UNIT 2 RENEWABLE ENERGY

1 Read the following text twice.

Our everyday activities depend heavily on energy. Traditional fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural
gas, however, pollute the environment, and it is becoming more and more expensive to find and
extract them. Furthermore, we are running out of them. So, it is very urgent to find new sources to
meet the increasing energy needs of the growing population of the Earth.

Eco-friendly, or green energy sources like solar and wind power, hydropower and biomass do not
have a negative impact on the environment. They are also renewable, which means we will never
run out of them as they are continuously replenished.

to extract – to take out, to remove

to replenish – to make full or complete again (e.g. 'He replenished my glass with mineral water.')

2 Look for types of energy resources in the text and label the pictures.

biomass natural gas coal wind energy

solar energy oil hydropower

3 Which of these energy resources are renewable?

wind energy yes

coal no
oil no
solar energy yes
hydropower yes
natural gas no
biomass yes

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4 Match the words to form phrases. You can go back to the text if you don't remember a
phrase.

1. fossil c a. on something
2. depend a b. needs
3. to have d c. fuel
4. to meet b d. an impact on something

***

1 Read the text below about the difference between renewable and non-renewable energy, and
try to understand as much as possible. Don't use a dictionary. Renewable and non-renewable
energy resources

Over the last 200 years, an ever-increasing proportion of our energy has come from non renewable
sources such as oil and coal. While demand for energy rises, these resources are running out and
scientists are exploring the potential of renewable sources of energy for the future.

All life on earth is sustained by energy from the sun. Plants and animals can store energy and some of
this energy remains with them when they die. It is the remains of these ancient animals and plants that
make up fossil fuels.

Fossil fuels are non-renewable because they will run out one day. Burning fossil fuels generates
greenhouse gases and relying on them for energy generation is unsustainable. Hence the need to find
more renewable, sustainable ways of generating energy. Renewable or infinite energy resources are
sources of power that quickly replenish themselves and can be used again and again.

Estimates from international organisations suggest that if the world's demand for energy from fossil
fuels continues at the present rate, oil and gas reserves may run out within some of our lifetimes. The
estimated length of time left for oil is 50 years, while for natural gas it is 70 years. Coal is expected to
last longer, about 250 years.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/energy_resources/energy_rev1.shtml

to increase – to rise, to go up
ever-increasing – continuously increasing
to sustain – to keep up, to support
to estimate – to calculate approximately

2 Now, check the meanings of the following important words and phrases.
proportion: parte, porcentaje
such as: como por ejemplo
to rely on something: depender de algo

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sustainable: sostenible
sustainable development: desarrollo sostenible
sustainable future: future sostenible
sustainability: sostenibilidad
an estimate: estimación, cálculo, presupuesto
to estimate: estimar, calcular
demand for something: exigir algo
a reserve: reserva

3 Read the text again, and then look at these sentences. Are they true or false on the basis of
the text?
1. About 200 years ago, people used a lot of oil and coal. false
2. All life on earth depends on the energy of the sun. true
3. If we rely on non-renewable energy in the future, our life will be sustainable. false
4. Greenhouse gases are generated by burning fossil fuels. true
5. The energy in animals and plants comes from the sun. true
6. The estimated time left for coal reserves is 250 years, if demand does not grow. false

4 Match the words with their definitions.

a . proportion Part, share For example
b. such as For example Part, share
c. demand Strong need Strong need

5 Watch the video and fill the gaps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apGEhHvu_0s

RUN 95 KETTLE SUPPORT LIMITATIONS ELECTRIC

JOB SUN LEARN NEEDS FIRST 100

97 ENGINEER RENEWABLES 5 HYDRO CAN

PART-TIME TURBINES GENERATORS HAVE SWITCHED ON LARGEST

PHOTOVOLTAIC

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1. This was the first time that the three renewables were included in a microgrid.
2. Before they had egg electric most people had generators which were only switched on at
night.
3. They often get between 95 and 97 per cent. The largest is the hydro It’s up to a 100 kilowatts.
4. They have six small wind turbines and they also have the pvs the photovoltaic cells for the
energy from the sun.
5. For a system like electric to work it needs the community to support it.
6. They need to run their systems being aware of the limitations.
7. People can use a maximum of five kilowatts at a time.
8. Boiling a kettle uses roughly three kilowatts of electricity as does putting on a washing
machine.
9. They all have different jobs. It’s very much a part-time thing.
10. You don’t have to be an engineer, you have to be enthused by it and want to learn

NB: A microgrid is a local electrical grid with defined electrical boundaries, acting as a single and
controllable entity. It is able to operate in grid-connected and in island mode. A 'Stand-alone microgrid'
or 'isolated microgrid' only operates off-the-grid and cannot be connected to a wider electric power
system.

