World News for Students of English

22-05-2015 15:00

The Shanghai Tower is set to be the world’s second tallest building when it’s completed in the summer. The 120 floors of the 632-metre structure will make the building the tallest in China but bringing it just under 200 metres lower than the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

“So, when Sears Tower was built, there was a recession. When the Petronas Towers were built, there was a recession. When the Burj Khalifa was built, there was a recession. This is not the world’s tallest building so there’s no recession. So, that’s the world’s tallest building curse, not the skyscraper curse.

So, it’s actually better to be number two than number one. I think one of the most profitable skyscrapers in the world is the Empire State Building. But for the first 10 years, it didn’t make any money because it was opening during a recession.

I think that goes back to the skyscraper—the world’s tallest building curse. There was a recession right after that. But now, it’s one of the most successfully rented buildings in the world because it’s iconic, people know it and people want to be in it.”

The Shanghai Tower is set to house mainly financial institutions and government agencies.

Difficult words: structure (a building), recession (when the economy is not doing very well), curse (people believe that curses can make bad things happen), house verb (to provide somebody with a place).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com