World News for Students of English

03-12-2020 07:00

On Wednesday morning, workers at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, reached a turning point in the restoration of the gothic monument that was severely damaged by last year’s blaze.

The fire broke out in April 2019 while restoration of the cathedral was underway, and it destroyed the spire and two thirds of the roof. Hundreds of firefighters battled the blaze to save the monument.

Workers successfully removed all 200 tons of roof scaffolding that melted during the incident and it was considered dangerous. Officials worried that removing the scaffolding could cause more of the monument to fall down because it had melted in the building and as a result, it was keeping the building together. Now, crucial protective and stabilization work is about to proceed.

Difficult words: spire (a tall narrow structure on top of a building, usually a church tower), scaffolding (a metal structure on the outside of a building that workers use while building or repairing the building), proceed (to start an action).

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