EnglishClub

Pre-listening vocabulary

• mathematician: someone who works with math
• quarantine: a process of isolating people to stop them from catching or spreading disease
• plague: a disease that caused many deadly outbreaks in Europe throughout history
• gravity: the force that pulls objects down to Earth
• contribution: one person’s accomplishment that helps many people reach a collective goal
• calculus: an area of math that focuses on rates of change

Listening activity

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Gapfill exercise

Isaac Newton was an English and mathematician. He was born in 1643 in Woolsthorpe, England. In 1661, he moved to Cambridge to study at Trinity College. During his studies, Newton went into quarantine because of an of the plague. He made some of his most important scientific while working from home. Newton is best known for developing the theory of gravity and writing the three of motion. However, he made many other contributions to math and science, including the invention of calculus. He also published multiple books about his discoveries. Newton died in 1727, at the age of 84. He is still considered one of the greatest of all time.

Comprehension questions

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Discussion/essay questions

1. One of Newton’s most famous quotes is “if I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants”. What do you think he meant by this?

Transcript

Isaac Newton was an English physicist and mathematician. He was born in 1643 in Woolsthorpe, England. In 1661, he moved to Cambridge to study at Trinity College. During his studies, Newton went into quarantine because of an outbreak of the plague. He made some of his most important scientific discoveries while working from home. Newton is best known for developing the theory of gravity and writing the three laws of motion. However, he made many other contributions to math and science, including the invention of calculus. He also published multiple books about his discoveries. Newton died in 1727, at the age of 84. He is still considered one of the greatest scientists of all time.