1 . Few people are aware that Waterloo Bridge, crossed by thousands of daily commuters (每天长途上下班的人) and celebrated as a London landmark, was mainly built by a female workforce.
There are no written or photographic records of the women who built the bridge since the construction company that built it closed in the 1980s and with it went all the records. What’s left is anecdotal evidence, kept alive by the tourist boat skippers who have called it the Ladies Bridge.
During the Second World War, with the majority of the active male labor-force away at the front, women increasingly took on traditionally male roles. By 1944, 25,000 women were working in the construction industry, carrying out back-breaking tasks. These women were permitted to carry out this exhausting and dangerous work on the basis that it would only be temporary and that their pay would be lower than that of men. So the surge (激增) in women working in construction and engineering did not continue after the war.
September sees a series of events celebrating the unknown work of the large female workforce. Musician Claudia Molitor has created a 45-minute musical entitled “the Singing Bridge”, which runs at Somerset House from Sept9th. to Sept25th. In late September, the “Light up the Ladies Bridge” event saw the National Theatre’s fly tower lit up by large scale photographic projections (投影片) of female construction workers working in construction during World War II.
Let’s all celebrate the women who have helped to build the cities in which we live.
1. Why do few people know about the builders of Waterloo Bridge?| A．The records of their work have been lost. |
| B．Female workers received little attention. |
| C．The construction took place long ago. |
| D．Few people know about the bridge. |
| A．There are less female workers in London. |
| B．Waterloo Bridge is popular among artists. |
| C．The story of Waterloo Bridge is better known. |
| D．Many works of art were created during World War II. |
| A．It was a tradition in London. |
| B．They wanted to get a steady job. |
| C．Most men had gone to the battlefield. |
| D．The company offered them better pay. |
| A．Female Workers on the Rise |
| B．A Hidden Treasure in London |
| C．A New London Landmark |
| D．The Story behind the Ladies Bridge |
