Курс: General English Уровень: Pre-Intermediate www.englex.

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10.1 THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION

1. Look at the photos. Five of these things were invented by women. Decide which five they are.
Which of these things do you find most useful? Why?

a dishwasher disposable nappies a zip

windscreen wipers a bullet-proof vest Tipp-Ex

a washing machine a hairdryer penicillin

2. LISTENING PRACTICE. (Recording 10.1). Now listen to a radio programme about inventions.
Were you right? Complete the sentences with the invention.

1 The ____________________ was invented by Josephine Cochrane in 1886.

2 ____________________ were invented by Mary Anderson in 1903.
3 ____________________ were invented by Marion Donovan in 1950.
4 ____________________ was invented by Bette Nesmith Graham in 1956.
5 The ____________________ was invented by Stephanie Kwolek in 1966.

3. Listen again and answer the questions.

1 What happened after Josephine Cochrane’s dinner parties?

2 What was the problem with cars in 1903 when it rained or snowed?

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3 How many disposable nappies are used every day?

4 What was Bette Nesmith Graham’s job?
5 What was special about the material Stephanie Kwolek invented?

4. Which of the five inventions do you think was the best?

5. GRAMMAR PRACTICE: Passive. Make five true sentences using the words in the chart.

The dishwasher is called Tipp-Ex today.

Disposable nappies was invented by Marion Donovan.

More than 55 million nappies are protected every day.

Mrs Graham’s invention were invented by the bullet-proof vest.

Policemen all over the world are used by an American woman.

The dishwasher was invented by an American woman.

Policemen all over the world are protected by the bullet-proof vest.
More than 55 million nappies are used every day
Mrs Graham’s invention is called Tipp-Ex today
Mrs Graham’s invention were invented by Marion Donovan

Look at the two sentences below and answer the questions.

a An American woman invented the dishwasher.

b The dishwasher was invented by an American woman.

1 Do the sentences have the same meaning?

Yes, it is.
2 In which sentence is the focus more on the dishwasher?
b
3 In which sentence is the focus more on the woman?
a

6. Look at the table and learn the rules.

Passive: be + past participle

Present: am/ is / are + past participle

(+) Kevlar is used to make bullet-proof vests.
(–) Tippex isn’t used very much today.
(?) Are disposable nappies used all over the world?

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Past: was / were + past participle

(+) The dishwasher was invented by Josephine Cochrane.
(–) Windscreen wipers weren’t invented until 1903.
(?) When was the washing machine invented?

● You can often say things in two ways, in the active or in the passive.
Josephine Cochrane invented the dishwasher. (active)
The dishwasher was invented by Josephine Cochrane. (passive)
● In the active sentence, the focus is more on Josephine Cochrane.
● In the passive sentence the focus is more on the dishwasher.
● You can also use the passive when it isn’t known or isn’t important
who does or did the action.
My car was stolen last week.
Volvo cars are made in Sweden.
● Use by to say who did the action.
The Lord of the Rings was written by Tolkien.

7. Write sentences in the present or past passive.

1 fresh pizza / sell / in the local supermarket

___Fresh pizza is sold in the local supermarket.______
2 tomatoes / introduce to Europe / in the fifteenth century
__Tomatoes were introduced to Europe in the fifteen century
3 where / asparagus / grow ?
____Where does asparagus grow?
4 eat / spicy food / in Mexico ?
____does spicy food is eaten in Mexico?
5 curry / not eat / in England until eighteenth century
_Curry was not eaten _ in England until eighteenth century
6 when / butter / first made ?
___when was the first butter made?__________________________________________

8. Rewrite the sentences in the passive, beginning with the highlighted words.

Shakespeare wrote Hamlet in 1603.

Hamlet was written by Shakespeare in 1603.
1 Jonathan Ive designed the iPod and the iPhone.
The iPod and the iPhone were designed by Jonathan Ive
2 Most Mediterranean countries produce olive oil.
Olive oil is produced by most Mediterranean countries
3 Herschel discovered Uranus in 1781
Uranus was discovered by Herschel in 1781
4 Barry Sonnenfeld directed the Men in Black films.

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The men in Black films were directed by Barry Sonnenfeld.

5 David Hockney painted Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy in 1970–
1971.
Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy were painted by David Hockney in
1970-1971
6 Elvis Presley didn’t write Blue Suede Shoes.
Blue Suede Shoes were not written by Elvis Presley
7 JK Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books.
The Harry Potter books was written by JK Rowling
8 They make Daihatsu cars in Japan.
Daihatsu cars was made in Japan.

9. Complete the article with the passive form of the verbs in (brackets).

Putting mineral water into bottles is quick. When the water comes out
of the ground, it 1 _is taken_ (take) just a few metres to a ‘bottling
hall’, where clean bottles 2 are filled (fill) with the water. This 3
_____is done___________ (do) by a machine. A few seconds later,
the plastic tops 4 __are put______________ (put) on the bottles by the
same machine. Next, each bottle 5 is dried_ (dry) so labels can be
stuck on easily. After that, the bottles 6 _are packed (pack) into trays
and then they 7 _are wraped__ (wrap), before the cases of water 8 are
delivered___ (deliver) to customers.

10. VOCABULARY PRACTICE. Match the verbs to the dictionary definitions.

base design discover invent

1 _ discover verb to find or learn sth for the first time,

e.g. DNA was ~ in 1953.
2 _ base verb to make sth using sth else as a
starting point, e.g. This film is ~ on a true story.
3 design verb to draw a plan which shows how to
make sth, e.g. The building was ~ by a German architect.
4 _ invent verb to make or think of sth for the first
time, e.g. Who ~ the bicycle?

