9 INVENTIONS AND DISCOVERIES

Trabajo Práctico Nº3

Nombre y Apellido: ………………………………………………………….

Especialidad: …………………………………………….

Grupo N°: ………………………..

Comisión: ………………………..

Fecha de entrega: ……/……/…….

Aprobado Revisión Nota:

Contenidos: Pasado Simple. Wh-questions. Adverbios de modo.

TECHNO QUIZ Are you a techno genius or a techno beginner?

1. Which of these scientists discovered gravity?
a) Richard Feynman c) Isaac Newton
b) Thomas Edison d) Alexander Graham Bell

2. Which of these scientists was also a great artist?

a) Robert Boyle c) Leonardo da Vinci
b) Marie Curie d) Michael Faraday
3. Stephen Hawking was an expert in which of these areas?
a) Germs b) Primates c) Genetics d) Black holes

4. Which of these scientists helped develop vaccines?

a) Stephen Hawking b) Nicolas Copernicus c) Louis Pasteur d) Tim Berners-Lee

5. Which of these scientists invented a way of classifying living things?

a) Tim Berners-Lee b) Carl Linnaeus c) Louis Pasteur d) Charles Darwin

6. Which of these scientists was a fossil expert?

a) Michael Faraday b) Anders Celsius c) Mary Anning d) Marie Curie

7. Which scientist discovered the four biggest moons of Jupiter?

a) Nicolas b) Isaac Newton c) Archimides d) Galileo Galilei
Copernicus

8. Which of these scientists discovered that germs cause disease?

a) Louis Pasteur c) Linus Pauling
b) Albert Einstein d) Jane Goodall

9. Which of these scientists showed that oxygen was important to combustion?

a) Antoine Lavoisier c) Gregor Mendel
b) Francis Crick d) Marie Curie

10. Who was the first woman to win a Nobel prize?

a) Ada Lovelace b) Rosalind Franklin c) Marie Curie d) Rachel Carson
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Part 1
A) Look at the following noun phrases and tick ( ) the electrical objects you use every day.

• Mobile phone • alarm clock • mobile phone charger

• electrical hairdryer • electric cooker • electric toaster
• LED TV • electric toothbrush • MP3 player
• portable radio • electric kettle

B) Read the following article quickly and complete the chart.

INVENTION Who? When? What nationality?