6. Discuss
1. Do you know any other places surviving only on renewable energy?
2. Do you think it would be possible to do something similar in our country? Why/Why not?
3. Where in Spain would you try it? Why?
***

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GRAMMAR I

Past Simple

Look at these sentences...

a) I studied English last year.

b) She went to a shopping centre yesterday.

They refer to a completed past action. Both of them are in the Past Simple. Which one has a
regular verb?_____
In this section you are going to learn how to form the Past Simple.

Use

For a past action which is completely finished.

We went to the cinema on Friday.
He worked for a French company five years ago.

Form
• Regular verbs:
 Affirmative sentences use infinitive +-ed.
 They repaired my car yesterday.
 Questions and negatives take the auxiliary verb did.
 Did you like my new mobile? Yes, I did/No, I didn't.
 She didn't work for us last year.

• Irregular verbs:
Affirmative sentences use the irregular past form (see the list on page 284).
It is the same for all subjects: I went, you went...
Interrogative: did + subject + infinitive? Did you watch TV yesterday evening?
Negative: subject + did not + infinitive: He didn't go to the cinema.

-ed spelling rules

• Verbs ending in -e add only -d. Love > loved

• Verbs ending in -y change the -y into -i and add -ed. try >tried
•Some verbs ending in a single consonant + a single vowel + a single consonant, double the last
consonant before adding -ed. travel >travelled (BrE) stop>stopped

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TO BE
The verb to be has a special past simple form: about
I
He was away
She at home yesterday.
It at work last week.
We here in 2008.
You were
They

Questions and negatives:

• Were you away last week? Yes, I was/No, I wasn't.
• Was she at work yesterday? Yes, she was./No, she wasn't.
• They were not/weren't here last year.

EXERCISES
1. Write the past simple of the regular verbs in the box and put them in the right column.
close invent carry grip start turn study switch plug try design
decide remove travel stop play grab repair live develop create fit

+d +ed +ied double consonant +ed

closed started carried travelled
removed played tried stopped
decided developed studied grabbed
lived turned fitted
created switched gripped
repaired plugged
invented
designed

2. Write the past simple of these irregular verbs.

•fly flew • have had • ring rang
•begin began • go went • see saw
• come came • leave left • take took
• drive drove •light lit • think thought
• feel felt • make made • write wrote
3. Write the correct form of the verbs in brackets using the past simple:
a) An electrician repaired (repair) this lamp last week.
b) We didn’t have (not/have) problems with the sockets.
c) They weren’t (not/be) happy with the washing machine after-sales service.
d) Did you find (you/find) a good department store in the town? Yes, I did.
e) Mary loved (love) computers but she didn’t want (not/want) to study Computer science. She
studied (study) Electronics at a vocational school.
f) Where did you go (you/go) yesterday? I drove (drive) to Oxford.

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4. Complete the sentences with the past simple of the verbs in the box:

see not/watch take read feel turn work go

a) Peter took the children to school early in the morning, then he went to his office.
b) When he turned the lights on, he saw a post-it note on the desk.
c) My sister didn’t watch TV yesterday night, she read a book instead.
d) She really felt comfortable at home.
e) His mother worked in an office.

