Unit 3. People's background

Unit 3
PEOPLE`S BACKGROUND
READING
New lesson
A physicist and chemist of Polish
Marie Curie
Together with her husband Pierre Currie discovered radium and polonium. She is the first person who received 2 Nobel Prizes in the world (one in physics and one in chemistry).
BEFORE YOU READ
background (n)
brilliant (adj)
mature (adj)
harbour (v)
private tutor (n)
interrupt (v)
with flying colours (a)
award (v,n)
determine (v)
ease (n)
humanitarian (adj,n)
Vocabulary
lai lịch, hoàn cảnh
thông minh, sáng dạ
trưởng thành
nuôi dưỡng (ước mơ…)
gia sư
có số điểm xuất sắc
làm gián đoạn
trao thưởng, phần thưởng
xác định
làm dịu, làm giảm đi
nhân đạo
Task 1: Match the words or phrases in A with their meanings in B
WHILE YOU READ
Marie Curie was born in Warsaw on November 7th, 1867. She received general education in local schools and some scientific training from her father.
As a brilliant and mature student, Marie harboured the dream of scientific career, which was impossible for a woman at that time. To save money for a study tour abroad, she had to work as a private tutor, and her studies were interrupted.
Finally, in 1891, Marie, with very little money to live on, went to Paris to realise her dream at the Sorbonne. In spite of her difficult living conditions, she worked extremely hard. She earned a degree in Physics with flying colours, and went on to take another degree in Mathematics.
Read the passage and then do the tasks that follow.
She met Pierre Curie in the school of Physics in 1894 and a year later they got married. From then on, they work together on their research.
In 1903, Marie became the first woman to receive a PhD from the Sorbonne. After the tragic death of Pierre Curie in 1906, she took up the position which her husband had obtained at the Sorbonne. Thus she was the first woman in France to be at a university professor. Soon after, she was awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry for determining the atomic weight of radium. But her real joy was “easing human suffering”. The founding of the Radium Institute in 1914 made her humanitarian wish come true.
Task 2: Decide whether the statements are true (T) or false (F). Correct the false information.
Marie went to school in Warsaw.

Her dream was to become a private tutor.

At the Sorbonne, she studied very well.

She married Pierre Curie in 1894.

She was the first woman professor at the Sorbonne.
T
F
T
F
T
She harboured the dream of a scientific career
1895
Task 3: Answer the questions:
When and where was Marie Curie born?
What kind of student was she?
Why did she work as a private tutor?
For what service was she awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry?
Was the prize her real joy? Why/Why not?
She was born in Warsaw on November 7th, 1867
She was a brilliant and mature student
She had to work as a private tutor to save money for a study tour abroad.
She was awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry for determining the atomic weight of radium
No, it wasn’t. Because her real joy was “easing human suffering”.
AFTER YOU READ
strong-willed
ambitious
hard-working
intelligent
humane
GROUP WORK:
Below are five adjectives we may use to describe Marie Curie. Find the evidence from the passage to prove each of them.
strong-willed
Finally in 1891, Marie, with very little money to live on, went to Paris to realise her dream at the Sorbonne.
ambitious
Marie haboured the dream of a scientific career, which was impossible for a woman at that time.
hard-working
In spite of her difficult living conditions, she worked extremely hard.
intelligent
She earned a degree in Physics with flying colours, and went on to take another degree in Mathematics.
humane
Her real joy was “easing human suffering”.
Learn the vocabulary by heart.
Read the passage again.
Prepare the next lesson: Writing
HOMEWORK
GOOD BYE!
Thank you for your attention!
See you again.