A new site from Google puts its Street View tools to work to showcase some of the most storied and
beautiful places on Earth.
Google unveiled this
morning a new undertaking from its Cultural Institute called the World
Wonders Project. On the site, viewers can explore a map with pins marking famed places around the world and
then, aided by visuals from Google's Street View technology, they can go in
and explore "in 360 degrees just as if you were there." The project
currently includes 132 destinations from 18 countries in North and South
America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. No sites from Africa have yet been
included, and the offerings from South America and Asia are noticeably sparse. Google did not say how it had
made decisions about what to highlight,
but that the selection would expand over time. Partners including UNESCO and
World Monuments Fund provided information that runs alongside the virtual
destinations.
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VOCABULARY
1.
Showcase
- an event or situation that is designed to show the good qualities of a
person, organization, product etc
2.
Unveiled
- to show or tell people about a new product or plan for the first time
3.
Explore -
to travel around an area in order to find out about it
4.
Sparse - existing
only in small amounts
5.
Highlight
- to make a problem or subject easy to notice so that people pay attention
to it
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1.
What can you say about the project?
2.
Is virtual travel good? Why? Why not?
3.
What place would you like to be included in the
project? Why?
4.
Talk about interesting places in your country
