LISTENING LESSON 08 - VIETNAM’S GOLDEN BRIDGE (15112018)

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28/9/2018
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1. BASIC LISTENING


VIETNAM’S GOLDEN BRIDGE


In the mountains of central Vietnam, two huge hands lift a golden walkway high above the mountaintops. It is as if the ground below has taken a human form and grown arms.

“I feel like I’m walking on clouds,” said Vuong Thuy Linh, a visitor from Hanoi. “It’s so unique”.

Many Vietnamese and foreign tourists have been to Cau Vang, or the “Golden Bridge” in Vietnam’s Ba Na Hills, since it opened in June. Most seemed very excited to see and experience a structure known for its unusual design.

The walkway sits at over 1,000 meters above sea level and extends over the treetops from the edge of a leafy cliff. It offers visitors a clear, unrestricted view of the beautiful countryside below.

The bridge was a project of TA Landscape Architecture of Ho Chi Minh City. It was designed to create the image of the “giant hands of Gods, pulling a strip of gold out of the land,” said Vu Viet Anh of TA Landscape Architecture.

“It creates a walkway in the sky, among the foggy and fairy-like lands of Ba Na mountain,” he told the Reuters news agency.

Anh noted that he had been surprised at the level of attention the company’s design had received, both locally and internationally.

The Ba Na Hills were a popular getaway for the French during the colonial occupation of Vietnam. The area received over 2.7 million visitors last year, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

But it is the Golden Bridge and its supports – two huge stone-colored human hands -- which get the most attention from visitors.

“The two, smooth, giant hands look real,” said Truong Hoang Linh Thuy, another tourist.

“It makes me feel like humans can do anything”.

I'm Alice Bryant

2. ADVANCED LISTENING


APEC MEETING IN HANOI


President George W. Bush and leaders of the twenty other members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, pledged to advance the goals of free and open trade and investment.

In a statement written after the meeting, held this year in Hanoi, Vietnam, the participants agreed to look for ways to create a free trade area of the Asia-Pacific as a future vision. They also committed themselves to breaking the current impasse in the Doha round of world trade negotiations. Talks stalled in July over disagreements on farm subsidies and barriers to agricultural imports and exports.

The APEC leaders also expressed their determination to fight terrorism and slow the spread of weapons of mass destruction. President Bush says, "The greatest danger in our world today is that these terrorists could get their hands on weapons of mass destruction.":

"We discussed the threat of proliferation from North Korea. After North Korea's recent nuclear test, the United Nations Security Council passed a unanimous resolution imposing sanctions on North Korea's regime, and America is working with our partners to enforce those sanctions. We will also continue working with Japan, China, South Korea, and Russia through the six-party talks. Our nations are speaking with one voice: North Korea must abandon its nuclear weapons programs, and we will not tolerate North Korea's proliferation of nuclear technology to hostile regimes and terrorist networks."

President Bush says Asia and the U.S. also "face common challenges like energy security and the threat of pandemic diseases that transcend borders":

"Our growing economies are too dependent on oil, and we have a common interest in pursuing affordable, reliable energy alternatives. . . .We are also working with our partners in the region to address the threat of diseases like Avian flu, which has the potential to claim many lives and inflict terrible damage on our societies if not detected and stopped quickly."

"By standing with our allies in the Asia-Pacific region," says Mr. Bush, "we will defend our free way of life, confront the challenges of a new century, and build a more hopeful, peaceful, and prosperous future for our children and grandchildren."

Composed & Edited by Lê Quốc An
 
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