Listen to the dialogue and complete the sentences in your workbook.0:03
It's so good to see you again.0:08
How was your journey?0:10
But this time my journey to Russia was much longer than usual, as I travelled by train, not by air.0:13
You travelled from Britain by train.0:20
But to do that you had to cross a number of European countries, didn't you?0:22
Why did you go to so much trouble?0:26
I wanted to use the Channel Tunnel.0:28
It's the first time I've done it in my life.0:31
Why are you interested in it?0:34
I think it's one of the greatest achievements of modern engineering.0:36
How much do you know about it?0:40
I must admit I don't know that much.0:42
I remember it was opened in the 1990s, in 1994, if I remember correctly.0:44
And before it was opened, there had been almost 200 years of debate and planning.0:50
I hear the idea of building such a tunnel first appeared in the time of Napoleon.0:56
True, but it was only in 1986 that the governments of France and Britain finally agreed to start the construction.1:01
I'm sure it was a very difficult thing to do.1:09
It was one of the greatest technological and engineering feats of the 20th century.1:12
The engineers had to build a tunnel 50 km long, 37 of them are under the water.1:17
And it had to be safe for passengers too.1:23
Do you know how they did it?1:26
The Channel Tunnel actually consists of three tunnels.1:29
In between the two main tunnels there is a smaller service tunnel which can be used in case of emergency if there is a problem in one of the train tunnels, once the service tunnel has been used.1:33
A year after they opened the tunnel, a fire broke out and a train coming from France.1:45
All the passengers were able to escape through the service tunnel.1:50
So it took several years to build the tunnel under the English Channel, or La Manche, as they call it in France and in Russia.1:54
I wonder how long it took you to travel from one end to the other.2:01
You may find it hard to believe, but it takes only 20 minutes.2:05
And nowadays it takes three hours to get from London to Paris by Eurostar.2:09
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