11. Complete the ‘Did you know…?’ text with the past participle of a verb from the list.

base call design discover give

invent open play show use

Did you know…?

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One of the most famous logos in the world is the Nike

logo. It was 1 _invented_____________ by an American
student, Carolyn Davidson, in 1971. Ms Davidson was
only paid $35 for her design. However, she was later
2
_given_____________ a gold ring in the shape of the
logo and Nike shares.

Tinned food was 3 _discovered_____________ in 1810

in Britain by Peter Durand. Unfortunately, he did not also
invent a tin opener, so tins were 4
_opened_____________ with difficulty using a knife and
a hammer. It wasn’t until nearly 50 years later that the
American Ezra Warner invented the tin opener.

When people at toy company Parker Brothers were first

5 ____played__________ the board game ‘Monopoly’,
they were not interested. They said it had 52 fundamental
errors, including taking too long to play. However, a few
days later the company president saw the game and took it
home to try it. He stayed up until 1 a.m. to finish playing
it, and the next day he wrote to the inventor, Charles
Darrow, and offered to buy it!

The modern game of golf was invented in Scotland in the

18th century. It was originally only 6
_opened_____________ by men, and was 7
__called____________ ‘golf’ because of the rule
Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden. This is how the word
golf entered into the English language.

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Botox was first 8 ___used___________ in 1985 to correct

strabismus (lazy eye) in children. The possibility of using
it to make people’s faces look younger was only
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__showed____________ 20 years later.

The character Gregory House in the hit TV series House

M.D. is 10 ___based___________ on Conan Doyle’s
detective Sherlock Holmes. Like Holmes, House uses his
intelligence and knowledge of psychology to solve cases.
House’s relationship with his friend Dr James Wilson is
similar to that between Holmes and his friend, Dr John
Watson, and the address on his driving licence is 221B
Baker St, a direct reference to Holmes’s address.

12. Read the text again. One of the pieces of information is not true. Which one do you think it is?

13. Make sure you know the words and phrases below.

существительные
1. botox /ˈbəʊ.tɒks/ ботокс
2. a bullet-proof /ˈbʊl.ɪt.pruːf/ vest бронежилет, пуленепробиваемый жилет
3. a hairdryer /ˈheəˌdraɪ.ər/ фен
4. a hammer молоток, молот
5. a nappy пеленка, подгузник
6. a reference (to) упоминание, ссылка на
7. shares акции
8. a tin консервная банка
9. a tin opener консервный нож
10. Tipp-Ex /ˈtɪp.eks/ корректор, штрих
11. windscreen wipers /ˈwaɪp.ərs/ дворники (на ветровом стекле)
12. a zip застежка-молния
прилагательные
13. disposable /dɪˈspəʊ.zə.b(ə)l/ одноразового использования
14. forbidden запрещенный
15. fundamental /ˌfʌn.dəˈmen.t(ə)l/ существенный, фундаментальный,
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основной
16. tinned консервированный
глаголы
17. to forbid запрещать
фразы
18. to be in the shape of иметь форму ч.-л., быть в форме ч.-л.

14. COMMUNICATION PRACTICE. Complete the sentences with the verb in the passive and the
right answer. Use the help of your teacher.

1 Until 1800 New York __was called____________ (call)...

a New Amsterdam
b New Hampshire
c New Liberty
2 The Star Wars films _were directed_____________ (direct)
by...
a George Lucas
b Steven Spielberg
c Stanley Kubrick
3 The noun which __is used____________ (use) most
frequently in
conversation is...
a money b time c work
4 Penguins __were finded____________ (find)...
a at the South Pole
b at the North Pole
c in Alaska
5 The Italian flag _was designed_____________ (design) by...
a Garibaldi b Mussolini c Napoleon
6 The first mobile phones ___was sold___________ (sell) in...
a 1963 b 1973 c
7 The politician Winston Churchill __was born____________
(born)...
a on a train b in a toilet c under a bridge
8 The electric chair ____was invented__________ (invent) by...
a a teacher b a dentist c a politician

1 The Smartphone ___was invented___________ (invent) by...

a Apple b Nokia c IBM
2 The Lord of the Rings films ___were directed___________
(direct) by...
a Steven Spielberg

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b James Cameron
c Peter Jackson
3 The book which ___is stolen___________ (steal) most often
from
libraries is...
a The Bible
b The Guinness Book of Records
c The Lord of the Rings
4 In the world, 16,000 babies __are born____________ (born)...
a every second b every hour c every day
5 Chess _______is invented_______ (invent) by...
a the Egyptians b the Indians c the Chinese
6 The first Levi jeans were worn______________ (wear) by...
a miners b farmers c cowboys
7 Football _was____ first _____played____ (play) by...
a the British b the Romans c the Greeks
8 In 1962 the original London Bridge ___was
bought___________ (buy)
by...
a a rich American
b a museum
c the Royal family

15. Read your answers to each other and check the right ones. How many right answers did you get?

1 Until 1800 New York was called New Amsterdam.

2 The Star Wars films were directed by George Lucas.
3 The noun which is used most frequently in conversation is time.
4 Penguins are found at the South Pole.
5 The Italian flag was designed by Napoleon.
6 The first mobile phones were sold in 1983.
7 The politician Winston Churchill was born in a toilet.
8 The electric chair was invented by a dentist.

1 The Smartphone was invented by IBM.

2 The Lord of the Rings films were directed by Peter Jackson.
3 The book which is stolen most often from libraries is The
Guinness Book of Records.
4 In the world, 16,000 babies are born every hour.
5 Chess was invented by the Chinese.
6 The first Levi jeans were worn by miners.
7 Football was first played by the British.
8 In 1962 the original London Bridge was bought by a rich
American.