اللغة الإنجليزية فصل ثاني

Unit 9

Lessons 3+4

Student’s Book pages 72 and 73

Audioscipts

Burj Khalifa is a skyscraper in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and is the tallest structure ever built at 828 metres. It took five years to complete the exterior. The building opened in January 2010CE. This amazing tower dominates the Dubai landscape and it can be seen from miles. It contains apartments, offices, and a hotel. It is set in a lake and is surrounded by a park. The towering skyscraper was mainly designed by the architect Adrian Smith. The design is inspired by nature. The structure is shaped like a ‘Y’ and is inspired by the desert flower Hymenocallis. The tower’s wings extend out from the centre, like petals from the stem. At the top, the tower is sculpted into a slim spire, made from more than 4,000 tonnes of steel. Patterns from traditional Islamic architectures are also included in the design.

In the body of Burj Khalifa, an incredible installation by Juame Plensa is displayed. This comprises 196 cymbals that are made of a mixture of bronze and brass, and which are plated with gold. The cymbals represent the 196 countries of the world and are suspended on metal rods. They are gently struck by water dropping from the ceiling above, which the artist compares to the sound of water falling on leaves.