were impressed by how this
building?
metal structure covered in stone would weigh a third of a
traditional building. Some people didn’t like the idea and 2 Who visited the building with an ex-partner?
construction was stopped while the Home Insurance Company 3 Who visited the tallest building?
and the City of Chicago investigated the risks.
4 Who says the view isn’t always good?
The Home Insurance Building was demolished in 1931 to 5 Who lives near the building they went up?
build a bank, a building which used the same techniques in
its construction and is still standing today. The idea of using 6 Whose experience was different from what they
a metal frame to support a building started a new movement expected?
called the Chicago School of Architecture which built the Flatiron 7 Who visited a building when they were a child?
building in New York in 1902.
8 Who visited a building because a family member
It may not be standing anymore but the Home Insurance worked there?
Building in Chicago revolutionised how we construct buildings
9 Who visits the building regularly?
and plan cities. Now, there are skyscrapers around the world all
based on an idea first proposed by Frank Le Baron Jenner, the 10 Who compares the building to another one?
Father of the American Skyscraper.

© Pearson Education Limited 2018

Speakout Reading and Listening Extra Intermediate Plus Unit 2.indd 6 26/07/18 5:34 PM
 2 READING &
LISTENING EXTRA
7 B Work in pairs. Discuss your answers.
8 A 2.1 Listen again and complete the extracts
with one word in each gap. Then listen again and
check.
1 I remember being at the building
and the view.
2 My dad’s office in London was a small, kind
of old building that needed a bit of
repair . . .
3 . . . seeing this huge, very clean, looked after
building just me .
4 You know, you can live in a place all your life and
never visit the buildings.
5 Sometimes Paris air pollution means it can get
quite , especially in summer . . .
6 But in general, you can see quite far and it just
gives me this great of the city I
love, of my home.
7 Once you get there, you know, it’s quite a
experience because the lift is really
smooth . . .
8 . . . it was a bit like we were there
above the earth . . .

8 B Work in pairs. What do the words you used in

Exercise 8A mean?

9 Work in small groups. Think of a famous building

you have visited or know. Ask and answer the
questions. It may be necessary to research your
answers.
1 What is it called?
2 Where is it?
3 How tall is it?
4 How and when was it built?
5 Why is it special?
6 If you have been up it, what was it like? If not,
would you like to go up it?
7 What are the advantages and disadvantages of
living or working in a skyscraper?
8 Why do we build skyscrapers?

© Pearson Education Limited 2018

Speakout Reading and Listening Extra Intermediate Plus Unit 2.indd 7 26/07/18 5:34 PM