B2 First - Reading Gapped Text Exercise

The Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California is one of the world's most beautiful bridges. (1)  Vehicles cross the bridge an average of forty-one million times each year. More than one billion eight hundred million vehicles have used the bridge since it opened more than seventy years ago.

The bridge has always been painted "International Orange" because that color went well with the natural surroundings. The color also is easier to see in the heavy fog that often covers the area. But the Golden Gate Bridge was not named for its orange color. (2)  The Golden Gate Strait is the entrance to the San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. The Golden Gate Bridge links the city of San Francisco with Marin County, California.

Planning for the bridge began in the 1920s when the area around San Francisco was growing. (3)  Joseph Strauss was the chief engineer for the project. Work began in 1933. Mister Strauss demanded the strongest safety protections in the history of bridge building. These included the first use of "hard hats" to protect the workers' heads and special glasses to protect their eyes.

A special safety net was suspended under the bridge. This net saved the lives of nineteen men during the construction. However, eleven other workers were killed when they fell from the bridge through the net. (4) 

The Golden Gate Bridge opened in 1937. It extends one thousand two hundred eighty meters across the water. The total length is two thousand seven hundred thirty-seven meters. It was the largest suspension bridge in the world until 1964. (5)  Today, the Golden Gate Bridge is the ninth longest suspension bridge in the world.

The chief engineer, Joseph Strauss, wrote a poem called "The Mighty Task is Done" after the Golden Gate Bridge was completed. It is written on the bridge.

source: voanews