The Penthagon

Famous Places
The Pentagon
The Pentagon Pre-Reading Warm Up Questions ☀
The Pentagon is the home of the United States Department of 1. Do you know what the Pentagon is and where it is
Defense. It is located in Arlington, Virginia, although its located?
mailing address is Washington, DC.
2. Have you ever been to Washington, D.C.? If so, what
It was built during the Second World War to provide more sites did you see?
space for the War Department. Built on swamp land that had 3. Do you know what the prefix, “penta” means?
been used as a dump, the builders used sand and gravel from
the nearby Potomac River to construct it. It took only 16 4. Look at the picture of the Pentagon. Can you guess
how many square feet of office space it has?
months to complete and cost about $83 million. It was opened
in January 1943. 5. How many people do you think work in the Pentagon?
The building is composed of five wedge-shaped sections that 6. What do you think the Pentagon represents to many
together form a five-sided pentagon. These sections surround a people around the world?
five-acre open space, or plaza. A snack bar is in the middle of
the plaza.
The Pentagon has almost four million square feet of office

space, which is more office space than any other office
building in the world. There are five floors above ground, two
floors below ground, 131 stairways, 19 escalators, and more
than 17 miles of corridors. It takes a maximum of only seven
minutes to get from one point to another in the building.
About 23,000 military and civilian employees and 3,000

support staff work in the Pentagon. As well as offices, the
building has a dining room, two cafeterias, six snack bars, 284
rest rooms, 691 water fountains, and 4,200 clocks. It is
COMPREHENSION ✍
surrounded by 200 acres of lawn and has almost 9,000 parking
spots in 16 parking lots. A. True or False. Read the statements below. If the
statement is true, write T beside the sentence. If it is
It also has several research libraries, a post office that false, write F. If it is false, correct the information.
processes more than one million pieces of mail each month,
1. The Pentagon is the home of the president of the United
and 100,000 miles of telephone cable. Employees make a total
States.
of more than 200,000 phone calls on an average work day.
2. The Pentagon was built during World War I to give the
The Pentagon is a very impressive building. However, it is U.S. War Department more space.
perhaps best known throughout the world as the symbol of the
3. There is a huge open space in the middle of the
military power of the United States. On September 11th, 2001,
Pentagon.
the Pentagon was attacked by terrorists. A hijacked 747 jet
flew into the west side of the building. 125 occupants died as 4. The Pentagon is the tallest office building in the world.
well as all of the passengers on board the plane.
5. Only military people work in the Pentagon.
1
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Famous Places
The Pentagon
B. Practice asking and answering the following questions with your partner. Then write the answers in complete sentences.
1. Why was the Pentagon built?

2. Where is the Pentagon located?
3. Briefly describe the Pentagon.
4. Besides office space, what other facilities does the Pentagon have?
5. Why does the Pentagon require so much telephone cable?
6. Who works in the Pentagon?
7. What does the Pentagon symbolize to many people around the world?
VOCABULARY REVIEW ✍
A. Choose the word(s) with the closest meaning to the underlined words in the following sentences.
1. The Pentagon is composed of five wedge-shaped sections.

