Sky Tree to offer world's highest bungee jump

Tokyo's newest and biggest visitor attraction, the 634-meter-high Tokyo Sky Tree in Sumida Ward, will open to the public on May 22. And if 11th-hour contract negotiations bear fruit, visitors to the Sky Tree may soon have the opportunity to plummet 430 meters (over 1,400 feet) toward terra firma, in what is claimed to be the world's highest commercial bungee jump. The new service, it was learned, has been quietly undergoing safety tests late at night. If arrangements can be finalized within this month, the first customers may be able to take death-defying dives from the Sky Tree from around mid-June. Because the project is still tentative, it has been kept under heavy wraps. To maintain secrecy while the negotiations are underway, test jumps have been conducted in the small hours of the morning, starting in January. Safety has been a major concern, and the jump's operator has agreed to a governmental condition that services will be suspended when wind speed exceeds 8 meters per second, as well as providing strict screening of would-be jumpers. Jumpers will receive a commemorative certificate with their name inscribed and a T-shirt emblazoned with "Death-defying 430-meter dive. I watered the Tokyo Sky Tree." Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fd20120401bj.html

VOCABULARY

1.       Negotiations (n) - official discussions between the representatives of opposing groups who are trying to reach an agreement, especially in business or politics

2.       Plummet (v) - to suddenly and quickly decrease in value or amount 

3.       Undergoing (v) -  To pass through; experience

4.       Death-Defying (adj.) - very dangerous

5.       Tentative (adj.) - not definite or certain, and may be changed later

6.       Wraps (n) - to keep something secret

7.       Secrecy (n) - the process of keeping something secret

8.       Underway (adj.) - happening now

9.       Suspended (v) - to officially stop something from continuing, especially for a short time

10.   Commemorative (adj.) - Honouring or preserving the memory of another.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1.       What do you think will make Tokyo Sky Tree popular?

2.       Give services you expect to see in this Sky Tree.

3.       Would you like to try bungee jumping at the Tokyo Sky Tree?

4.       Why do you think this service was kept in secrecy?

5.       Do you think Sky Tree will attract tourists?