5. Read the biography of T. A. Edison. Write the verbs in brackets in the past simple.
Thomas Alva Edison was born on February 11, 1847 in Ohio. He 1.was (be)
always a very curious child but he 2. didn’t have (not/have) much formal education. At first he 3.
learned/learnt (learn) with his mother, and also reading on his own. Then he 4. worked (work)
selling newspapers and as a telegrapher.
In Boston in 1868 he 5. started (start) to work as an inventor and he 6. got (get) his first patent on
an electric vote recorder*. After that Edison 7. moved (move) to New York City in 1869 and 8.
Continued (continue) to work hard on new inventions till he 9. set up (set up) a small laboratory
in Newark in 1871.
His first great invention was the tin foil phonograph, which 10. gave (give) Edison international
fame.
Then he 11. developed (develop) the idea of electric lighting and 12. invented (invent) an electric
lighting system with all the elements necessary to make the incandescent light practical, safe, and
economical. After less than two years he13. achieved (achieve) an incandescent lamp with a
filament of carbonized sewing thread and in 1882 he 14. created (create) the electric industry: the
first ever power station. In 1889 he founded Edison General Electric.
After opening the new laboratory, Edison 15. began (begin) to work on the phonograph again and
he invented the first motion pictures in 1891.
Edison's new challenge was to develop a better storage battery for use in electric
vehicles. He loved cars and he 16. thought (think) that electric propulsion was the best method of
powering cars, so he developed an alkaline battery in 1899.
Edison's life 17. changed (change) from inventor and industrialist to a cultural icon,a symbol.
He 18. died (die) in August 1931 at Glenmont.

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NUMBERS
1 What dam is this and where is it? When was it built and how long did it take to build?
The Hoover dam is located 50 kms south-east of
Las Vegas in the USA. It was built in the 1930s
to stop flooding and provide irrigation, domestic
water, and power. First they had to reroute the
Colorado River through tunnels, and then they
had to build the dam itself. It's 221 metres tall,
201 metres wide at its base, and it weighs nearly
six billion tonnes. When it was
finished, it was the largest dam in the world.
Amazingly, the whole construction project was
completed in just under five years.

2. 7.2 Listen to some tourists at the dam. What questions do they ask their guide?
How much water does it hold?
How much concrete did they use?
How many people worked on the project?
Did anyone die constructing the dam?
How much did they pay the workers?
3. 7.2 Listen again and underline the numbers you hear.
1 a 4 m kwh b 4 b kwh
2 a 35,369,000m³ b 35,396,000m³
3 a 20.5 bar b 21.5 bar
4 a 2,250,000 m³ b 2,500,000 m³
5 a 5,218 b 5,280
6 a 1934 b 1943
7 a 40 °C b 44 °C
8 a $500,000 b $1,000,000 606
9 a $1 b $1.25

4 Find the numbers in 3 that refer to these things and say them aloud.
1 The amount of concrete they used 2,5000,000 m³
2 The average amount of electricity generated by the dam in a year 4 b kwh
3 The capacity of Lake Mead 35,396,000 m³
4 The hourly pay of a crane operator $1.25
5 The average monthly payroll $500,000
6 The year most people worked on the dam 1934
7 The maximum number of people working on the dam 5,218
8 The temperature the desert can reach 44°C
9 The water pressure at the bottom 21.5 bar

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Numbers 5 Write these numbers.
Example Two million 2,000,000
Large numbers
1 Three trillion 3,000,000,000,000
1,000,000 (or 1 m) = a million 2 Two thirds 2/3
1,000,000,000 (or 1 b) = a billion (a thousand million)3 Seven eighths 7/8
4 Thirty five and a half thousand 35,500
1,000,000,000,000 = a trillion (a million million)
5 Half a billion 500,000,000
6 Two and a quarter million 2,250,000
Fractions 7 Nineteen sixty six 1966
8 Two thousand and twelve 2012
Notice how we say these fractions:
9 Five hundred dollars $500
1/4 a quarter 1/3 a third 1/2 a half 10 Six euros and nine cents €6.09
3/4 three quarters 9/10 nine tenths
We sometimes use fractions when we say large s or no s
numbers. Don't add s to words like hundred, thousand,
million, etc. after a number.
2,500,000 Two and a half million
Six billion tonnes (not six billions tonnes and not
Six billions of tonnes)
Years We use s and of in expressions with no number.
Hundreds of men died.
What do the numbers refer to?
They used billions of tonnes of concrete.
Say years before 2000 in two parts. After 2000,
say the number. 6 Complete these sentences. Form the correct
1934 Nineteen thirty four expression with the number in brackets.
Three and a half thousand people worked on the dam
2001 Two thousand and one each day. (thousand)
Thousands of people worked on the dam each day.
Money (thousand)
1 At its base, the dam is two thousand metres wide.
We write the currency before the number, but
(thousand)
we say it after the number. 2 They spent millions of dollars constructing the dam.
$500,000 Five hundred thousand dollars NOT (million)
3 Thousands of people worked on the dam. (thousand)
dollars five hundred thousand
4 The average monthly payroll was five hundred
We say smaller units of currency after the number. thousand dollars. (thousand)
$1.25 One dollar twenty five cents 5 The dam can generate over ten billion kilowatt-hours
a year. (billion)
6 Lake Mead holds more than thirty five million cubic
metres of water. (million)
7 Hundreds of people died building the dam. (hundred)
8 Every year thousands of tourists visit the dam.
(thousand)

