VI. Can you decipher the message?

L..s that extended across streams probably served as the first b…..s. That was a c……..r bridge. A simple bridge on the s……..n principlewas made by early man by m…s of ropes. A platform of w…n mats was laid across ropes to make a secure c……g. The first bridge k…n to historians was an a..h b….e built in Babylon about …. Romans used b….s and s…e as building materials.

During the M….e Ages, m……e bridges called d………s were built. In the 1500’s t…s bridges were d…….d.

During the period of railroad e…….niron trusses r……d stone a….s. In the late 1800s, s…l became the chief m……l used in bridge c……….n. This s….g and l…t material revolutionized bridge b……g.

In the 20^th c…..y the steel-and-c……e g….r bridge was one of the most commonly u..d bridge d…..s. New materials are being looked for to i…..e bridge design, construction, and m………e.

VII. Make the word combinations using the derivatives from the words in brackets:

(strong) of the material, bridge (construct), (suspend) bridges, (available) of steel, to be (embed) into the banks, (addition) support, ropes (suspend) from rocks, elaborate (scaffold), period of railroad (expand), to cost (consider), one of the most (common) used, concrete (reinforce) with steel bars.

VIII. Find the synonyms to the words in italics:

Wood beams were set into the banks on each side of the river. Moveable bridges called drawbridges were constructed across the ditches of many castles in Europe. Truss bridges were made in the 1500’s. The basic girder bridge was made stronger by adding support piers underneath and by intensifying the structure with elaborate falsework called a truss. As railway building expanded all over the world, bridge design and building were aimed to carry these heavy vehicles over new obstructions.