News Exercise #61

1) Describe the roof of the planned stadium.
2) How does the planned Tokyo Olympic stadium compare to the London Olympic stadium?
3) What was the final concern?
4) What was the meaning of the graphic at the end?

1) Describe the roof of the planned stadium.
There will be enormous arches that will support a retractable roof.
2) How does the planned Tokyo Olympic stadium compare to the London Olympic stadium?
There will be the same number of seats (80,000) but it will be twice the size.
3) What was the final concern?
Japan already has a lot of stadiums, so maybe it doesn’t need another.
4) What was the meaning of the graphic at the end?
A “white elephant” means a possession that it difficult to dispose of, and may involve great expense to the owner.
Dictionary.com explains this idiom as originating in the 1850s when the king of Siam would give a white elephant as a gift to someone who disagreed with him, which he cannot refuse to accept, and the huge costs of keeping it would bankrupt the new owner.