Task 8 Use of English

50th Birthday of the LEGO Brick

The 50th birthday of the LEGO brick was in January 2008 and there was plenty to (39)_____ . Children all over the world have played with LEGO bricks for the past 50 years, and LEGO is still right at the (40)_____ of many wish lists - just as it always has been. Industry and trade associations also recognize the LEGO success. Just before the turn of the millennium the LEGO brick was voted “Toy of the Century”, one of the (41)_____ awards in the toy industry, by both Fortune Magazine in the US and the British Association of Toy Retailers.

The LEGO history began in 1932 in Denmark, when Ole Kirk Christansen (42)_____ a small factory for wooden toys in the unknown town of Billund in the south of the country. To find a name for his company he organized a (43)_____ among his employees. As fate would have it however, he himself came up with the best name: LEGO - a fusion of the Danish words “LEg” and “GOdt” (“play well”).

Barely 15 years later Christiansen discovered plastic (44)_____ the ideal material for toy production, and bought the first injection moulding machine in Denmark. His courage, input and investment paid off: in 1949 he developed the LEGO brick prototype, which continues to excite countless children and adults to this very day. Over the years he perfected the brick, which is (45)_____ the basis of the entire LEGO game and building system today. Production of LEGO bricks with Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) began in 1963. This matt finish plastic is extremely hard, has a scratch and bite-resistant surface, and is ideal for (46)_____ the bricks connected.

There are 2,400 different LEGO brick shapes, which are produced with the greatest of precision and subjected to constant controls. Each injection mould is permitted a tolerance of no more than one thousandth of a millimetre, (47)_____ bricks of every colour and size stay (48)_____ connected, allowing LEGO fans to build entire cities from all kinds of LEGO elements.