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GOOGLE
TURNS 25
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1 Warm up

Answer the quiz about Google. How many did you get right?

1. When was Google founded?

a. September 4th, 1998 b. September 27th, 1998 c. September 15th, 1998

2. Who started Google?

a. Larry Page and Sergey Brin

b. Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg

c. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak

3. What is Googleplex?

a. the garage where Google started

b. the place where Google keeps all their computers

c. the place where Google employees work

4. Why is the name of Google’s web browser?

a. Bing b. Chrome c. Safari

5. When was Gmail launched?

a. 2007 b. 2012 c. 2017

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2 Video 1
Watch the news report about Google’s 25th anniversary. Complete the script below with the words
from the list.

27th celebrates day garage

hear huge range September

1
It all started on 4, 1998, when computer scientists Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded
2
Google. The company is now 25 years old and went from a to becoming one of the
3
biggest companies in the world. Its of products, which include Google Search, Google
4
Maps, Gmail, Google Docs, and many others is such a part of most people’s lives
5
that it is hard for us to go a single without using it. Although Google’s anniversary is
6 7
officially on September 4th, the company usually it on September .
8
So we will certainly more about that soon. For now, happy anniversary, Google!

Glossary:
anniversary (n): the date something started

3 Vocabulary
Part A: Match the words to their definitions.

headquarters (n) mow the lawn (phr.) tech giant (n) founder (n) garage (n) logo (n)

1. a big technology company

2. the person who started a company

3. the symbol that represents a company

4. the part of the house where you keep your car

5. cut the grass (e.g. in front of your house)

6. the central office of a company

Part B: Now complete the sentences below with the correct form of some of the words from Part A.

1. Google’s has six different colors.

2. Google started in a small 25 years ago.

3. Google’s are in California.

4. Google has an unusual way to around its offices.

5. Google has two who studied at the same university.

6. Google, Apple and Amazon are well-known tech .

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4 Reading 1
Read the article about Google. Complete the text with the phrases below.

a. at their headquarters

b. of their own choice

c. where they both studied

d. run by international chefs

e. who was CEO of YouTube from 2014 to 2023

f. a maths word meaning 1 with 100 zeros after it

g. which are called Easter eggs

h. which means to use a search engine

10 Interesting Facts About Google

To celebrate Google’s 25th anniversary, here are some things you might not know about the tech
giant.

1. Google founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, met nearly by accident. Larry visited Stanford University,
1
, and Sergey was asked to show him around.

2. Google was first called BackRub. When Sergey and Larry decided to change the name, they first thought of Googol
2
- - and then finally Google.

3. Google often changes its logo on the search page to celebrate a special date. These are called Google Doodles
and there have been over 5,000 of them.
3
4. Sergey and Larry started off in a garage belonging to Susan Wojcicki, .

5. Google’s first company dog was called Yoshka. The Mountain View headquarters in California even has a dog park
called Doogleplex.
4
6. Speaking of animals, Google rents goats to mow the lawn .
5
7. The verb to google, , has been in the Oxford Dictionary since 2006.
6
8. At the Mountain View headquarters, there are 25 different cafes . All the food that is served
there is free.
7
9. Employees are allowed to spend 20% of their time on projects .
8
10. Google engineers have built a number of secret fun things, , in the search engine. For example,
try googling do a barrel roll, dvd screensaver or grogu.

Sources: SiegeMedia, Facts.net

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5 Reading 2

Put the information in the order they are mentioned.

what Google employees can do

how Google search can do unusual things

how long google has been a verb

1 how the people who started the company met

where the company’s first office was

what Google was called before

how the company treats the employee’s pets

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6 Grammar 1
Read the Grammar Box and complete the sentences with the correct passive form of the verbs in the
box.

close down / google / launch / make / use / value

1. At least 8.5 billion Google searches every day.

2. Google Docs in 2006.

3. Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., at around $1.3 trillion at the moment.

4. Google+ in April 2019 because it wasn’t very popular.

5. Google products by over one billion people around the world.

6. ’Facebook’ and ’Youtube’ more times than any other word in 2022.

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7 Listening 1

Listen to five people talking about Google. Match the speakers 1-5 to the Google product.

Google Assistant Google Docs Google Maps Google Scholar Google Translate

1. Speaker 1 →

2. Speaker 2 →

3. Speaker 3 →

4. Speaker 4 →

5. Speaker 5 →

8 Listening 2

Listen to the talk again. Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)?

1. Speaker 1 needs Google for his job.

2. Speaker 2 likes that you can save documents for later.

3. Speaker 3 works in a restaurant.

4. Speaker 4 often sends documents abroad in the post.

5. Speaker 5 travels abroad a lot.

9 Talking point

In pairs, discuss the questions below.

1. What was the last thing you googled?

2. What Google products do you use the most? What for?
3. Would you like to work for Google? Why / Why not?
4. What other search engines do you use? How do they compare to Google?
5. Employees at Google are allowed to spend 20% of their time on projects of their own choice.
What do you think about that?

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10 Extension activity 1
Complete the extract from the script with one word in each gap. Then listen again and check.

Speaker 1 → I work with delivery on my bike, so I couldn’t imagine my life without Google. I just type
1 2
the address and it shows me best way to get there.

3 4
Speaker 2 → As a university student, I use Google all the . I look
5
articles and books that I can use in my studies. What I like the about it is that you
can save materials to look at later.

6
Speaker 3 → I work at home as a chef, so my hands always busy. So it’s great
7 8
I can talk to Google to ask for a recipe or even just to ask it to a
song.

