Bay Area Bridges
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Todd
The Golden Gate Bridge is perhaps the most famous bridge in the world. It is famous for its size, location, and color. It is nearly 9,000 feet long, and above water its towers are 740 feet tall. Its unique color is officially known as "orange vermillion." Thousands of ships sail under it every year, and believe it or not, the U.S. Navy originally wanted it to be painted black and yellow so it would be easy to see.
People often think the Golden Gate Bridge is named after the color of its paint. In actuality, the bridge is named for the color of the water in the bay. On a clear day, when the sun sets at dusk, the water turns from blue to gold, due to light from the sun reflecting off the water. When this happens, the entire inlet, or "gate" of water, becomes golden.
The bay is not always golden. San Francisco has large amounts of fog, especially in summer. Fog is like a cloud close to the ground. When warm air blows over cold water, it tends to create fog, so when the warm California air meets the cold Pacific Ocean, fog is formed, and the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge disappears!
Because of the fog, rain, and moisture from the water, the bridge collects a lot of rust. Rust is the red stuff that collects on metal after being exposed to moisture, or water. So in order to protect the bridge from rust, it is continually being painted. It is rumored that the bridge is being painted 365 days a year. As soon as they finish painting it, they immediately start all over again.
San Francisco Bay has three tall bridges: the Golden Gate, its most famous bridge, the Richmond Bridge, its longest, and the Bay Bridge, its busiest. The Bay Bridge connects the large cities of Oakland on the East Bay and San Francisco on the west. Because the bridge is between two major cities, it is almost always busy and the traffic is often bad.
The Golden Gate Bridge is beautiful to look at, but the Bay Bridge is a beautiful bridge to look from. At night, the tall buildings of San Francisco are all lit up and bright, and from the Bay Bridge, the city is a truly beautiful thing to see.
famous
The Golden Gate Bridge, perhaps the most famous bridge in
the world, is famous for it's size and color.
Something or someone that is 'famous' is recognized by people all over the world. Notice the following:
- This is the most famous picture of Marilyn Monroe.
- He became famous as a child for the role he played in
this movie.
unique
It's unique color is officially known as "orange
vermilion."
If something or someone is 'unique' it is special and different from other things like it. Notice the following:
- A lot of his ideas are unique, but I don't really agree
with him.
- Those earrings are really unique. Where did you get
them'
dusk
On a clear day, when the sun sets at dusk, the water turns
from blue to gold.
'Dusk' is the time of day when the such is going down, but there is still a little bit of light. Notice the following:
- You need to arrive before dusk, because it's really
dangerous to drive on this road at night.
- I can see just fine during the day, but at dusk things
start to get a little unclear. I think I'm going to buy
glasses.
fog
San Francisco has large amounts of fog, especially in
summer.
'Fog' is like a cloud close to the earth. If you are in fog, it is difficult to see in front of you. Notice the following:
- The fog was really bad this morning on the way to work.
- There is always a little fog in the valley in the
morning.
rumored
It is rumored that the bridge is being painted 365 days a
year.
When information is 'rumored' to be true we don't know if that information is correct, but that is what people believe to be true. Notice the following:
- That house is rumored to be haunted.
- It is rumored that they plan to get married next year,
but no official plans have been made.
look at, look from
The Golden Gate Bridge is beautiful to look at, but the Bay
Bridge is a beautiful bridge to look from.
When you 'look at' something you are viewing it from a place that is a little far away, you are standing off of the bridge and viewing it. If you 'look from' a place it means that you are standing in that place at looking at the things around it. The example is saying that one bridge is beautiful, but the view from the other one is beautiful. Notice the following:
- Come over here and look at this sofa. What do you think?
- The best part of climbing the mountain is looking at the
city from the top.
Vocabulary Quiz
foggy • rumored • look from
