Starting off

We often hear people described as `great'. What makes a person great? Which people who are alive today, or who died recently, would you describe as great?

Take a look at the list below. Do you agree with these examples?

• Politics: Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev

• Music: John Lennon, Bono, The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Luciano Pavarotti

• Film: Steven Spielberg, Marlon Brando, Robert de Niro,

• Business: Bill Gates, Karl Benz, Akio Morita

• Sport: Roger Federer, Muhammad Ali, Haile Gebre Selassie, Cristiano Ronaldo

Which names would you add to each list?

Before you read

When people talk about greatness, Leonardo da Vinci is often described as the greatest person who has ever lived.

But how much do you know about Leonardo? Work in a small group and brainstorm all you know. Think about:

where and when he lived what Leonardo thought what Leonardo did

First reading

Read the first part of the text quickly to check your ideas.

Vocabulary 1

Find words or phrases in the text to match the definitions below. You will need to look at both the first part and the second part of the text for this, finding the words for your text. The definitions are in the same order as the words in the text.

FIRST SECTION

1. Someone who works for somebody for a time in order to learn a particular skill or job. (NOUN)

2. Behaving in a way that is unusual and different from most people. (ADJECTIVE)

3. Something that you do regularly or usually, often without thinking about it. (NOUN)

4. A structure made of wires or bars in which birds or animals can be kept. (NOUN)

5. To let someone or something go free, after having kept them somewhere. (VERB)

6. Great skill at doing something. (NOUN)

DA VINCI THE ARTIST

7. Someone or something which is so famous that it represents an important idea or time. (ADJECTIVE)

8. To continue to exist after a long time. (VERB)

9. Likely to change suddenly and become worse or disappear. (ADJECTIVE)

10. How large, important, or serious something is. (NOUN)

DA VINCI THE SCIENTIST

11. Someone who produces large numbers of things. (ADJECTIVE)

12. During all of a particular period, from the beginning to the end. (PREPOSITION)

13. Used to show that it does not matter which one is true. (DETERMINER)

14. A subject that people talk or write about. (NOUN)

DA VINCI THE INVENTOR

15. A large heavy powerful gun that was used in the past to fire heavy metal balls. (NOUN)

16. When you talk about something or someone that is part of a larger group you have just mentioned. (PREPOSITION)

17. Special equipment which you use to help you stay underwater for a long time. (NOUN)

18. Have no limits (PHRASE)

Second reading

Read the second part of the text again, underlining any especially interesting information. Read carefully - in a moment your friends will be asking you some questions about it!

Question formation
Below are three jumbled questions for each part of the text. Make the questions for the sections you do not have.

DA VINCI THE ARTIST

1. PAINTINGS / MANY / LEONARDO'S / HAVE / HOW / SURVIVED / OF ?

2. BEEN / HAVE / PAINTINGS / WHY / MANY / LOST / SO ?

3. LEONARDO / JUST / HAVE / ANYTHING / DO / FROM / OR / ELSE / PAINTINGS / WE ?

DA VINCI THE SCIENTIST

1. OF / PAGES / MANY / LEONARDO / NOTES / DID / HOW / MAKE ?

2. TO / THEY / HARD / WHY / READ / ARE ?

3. WHY / THIS / WRITE / WAY / DID / LEONARDO ?

DA VINCI THE INVENTOR

1. THEORETICAL / LEONARDO / DID / ONLY / PLANS / CREATE ?

2. BUILT / DESIGNS / HIS / WERE / LIFETIME / LEONARDO'S / IN ?

3. MOST / THING / WHAT / AMAZING / LEONARDO / WAS / THE / DESIGNED ?

Speaking

Work in groups of three or more, so you have at least one person who read each text. Ask and answer your questions.

Vocabulary 2

Work in the same groups and complete the sentences below using one of the items from Vocabulary 1.

1. When you think of Paris, you think of the Eiffel Tower. It truly is a(n) ………………………… sight.

2. He was a very ………………………… man in his dress. People would laugh when they saw him walking down the street.

3. That's a very interesting …………………………, in fact, but we don't have time to discuss it right now.

4. His arrogance …………………………! Really, it just gets worse and worse.

5. He lived in London ………………………… his life, though he did travel from time to time.

6. Nelson Mandela was finally ………………………… from prison after 27 years.

7. ………………………… kind of coffee you like, we have it. This is the best cafe in town.

8. I have several pets, ………………………… a snake and a tortoise.

9. The ………………………… of the financial crisis is still not clear.

10. Marco van Basten was one of the most ………………………… strikers who ever played. He scored hundreds of goals.

11. To ………………………… in the desert you need plenty of water and suitable clothes.

12. His ………………………… as a writer is not questioned. Everyone recognises his genius.

Speaking

Discuss the questions below with your friends:

• Which people outside of your family and friends have had the greatest influence on your life and who you are today?

