Welcome to the

Advanced Course
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10 Reading Lessons

Vocabulary Reading Listening

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Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking

Lesson 1
Reading
Listening
Vocabulary
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1.
Elon Musk
Vocabulary & Reading & Listening

"When something is important enough, you do it even if

the odds are not in your favor."
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Vocabulary
✖ Entrepreneur
✖ obsolete
✖ Fascinated
✖ treacherous
✖ Colonization
✖ Potential
✖ Venture capitalists
✖ Endeavor
✖ Bankruptcy
✖ Aerospace
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A. Entrepreneur
1. Very dangerous and the dangers are not often clear

B. Potential 2. Sending people to colonize a new place

C. Venture capitalist 3. The science of business of building aircraft and spacecraft

D. Aerospace
4. The attempt to do something new or difficult

E. Obsolete
5. an individual who creates a new business, bearing most of the risks
F. Bankruptcy and enjoying most of the rewards
6. Becoming very interested by something you read, heard, or
G. Fascinated experienced
7. The possibility of achieving something in the future
H. Endeavor 8. a legal process through which people or companies who cannot repay
debts may seek relief from some or all of their debts
I. Treacherous 9. A person or company that invests in a business venture by providing
capital for startups with high potential for growth.
J. colonization 10. No longer in use because it is out-dated.
Elon Musk is an entrepreneur and self-made billionaire who uses his wealth to explore the future of technology. Over7
the years, Musk has made several predictions about our future on earth and in space. He believes that steering wheels
will soon become obsolete and artificial intelligence (AI) will be human’s greatest threat.
Elon Musk was born in South Africa on June 8, 1971. His father is south African and his mother is Canadian. Musk was
fascinated by technology from an early age. At 12 years old, he coded his own video game and sold it for $500. Five
years later, he moved to Canada to avoid mandatory military service.
Musk began his undergraduate studies at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario. He later transferred to the
University of Pennsylvania and earned degrees in economics and physics. He was accepted into Stanford University to
do a PhD but dropped out after two days to start his own company.
Musk’s first profitable enterprise was Zip2, an online city guide software, which he co-created with his brother
Kimbal. Musk sold the company for 307 million dollars and used his profits to start X.com, the electronic payment
service that later became PayPal. When eBay bought PayPal in 2002 for 1.5 billion dollars, Musk owned 11% of the
shares.
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) was Elon Musk’s next big venture. Musk’s fascination with transportation
and the potential for space colonization inspired him to read books on how to build rockets. In 2012, SpaceX’s Dragon
Capsule became the first commercial spacecraft to dock on the International Space Station. Since venture capitalists
are often hesitant to invest in space technology, Musk used all of his own money and resources to finance his rockets.
While overseeing his aerospace company, Musk also ran Tesla Motors, an electric car company. In 2006, Tesla made
history when it released its Roadster, an electric car that could travel 245 miles (394 km) on a single charge. In 2018,
SpaceX made headlines when it successfully sent Musk’s own personal Roadster into orbit on his latest reusable
rocket, Falcon Heavy.
Exploration and innovation are costly endeavors, and despite his accomplishments, Musk’s net worth dropped 17%
in a single month in 2018 and Tesla Inc. neared bankruptcy. Only time will tell what the future holds for this world-
famous visionary who believes that today’s failure is tomorrow’s success.
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Visionaries like Elon Musk who use their

wealth to finance technology and
exploration are sometimes referred to as
“thrillionaires,” which is a combination of
the words thrill and billionaire.
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2.
Stephen Hawking
Vocabulary & Reading & Listening

“My goal is simple. It is a complete understanding of the

universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all.”
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Vocabulary
✖ Cosmology ✖ Theoretical physics
✖ ALS ✖ Gravity
✖ Big Bang theory ✖ Deteriorate
✖ Incompatible
✖ Evaporate ✖ Just shy of
✖ Tracheotomy ✖ Extraterrestrial
✖ Thrive ✖ Phenomenon
✖ Synthesizer ✖ hypothesize
✖ Black hole
✖ The event horizon
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What is a black hole?

A black hole is a dense vacuum-like object with such strong
gravity that nothing can escape from it (not even light). The
closest anything can get without being sucked into a black
hole is called the “event horizon” (the point of no return)
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A. Cosmology 1. Just less than
B. Gravity 2. Aliens who might exist on other planets far away
C. Just shy of 3. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
D. Extraterrestrial 4. To worsen, or to get weaker
E. Hypothesize 5. A branch of astronomy concerned with the study of the universe
F. Thrive 6. A surgical procedure that is done to deliver oxygen to the lungs directly
G. Synthesizer 7. To do well in a particular environment or situation
H. ALS 8. aims to understand and predict phenomena in the physical world based on
a conceptual and mathematical understanding of the laws of the universe
I. Big Bang theory
J. Tracheotomy 9. to suggest a possible explanation for something based on the information
you have, but without knowing whether the explanation is really true
K. Incompatible
10. Can’t exist with something else because of basic differences
L. Phenomenon
11. It is the force by which a planet or other body draws objects toward its
M. Evaporate center
N. Theoretical 12. Cease to exist
physics
13. An electronic device that mixes and produces sounds
O. Deteriorate
14. Something that can be seen to happen or exist
15. The theory that hypothesize that the universe started as a tiny particle
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Stephen Hawking was regarded as one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists in history. As a cosmologist, His
work on the origins and structure of the universe, from the Big Bang to black holes, revolutionized the field. His best-
selling books have appealed to readers who may not have Hawking's scientific background.
In early 1963, just shy of his 21st birthday, Hawking was diagnosed with motor neuron disease, more commonly
known as Lou Gehrig's disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He was not expected to live more than two
years. Completing his doctorate did not appear likely. Yet, Hawking defied the odds, not only attaining his Ph.D. but
also forging new roads into the understanding of the universe in the decades since. In 1974, Hawking unified two
seemingly incompatible theories: general relativity and quantum theory. He hypothesized that black holes could
evaporate and get smaller (known as "Hawking radiation").
As the disease spread, Hawking became less mobile and began using a wheelchair. Talking grew more challenging
and, in 1985, an emergency tracheotomy caused his total loss of speech. A speech-generating device constructed at
Cambridge, combined with a software program, served as his electronic voice, allowing Hawking to select his words
by moving the muscles in his cheek.
Stephen Hawking believed in the existence of extraterrestrials (several hundred light years away), but he was
cautious about others attempting to communicate with them. He voiced concerns that they could be hostile to
humans. He also had concerns about artificial intelligence, and he once said that human-level AI will either be the
best or worst thing to happen to humanity.
Hawking was also a celebrity who made many appearances on several TV shows, including The Simpsons, Star Trek,
and The Big Bang Theory. His synthesized voice became one of the world's most recognized voices.
Stephen Hawking had a significant impact on theoretical physics and our understanding of the universe. He passed
away on March 14, 2018.
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Idioms related to science
Light years ahead Not rocket science
Very advanced compared to Not difficult at all
others Studying English is not rocket
The technological science. Actually, it is pretty
advancements made by the easy.
Japanese are light years ahead
of anything we have.

Get/have one’s wires Not the brightest bulb

crossed
To become confused Not very intelligent
I’m sorry, I hadn’t slept for 2 He’s not the brightest bulb.
days, and I got my wires
crossed.
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Our process is easy

Practice
reading the Listen to
Attend the
sentences the audio Do the
live session
and the files a few homework
on Friday
passages times
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