Organizing ideas
Read the sentences below and tick the five most important ones. Write them in the correct order to make a summary of the story.
a. The Great Wall of China is almost three thousand kilometers long.
b. The first emperor's name was Ch'in Shih Hwang-ti.
c. The wall was built to keep out China's enemies.
d. In 214 BC the first emperor of China started to build it.
e. In parts the wall is made of dirt.
f. However, most of it was built between 581 AD and 618 AD.
g. Today it is popular with tourists.
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
Writing
Choose the correct word from the following pairs of words and write each one in the correct blank.
between/in end/ends off/out see/saw before/while
a. The only building on earth that people can____________________ from the moon is The Great Wall of China.
b. The wall begins by the Yellow Sea and____________________ in the Gobi Desert.
c. The Chinese wanted to keep____________________ their enemies and this is why they built the wall.
d. Some of the wall was built in 214 BC____________________ Ch'in Shih Hwang-ti, the first Chinese emperor ruled China.
e. More of the wall was built____________________ 202 BC and 220 AD and between 581 AD and 618 AD.
UNIT 17
The Hindenburg Airship
Pre-reading activity
1. Have you ever flown?
2. Look in an atlas. How far is it from America to Germany?
3. How long does it take today to fly from Germany to America?
Many years ago there were airships in the skies. Airships were large balloons. They were full of gas to keep them in the air, but the gas was dangerous and burned quickly.
One of the largest airships was called the Hindenburg. This was a German airship. It was 245 meters long and it carried more than 100 people. It could move through the sky at 120 kilometers an hour. Its journey across the Atlantic took a week. The Hindenburg had 16 bags of gas inside it. When the airship was on the ground these bags were empty. When the pilot of the airship wanted to leave the ground, he filled the bags with gas.
For four months in 1935 the Hindenburg flew every week between Germany and America. Most of the passengers were rich people. They liked the Hindenburg because, although the journey cost a lot of money, it was very comfortable. On 6 May 1935 when the Hindenburg was landing in America, it caught fire and crashed. The people on the ground could do nothing to help the passengers in the airship. 34 people died. 97 people jumped to the ground and lived.
For many years after the Hindenburg crash everyone stopped using airships. They thought they were too dangerous. Nowadays, however, there are new gases that do not burn quickly. Some people think that there will soon be many airships in the skies again because they are much cleaner and quieter than planes.
New words
airship: In 1935 the family flew across the Atlantic in an airship because it was bigger and quieter than a plane.
balloon: Let's blow up some balloons for our party.
gas: The air is a mixture of gases.
bag: This bag is very heavy. What's in it?
pilot: The pilot flew the plane from Germany to America by himself.
passenger: On long journeys the bus stops at restaurants so the passengers can eat catch fire He stood too near the fire and his pants caught fire.
Main idea