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7 Complete the text using the numbers in the list.

4,000 km ten thousand times 35 cm 75% hundreds of thousands 75,000 years 21°

A super volcano can explode with a force ten thousand times.....' greater than a normal volcano.
They 'sleep' for hundreds of thousands 2 of years, slowly building up a huge reservoir of magma
- hot, liquid rock. When super volcanoes do erupt, the force of the explosion is so powerful that it
can destroy continents and kill most forms of life on this planet.
The last eruption of a super volcano was in Toba, Sumatra, 75,000 years 3 ago. It had 10,000
times the explosive force of Mount St Helens. Thousands of cubic kilometres of ash were thrown
into the atmosphere and it blocked out the sun all over the world. 4,000 km 4 away, 35 cm 5 of ash
covered the ground killing 75%6 of all plants in the northern hemisphere. Global temperatures fell
by 21°7 overnight.

a few thousand 600,000 years 50 km 1,000 km billions 74 cm higher 85 km x 45 km

1,000 km³ 12.5 cm

The largest super volcano in the world is in Yellowstone Park in the USA. It is 85 km x 45 km 8
The ground in Yellowstone Park is 74 cm higher9 than it was in 1923 - which means the magma
reservoir under the park is growing quickly. The volcano erupts every 600,000 years10 and the last
eruption was 640,000 years ago. So scientists think there will be another eruption soon.

What will happen if it does erupt? Magma would be thrown 50 km11 into the air. All life within
1000km12 of Yellowstone would be destroyed by the explosion and falling lava. Volcanic ash
could cover places as far away as Iowa and the Gulf of Mexico. 1,000 km³ 13 of lava would pour
out of the volcano - that's enough to cover the whole of the USA in a 12.514 thick layer of lava.

The Sumatra explosion reduced the population of the world to a few thousand15 and scientists
believe the same thing could happen again when the volcano under Yellowstone Park finally
explodes. This time billions16 of human lives would be at risk.

Read the text below about the benefits of renewable energy. Try to understand it without a
dictionary.
Benefits of Renewable Energy Use
Renewable energy – wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric, and biomass – provides a lot of
benefits for our climate, our health, and our economy.
Human activity is overloading our atmosphere with carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas
emissions, which trap heat, steadily drive up the planet’s temperature, and create significant and
harmful impacts on our health, our environment, and our climate.
Electricity production accounts for more than one-third of U.S. greenhouse gas
emissions, with the majority generated by coal-fired power plants, which produce approximately
25 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions; natural gas-fired power plants produce 6
percent of total emissions. In contrast, most renewable energy sources produce little to no
greenhouse gas emissions. (...)

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Generating electricity from renewable energy rather than fossil fuels offers significant public
health benefits. (…) Replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy has been found to reduce
premature mortality and lost workdays, and it reduces overall health care costs. (...)
Compared with fossil fuel technologies, which are typically mechanized and capital intensive, the
renewable energy industry is more labor-intensive. This means that, on average, more jobs are
created for each unit of electricity generated from renewable sources than from fossil fuels. (…)
While renewable facilities require upfront investments to build, once built they operate at very low
cost and, for most technologies, the fuel is free. As a result, renewable energy prices are relatively
stable over time. (…) In contrast, fossil fuel prices can vary dramatically and are prone to
substantial price swings

http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/our-energy-choices/renewable-energy/public-benefits-of-
renewable.html#.VpjQVKSVvb0

1. There are six paragraphs in the previous text. Answer the questions about their contents.
Write the number(s) of the paragraph in the box.
1. Which paragraph is about the health benefits of renewable energy? 4
2. Which paragraphs are about the environmental benefits of renewable energy? 2, 3
3. Which paragraphs are about the economic benefits of renewable energy? 5, 6

2. Choose the best answer on the basis of the previous text.

1. Renewable energy has … 4. Most of the energy in the US is
a) a lot of benefits. yes a) generated by coal-fired power plants. yes
b) very few benefits. b) natural gas-fired power plants.

