World Exhibitions: Bringing People Together

Spotlight English

Voice 1

Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Roger Basick.

Voice 2

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

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Voice 1

In 2025, 28 million people will gather in Osaka, Japan. It will not be to watch the FIFA World Cup of football. It will not be to watch the Olympic Games. It will not be a gathering of world leaders. Instead, all these people will travel to Osaka to see the World Exhibition.

Voice 2

Today’s Spotlight is on the World’s Exhibition. The World’s Exhibition is a gathering of many countries. It collects the best each country has to offer in one place. It pulls together building design, technology, and culture. Then, people come to see the exhibitions or shows. In this way, they get a small experience of the world’s most important ideas. It is like travelling around the world in one place.

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Today, it is easy to learn about the world. The internet makes information faster to get than ever before. But things have not always been this way. And people have always wanted to learn about other parts of the world.

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In the year 1851, there were few ways for people to communicate over large distances. New information spread through newspapers and books. The telegraph, a long-distance form of communication, was very new. Information moved slowly from place to place.

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For many people, the best place to learn anything was at the local market, or fair. People would come from far away to meet at the market. People gathered in the market to buy and sell food, clothes, and other products. They also shared ideas and stories. So, in the year 1851, Prince Albert of England proposed a different kind of market. It would gather the whole world together. That year, he held the first World Exhibition.

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Countries came to London, England, and set up displays. These displays were a place to show art, design, or culture. England built a new building just for the event. It was made of steel and glass. They called it the Crystal Palace. Many exhibits were new machines. But there were also clothes and art. It was the most important social event of its time. Over six million people visited the first exhibition.

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Soon, other countries wanted to welcome the best designers and thinkers to their countries. They wanted to show the world what they could do. Most European countries have held exhibitions. France has held several. But the exhibition has gone all around the world. It has gone to Australia, Peru, Japan, and Chile. Large countries like the United States and Russia have held exhibitions. But smaller countries like Ireland, Haiti, and Belgium have also held exhibitions.

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However, controlling and organizing World Exhibitions was a problem. So, in 1928 different governments created an organization to manage the World Exhibitions. It was called the Bureau International des Exposition or BIE. The BIE is now responsible for managing where and when the World’s Exhibitions are held.

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Today, the BIE authorizes two kinds of World Exhibitions. These are called Specialized Expos and World Expos. World Expos are closer to the presentations of the earliest World Exhibitions. Specialized Expos have special themes. World Expos are larger. They show off more general ideas. And World Expos only happen every five years.

Voice 2

A World Exhibition improves many cites that it visits. Often, famous buildings remain after the Exhibition finishes. The Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Space Needle in Seattle are two examples. Cities such as Lisbon, Chicago, and Vancouver have made the buildings from their World Exhibition into public places. Many supporters of the World Exhibitions see them as a chance to renew their city.

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The World Exhibition is also the first place many technologies appeared. These technologies include the telephone, television, the sewing machine, computer technology, and atomic energy. At the 1970 World Exhibition, there were even rocks from the moon!

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Erik Larson wrote about Chicago’s 1893 World Exhibition in his book “The Devil in the White City.” It was called the White City because so many of the exposition’s buildings were painted white. He wrote about a new ride called a Ferris Wheel:

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“George W. Ferris invented the wheel just for the Exhibition. It was an answer to France’s Eiffel Tower. The wheel required amazing engineering. It was supported by two one hundred forty foot steel towers and connected by a forty-five foot center bar. This was the largest single piece of steel made at the time. The wheel was two hundred fifty feet across. It had thirty-six cabins that held six riders each. The Ferris Wheel carried almost one and a half million people during the Exhibition.”

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As time went on, the aim of holding a World Exhibition became less about showing the latest technology or design. It became more about solving global problems. In 2008, the new BIE president thought water was an important international subject. He said:

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“World Exhibitions are educational and fun events. They show great creativity and imagination. These global problems are very important, especially clean water. They create a duty in the countries of the world. These countries need to share, at the fair, their best experiences in solving the problems people of this planet face.”

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Other problems that Exhibitions examined have included city planning, caring for the oceans, and how people live in their homes. The 2025 World Exposition is in Osaka, Japan. It will examine how to design a better society. This includes ways to connect, save, and empower lives. Different weeks of the Exhibition will focus on special issues as well. These include solving world hunger, eliminating discrimination, and preserving diverse life on earth.

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Today, some people believe that the World Exhibitions are no longer necessary. Information can move quickly around the world. It costs a lot of money to hold a World Exhibition. And there are many smaller global gatherings for people in different areas such as medicine, design, sports, or food.

Voice 2

However, many people argue that the World Exhibition still has value. These people believe that World Exhibition are about more than receiving information. These Exhibition are about gathering the people of the world together. These show the problems that people can solve when they work together. Dimitri Kerkentzes is the Secretary General of BIE. He spoke at the 2020 Dubai Exhibition. He said:

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“More than ever, the world is asking for what the Expos stand for. It asks for new ideas, a desire for unity, and positive thinking for the future. This world’s Expo was a place to meet and connect. It has encouraged positive change. It has strengthened the will to make the world of tomorrow more caring than it is today. It is this message of firm positive belief that Expo Dubai 2020 has given to the world. This message is that, by coming together and sharing ideas, we can build a better future.”

Voice 1

Are gatherings like the World Exhibition important? Why or why not? You can leave a comment on our website at www.spotlightenglish.com. You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Or you can get programs delivered directly to your Android or Apple device through our free official Spotlight English app.

Voice 2

This program revised a previous program called “World’s Fairs: Bringing Cultures Together.” Writer Dan Christmann revised the current program. The producer was Dan Christmann. The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. This program is called, ‘The World Exhibition: Bringing People Together’.

Voice 1

We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.

Question:

Have you ever been to a world expo? Are gatherings like these important? Why or why not?

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