NEWS · C1 Level - Part 1

Notre Dame Reopens

For the first time in more than five years, the bells ring out at Notre Dame.

Level: C1 · 23 sentences

Transcript

  1. For the first time in more than five years,
  2. the bells ring out at Notre Dame.
  3. The cathedral officially reopened.
  4. The pomp and circumstance celebrating the restored monument.
  5. An impressive backdrop to Donald Trump's return to the world stage as president-elect.
  6. A symbolic knock on the door by the Archbishop of Paris.
  7. The cathedral awakens,
  8. and resounds with a hymn of praise,
  9. and then applause for the firefighters who risked their lives to save what they could.
  10. A devastating fire damaged the Paris landmark in April 2019.
  11. A global audience watched in horror as the famous spire toppled.
  12. The historic reopening bringing together some 50 heads of state,
  13. including Trump, who met with President Macron at the Elysee Palace before the ceremony began.
  14. Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was also in Paris for the reopening,
  15. and took the opportunity to continue to advocate for U.S. support in his country's war with Russia.
  16. Trump and Macron seated together as the French President noted the symbolism in the rebuilding of this monument.
  17. "We have rediscovered what the great nations can do."
  18. "We can achieve the impossible."
  19. "And this cathedral is a happy metaphor for what a nation and what the world can be."
  20. Next, the organ was called back to life.
  21. Its 8,000 pipes took six months to tune, clean, and reassemble.
  22. Notre Dame now restored beyond its previous glory,
  23. and ready to hold its first mass on Sunday.