2. Carbon dioxide is a 5. Premature mortality means

a) greenhouse gas. yes a) early deaths. yes
b) renewable gas. b) early births.

3. Electricity generation 6. Renewable energy facilities (e.g. wind farms,

a) is responsible for more than 1/3 of solar panels) are expensive … and cheap …
greenhouse gas emissions in the US. yes a) to use; to build
b) reduces greenhouse gas emissions by b) to build; to use yes
one-third in the US.

3. Match the words in bold with their meanings.

1. Coal-fired power plants emit a lot of greenhouse gases. e a. work
2. Greenhouse gases trap heat, and drive up the planet's g b. needs a lot of workers
temperature.
3. Natural gas-fired power plants account for approximately f c. is the cause of
5% of total emissions.
4. The renewable energy industry is labour-intensive b d. in advance, at the beginning
5. Renewable energy facilities need a lot of upfront
d e. release, let out
investments.
6. When they are built, wind farms operate at very low costs. a f. about
7. Electricity production accounts for more than one-third
c g. capture, catch
of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions

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4. Which type of energy source do the following statements refer to?
1. They account for the majority of 3. They are more capital intensive.
greenhouse gas emissions. a) fossil fuels
a) fossil fuels b) renewable energy sources
b) renewable energy sources ) renewable energy sources
4. They are less labour-intensive.
2.They can reduce health care costs. a) fossil fuels
a) fossil fuels b) renewable energy sources
b) renewable energy sources

5. Their prices may change dramatically.

a) fossil fuels
b) renewable energy sources

GRAMMAR

Past Continuous
Look at this sentence...
I was studying for two hours yesterday afternoon.
It refers to an action in progress at a definite time in the past. It is in the Past Continuous.
Now read the following one:
I was studying when she phoned me.
Which verb emphasizes the duration of a past action?
And which refers to an action which interrupts the other?
In this section you are going to learn about the contrast between the Past Simple and Continuous.

Use
We use the past continuous to describe events or actions that were happening at a definite time in
the past.
 Yesterday at 5 pm I was fixing my bike.
With the past continuous we stress their duration.

Form
It is formed with the verb to be in the past (was/were) + the present participle of the main verb (-
ing):
 The mechanics were designing a new model.
The negative is formed by putting not:
 She was not driving. (contracted form: wasn't)
 They were not studying. (contracted form: weren't)
Questions change the word order: Were they working? Yes, they were. / No, they weren't.
For -ing spelling rules, see Present Continuous in Unit 1.

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Contrast past simple/past continuous
• We use the past continuous to describe events or actions that were happening and the past simple
for interrupting actions or events:
 He was driving very fast when he had an accident.
 When I arrived at the garage, they were fixing my car.

• We use past simple to talk about sequences of events in the past.

Peter was a lineman. He got a job and began to work in an electrical company in May. It was OK
until he started to arrive late and the boss was always upset so...
• To express two past actions happening at the same time you use the past continuous:
 I was watching TV while my sister was reading a novel.