the wheel

the printing press

the refrigerator

the telegraph

the steam engine

the car

the light bulb

the computer

the Internet

Inventions that changed the world

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When you imagine inventors, you probably picture a lone genius in a laboratory concocting brilliant
devices, experimenting and redesigning until some concept or contraption works perfectly. At that point,
the new invention is unveiled to the world, a stunning piece of new technology that instantly changes
everything.
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The wheel is an invention so ancient that we have no way of knowing who first developed it. The oldest
wheel and axle mechanism we've found was near Ljubljana, Slovenia, and dates to roughly 3100 B.C.
The wheel made the transportation of goods much faster and more efficient, especially when affixed to
horse-drawn chariots and carts.
Like many of the inventions on this list, we believe a German blacksmith invented the printing press
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(Johann Gutenberg in the 1430s), but he actually improved on pre-existing technologies and made them
useful and efficient enough to become popular. The world already had paper and block printing - the
Chinese had them as early as the 11th century - but the complexity of their language limited popularity.
Marco Polo brought the idea to Europe in 1295. Gutenberg combined the idea of block printing with a
screw press, and developed metal printing blocks instead of hand-carved wooden letters in use previously.
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Finally,his advances in ink and paper production helped revolutionize the whole process of mass printing.
It's difficult to pinpoint a single inventor of the refrigerator, because the concept was widely known and
gradually improved over the course of about 200 years. Some credit American Oliver Evans' 1805
unproduced design of a vapour-compression unit, while others point to another man from Germany, Carl
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von Linde's 1876 design as the actual precursor of the modern refrigerator in your kitchen.
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Maybe it's cheating to classify the telegraph, telephone, radio and television into one "invention," but
the development of communication technology has been a continuum of increased utility and flexibility
since another American, Samuel Morse invented the electric telegraph in 1836 (building on the prior work
of others, of course). The telephone simply refined the idea by allowing actual voice communications to
be sent over copper wires, instead of just beeps that spelled out the plain text in Morse code. These
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communication methods were point-to-point and required an extensive infrastructure of wires to
function.
Transmitting signals wirelessly using electromagnetic waves was a concept worked on by many inventors
around the world, but Italian Guglielmo Marconi and Serbian-American Nikola Tesla popularized it in the
early 20th century. Eventually, sound could be transmitted wirelessly, while engineers gradually perfected
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the transmission of images. Radio and television were new landmarks in communications because they
allowed a single broadcaster to send messages to thousands or even millions of recipients as long as they
were equipped with receivers.
The Industrial Revolution, which is perhaps the greatest change over the shortest period of time in the
history of civilization, was carried forward by the steam engine. The concept of using steam to power
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machines had been around for thousands of years, but in 1769, James Watt modified a Thomas
Newcomen’s engine by adding a separate condenser, which vastly increased the steam engine's power
and made it a far more practical way to do work. Thus, the Scottish is often considered the inventor of
the steam engine.
If the steam engine mobilized industry, the automobile mobilized people. While ideas for personal vehicles
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had been around for years, German Karl Benz's 1885 Motorwagen, powered by an internal combustion
engine of his own design, is widely considered the first automobile. Henry Ford's improvements in the
production process -- and effective marketing -- brought the price and the desire for owning an auto into
the reach of most Americans. Europe soon followed.
When we refer to the light bulb, we immediately think of Thomas Edison as the electric light bulb's
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inventor, but dozens of people were working on similar ideas in the 1870s, when the American developed
his incandescent bulb. Joseph Swan did similar work in Britain at the time, and eventually the two merged
their ideas into a single company, Ediswan.
There is no single inventor of the modern computer, although the ideas of British mathematician Alan
Turing are considered eminently influential in the field of computing. Mechanical computing devices were
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in existence in the 1800s (there were even rare devices that could be considered computers in ancient
eras), but electronic computers were invented in the 20th century.
The Internet, a network of computers covering the entire planet, allows people to access almost any
information located anywhere in the world at any time. Its effects on business, communication, economy,
entertainment and even politics are profound.
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DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), the research and development arm of the U.S.
military, created ARPANET in the late 1960s. This network of computer-to-computer connections was
intended for military and academic research. Other computer networks began to cross the globe in the
next few years, and by the late 1970s computer scientists had created a single protocol, TCP/IP, that
would allow computers on any network to communicate with computers on other networks. This was,
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essentially, the birth of the Internet, but it took 10 or so years to make the Internet truly global.

Adapted from https://www.geniusstuff.com/10-inventions-changed-world.htm

C) Infer and transcribe the words in English from the text.

elaborar (line 1) ………………………………………… en realidad (line 10) ……………………………………
dispositivos (line 2) …………………………………… en lugar de (line 14) …………………………………..
revelar (line 3) …………………………………………… precisar (line 16) …………………………………………
tan (line 5) …………………………………………………. hito, hecho histórico (line 30) …………………….
eje (line 6) …………………………………………………. siempre y cuando(line 31) ………………………….
como (line 9) …………………………………………….. thus (line 37) ………………………………………………
herrero (line 9) ……………………………………………

D) What do the highlighted words from the text refer to?

you (line 1) ………………………………………………….. it (line 28) …………………………………………………….

his (line 15) …………………………………………………. the two (line 46) ………………………………………….

E) Read the text and complete the table with verbs in past simple.

Regular verbs Irregular verbs

F) Transcribe five examples of gerunds and five adverbs of manner.

