Sydney Harbour Bridge

Have you ever been to Sydney?

Have you ever seen an amazing bridge anywhere in the world?

Skim through this article titled A Guide to Sydney Harbour Bridge to find the answer to these questions.

  1. What does Sydney Harbour Bridge connect?
  2. How long did it take to build the bridge?
  3. How many men built the bridge?
  4. How many men died while building the bridge?
  5. How much did the bridge cost?
  6. How many steel rivets were used?
  7. How many lanes are on the bridge?
  8. How many litres of paint were used to paint the bridge?
  9. How high is the Sydney Harbour Bridge?
  10. How high are the traffic lanes above the water?
Answers: 1. north and south shores/ Milsons Point and Dawes Point, 2. 8 years, 3. 1400, 4. 16, 5. $4.2 million, 6. 6 million, 7. 8 traffic lanes + 2 rail lanes, 8. 272,000 litres, 9. 135 metres, 10. 51 metres

Now read the article again and look closer at the language. Answer these questions to get a better understanding of the language.

  1. Why do they call the Sydney Harbour Bridge the “coat hanger”?
  2. What does “exercise their forefingers” mean?
  3. “The likelihood of the bridge actually being built was slim to none during this time.” What does this mean?
  4. What does it mean by “the bridge had warmed locals’ hearts”?
  5. What happened here – “a moment temporarily disrupted by a treacherous Captain”?
Answers: 1. because the shape of the bridge looks like a hanger to hang clothes on, 2. to take photos using the first finger on the hand, 3. "slim to none" means fairly unlikely, 4. the people of Sydney liked the bridge, 5. a Captain with a bad reputation cut the ribbon of the bridge before the Premier, it was just a short moment before they arrested him

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