EXERCISES
1. Write the verbs in brackets in the past continuous:
a) He wasn’t listening (not/listen) when the teacher asked him a question.
b) What were you doing (you/do) yesterday evening when I phoned you?
I was having (have) dinner with friends at a French restaurant.
c) When I saw the traffic lights I wasn’t driving (not/drive) very fast.
d) Alice was studying (study) Maths while her parents (watch) TV in the living room.
e) When I arrived at the garage, the mechanics were repairing (repair) my car.
f) Steve was watching (watch) a documentary when his friends arrived.
g) Where was she going (she/go) when you met? To the cinema.
h) Tom was running (run) in the park when I saw him.
i) What were you doing (you/do) yesterday at 5 pm? I was working (work)

2. Circle the right verb tense in the following sentences.

a) He got up and went/was going to the garage.
b) She phoned me while I drove/was driving to work.
c) They met/were meeting when they were on holiday in the Canary Islands.
d) Tim stopped/was stopping the car at the traffic lights.
e) When I arrived/was arriving to the factory it was late.
f) Were you cooking/Did you cook when she came back home?
g) Mary listened/was listening to music while we were reading comics.
h) She waited/was waiting for me when I arrived at the station.
i) Did you leave/were you leaving home when I phoned you?

3. Fill in the blanks with the verbs in brackets in the right tense: past simple or past
continuous:
a) What were you doing (you/do) at 3 a.m. on October 1st when I saw (see) you?
b) After ten years at the same garage, my friend Mike found (find) another job.
c) I was riding (ride) my bicycle when they phoned (phone) me.
d) I always wanted (want) to be an electrician, but when I started (start) to work I discovered
(discover) that it wasn’t (not/be) for me.
e) The phone rang (ring) when they were having (have) dinner.
f) My car passed (pass) the MOT last week.
g) His friends were playing (play) football while he was doing (do) homework.
h) Were you playing (play) video games when I phone (phone) you?
i) My sister was cleaning (clean) a lamp when suddenly the ladder slipped (slip) and she fell off.

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4. Write the verbs in brackets in the right tense, past simple or continuous to complete this
text about P. L. Robertson:
Robertson was born in 1879 in Seneca Township, Ontario. He 1was (be) an
industrialist and salesman. One day, he 2. was demostrating (demonstrate) tools when his
screwdriver slipped 3. (slip) and 4. cut (cut) his hand. Then he 5. decided (decide) to design a
different drive for screws that slip less easily. Allan Cummings 6. patented (patent) the square-
socket drive in 1875, but decades later Robertson 7.developed (develop) it and it 8.was (be) a
commercial success.
He 9. made (make) the square-socket drive for screws popular. It is called the Robertson drive.
The design 10. was (be) difficult to manufacture. He 11. produced (produce) his screws (patented
in Canada in 1909) in his factory in Ontario in 1908.
The Fisher Body company, which 12. made (make) the car bodies for the Ford Motor Company,
13. was (be) one of Robertson's first customers. They 14. used (use) over 700 Robertson screws in
their Model T car. The Robertson drive 15. was (be) a revolutionary change in the fastener
industry. Robertson screws and screwdrivers still carry his name today.
"Robertson screwdriver patent illustration" by Library and
Archives Canada, Collections Canada website.

COMMUNICATION
Giving directions
13.1 Listen to someone asking for directions. Draw the route they should take on the
map.

2. Listen again and complete the sentences.

1 You need to get on the motorway and head south.
2 Keep going for five miles or so.
3 You'll go past a castle on the right.
4 Take the left-hand fork and go over the railway lines. Then get off motorway at the next exit.
5 Turn left at the traffic lights in Bletcham.
6 Head towards the Boxted. But don't go through Boxted. Turn right just before it. The road is
sighnposted to Caterhill.
7 Then you'll come to a roundabout*. Take the third exit.
8 It runs along a river - it's very pretty.
9 You'll see our factory on the left.
10 You can't miss it!

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3 Match the prepositions to the correct diagrams.
1e over 2g under 3f between 4a along 5d past 6b through 7c around

4 Look at the map in 1 and complete these sentences with a preposition from 3.
1 The road to Fletchley goes under railway line.
2 The motorway goes over the railway line.
3 The the railway line runs between two television towers.
4 When you drive from Boxted to Redhill, you pass through Hockley.
5 You drive past a church on your way from Boxted to Hockley.
6 The road to Andridge goes along the river.
7 There are a lot of tres around Lake Foss.

5 Complete these instructions for getting from Foss to Fletchley. Use the words in the list.
towards exit along miss off signposted after under right past

Head north towards Crockley. Just after 1 you go through Crockley, you'll come to a
roundabout.Take the first exit 2. It's signposted 3 to Bletcham. Turn right 4 at the traffic lights in
Bletcham and join the motorway. Go along 5 the motorway for about five miles and you'll go past
6 two television towers on the right. Get off 7 the motorway at the next exit. Go through the tunnel
under 8 the railway line and you'll come to Fletchley. You can't miss 9 it!

