I.

INTRODUCTION
1. Look at the photographs. Discuss these questions.
a. What are the items in each photograph being used for? What was their original use?
b Are there any items that you use for something other than their original use?
c. How many different uses can you think of for each of the items above?

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II. READING AND USE OF ENGLISH

1 Look at the photos. Which of the materials below is each of the items made from? There
may be more than one possible answer.
bamboo cotton linen rattan silk steel wood
2. What other items can you think of which can be made from these materials?
3. You are going to read an article about four pioneers of early flying machines. Look at the
illustrations. Which machine would you most / least like to have tried out?
4. Read the texts quickly and match them to the illustrations. Are your ideas still the same?
Multiple matching
5. For questions 1-10, choose from the people (A-D). The people may be chosen more than
once.
Which person
1. was also an author?
2. got bored with his invention?
3. spent a long time on his invention?
4. almost lost a team member during his flight attempt?
5. accepted his death?
6. was not let down by his apparatus?
7. jumped from a building?
8. had more success with a different invention?
9. did trials before he flew in his invention?
10. flew with more than one other person?
Pioneers of Flight
Since time immemorial people have wished they could fly. With hindsight, some may wish they hadn't
tried .
A The Belgian de Groof worked for years on an apparatus intended to emulate the flight of birds.
For this purpose, he constructed a device with bat­like wings. The framework was made of wood
and rattan; the huge wings were covered with strong, waterproof silk, as was the long tail. The
machine was controlled by levers. De Groof's first trial, which consisted of jumping from a great
height to the Grand Place in Brussels, ended in failure, and he was lu cky to escape unhurt. His

