Gotthard tunnel reopens – level 2
05-09-2024 07:00
The Gotthard Base Tunnel, the longest railway tunnel in the world, reopened on Monday, over a year after a train accident forced it to close.
Last August, a freight train had an accident because of a broken wheel. This caused a lot of damage to the tunnel. After the accident, workers had to remove the train and fix the tunnel, which was very difficult due to the high temperatures inside. The total cost to repair the tunnel was 159 million euros. The closure caused big problems for rail transportation, especially for Italian companies, because they had to find new routes for their trains. This accident happened just before another important rail connection between Italy and France closed because of a landslide.
Difficult words: freight train (a train which carries things rather than people), fix (to repair something what is broken), route (a way between places).
You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.
What were the consequences of the Gotthard Base Tunnel accident for Italian companies and why was it particularly problematic for them?
LEARN 3000 WORDS with NEWS IN LEVELS
News in Levels is designed to teach you 3000 words in English. Please follow the instructions
below.
How to improve your English with News in Levels:
Test
- Do the test at Test Languages.
- Go to your level. Go to Level 1 if you know 1-1000 words. Go to Level 2 if you know 1000-2000 words. Go to Level 3 if you know 2000-3000 words.
Reading
- Read two news articles every day.
- Read the news articles from the day before and check if you remember all new words.
Listening
- Listen to the news from today and read the text at the same time.
- Listen to the news from today without reading the text.
Writing
- Answer the question under today’s news and write the answer in the comments.
Speaking
- Choose one person from the Skype section.
- Talk with this person. You can answer questions from Speak in Levels.
Stock images by Depositphotos
