Focus on Grammar

UNIT 7THEY CHANGED THE WORLDDiscussion point1. Are you interested in science? inventions?2. Where do you usually read about them?3. Which of the ancient inventions/discoveries surprised you most of all?4. When and where was this invention/discovery made?Read the text and say what scientists the story is about.Eurica!He once said: “I wasn’t able to get along at school – I was always at the bottom ofmy class.” But he managed to become one of the most famous inventors of his time.One of his first inventions was the phonograph (1877), a machine which was able torecord sounds and play them back. Later he and other inventors improved its design sothat it was able to record music. He also managed to invent a practical light bulb. Hedidn’t invent the first light bulb, but after eighteen months of hard work, he was able toproduce a reliable, long-lasting bulb in 1879. No wonder that he said.“Genius is one per cent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.”He invented the telephone, one of the most important inventions of the 19th century.In fact, he didn’t plan to invent a means of mass communication. He was trying to inventsomething to help people who suffered from deafness. One day when he was tryingto see the results of his invention, he discovered that people in different rooms couldcommunicate with each other using the same equipment.He was a Greek mathematician. He had a sharp mind. His famous principle is aboutwhat happens to an object when you put it water – and what happens to the water. Thefamous story about him is that he discovered his principle while he was sitting in thebath. In fact, it took him many years to prove it.One day he was trying to tell Hiero, the king of Syracuse, that his gold crown wasnot all gold. When he put the crown in a bowl of water, it didn’t displace enough water– it wasn’t heavy enough to be gold. Hiero got terribly angry. The man who made thecrown went to prison.(See the answers on p. ---)Your turn1. Do you know anything else about these scientists?2. What other scientists do you think changed our world?3. Did any scientist from our country make a historical discovery?4. Who was the first to invent a wheel, paper, powder?79