Complete the sentences with the verbs in the box.

wrote ~ won ~ painted ~ discovered ~ invented ~ designed ~ built

1 Gustave Eiffel _____________________ the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

2 Graham Bell _____________________ the telephone in 1875.
3 Isaac Newton _____________________ gravity.
4 The Wright brothers _____________________ the first practical airplane.
5 Leonardo da Vinci _____________________the Mona Lisa
6 Marie Curie ____________________the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903
7 William Shakespeare _____________________ about thirty-eight plays

Reading
A biography: Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci was a painter, a sculptor and an inventor. He was born in Vinci,
near Florence, in Italy on 15th April 1452.
As a child, he was very intelligent and curious and learnt lots of things by himself.
He didn't go to school but he studied maths, Latin and geometry at home. He was
also interested in science and anatomy. He was very good at art. When he was 14,
he started to work for a famous painter and learned techniques with him.
In 1482, he moved to Milan. From this time on, Leonardo painted his most famous works, for
example, The Last Supper. He painted the Mona Lisa between 1503-1519. He also invented things.
For example, he designed a flying machine similar to the modern helicopter.

Exercise 1: Are the following sentences ‘true’, ‘false’ or ‘not mentioned’?

1 Leonardo da Vinci studied maths, Latin and geometry at school.
2 Da Vinci learnt most things from others.
3 He liked art a lot.
4 It took him about 15 years to paint the Mona Lisa.
5 He designed a modern helicopter.

Exercise 2: Read again and answer the questions.

1 What was Leonardo da Vinci's job?
…………………………………………………………….
2 Where was he born?
…………………………………………………………….
3 Did he go to school?
…………………………………………………………….
4 What famous works did he paint?
…………………………………………………………….
5 What did he design?
…………………………………………………………….
Exercise 1: Complete the biography of Leonardo da Vinci with the simple past forms of the verbs in
parentheses.
 Leonardo da Vinci 1
____________ (leave) his family's home when he 2
____________(be) fifteen years
old. He ____________ (go) to Florence to study art. He ____________ (learn) a lot and he 5____________
3 4

(meet) many famous painters, too. Leonardo 6 __________(have) a lot of interests.

He 7____________ (love) science and he also 8____________ (write) books about it. Leonardo also
9
_________ (build) amazing machines and 10
_________ (design) buildings. He 11
_________ (start) his
12
famous painting, the Mona Lisa, in 1503. He finally ____________(finish) it thirteen years later, in
1519.

Write the verbs in the list under the correct column.

cleaned decided discovered invented rubbed developed lived laughed closed worked
relaxed played travelled washed followed passed claimed watched begged studied

/t/ /d/ /ɪd/

:last letters :last letters :last letters

Paragraph 1: name, occupation, date and place of birth

…(name)… is / was …(nationality)…… (occupation). He / She was born on / in…..
(date and place of birth). He / She is / was famous because he / she is the man / woman who …..
(main achievement).
Paragraph 2: early life / education / work / achievements / family life
As a child, he / she was ….(personal qualities)… He / She showed great interest in ………………
Education: He / She studied ...
Work: He / She worked ...
Life and achievements: He / She invented / discovered / designed / painted /wrote ...

Family life: He married ………… and had ……………(children).

Paragraph 3: Say why you admire the person.

Writing task: Choose a famous person and write his / her biography.
At school, Leonardo da Vinci studied maths, Latin and geometry.
He learnt a lot of things of things from a famous painter.

Time propositions: Use on before days and dates; Leonardo was bom on 15th April. Use ar before times:
He was born ai JO. 30 pm. Use in before months and years: Leonardo died in May 1519.
macmillan
education
Fill in the gaps with the words from the list in the correct form.
compose paint die use be live

Leonardo da Vinci1………………………in Italy nearly 500 years ago. He2………………. a brilliant

artist. He3………………………..pictures and4 …………………….music. Leonardo was also an

inventor. He had hundred of ideas and he made 130,000 pages of notes! Leonardo 5………………….

in 1519, but he is still famous today. In 2001, people in Norway even 6

………………Leonardo’s
notes to build a bridge near Oslo.

Find and circle examples of time prepositions in the text.

Complete the sentences with on, at or in.
1. The British explorer Captain James Cook was born ...1728.
He married Elizabeth Batts ... 21 si December 1762.
His first expedition began ... 1763. He sailed from England to Australia. He first saw Australia ... 19th
April... ( am. He died ... St Valentines Day 1779 in Hawaii.
/ Writing Task
O Plan
Choose a famous person. Make notes to write a biography and include: Name, occupation, date and place
of birth: He / She was a ... He / She was born
Education and work: He / She studied ... He / She worked ... Life and achievements: He / She p&inted /
discovered / invented ...
Write
Use the text, your notes and this
structure:
Paragraph 1: name, occupation, date and place of birth
Paragraph 2* Education and work Paragraph 3: Life and achievements
Check
O past simple
C was/were
] verbs of discovery and invention O time prepositions
Second Term Test
READING
?Read about two famous people. What is each of them famous for