6 Work with a partner.

A You are at the airport and you need to get to your partner's factory. Your map is old and out
of date. Ask your partner how to get there and draw the route on your map. (Use the grid boxes to
help you.)

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You need to get on the road and head east. Cross the bridge over the river Lever. Head
towards Industrial Crockery, but don't go through it. Turn right just before it. You’ll leave
the factory on the left. Turn right and drive along for a few mile. You’ll go past the Office
Tower on your left. The road goes over the railway line. Go through the lever crossing and
keep on driving until you get to my factory.

B Your partner is at the airport and they need to get to your factory. Their map is old and out of
date. It doesn’t have the new motorway on it. Your map is up to date. Explain the route so your
partner can draw it on their map. (Use the grid boxes to help you).

You need to get on the road and head east. Then, take the first fork on the left until you get
to the motorway entrance. You’ll see a shopping centre and a car park on the right. The
motorway goes over river Lever. Drive along for a few miles. Drive past an office tower and
take the motorway exit. You’ll get to a roundabout. Take the first exit. Go through the
traffic lights. The road skirts the lake Calm. Go through the tunnel under the railway line
and you'll come to another roundabout. Take the second exit. After that, take the first fork
on the left and you’ll get to my factory. You can’t miss it!

WRITING
BIOGRAPHY
Tips to write a biography
Writing a biography raids of
• First, you need all the information about the person you are going to describe: personal details,
dates, work, activities and any other relevant information. You can decide how to organise it:
chronologically or in order of importance.
• It is always a good idea to use connectors to show the sequence of events.
• When you finish, check your writing for any mistakes.

Useful sequence connectors or linkers

at first then after that as soon as later on in the end
1. Read the biography of Edison in the grammar section of this unit. Notice the connectors in bold.
Date of birth: 1856
Place of birth: Smiljan, Lika, now Croatia
Job: electrical engineer and inventor
1882: work for the Edison Company in France
discover the rotating magnetic field

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1883: build a prototype of the induction motor
1884: go to New York to work for Edison have problems with Edison: direct versus
alternating current - DC/AC meet inventor George Westinghouse
1887: start the Tesla Electric Company
1891: invent the Tesla coil get United States citizenship
1894: begin investigating X-ray
1895: design the first hydroelectric power plant
1896: patent the radio transmitter
1915: not/get Nobel prize (despite rumours)
1943: not/get Nobel prize (despite rumours)
Discoveries: fluorescent light, laser beam, remote control, robotics, modern transmission
systems.
Patents: register 700
2. Write a biography of Nikola Tesla using the information below. Use the sequence linkers
you need and follow the tips given.
Nikola Tesla, an influential electrical engineer and inventor, was born on July 10, 1856, in
Smiljan, Lika, which is now part of Croatia.

At first, Tesla began his career working in France. He worked for the Edison Company in 1882.
During this time, he made a pivotal discovery by identifying the rotating magnetic field, a concept
crucial to the development of electric motors. In 1883, he successfully built a prototype of the
induction motor.

Tesla faced disagreements with Thomas Edison over the practicality of direct current (DC) versus
alternating current (AC). However, Tesla made a significant connection with inventor George
Westinghouse as soon as they met in 1884.

In 1887, Tesla founded the Tesla Electric Company. Later on, in 1891, he invented the Tesla coil,
a device with applications in radio technology and wireless communication. After that, Tesla
became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

In 1894, he began investigating X-rays. Then, in 1895, he designed the first hydroelectric power
plant. His inventive spirit led him to patent the radio transmitter in 1896

in 1895, he designed the first hydroelectric power plant. His inventive spirit led him to patent the
radio transmitter in 1896, solidifying his impact on the development of communication
technology.

Tesla accumulated an impressive 700 patents. His discoveries extended beyond electrical
engineering to include innovations in fluorescent lights, laser beams, remote control, robotics, and
modern transmission systems. In the end, despite numerous rumors, he didn’t receive the Nobel
prize either in 1915 or 1943.

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