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 second attempt was successful, but his third , on 9 July 1894, was not. Having planned to
descend into the River Thames, de Groof was taken up by balloon and then released from a
height of 1,000 feet. For some unknown reason the wing frame collapsed and he fell to his death.
There was almost a second accident when the balloonist having lost control of the balloon,
landed in front of an approaching train, which just managed to stop in time.
B On 8 October 1883 Gaston Tissandier and his brother, Albert became the first to fit an electric
motor to an airship, thus creating the first electric­powered flight and enabling airships to be
steered. In order to form some idea of the results which could be obtained, the brothers first
performed tests on a small­scale model in their own laboratory near Paris. The airship they
finally constructed was huge ­ ninety­two feet long with a diameter of thirty feet. The bamboo
pannier, which was attached by twenty ropes to the envelope, contained the Siemens electric
motor. The test was a relative success. The flight lasted just over an hour and the brothers landed
safely. They had been able to steer the airship at will but said that they would have had problems
had the weather not been fair.
C Otto Lilienthal studied the science of aviation and published two books on the subject. He
constructed a machine in which he threw himself from a height remained in the air for a time and
then gradually descended to earth. His machine consisted of a framework of thin wooden rods
covered with linen fixed securely to his shoulders. It took the shape of two slightly concave
wings, with a raised tailpiece at the rear. A pair of rudders was fitted to help him steer. Mr
Lilienthal first launched himself in his machine from a tower on a hilltop near Berlin. On 9
August 1896, Otto Lilienthal crashed to earth­from a height of fifty feet while testing a new type
of steering device. He died the following day. His last words were reported to be: 'Sacrifices
must be made.'
D On 31July1894, for the first time in history, a flying machine actually left the ground, fully
equipped with engines, boiler, fuel, water and a crew of three. Its inventor was Hiram Maxim,
who had invested £20,000 in its construction. The machine was a large steam­driven structure
formed of steel tubes and wires with five wings . Maxim began tests in 1894. On the third try the
plane, which was powered up to forty miles per hour, left its track and continued on its way
cutting a path through the grass for some 200 yards. At times it reached an altitude of two 10
three feet above the ground before it finally crashed . After this Maxim lost interest in flying and
went on to other inventions, making his fortune with the invention of the Maxim machine gun.
6. Discuss these questions.
a How important has the invention of the aeroplane been?
b What do you think are the worst inventions ever?
III. VOCABULARY
PART A
1. According to the text, how are new products named? Can you think of more examples?
The name’s the thing
How do appliances, gadgets and products get their names? Sometimes they are named after their
inventor, like the jacuzzi, named after Roy Jacuzzi. Sometimes the names are purely descriptive.
They say what the invention does, like the can opener, or how it does it, like the automatic
washing machine, or the mechanical digger. Some products are named by combining clever
words or sounds together, like the mint sweet 'Tic Tacs'®or the chocolate bar 'Kit Kat'®.
Nowadays, especially, a great deal of careful thought goes into naming any invention or new
product, as a catchy name can guarantee the first few sales. Giving a product the wrong name
can have a disastrous effect on sales. The Vauxhall Nova's name had to be changed for the
Spanish car market. In Spanish 'nova' makes the car sound anything but speedy and reliable. It
means 'it doesn't go'.
2. What are your favourite product names?
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Adjective suffixes
3. Look at the adjectives in italics in the text above. What nouns or verbs are they related to?
What suffixes have been added to the root words? What does the prefix auto mean?
4. Complete these sentences with an adjective related to the word in brackets.
a Post­its®are small yellow pieces of _______ (stick) paper.
b Some gadgets are (use), but some are completely _______ (use).
c The skirt is made from a _______ (fashion), _______ (stretch) material.
d People who work in advertising need to be _______ (create) and come up with _______
original ideas.
e Wear _______ (protect) clothing when doing _____ (science) experiments which involve
handling _______ (danger) chemicals.
5. For questions 1-8, read the text below. Use the word given in capitals at the end of some of
the lines to form a word that fits in the gap in the same line. There is an example at the
beginning (0).
If you invent something, it is always a (0) ___sensible___ idea to SENSE
patent it. A patent is simply an (1) _ _ ___ document which protects OFFICE
your invention and stops other people stealing your ideas. Although
it can be quite a (2) _______ process it is COST
definitely (3) _______ . However, don't assume that because your WORTH
product is not for (4) _______ in a local store that someone hasn't SELL
thought of the idea before. This, (5) _______, is often the case and FORTUNE
then it's back to the drawing board again. Some inventors have been
too slow to patent their inventions. In 1876 Alexander Graham
Bell beat his rival Elisha Gray to the patent office by just two hours.
Lack of funds is another reason why some have lost out while others
have sold their ideas to (6) _______ before realizing their true worth. COMPETE
After making some (7) _______ to the product, they claimed the glory. REFINE
So learn from history and take my (8) ________ so the same thing ADVISE
doesn't happen to you.
PART B
1. These words have recently entered the English language. What do you think they mean?
agritourism chatterboxing cyberbullying glocalization jigsaw family
2. Read this short text. Then match the words below to their definitions.
Innovation in language
The English language is constantly changing . New words are being invented all the time, though
not all of them are long­lasting. Lexicographers who work on revised editions of English
dictionaries have to decide which new words to include and which not to include. In other words
they have to decide which words will stand the test of time. To be included in a dictionary, words
must have been used five times in five different sources over five years. Here are some words
which have entered dictionaries in recent years.
jigsaw family the adaptation of products to suit local and global markets
agritourism the activity of using a platform such as Twitter to comment on what
you are watching on TV
chatterboxing a family in which two or more sets of children from previous
relationships live together
cyberbullying holidays where tourists visiting a country stay with local people who
live in the countryside
glocalization the use of electronic communication to intimidate someone

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Compound adjectives
3. In the text above, words are described as long-lasting. What could be described using
these compound adjectives?
labour­saving hard­wearing mass­produced last­minute
home­made user­friendly cold­blooded
4. Which compound adjectives could be used to describe the following? You will need to use
these words.
free high low part short
a a spread or yogurt which contains less fat than normal ones
b chewing gum which contains no sugar
c an investment with a lot of risk
d a shirt with sleeves which stop above the elbow
e a job where the employee only works for some of the day or week
6. Match the words in A to the words in 8 to form compound adjectives which can be used to
describe people's character.
A: well open self hard quick level
B: working headed educated motivated tempered minded
7. Look again at the words formed in 5. Which three of these qualities do you think it is most
important for an inventor to have? Give reasons.

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