ANNA PAVLOVA
Anna Pavlova was born in Russia in 1881. She was an only child of a poor family. She was not a very
healthy child, but she had a special talent for dancing. At the age of ten she went to the St
Petersburg Imperial Ballet School. She was very good at dancing and at the age of twenty-five she
was already a leading ballerina. Pavlova left Russia and travelled all over the world to dance. Her
skills and talent impressed all audiences. She made ballet dancing very popular and became famous
everywhere. Later, she opened her own dance company. She married her manager, but they did not
have any children. Pavlova died of pneumonia in the Netherlands in 1931. She was only fifty years
.old

.Exercise 1: Read the text carefully and answer the questions

?Who was Anna Pavlova .1

?Where and when was she born .2

?Did she have any brothers or sisters .3

?What was she good at .4

?Where did she study ballet dancing .5

?When did she become a leading ballerina 6

?What did she do after she left Russia 7

?Did she become famous everywhere .8

?Who did she marry .9

?Did they have any children .10

?When and where did she die .11

 ?What did she die of .12

.Exercise 2: Complete the sentences with words from the text

.…………………………… Ana Pavlova didn’t have any brothers or sisters. She was .1
.…………………………… As a child, she wasn’t very .2
.…………………………… Ana was very talented. She was good at .3
.She was ……………………………. all over the world .4
.…………………………… Ana Pavlova was only fifty years old when she .5

.Exercise 3: Find words in the text which match the following definitions
.……..……………………… :natural ability or skill .1
.…………………………… :spectators at an event .2
.…..…………………………………… :well-known .3
.……….……………………… :a name of a disease .4
1/4
.Exercise 4: Match 1-9 with a-i. Then complete the text below. Use the correct forms of the verbs
start / leave _______ a hard 1
do _______ b a job 2
pass _______ c successful 3
study _______ d school 4
get _______ e a living 5
earn _______ f college/university 6
find _______ g well 7
go to _______ h a degree 8
become _______ i exams 9

Emily 1
.......……................................. when she was five years old. She was a good student. She 2 .......
…….......................very well and 3.......………….............. all her exams. When she was eighteen years
old, she 4
.......…………………....... to university. She 5 .......………………..................hard and
a degree in Art when she was twenty-two. She had to 7 .......………….......... ..............…………....... 6

.........…………....... a living but she couldn't find a job as an artist. Emily also loved cooking so she 8

to catering college and 9 .......…………........................ a diploma as a chef. Then she had an idea: she
started making 'art cakes'. They looked like famous paintings but they were cakes. People loved
them! Soon she 10
.......…………................. successful and she opened her own shop. Well done,
!Emily
Martha left school one year ago
.My mother didn’t do the shopping yesterday
1. ate / morning / a banana / . / I / yesterday

2. my / . / didn’t / scooter / I / yesterday / ride

Name
Class Second Term Test

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, in 1564 and came from a family of
eight children. He went to grammar school where he learnt Latin and Greek. He got married at the
age of eighteen and had three children. Later, he left his family in Stratford and went to London.
There, he acted and wrote a lot of plays. He acted for the King, too. Shakespeare became famous
because he wrote great plays such as Hamlet, Othello and Romeo and Juliet. He spent the last years
of his life in Stratford and died in 1616. Shakespeare is one of the world's most famous writers. Many
.people love his work and his plays are performed in theatres all over the world

?’Exercise 1: Are these sentences ‘true’ or ‘false

.a. Shakespeare came from a small family
.b. He studied languages at school
.c. He went to London with his family
.d. He died in his home town

.Exercise 2: Read text again and answer the questions

?a. Where and when was Shakespeare born

?b. What did he learn at school

?c. When did he get married

?d. How many children did he have

?e. What did he do in London

?f. Why was Shakespeare famous

?g. Where and when did he die

?h. Do people like his plays

.Exercise 3: Complete the following sentences with words from the text

.…………………………William Shakespeare was a famous .1

.…….………………………………He wrote a lot of popular .2
3. He got married when he was ……………………….……….
4. He left Stratford and went to…………………………..……….

