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1 SPEAKING Can you think of any famous people from the history of Viet Nam? Use the words below to help you.
actor composer explorer inventor musician
politician / statesman scientist soldier
sportsman / sportswoman writer
2 🎧2.25 Read the introductory paragraph. Then listen. Complete the missing dates in the timeline of Benjamin Franklin's life.
Benjamin Franklin is a giant of American history, partly because he was successful in so many different areas. Today, he is perhaps remembered mostly as a scientist and inventor, but he was also a publisher, a musician, a newspaper owner, a politician and a philosopher. And he was able to do all of this despite quite a poor background.
| 1706 | Born in Boston, USA, the eighth of ten children. |
| 1 | Leaves school after only two years because his parents cannot afford to pay. |
| 1718 | Starts working for his brother James, a printer. |
| 1728 | Starts his own printing company in Philadelphia. |
| 2 | Becomes owner of a newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette. |
| 1731 | Founds America's first lending library. |
| 3 | Begins to publish the first in a series of almanacs, yearly books containing interesting facts, stories and puzzles. Their success makes Franklin rich. |
| 1748 | Retires from printing to spend more time on science and experiments. |
| 1750 | Publishes important work on electricity. |
| 4 | Carries out his famous experiment with a kite in a storm. |
| 1776 | Becomes the first American Ambassador to France, and works to improve the relationship between the two countries. |
| 1785 | Retires from politics. |
| 5 | Dies at the age of 84. Funeral is attended by 20,000 people. |
3 🎧2.25 Listen again and complete the collocations with the verbs below.
attend build carry out found publish
retire start write
1_____________ your own business
2_____________ an article for a newspaper
3_____________ a book
4_____________ a hospital
5_____________ a scientific experiment
6_____________ strong relations between two countries
7_____________ from a job
8_____________ a funeral
4 SPEAKING Describe the picture using the words below. Have you heard of this experiment? What do you think Franklin was trying to discover?
cord electricity key kite
lightning spark storm clouds
5 🎧2.26 Listen to a news report about Franklin's famous kite experiment. Are the sentences true (T) or false (F)?
1 Franklin's experiment became well known in America and other countries too.
2 According to the traditional story, Franklin bought a kite and attached a piece of metal to it.
3 According to the story, Franklin put his hand near the piece of metal and felt an electrical spark.
4 Dr Tom Tucker began investigating the experiment while working at a university.
5 Dr Tucker first became suspicious after reading Franklin's own reports of the experiment.
6 Dr Tucker successfully recreated Franklin's experiment when he used a modern kite.
6 SPEAKING Work in pairs. Discuss the following quotation by Benjamin Franklin. What does it mean? Do you agree or disagree with it?
Hard work is the mother of good luck.'
