English Level I: Turning mirrors into windows
Section 2
BEFORE READING
a) Reflect on the title of the article and on Aristotle’s quotation.
b) Make predictions about the content of the article.
...............................................................................................
Women and Education: Aristotle was wrong
Aristotle’s views have influenced the Western
world for the better and the worse.
Examples of the worse are his views on
women. He saw women as subject to men,
but as higher than slaves. In consequence,
among many other things, women were
denied education.
However, in ancient Greece, in 300 BCE,
Agnodice left Athens and went to Alexandria
to study medicine and midwifery. She
returned to Athens and became a popular
gynecologist. Apparently, she disguised
herself as a man to practice medicine on
men. Agnodice became so popular among
her female patients that her male colleagues
charged her with seducing her patients. In
court, she revealed her sex and was
exonerated.
In ancient Greece, there was also an
opportunity for midwives to receive some
further medical training, to become a doctor-
midwife. Philista was a popular professor of
medicine who delivered lectures from behind
a curtain, to prevent her beauty from
distracting her students.
Juliana Morell was the first woman to receive
a university degree. Morell, born in Spain,
received her first training from the
Dominican nuns at Barcelona. At the age of
four, she began Latin, Greek, and Hebrew at
home under competent teachers. At the age
of twelve, she defended in public her theses
in ethics and dialectics "summa cum laude".
She then applied herself to physics,
metaphysics and canon and civil law. She
gained a Law Doctorate in 1608, when she
publicly maintained her law theses.
The first woman to receive a doctorate
degree in the modern era was Stefania
Wolicka, from the University of Zurich in
1875. Wolicka was the first woman to earn a
Doctorate of Philosophy degree in Europe in
the modern era. Universities in Switzerland
were the first modern-era European
universities to admit female students.
Despite Aristotle’s long-lasting and influential
views, the list of persevering women is
endless.
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WHILE READING
c) Scan the text and complete the table.

Agnodice Philista Morell Wolicka

Nationality

Context

Degree

“University”

Field of
study

AFTER READING
d) Extract from the article four surprising facts.

1. …………………………………………………………………………………………………
2. …………………………………………………………………………………………………
3. …………………………………………………………………………………………………
4. …………………………………………………………………………………………………
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e) Circle true or false, and then transfer the corresponding

letter to the boxes below.
T F
1. Aristotle considered women inferior beings. E F
2. For him, slaves were superior to women. M Q
3. Agnodice had a rebellious personality. U D
4. Her patients loved her. A T
5. Philista lectured on medicine. L N
6. Morell did not go to university. S I
7. Morell was brilliantly clever. T L
8. Swiss universities were not inclusive in the past. D Y

f) Now, in each of the above examples, underline the verbs

and reflect on them. What conclusions can you make?

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.........................................................................................
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GRAMMAR STOP
Simple Past

The Simple Past is used for an activity or situation that began and ended
in the past. It is usually used with past time expressions such as yesterday,
last month/year, a few days ago, and dates such as: in 1990, in 300 BCE,
etc.

There are regular and irregular verbs.

Regular verbs add ed to the base form. Irregular verbs form the Simple
Past in a variety of different ways.
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BE

AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE INTERROGATIVE

I/he/she/it + was + … I/he/she/it + was not + Was + I/he/she/it + …?

…
I/he/she/it was Was I/he/she/it popular
popular among women I/he/she/it was not among women?
popular among women

You/we/they+ were + You/we/they + were +… Were + you/we/they +

… …?
You/we/they were You/we/they were not Were you/we/they
popular among women popular among women popular among women?

LEXICAL VERBS OTHER THAN “BE”

AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE INTERROGATIVE

(All persons) + past (All persons) + did not Did + (all persons) +
form of the verb +Base form of the verb base form of the verb?

(All persons) + (All persons) + did not Did + (all persons) +

defended the thesis. +defend + the thesis. defend the thesis?

(All persons) + left (All persons) + did not + Did + (all persons) +
Athens. leave + Athens. leave Athens?

Spelling rules for adding ed to the verb:

1. When the verb ends in e, add only d.

move moved live lived

2. When the verb ends in a consonant + y, change the y to I, and add ed.

study studied try tried

3. When the verb ends in a vowel + y (ay, ey, oy, uy), the y does not
change.

play played enjoy enjoyed

4. When the verb is one syllable and ends in a consonant, double the last
letter before ed.
stop stopped plan planned

5. When the verb has more than one syllable and the last syllable ends in a
consonant, double the last letter only if the last syllable is stressed.
prefer preferred permit permitted
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Pronunciation of -ed
When this suffix is added to a verb to indicate past (or to form a past
participle), its pronunciation varies according to the sound of the last syllable
of the base verb. Remember that the sound (not the letter) is what is
important, although many times they may coincide.

