Welcome
to
Venice
,
everybody
!
To
start
our
tour
today
,
I
want
to
tell
you
about
a
____________________
we
face
in
our
beautiful
city
:
floods
.
You
see
,
a
large
portion
of
Venice
was
built
on
a
salt
marsh
.
City
planners
had
to
find
a
way
to
____________________
space
and
use
every
part
of
the
marsh
.
Builders
placed
hundreds
of
wooden
logs
deep
into
the
marsh
.
Then
they
placed
building
foundations
on
top
of
the
logs
.
By
doing
this
,
they
were
able
to
____________________
the
salt
marsh
into
land
for
farming
.
But
the
salt
marsh
is
like
a
giant
sponge
.
The
weight
of
the
city
pushes
down
on
the
salt
marsh
and
buildings
slowly
sink
into
the
water
.
High
tides
,
called
acqua
alta
,
are
also
a
problem
.
Now
,
Venice
floods
on
a
regular
basis
.
Venetian
____________________
are
used
to
the
floods
,
but
our
old
and
beautiful
buildings
suffer
.
Many
____________________
are
damaged
by
the
water
and
the
____________________
of
these
buildings
is
very
expensive
.
The
city
is
now
building
water
barriers
that
will
stop
seawater
from
flooding
the
city
.
This
____________________
project
is
called
MOSE
,
and
it
will
be
completed
soon
.
The
cost
of
this
project
is
already
more
than
seven
billion
dollars
.
Some
people
argue
that
the
project
violates
government
____________________
and
is
illegal
.
Others
believe
that
the
water
barriers
will
interfere
with
the
beauty
of
the
city
and
will
cause
tourists
to
leave
.
Let's
hope
this
does
not
happen
because
tourism
____________________
business
for
shops
,
restaurants
,
and
hotels
.
____________________
support
is
necessary
to
help
pay
for
the
MOSE
project
.
So
thank
you
for
coming
to
Venice
!