a) is painted b) is made up of c) employs
2. The Pentagon is composed of five wedge-shaped sections.
a) shaped like a V b) round c) square shaped
3. A snack bar is in the middle of the plaza.
a) an exercise room b) a place to buy alcohol c) a place to buy light meals, candy, etc.
4. There are more that 17 miles of corridors in the Pentagon.
a) telephone cables b) hallways c) lawn DISCUSS
5. The Pentagon is a very impressive building.
a) big b) leaving a strong effect on the memory c) having a lot of soldiers 1. Have you ever been to the Pentagon?
6. There are 284 rest rooms in the Pentagon. If so, tell your classmates what it was
a) washrooms b) places to relax c) staff rooms like.
B. Match the words on the left with the correct meaning on the right. 2. What other buildings around the
world represent great power? Where
_____ 1. defense a) area of grass are they located? Have you visited
_____ 2. provide b) measure of land any of these? If so, describe them.
_____ 3. swamp c) help
_____ 4. dump d) study 3. Why do you think the September
_____ 5. gravel e) do or give what is necessary 11th terrorists chose the Pentagon as
_____ 6. construct f) group of workers a place to crash the plane?
_____ 7. acre g) protecting against danger
_____ 8. military h) not part of the army 4. Why do you think the Pentagon has a
_____ 9. civilian i) soft, wet land mailing address of Washington,
_____ 10. support j) build D.C., but is actually located in
_____ 11. staff k) small stones and small pieces of rock Arlington, Virginia?
_____ 12. lawn l) army; soldiers
_____ 13. research m) place to put garbage
2
Famous Places
The Pentagon
ANSWER KEY
Please note: The reading for this topic is also available in full-page format at the end of the lesson (page 4).
PRE-READING QUESTIONS
1-5. Individual answer
COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
A. True or False
1. F 2. F 3. T 4. F 5. F
B. Written Answers
1. The Pentagon was built to provide more space for the U.S. War Department.
2. The Pentagon is located in Arlington, Virginia.
3. The Pentagon consists of five wedge-shaped sections that together form a five-sided pentagon. These sections surround
a five-acre open plaza. The Pentagon has multiple staircases, escalators and corridors.
4. Besides office space, the Pentagon has a dining room and a post office, as well as multiple cafeterias, snack bars,
research libraries and rest rooms.
5. The Pentagon requires lots of telephone cable because of the high volume of phone calls employees make each day.
6. There are about 23,000 military and civilian employees and 3,000 support staff who work in the Pentagon.
7. To many people around the world, the Pentagon symbolizes the military power of the United States.
VOCABULARY REVIEW
A. Choose the word(s) with the closest...
1. b 2. a 3. c 4. b 5. b 6. a
B. Match the words
1. g 2. e 3. i 4. m 5. k 6. j 7. b
8. l 9. h 10. c 11. f 12. a 13. d
3
Famous Places
The Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the home of the United States Department of Defense. It is located in Arlington, Virginia,
although its mailing address is Washington, DC.
It was built during the Second World War to provide more space for the War Department. Built on swamp land
that had been used as a dump, the builders used sand and gravel from the nearby Potomac River to construct it.
It took only 16 months to complete and cost about $83 million. It was opened in January 1943.
The building is composed of five wedge-shaped sections that together form a five-sided pentagon. These sections
surround a five-acre open space, or plaza. A snack bar is in the middle of the plaza.
The Pentagon has almost four million square feet of office space, which is more office space than any other office
building in the world. There are five floors above ground, two floors below ground, 131 stairways, 19 escalators,
and more than 17 miles of corridors. It takes a maximum of only seven minutes to get from one point to another
in the building.
About 23,000 military and civilian employees and 3,000 support staff work in the Pentagon. As well as offices,
the building has a dining room, two cafeterias, six snack bars, 284 rest rooms, 691 water fountains, and 4,200
clocks. It is surrounded by 200 acres of lawn and has almost 9,000 parking spots in 16 parking lots.
It also has several research libraries, a post office that processes more than one million pieces of mail each
month, and 100,000 miles of telephone cable. Employees make a total of more than 200,000 phone calls on an
average work day.
The Pentagon is a very impressive building. However, it is perhaps best known throughout the world as the
symbol of the military power of the United States. On September 11th, 2001, the Pentagon was attacked by
terrorists. A hijacked 747 jet flew into the west side of the building. 125 occupants died as well as all of the
passengers on board the plane.
4

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Famous Places

The Pentagon Pre-Reading Warm Up Questions ☀

The Pentagon has almost four million square feet of office

About 23,000 military and civilian employees and 3,000

1. Why was the Pentagon built?

1. The Pentagon is composed of five wedge-shaped sections.

B. Match the words

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