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Seven New Wonders

Voice 1

Hello. I’m Marina Santee.

Voice 2

And I’m Ruby Jones. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Voice 1

Imagine a large, beautiful round building. This building stands at the centre of an ancient city. Think of a great wall that is thousands of miles long. It stretches over mountains and deserts. Imagine a tall white statue. This statue rises high in the air above the sea. What names come to you when you think of these things?

Voice 2

If you said the Coliseum in Rome, the Great Wall of China, and the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Brazil then you are right! Each one of these structures is famous. Each one is loved by many people around the world. But they have something else in common too. In today’s Spotlight we will tell what that common factor is.

Voice 1

People have thought about special things for thousands of years. The people of ancient Greece were very interested in things that had been built. Groups of writers there made lists of the most wonderful structures that they knew. They wrote about buildings that were very large. They took note of others that were very beautiful. Every structure that they chose was special in some way. In an earlier Spotlight programme we talked about some of these ancient places. We talked about how a group of them have become known as the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Only one of these original seven wonders still exists today – the great pyramid at Giza in Egypt.

Voice 2

In 2001, a Swiss filmmaker named Bernard Weber was thinking about these ancient wonders. He was also thinking about the modern world and the many places in it. He said:

Voice 3

“The famous list of world wonders is more than two thousand [2000] years old, it’s time to make a new one!”

Voice 1

Bernard Weber wanted his list to be different from the ancient one. He decided that his list should not be made by only a few people. He wanted to ask the people of the world for their opinions. He wanted them to choose the seven structures that would be on the list.

Voice 2

Mr. Weber found a group of people to help him organise his project. These organisers began to ask people all over the world: which structures should be on the list? After several years, they had received a large number of suggestions – too many, in fact. It was difficult to remember them all! To solve this problem, Mr. Weber employed a group of experts to reduce the number of possible Wonders to just twenty–one [21]. Many of these experts were famous architects – they had all designed modern buildings. One member of this group was a former head of the United Nations cultural organisation – UNESCO.

Voice 1

At the start of 2006, voting began. There were twenty–one candidates. But only seven could be chosen. People were able to vote on the Internet or by telephone. And many people did so. The organisers say they received thousands of votes. Their records show that some people in every country of the world had made a choice. After more than eighteen [18] months voting finally stopped. On the seventh of July 2007, the ‘New’ Seven Wonders of the World were declared!

Voice 2

Do you know which structures were chosen? You can probably guess three of them! At the start of this programme we talked about the Coliseum in Rome, the Great Wall of China and the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Brazil. If you think that they are three of the new world wonders then you are right. Each one was a winner in the competition.

Voice 1

Three of the other winners are ancient cities. They are Petra in Jordan, Machu Picchu in Peru, and Chich?n Itz?, in Mexico. These beautiful places all provide a window into the past. The ancient buildings in them are amazing to see. They are symbols of the great skill of the people who made them.

Voice 2

The final winner of the competition is a very famous place – the Taj Mahal, in Agra. It was built by a great king of India after his wife had died – almost four hundred years ago. He wanted to have a place where he could remember her. The result was a beautiful symbol of his love. The Taj Mahal has been a place enjoyed by visitors for hundreds of years.

Voice 1

Bernard Webber was very happy with the work he and his team had done. He hoped that by encouraging people to think about the beautiful places of the world he could achieve something else too. He hoped that the people around the world could be brought together. He hoped that they would understand the value of people with different cultures.

Voice 2

Not everyone was happy with the competition though. Some groups criticised the way the event was organised. UNESCO would not give its support. They felt the project was a commercial one. They did not think that the organisers should make money from it.

Voice 1

Other people were worried about the effects the competition could have. A group of archaeologists has expressed concern about what will happen to the winning structures. They feel that the competition may encourage too many people to visit these places. These new visitors may cause great damage.

Voice 2

But in the end, Bernard Webber felt that the competition had been a success. More than one hundred million [100,000,000] people had voted. And many had voted for structures far away from the countries where they lived. Tia Viering is one of the organisers. She talked about how the competition was the first ever global vote. She said:

Voice 4

“It is so exciting. There are not many things that could bring the world together like global culture, ... this is something that every single person in the world can have an interest in.”

Voice 1

What do you think about the Seven ‘New’ Wonders of the World? Do you think the competition will bring people around the world closer together? Or do you think it was not such a good idea? You can e-mail us your comments, questions and ideas at radio @ english.net.

Voice 2

The writer of today’s programme was Nate Hobson. The producer was Rachel Hobson. All quotations were adapted for this program. The voices you heard today were from the United States, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Computer users can hear our programmes, read our scripts and see our word list on our website at www.radio.english.net. This programme is called, “Seven New Wonders.”

Voice 1

Thank you for joining us today. Until next time, goodbye.