Gerunds Adverbs of manner
……………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………

G) Explain in Spanish: what did the following inventors develop?

Johann Gutenberg James Watt
Alan Turing Samuel Morse

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Part 2
A) Correct these false sentences by using the negative form of the Past Simple.

a) Alexander Graham Bell invented the radio.

Alexander Graham Bell didn’t invent the radio. He invented the telephone.
b) Thomas Newcomen developed the first steam engine.
_________________________________________________________________________
c) Henry Ford created the first car.
_________________________________________________________________________
d) Thomas Edison was British.
_________________________________________________________________________
e) Nikola Tesla designed the first refrigerator.
_________________________________________________________________________
f) The Internet became global in the 1970s.
_________________________________________________________________________

B) Write the verb in these sentences in past simple.

1. Richard G. Drew (1899-1980) (invent)………………………………... masking tape and clear adhesive

tape (also called cellophane tape or Scotch tape)
2. On November 23, 1927, Erik Rotheim (patent)…………………………… a can with a valve and
propellant systems - it (can) ………………………………... hold and dispense liquids.
3. On December 17, 1903, the "Flyer" (fly) ………………………………. for 12 seconds and for a distance of
120 feet (37 m). The flight (take) ……………………………... place at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, USA.
4. Archimedes (287-212 BC) (be) …………………………... a prolific ancient Greek mathematician. What
……………………………. he (invent)……………………………...? The water screw.
5. Primitive assembly line production (be not) ………………………… first used by Henry Ford. In 1901
Ransome Eli Olds (1864-1950) (do) ………………………… it. He (manufacture) ……………………………….
the Oldsmobile, the first commercially successful American car.

C) Scan the text about Tesla. Complete the sentences with information from paragraph 1 and 6 from
the text.

a) He was born in………………………………..

b) He worked as ………………………………..

c) He went to America in ………………………………..

d) He died in ………………………………..

D) Read the text and match paragraphs 1-6 with the headings a-f

a) A strange man …………

b) A brilliant boy …………
c) A forgotten inventor …………
d) Tesla’s inventions …………
e) Electricity for today’s world …………
f) First job in the US ………….
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 THE INVENTOR OF MODERN LIFE

His work with electricity and his inventions changed the way we live

1
Nikola Tesla was born at midnight during an electrical storm in Serbo-Croatia in 1856. He was a child genius and
invented his first machine when he was only four. Tesla studied electrical engineering in Austria and at
Prague University, then worked as an engineer. Then, in 1884, he travelled to America and arrived with very
little money to survive!
2
In the US, Tesla worked for Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb. But he left because they had
different ideas and Edison didn`t pay him very well.
3
Tesla then worked for George Westinghouse. He invented an electricity system for the lights at the 1893
Chicago World Fair. It was a great success. After that, Tesla’s system produced the electricity of the modern
world.
4
Tesla also invented fluorescent lights, the modern radio, lasers and robots. But he didn’t earn much money
from his ideas.
5
Tesla was a strange man. He started in the afternoon and always worked in the dark. And he always watched
electrical storms – and dreamed. Tesla had an extraordinary memory. He spoke several languages and he could
remember complete books. He imagined, built and tested machines in his mind.
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Tesla died in 1943. He spent his las years alone in a New York hotel. His inventions changed the way people live.

E) Circle the correct answer

1) Tesla’s first job was

a) a doctor b) a teacher c) an engineer
2) At the World Fair in 1893, Tesla worked for
a) Wastinghouse b) Edison c) Chicago
3) Tesla invented
a) Electrical storms b) the light bulb c) robots
4) Tesla developed his ideas
a) on paper b) in his mind c) during storms

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Listening
Listen to this TV programme and match the inventions with the inventors and the years.

Tim Berners-Lee __ __ Sabeer Bathia __ __ Otto Wichterle __ __ Martin Cooper __ __

a. Contact lenses
b. Mobile phones
c. World Wide Web
d. Hotmail
e. 1991
f. 1961
g. 1996
h. 1973

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 Speaking

General Knowledge Quiz

a. Complete with was, wasn’t, were, weren’t to make true sentences.

