English Unlimited HTL 1, Schulbuch mit Audio-CD und CD-ROM

115 Experiences 10 LANGUAGE SKILLS EXPLORE LOOK AGAIN EXTRAS Work in groups of three. A, read about Ellis Island below. B, read about the Great Barrier Reef. C read about the Taj Mahal. Find out what these numbers mean. Ellis Island: ļ PLOOLRQ Great Barrier Reef: 900, 2,600, 1 billion, 1981 Taj Mahal: PLOOLRQ 14 a Ellis Island is a short boat ride fromManhattan. It was the historical door to the USA for millions of immigrants. e Ellis Island Immigration Station opened in 1892 and closed in 1954. During this time, the US Bureau of Immigration dealt with twelve million immigrants. e immigrants that were allowed to enter generally spent about two to ve hours at Ellis Island. Ocials asked them 29 questions including name, occupation, and the amount of money they carried. ose with health problems or a criminal background were sent back to their home countries or put in the island’s hospital. About two per cent were not allowed to enter the USA. is is why Ellis Island was sometimes called ‘Heartbreak Island’ or ‘ e Island of Tears’. Now a museum, millions of people have visited Ellis Island. e Taj Mahal is the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal. She was the third and favourite wife of Shah Jehan, the Moghul emperor of India. When Mumtaz died in childbirth in 1631, the emperor decided to create a beautiful building in memory of his beloved wife. It took 20,000 workers more than 20 years to complete it. e Taj, in the city of Agra on the Yamuna river, is now one of the most famous places in the world. Since 2000, it has had more than 25 million visitors. Today Mumtaz and her husband lie in the Taj together, but some people say that Shah Jehan wanted his own tomb to be in a second, black Taj, on the other side of the river. e Great Barrier Reef is located in the Pacic Ocean, o the north-eastern coast of Australia. e world’s largest reef is made of billions of corals. It has over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands. It is over 2,600 kilometres long and can be seen from outer space. e reef is also a paradise for snorkelling and scuba diving. It is a popular tourist destination, especially the area around the town of Cairns. Tourism is important for the region, earning $1 billion per year. A large part of the reef is protected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which helps to limit the negative consequences of shing and tourism. In 1981, the Great Barrier Reef became a World Heritage Site 7 . Tell each other about the places. Which of the places sounds the most interesting? Why? Tell each other about exciting places you have been to. b c d 7 World Heritage Site: a place (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building or city) that is listed by the UNESCO as being of special cultural importance. World Heritage Sites in Austria are, for example, the historic centres of Graz, Salzburg and Vienna as well as the Wachau. Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv