World News for Students of English

13-03-2015 07:00

The largest ever ship built for British holidaymakers cruising into her new home in Southampton.

“The whole of Southampton, and indeed the whole of the country, was lit up by the arrival of this extraordinary ship. We had parachutists, we had confetti, we had marching bands. The ship’s whistle was blown about a hundred times.”

“What a better way to signify the arrival of the biggest and the best cruise ship designed for Britain than with the Union Flag being dropped with parachutists?”

At 1,082 feet (330 metres), Britannia’s longer than the Shard building in London is tall.

“We really wanted to come down here to suck up the atmosphere and see what’s going on.”

She cost 473 million pounds to build and is to be officially named by the Queen next week. Her maiden voyage will be to the Mediterranean.

Difficult words: cruise (to sail, move on water), indeed (used to say that something is important or very true), extraordinary (great), confetti (small pieces of paper which are thrown at celebrations), whistle (a thing which makes a loud sound), signify (to show), cruise ship (a ship for sailing for fun), to suck up the atmosphere (to be with other people), maiden voyage (first journey).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com