Speed Reading — Public Toilets - Level 3 — 300 wpm 

Now do this put-the-text-back-together activity.

This is the text (if you need help).

Architects in Japan are redesigning the public toilet. They have unveiled a public toilet with transparent walls, until someone locks the door. An organisation called the Nippon Foundation created a project called "The Tokyo Toilet" to make public restrooms more attractive and usable. The idea was to use innovative design to make public toilets more accessible. An official said it wanted people to feel comfortable using public toilets, "and to foster a spirit of hospitality for the next person". World-famous architects such as Tadao Ando and Kengo Kuma participated in the project. In total, 16 top designers came up with toilets that will be dotted around in 17 parks and public spaces in Japan's capital Tokyo.

The Nippon Foundation said it wanted to stop people having a negative image of public toilets. It said many people thought toilets were "dark, dirty, stinky and scary" places. It said people care about if the toilets are clean, and that "no one is secretly waiting inside". The first transparent toilets opened in a park in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on August the 16th. They immediately became a tourist attraction with many people lining up to take photos of them, and of course to do their business. The toilet walls are transparent - you can see the white toilets and sinks from the outside. However, when the door is locked, the special film and glass walls suddenly become opaque so no one on the outside can see inside.

Comprehension questions
  1. What did architects in Japan unveil?
  2. What is the name of the project mentioned in the article?
  3. What did someone want the toilets to foster a spirit of?
  4. How many designers worked on the new toilets?
  5. How many parks and public spaces will the toilets be put in?
  6. What kind of image of toilets does the Nippon Foundation want to stop?
  7. What did the foundation say someone might be secretly doing?
  8. What did people line up outside the toilets to do?
  9. What covers the glass walls?
  10. What happens to the walls when the door is locked?

Back to the public toilets lesson.

More Activities