U n i t 8 Gdansk

Starter
1 What do you know about Poland?

2 Would you like to go on holiday to Poland?

Vocabulary
3 Match the words to their definitions.
a shipbuilding industry 1 a business that makes computer software
b shipyard 2 a place where big boats are made
c high-tech electronics 3 the business of making big boats
d IT company 4 computers, mobile phones, etc.

Video check
4 Watch the video. Choose the correct words.
a Gdansk is a coastal / an inland town.
b The buildings we see are mostly new and modern / old and traditional.
c Gdansk is more / less important in Europe than it was 500 years ago.
d Solidarity is a political party / trade union.
e Lech Wałesa became leader of Solidarity / President of Poland in 1990.

Speaking
5 What are the main cities in your country? What industries are there? Are the cities
popular with tourists? Why or why not?

6 What is the weather like in each season (spring, summer, autumn, winter) in your town
or city? Which season or seasons do you prefer?

7 What do you think is the most important quality for a city? What is the least important?
a green space
b industry
c international food
d beautiful or interesting landscape (mountains, rivers, ocean, etc.)
e a lot of old, historical buildings
f an interesting history

8 Choose one of the following topics. Use the Internet to find some interesting facts
about it.
a Poland
b Lech Wałesa
c the top shipbuilding nations
d trade unions

International Express ⋅ Elementary ⋅ Classroom DVD ⋅ Worksheets ⋅ © Oxford University Press

 Video details
This video clip links to the Relocating to Korea text and activities on page 68.
Total running time: 3 minutes, 41 seconds.

Video script
This is the city of Gdansk in Poland.
Gdansk is on the Baltic Sea and is also on a river, the River Motława.
It is Poland’s fourth largest city.
Nearly half a million people live here and it’s an important business centre.
Many people work in the shipbuilding industry and the number of high-tech
electronics and IT companies is growing.
The city is about 1,000 years old and it has a long and interesting history. About 500
years ago it was one of the richest and most important cities in Europe.
It has many beautiful buildings such as the Town Hall and the old Arsenal.
Spring in Gdansk is warm and pleasant and in the summer it can get quite hot, though
the temperature in winter can go down to minus 15 degrees.
In 1980, the whole world watched Gdansk. Lech Wałesa, an electrician in the
shipyards, started a free trade union movement called Solidarity or Solidarnos´c´ in
Polish. His Solidarity movement was one of many that led to the end of communism
in Eastern Europe.
Wałesa became President of Poland in 1990. The main airport in Gdansk is called
Gdansk Lech Wałesa Airport.
Today, Gdansk is popular with both residents and tourists. There are plenty of shops
and open spaces for people to enjoy. The harbour is still growing and is the largest
along the Polish coast. The old shipyard is being developed and there is a lot of new
investment in the city, making it a great place to live and work.

Worksheet answer key

1 Possible answers: in Eastern Europe; capital and largest city is Warsaw; currency is
Zloty; Copernicus was Polish.
2 Students’ own answers
3 a 3 b 2 c 4 d 1
4 a coastal b old and traditional c less d trade union e President of Poland
5 Students’ own answers
6 Students’ own answers
7 Students’ own answers
8 Some examples:
a Poland’s First Republic was formed in 1569. Poland joined the European Union
in 2004. The population is about 38 million.
b Born 1943; went to work as an electrician in a shipyard in 1970; lost his job
in 1976; joined an illegal trade union in 1978; led a strike in 1980; became
president of Poland in 1990.
c South Korea (50% of world production), China (35%), all of Europe (6%),
Japan (4%), rest of world (5%)
d Trade unions are groups of workers who join together to improve their own
working conditions, pay, etc. They have existed for about 300 years.

International Express ⋅ Elementary ⋅ Classroom DVD ⋅ Worksheets ⋅ © Oxford University Press