.He worked in London as an actor. He …………………………. for the King .5

.He spent the rest of his …………………………. in Stratford where he died in 1616 .6
His…………………………. are still very popular today .7
.………………………… People all over the world love Shakespeare’s .8
.Exercise 4: Match 1-9 with a-i. Then complete the text below. Use the correct forms of the verbs
start / leave _______ a hard 1
do _______ b a job 2
pass _______ c successful 3
study _______ d school 4
get _______ e a living 5
earn _______ f college/university 6
find _______ g well 7
go to _______ h a degree 8
become _______ i exams 9

Emily 1
.......……................................. when she was five years old. She was a good student. She 2 .......
…….......................very well and 3.......………….............. all her exams. When she was eighteen years
old, she 4
.......…………………....... to university. She 5 .......………………..................hard and
a degree in Art when she was twenty-two. She had to 7 .......………….......... ..............…………....... 6

.........…………....... a living but she couldn't find a job as an artist. Emily also loved cooking so she 8

to catering college and 9 .......…………........................ a diploma as a chef. Then she had an

idea: she started making 'art cakes'. They looked like famous paintings but they were cakes. People
loved them! Soon she 10
.......…………................. successful and she opened her own shop. Well
!done, Emily
 Writing Read about Albert Einstein and complete the paragraph below. Use the Past Simple of the
.verbs in brackets
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein 1……………… (be) born in 1879 in Germany. At school he 2…………………(not be)
a very good student. He3………………(be) only good at music and he 4
……………… (love) playing
.the violin. Later, he ………………(become) a teacher, but he ……………… (not teach) for long
5 6

He 7……………… (go) to Zurich in Switzerland. There, he 8 ……………… (work) very hard and in
2/4
1921 he 9 ……………… (win) the Nobel Prize for Science. Einstein 10 …………………… (hate)
World Wars I and II. In 1933 he 11 ……………… (be) a man of peace and he 12 ………………(go)
to America and 13……………… (live) there for the rest of his life. Einstein 14 ………………(die) in
His ideas 15 ……………… (change) many things in science and 16 ………………… (make) .1955
.him famous all over the world

Exercise 2: Look at three famous people and write a few sentences about each person. Use the past
.simple

Name: Marie Curie

 Date and place of birth: November 7, 1867 in Warsaw, Poland
Occupation: scientist
Best known for: Her work in radioactivity (invented X-rays)
Famous for: the first woman to win a Nobel Prize
Died: July 4, 1934 in Passy, Haute-Savoie, France

...…………………………………………………………………… .Marie Curie was a famous scientist

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
.………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
.………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
.………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Name: Pablo Picasso

Date and place of birth: October 20, 1881 in Malaga, Spain
Occupation: painter
’Famous for: a new style of painting called ‘Cubism
Famous works: The Pipes of Pan, Three Musicians, Guernica, The Weeping Woman
Died: April 8, 1973 in Mougins, France

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
.………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
.………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
.………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
.………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3/4 Name: Louis Pasteur

Date and place of birth: December 27, 1822 in Dole, France
Occupation: Chemist and microbiologist
Best known for: The discovery of vaccinations and pasteurization
Died: September 28, 1895 in Marnes-la-Coquette, France

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
.………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
.………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
.………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
.………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Exercise 3: Complete the sheet below with information about a famous person from the past.

Name: ……………………………………………………………………………………………..…

Occupation: ………………………………………………………………………………….………

Born: (where) ………………………………… (when) ……………………………………….

Background: ………………………………………………………………………………….………

Family life: ………………………………………………………………………………….………..

What did he / she do? ………………………………………………………………….……………

Died: (where) …………………………………… (when) ……………………………………..…

Why is he / she famous? ……………………………………………………….……………………

Project: Write a paragraph about a famous person from the past. Use your notes in exercise 3.

4/4
.

AKIO MORITA
Place of birth Nagoya, Japan
Year of birth 1921
University? studied engineering at Osaka Imperial University
Job(s) inventor, company co-founder and president
Married? Children? Yoshiko – two sons and a daughter
Why famous? started the Sony corporation
Year of death 1999
Other information Sony introduced the Walkman and the CD player (with Philips)

 Occupation: Explorer and Traveler

 Born: Venice, Italy in 1254
 Died: January 8, 1324 Venice, Italy
 Best known for: European traveler to China and the Far East

Writing a biography –useful language

He / She was born in (place) in (year).
He / She came from a …(poor /rich )… background.
As a child he / She loved (writing stories/ poems…)
When he / She was (ten), he became interested in (acting)
.He / She left school when he was (fifteen)
.He / She travelled to (place) in (year)
.He / She got a job as (an actor)
.Then he/ She started writing plays and became a very famous writer
.He got / She married in (year) and had … children
.He died in (year)
Read the texts again and the questions a-h below. In the boxes next to each
.question write P for Pavlova, S for Shakespeare or B for both
?a. Who came from a big family
?b. Who was sick as a child
?c. Who showed his/her talent from a very young age
?d. Who studied classical languages
?e. Who was married
?f. Who left his/her country
?g. Who died in his/her hometown? h. Who was a performer
?
57
Look at the three famous people below and write two sentences about each person,
.as in the example. Use the Past Simple
Name: Marie Curie
Famous for: inventing X-rays Died: 1934
Name: Marco Polo
Born: 1254
Famous for: travelling and discovering new things in the Far East
.a
:Name )
Pablo Picasso Childhood: not like school Famous for: painting, sculpting in an
original way
.e-g- Marie Curie invented X-rays. She died in 1934
.b
58