EnglishClub

Pre-listening vocabulary

• cosmos: the entire universe
• popular science: a genre of books that explain science in a simple, understandable way
• host: to be the presenter of a TV show
• astronomer: someone who studies space
• documentary: a non-fiction, educational movie or TV series
• remake: a new adaptation of an existing movie or TV show

Listening activity

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Gapfill exercise

Cosmos is a popular science book written by astronomer Carl Sagan. The book was published in 1980, when Sagan was hosting a documentary with the same name. The of both the book and the series was to introduce the general to astronomy. The book has 13 , which match up with the 13 episodes of the documentary series. At the time, Sagan’s work caused many people to become interested in space and science. In 2014 —18 years after Sagan’s death— a remake of the original Cosmos series aired on TV. Though scientists’ understanding of the universe has grown since 1980, Cosmos is still one of the most famous scientific books ever published.

Comprehension questions

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Discussion/essay questions

1. What are your beliefs about the universe? Do you think there is life on other planets?

Transcript

Cosmos is a popular science book written by astronomer Carl Sagan. The book was published in 1980, when Sagan was hosting a documentary series with the same name. The goal of both the book and the series was to introduce the general public to astronomy. The book has 13 chapters, which match up with the 13 episodes of the documentary series. At the time, Sagan’s work caused many people to become interested in understanding space and science. In 2014 —18 years after Sagan’s death— a remake of the original Cosmos series aired on TV. Though scientists’ understanding of the universe has grown since 1980, Cosmos is still one of the most famous scientific books ever published.