1. Napoleon ………………………………. an Austrian Emperor.

2. The Olympic Games ……………………………… in Rio de Janeiro in 2012.
3. Albert Einstein ………………………………. born in Germany.
4. Valentina Tereshkova …………………………………. the first woman in space.
5. The Vikings ………………………………… from Scotland.
6. The 2010 World Cup ………………………………. in South Africa.
7. Che Guevara …………………………… born in Cuba.
8. Barack Obama……………………………. the president of the USA for six years.
9. Socrates and Plato …………………………………… Greek philosophers
10. The Beatles……………………………… from Manchester.

Then make questions to test your partner’s memory.

Was Napoleon an Austrian Emperor? Yes, he was. / No, he wasn’t.

Were the Olympic Games in Rio in 2012? Yes, they were. / No, they weren’t.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Grammar Reference: Verb to be (Past form) AUDIO

Affirmative Negative Interrogative
I was I wasn’t Was I?
You were You weren’t Were you?
He/she/it was He/she/it wasn’t Was he/ she/it?
We/ they were We/ they weren’t Were we/they?

PAST SIMPLE AUDIO

AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE INTERROGATIVE
I lived in Oxford. I didn’t live in London. Did I live in Paris?
(Yo viví en Oxford) (no vivía en Londres)
You worked in a factory. You didn’t work in an office Did you work in a hospital?
(¿Trabajaste en un hospital?)
He played football. He didn’t play golf. Did he play tennis?
She watched TV She didn’t watch the news. Did she watch comedies?
It had seven floors. It didn’t have six floors. Did it have five floors?
We liked tennis. We didn’t like golf. Did we like volleyball?
They went to the cinema. They didn’t go to the pub. Did they go to the club?

Usamos el Pasado Simple para describir eventos finalizados en pasado. En afirmativo, los verbos
regulares llevan ed, pero los irregulares cambian (ver segunda columna de la lista de verbos
irregulares)

Adverbs and adverbial phrases in past simple.

Last night (anoche) Yesterday (ayer)

Last weekend (el fin de semana pasado) This morning (esta mañana)
Last week (la semana pasada) Two weeks ago (hace dos semanas)
Last month (el mes pasado) Four months ago (hace cuatro meses)
Last year (el año pasado) In 2005
Last holidays (las vacaciones pasadas)

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GRAMMAR: TWENTY VERBS TO REMEMBER

Infinitive Spanish Past Participle

be ……………… was/were been
come ……………… came come
do ……………… did done
find ……………… found found
get ……………… got got
give ……………… gave given
go ……………… went gone
have ……………… had had
know ……………… knew known
make ……………… made made
put ……………… put put
say ……………… said said
see ……………… saw seen
take ……………… took taken
tell ……………… told told
think ……………… thought thought
look ……………… looked looked
use ……………… used used
want ……………… wanted wanted
work ……………… worked worked

Countries, nationalities and languages

Countries Nationalities Other examples

Argentina Argentinian Russia- Russian
Brazil Brazilian Australia- Australian
Canada Canadian Peru- Peruvian
Italy Italian Colombia- Colombian
Croatia Croatian Norway- Norwegian
The USA American Uruguay- Uruguayan
Germany German Venezuela- Venezuelan
Mexico Mexican Chile- Chilean
Britain, England, Scotland, Ireland British, English, Scottish, Irish Poland- Polish
Finland Finnish Turkey- Turkish
Spain Spanish Denmark- Danish
Sweden Swedish
China Chinese Vietnam- Vietnamese
Japan Japanese Taiwan- Taiwanese
Portugal Portuguese
France French Czech Republic- Czech
Greece Greek Israel- Israeli
Switzerland Swiss
Netherlands Dutch
Thailand Thai

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