/d/ /t/ /id/

The –ED form is The –ED form is The –ED form is

pronounced /d/ when pronounced /t/ when the pronounced /id/ when
the last sound of the last sound of the verb the last sound of the
verb base is base is verb base is

1. a vowel: 1. /p/ 1. /d/

play – played /pleid/ stop – stopped /stopt/ decide – decided
2. /b/: 2. /k/ /di’saidid/
rob – robbed /robd/ look – looked /lukt/ 2. /t/
3. /g/: 3. /s/ invite – invited
drag – dragged /dragd/ dress – dressed /drest/ /in’vaitid/
4. /m/: 4. /sh/
slam – slammed finish – finished /finisht/
/slamd/ 5. /ch/
5. /n/: watch – watched /wotcht/
open – opened 6. /ks/ (x)
/oupend/ fix – fixed /fikst/
6. /v/: 7. /f/ (gh)
love – loved /lavd/ laugh – laughed /laft/
7. /dƺ/
change – changed
/cheindƺd/
8. /z/
buzz – buzzed /bazd/
9. /l/
call –called /kold/

Irregular plural of nouns

midwife – midwives
wife – wives
life – lives
person – people
child – children
woman – women
man – men
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CHECK YOUR PROGRESS – (With key)

a) Complete the following crossword puzzle.
1

2 3

7 8

10

11

12

13

Across
2. Why did Agnodice ........................................ for Alexandria?
4. Did any of them ....................................... for a job at
university?
6. Where did Wolicka ........................................ her PhD?
9. Morell ........................................ her theses publicly.
11. Agnodice ........................ Greece to make her dreams come
true.
12. Agnodice .................................... to present-day Egypt to
study.
13. Aristotle ........................................ women as inferior.

Down
1. Agnodice and Philista ........................ some of the first women
who fought against oppression.
3. Wolicka ........................ the first doctorate degree.
5. Agnodice ........................ back to Athens as a gynaecologist.
7. Agnodice ........................ a famous gynecologist.
8. Did Greek universities ........................ female students?
10. When did Morell ........................ to study foreign languages?
12. ........................Aristotle wrong?
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b) Frame questions using one word from each column.

Then, add a new different one.
How did J. Morell gain as a man?
What problem did J. Morell leave in the past?
When did Aristotle have women?
Why did Philista? --------- ---------------------------
Who did women see a doctorate?
Why did Agnodice disguise Athens?
Where was Agnodice from? ---------------------------
When was Philista deliver classes behind a curtain?
Who was S. Wolicka? --------- ---------------------------
?

1. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………?
2. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………?
3. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………?
4. ……………………………………………………………………………………………..……?
5. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………?
6. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………?
7. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………?
8. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………?
9. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………?
10. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………?

c) Answer the questions with information from the article.

1. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………
2. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………
3. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………
4. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………
5. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………
6. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………
7. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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8. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………
9. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………
10. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………
d) Choose the right option. If possible, don’t refer to the
article.
1. Who considered women inferior to men?
a. Plato b. men c. Aristotle
2. Who was the first European woman to earn a PhD?
a. Morell b. Wolicka c. Philista
3. Who delivered lectures from behind a curtain?
a. Morell b. Wolicka c. Philista
4. Who left Greece to study medicine?
a. Morell b. Agnodice c. Philista
5. Who became a popular gynaecologist in ancient Greece?
a. Agnodice b. Wolicka c. Philista
6. Who studied Latin, Greek and Hebrew at the age of 4?
a. Morell b. Wolicka c. Philista

GRAMMAR STOP
Asking about the subject of the sentence in the past tense: The case
of WHO

Read the following questions and their answers:

-Who thought that women were inferior to men?

Aristotle OR Aristotle did.

-Who was the first woman to earn a Doctorate of Philosophy degree in

Europe in the modern era?
Stefania Wolicka.

-Who disguised herself as a man to practise medicine on men?

Agnodice OR Agnodice did.

There is no auxiliary verb and the word order is not inverted.

These are called subject questions because the question word is the
subject of the sentence. For the first question, Aristotle is the subject of
the verb.
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e) Reread the questions and answers of activity d) and ask

questions with Why...? Then answer them.

1. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
2. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
3. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
4. ……………………………………………………………………………………………..……?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
5. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
6. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………

f) Vocabulary check. Complete the first and last letters and

find the words.

1. a verb in the past _ecam_

2. a postgraduate course _aste _
3. a university authority _ecto_
4. college student status _enio_
5. a profession _awye_
6. a frequency adverb _lway _
7. an academic title _egre_
8. an adjective _leve_
9. opposite of male _emal_
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CULTURE CORNER: General knowledge quiz

Who was a war correspondent during the Battle of Omdurman?

a. Ernest Hemingway b. Winston Churchill c. Bernard Fall
Who painted the Sistine Chapel?
a. Michelangelo b. da Vinci c. Tintoretto
Who was the director of The Lord of the Rings trilogy?
a. George Lucas b. Peter Jackson c. Francis F. Coppola
Who wrote Here comes the Sun?
a. John Lennon b. Paul McCartney c. George Harrison
Who painted Guernica?
a. Salvador Dalí b. Pablo Picasso c. Francisco Goya
Who assassinated John F. Kennedy?
a. The FBI b. Martin Luther King c. Lee H. Oswald
Who was the president of Brazil in 2015?
a. Lula Da Silva b. Dilma Rousseff c. Michel Temer
Who invaded Russia in 1812?
a. Wellington b. Napoleon c. Stalin