9
Speaker 4 → I work in a multinational company so it’s important to share information
10
quickly and effectively. With Google, I can share a document online with a colleague
11
another country, and we can both work on it the same time.

12
Speaker 5 → I’m a digital nomad, so week I’m in a different country. I’m not very
13 14
good languages, so Google is a lifesaver. I just need to something
and it says the same sentence in any language I choose.

11 Extension activity 2
In groups, think of a new Google product. Present the product to your classmates.

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Transcripts

2. Video 1

Newsreader: Hello and welcome!

Newsreader: It all started on September 4, 1998, when computer scientists Larry Page and Sergey
Brin founded Google. The company is now 25 years old and went from a garage to
becoming one of the biggest companies in the world.

Newsreader: Its range of products, which include Google Search, Google Maps, Gmail, Google Docs,
and many others is such a huge part of most people’s lives that it is hard for us to go
a single day without using it. Although Google’s anniversary is officially on September
4th, the company usually celebrates it on September 27th. So we will certainly hear
more about that soon. For now, happy anniversary, Google!

7. Listening 1

Speaker 1 : I work with delivery on my bike, so I couldn’t imagine my life without Google. I just type
in the address and it shows me the best way to get there.

Speaker 2: As a university student, I use Google all the time. I look up articles and books that I can
use in my studies. What I like the most about it is that you can save materials to look at
later.

Speaker 3: I work at home as a chef, so my hands are always busy. So it’s great that I can talk to
Google to ask for a recipe or even just to ask it to play a song.

Speaker 4: I work in a multinational company so it’s really important to share information quickly and
effectively. With Google, I can share a document online with a colleague from another
country, and we can both work on it at the same time.

Speaker 5: I’m a digital nomad, so every week I’m in a different country. I’m not very good at
languages, so Google is a lifesaver. I just need to say something and it says the same
sentence in any language I choose.

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Key

1. Warm up

5 mins.
In pairs, students answer the questions. Encourage them to guess if they have no idea. Correct as a whole class,
eliciting any extra information they know about the topic, and at the end find out which pair answered most
questions correctly.
Source: www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=how-well-do-you-know-about-google

1. a. 2. a. 3. c. 4. b. 5. a.

2. Video 1

5 mins.
Students watch the video and complete the gaps. Play the video again for students to read along with the
presenter.

1. September 2. garage 3. range

4. huge 5. day 6. celebrates
7. 27th 8. hear

3. Vocabulary

5 mins.
Ask students to look at the words and think about what they mean. They then match the definitions with the words
in the box. When correcting, elicit examples sentences using the words. Students then complete the second set
of sentences using some of the words. Remind them that the words might have to be changed to fit into the
sentences.
Part A

1. tech giant (n) 2. founder (n)

3. logo (n) 4. garage (n)
5. mow the lawn (phr.) 6. headquarters (n)

Part B
Gap filling:

1. logo 2. garage 3. headquarters 4. mow the lawn

5. founders 6. giants

4. Reading 1

10 mins.
Students match the sentences to the gaps in the text. Correct as a whole class.

1. c) where they both studied

2. f) a maths word meaning 1 with 100 zeros after it

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3. e) who was CEO of YouTube from 2014 to 2023

4. a) at their headquarters
5. h)which means to use a search engine
6. d) run by international chefs
7. b) of their own choice
8. g) which are called Easter eggs

Sources:
www.siegemedia.com "The 100 Most Popular Google Keywords to Inspire 2023"
facts.net/google-facts/

5. Reading 2

5 mins.
Students read the article and put the topics in order. Correct as a whole class, eliciting more details from the text.

how the people who started the company met

what Google was called before

where the company’s first office was

how the company treats the employee’s pets

how long google has been a verb

what Google employees can do

how Google search can do unusual things

6. Grammar 1

10 mins.
Read the Grammar box with the students or give them time to read it on their own. Then ask them to complete
the sentences using either the present passive or past passive. Play the script again for students to check.

1. are made 2. was launched 3. is valued

4. was closed down 5. are used 6. were googled

7. Listening 1

5 mins.
Go over the Google products listed and check if students are familiar with them. Students then listen and match
the speakers to the products. Students compare in pairs, then correct as a whole class.

1. Google Maps 2. Google Scholar 3. Google Assistant 4. Google Docs 5. Google Translate

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8. Listening 2

10 mins.
Students read the sentences and try to remember if they are true or not. They then listen again to complete the
task. When correcting, play the recording again and pause at the key parts.

1. True. "I work with delivery on my bike, so I couldn’t imagine my life without Google."
2. True. "What I like the most about it is that you can save materials to look at later."
3. False. "I work at home as a chef"
4. False. "With Google, I can share a document online with a colleague from another country..."
5. False. "I’m a digital nomad, so every week I’m in a different country."

9. Talking point

10 mins.
Students discuss the questions in pairs. Elicit some ideas as a whole class.

10. Extension activity 1

15 mins.
Ask students to complete the extract with one word in each gap. They can rely on what they remember from
listening, as well as which words fit grammatically. They then listen again and check. After correcting, you can
use the extract to practice shadowing, i.e., play the extract one more time and students read out along with the
speaker (not afterwards).

1. in 2. the 3. time 4. up 5. most

6. are 7. that 8. play 9. really 10. from
11. at 12. every 13. at 14. say

11. Extension activity 2

15 mins.
In small groups, students think of a new Google product. Encourage them to be creative, even if their idea isn’t
scientifically possible (yet)! Students then present their products to the class, who decide on the best ideas.

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