Happy 25th Thames Barrier!

With the Thames Barrier celebrating its 25th anniversary, why not wonder down to the Thames Barrier Park this weekend? The park has beautiful views, lovely gardens and fountains and amazing wildlife, and is a great place to relax in London. For more information check out this website: http://www.thamesbarrierpark.org.uk/
The Thames Barrier will celebrate the 25th anniversary of its official opening by Her Majesty the Queen on Friday May 8 with a test closure.
The Thames Barrier and associated defences have been providing London with one of the best levels of flood protection in the world since 1982. Operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the Thames Barrier has been used 114 times to protect 125 square km of central London and 1.25 million people from flooding. And the barrier, which initially had a design specification up until 2030, should now protect Londoners for at least 40 extra years, until 2070, the Environment Agency announced earlier this year.
The Barrier was officially opened by the Queen at a ceremony held on the banks of the Thames on 8 May 1984, when a commemorative plaque was unveiled to mark the occasion.
Environment Agency staff carry out a test closure of the Thames Barrier every month, as a test to ensure the gates are functioning properly. And to mark a very special anniversary, former workers have been invited back to the Thames Barrier to see the closure and to see that the barrier still works as well today as it did when they worked there.
Text adapted from www.newhamrecorder.co.uk
True or false?
  1. wonder down means to “be unsure about something, to think about something carefully”
  2. flood mean “an overflow of water onto (dry) land”
  3. Operational means “a surgical procedure to help ill people get better”
  4. initially means “to begin with”
  5. plaque means “an ornamental plate fixed on wall, giving information about a historic place”
  6. unveiled means “to cover something up”
  7. carry out means to “move something from one place to another”
  8. functioning means “a person who builds or designs buildings”
  9. mark means “to remember and celebrate or commemorate a special event”
  10. former means “old or previous”

Answers

  1. False: “wander down” = to go somewhere slowly, taking your time and enjoying everything you see on the way there.
  2. True
  3. False: “operational” = working
  4. True
  5. True
  6. False: “Unveil” = to uncover something
  7. False: “carry out” = to do something
  8. False: “functional” = working correctly
  9. True
  10. True