APIEReading: How the Eiffel Tower was built
Building sites and repairs
Answers and an explanation for each question appear once you add this activity to your own library.
How the Eiffel Tower Was Built
A short reading lesson on dates, numbers, workers, and rivets.
💡 How to Use This Lesson
👩🏫 For Teachers
• Use this 12-minute module to practice simple past facts and reporting sources with A2 learners.
• Check student answers after all 8 questions, using the exact text evidence provided in each answer key.
🧑🎓 For Learners
• First, read the passage carefully and look at the sticky note definitions for new words.
• Next, answer Questions 1 to 8 in order and check your evidence for each answer.
📰 Building Paris's Famous Landmark
🔊 ListenConstruction work on the metal tower in Paris (1887–1889).
The Eiffel Tower is a tall metal tower in Paris, France. The ASCE says that workers built the tower for the International Exhibition of Paris of 1889. The Eiffel Tower company says that work began in January 1887 and finished on 31 March 1889. That was two years, two months and five days. It says that the tower has 18,038 metal pieces. Workers joined the pieces with rivets. The company says that there were 2,500,000 rivets, and only a third were put in on site. It says that 150 to 300 workers put the pieces together. The ASCE says that at 300 metres, it was the tallest building in the world until 1930.
VOCAB Word Bank & Helpful Meanings
ASCE
American Society of Civil Engineers: an official group of engineers who decide which buildings and bridges are important.
International Exhibition
A large world show in Paris where people presented new ideas, inventions, and machines to the public.
Rivet
A small metal pin used to join two metal pieces tightly together.
Site
The actual place where workers build or repair a structure.
Interactive Reading Exercises
Complete all 8 questions below. Read the text evidence to double-check your answers.
Statement: The Eiffel Tower is located in Paris, France, and the ASCE is a group of engineers.
Statement: According to the ASCE, workers built the tower for the International Exhibition of Paris of 1889.
How long did the construction work take, according to the Eiffel Tower company?
How many metal pieces does the Eiffel Tower company say the tower has?
Match each detail about the rivets to its correct number or proportion:
How many workers put the metal pieces together, according to the Eiffel Tower company?
Complete the missing year based on the ASCE statement:
"The ASCE says that at 300 metres, it was the tallest building in the world until ____."
Write the 4-digit year in the box above.
Match each fact to the correct reporting source in the text:
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