• Is it good to use other people's example as a model for your own life?

• Is there anybody who you see as an example for you? Is there anyone who inspires you in your life?

• Which people have had the greatest influence, for better or worse, on your city and your country?

• 
  

A Monthly Newsletter for Teachers of English

March 2009

© Pearson Longman 2009 PHOTOCOPIABLE

A C T I V I T I E S S H E E T

March 2009

Leonardo produced some of the

world's most famous and iconic

pieces of art, including two of the

world's most famous paintings,

the Mona Lisa (above) and The

Last Supper. Surprisingly for

such a famous artist, only some

fifteen of his paintings survive.

This is partly Leonardo's fault:

ever the experimenter, Leonardo

was forever trying out new

techniques and new technologies,

including new kinds of paint.

Many of these were unstable and

the paintings were lost as a result.

Fortunately, many of Leonardo's

notebooks, sketches and essays

have survived to show the extent

of his genius as an artist.

his life. He was a man of eccentric habits and

appeared to love animals: he was a vegetarian,

which was unusual for the time, and he had a habit

of buying birds in cages and then releasing them.

So what makes Leonardo so special? Was it his

skill at painting? His scientific prowess? Perhaps

his imagination as an inventor? Rather, it is all of

these things and more. What makes Leonardo

special is the fact that he was recognised as a genius

in so many different fields: as an artist, as a scientist

and as an inventor, to name but three...

da Vinci the artist

Leonardo was a prolific writer,

producing more than 13,000

pages of drawings, descriptions,

observations and notes

throughout his life. The notes are

not easy to read as Leonardo

wrote backwards, from right to

left. Perhaps Leonardo wanted

his notes kept secret or perhaps it

was simply easier for him to

write this way, being left-handed.

Whatever the reason, Leonardo's

notebooks are a treasure and it is

hard to believe that one man

could write so much, so

originally, on so many topics -

from engineering to medicine,

from mathematics to art, from

astronomy to chemistry.

da Vinci the inventor

da Vinci the artist

da Vinci the scientist

da Vinci the inventor

Leonardo di ser Piero

da Vinci was born in Vinci, a

small town near Florence, Italy,

in April 1452. Not a great deal

is known of his early life, but

we do know that his artistic

talent was recognised very early: he was sent as an

apprentice to one of the greatest painters of the day,

Verrocchio when he was fourteen years old.

Leonardo worked in Florence, Rome, Bolonga and

Venice, as well as living abroad in France later in

da Vinci the scientist

Leonardo di ser Piero

da Vinci was born in Vinci, a

small town near Florence, Italy,

in April 1452. Not a great deal

is known of his early life, but

we do know that his artistic

talent was recognised very early: he was sent as an

apprentice to one of the greatest painters of the day,

Verrocchio when he was fourteen years old.

Leonardo worked in Florence, Rome, Bolonga and

Venice, as well as living abroad in France later in

his life. He was a man of eccentric habits and

appeared to love animals: he was a vegetarian,

which was unusual for the time, and he had a habit

of buying birds in cages and then releasing them.

So what makes Leonardo so special? Was it his

skill at painting? His scientific prowess? Perhaps

his imagination as an inventor? Rather, it is all of

these things and more. What makes Leonardo

special is the fact that he was recognised as a genius

in so many different fields: as an artist, as a scientist

and as an inventor, to name but three...

his life. He was a man of eccentric habits and

appeared to love animals: he was a vegetarian,

which was unusual for the time, and he had a habit

of buying birds in cages and then releasing them.

So what makes Leonardo so special? Was it his

skill at painting? His scientific prowess? Perhaps

his imagination as an inventor? Rather, it is all of

these things and more. What makes Leonardo

special is the fact that he was recognised as a genius

in so many different fields: as an artist, as a scientist

and as an inventor, to name but three...

Leonardo di ser Piero

da Vinci was born in Vinci, a

small town near Florence, Italy,

in April 1452. Not a great deal

is known of his early life, but

we do know that his artistic

talent was recognised very early: he was sent as an

apprentice to one of the greatest painters of the day,

Verrocchio when he was fourteen years old.

Leonardo worked in Florence, Rome, Bolonga and

Venice, as well as living abroad in France later in

da Vinci the scientist

da Vinci the inventor

da Vinci the artist

Leonardo designed many

practical inventions: new kinds of

bridges, lifting machines,

machines, cannons, to name but a

few. He also designed many

completely original inventions,

including some that would not be

built for centuries. Indeed, many

of Leonardo's ideas were

astonishingly far ahead of his

time. In a world without engines,

electricity or steam power, he

designed helicopters, airplanes,

parachutes, diving suits,

submarines and even a tank!

Some of these designs have been

constructed in modern times

successfully. Truly, Leonardo's

genius knew no bounds.

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