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A2 Reading Activity • 12 Mins

🌉 Tower Bridge in London

Unit: Bridges, Tunnels and Roads

📌 How to use this lesson

👩‍🏫 Teacher's Guide

Assign this 12-minute reading to practice Past Simple and Present Simple facts about famous landmarks.

Check student answers together using the step-by-step evidence boxes under each exercise.

🧑‍🎓 Learner's Guide

Read the short news article about Tower Bridge carefully before trying the questions.

Answer the 8 questions below and check your answers with the evidence from the text.

School Website Article Reading Time: 3 mins

A vivid colorful illustration of Tower Bridge over the River Thames in London with towers and suspended roadways under b

Tower Bridge: Fast Facts & History

Tower Bridge is a famous bridge over the River Thames in London. Tower Bridge says more than 50 designs came to a competition for the work. The building of the bridge took eight years and the bridge opened to the public in 1894. Today, the crests on top of the two towers are almost 63 metres above the road, and the central span is almost 66 metres long. Builders used around 31,000,000 bricks. The first colour of the bridge was a bright chocolate brown. In 1977, workers painted it red, white and blue, the colours that people see today.

💡 Word Helper (Vocabulary)

designs: plans for how a bridge could look.

crests: the top parts of the two towers.

central span: the part of the bridge between the two towers.

bricks: hard red or brown blocks used for building walls.

✓

Practice Exercises (8 Questions)

Question 1 True / False

Tower Bridge is located in London over the River Thames.

____ True ____ False

Question 2 True / False

The building of Tower Bridge took ten years to complete.

____ True ____ False

Question 3 Multiple Choice

How many designs came to the competition for Tower Bridge?

____ a. Around 13 designs ____ b. More than 50 designs ____ c. Exactly 1894 designs

Question 4 Multiple Choice

How many bricks did builders use to construct Tower Bridge?

____ a. Around 31,000,000 bricks ____ b. Almost 63,000,000 bricks ____ c. Exactly 8,000,000 bricks

Question 5 Matching

Match each part of Tower Bridge with its correct measurement:

Feature

almost 63 metres

almost 66 metres

Height of the crests above the road

____almost 63 metres ____almost 66 metres

Length of the central span

____almost 63 metres ____almost 66 metres

Question 6 Short Answer

In which year did Tower Bridge open to the public?

Type the exact year (4 numbers):

____

Question 7 Short Answer

What was the original (first) colour of Tower Bridge?

Type your answer below:

____

Question 8 Short Answer

What three colours did workers paint Tower Bridge in 1977?

Type the three colours:

____

Reading: The Story of Tower Bridge

🌉 Tower Bridge in London

📌 How to use this lesson

Tower Bridge: Fast Facts & History

💡 Word Helper (Vocabulary)

Practice Exercises (8 Questions)

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