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T E A C H E R

’ S N O T E S A N D K E Y

March 2009

- 1 -

TARTING OFF

This is potentially quite a controversial task and needs to be set up carefully. In particular, it is important that the students
do  not  treat  the  discussion  as  an  argument  about  which  of  the  people  suggested  they  prefer.  Therefore  I  recommend
strongly that you initiate a discussion on what makes a person ‘great’ before you give out the material.
The  goal  is  to  guide  the  students  to  an  understanding  that  ‘great’  can  refer  not  to  the  moral  or  aesthetic  value  of  an
individual but to their effect on the world. In this sense, we can dislike an individual while still recognising that they had a
huge effect on the world. This will allow for a discussion about the influence each individual had/has had/ will have on the
world without arguments based on personal preferences.

After a suitable definition of ‘great’ has been established you can hand out the task and the students can discuss the
various suggestions and add their own ideas to the lists. The important thing to focus on in feedback, of course, is not the
names chosen but the justifications they provide for those choices. You may be able to generate something of a debate at
this stage if the students are sufficiently interested in the topic or any of the categories (perhaps music and film will be the
most fruitful, but allow them to choose their own areas to focus on). Some notes on the examples provided:

POLITICS

NELSON MANDELA - President of South Africa (1994-1999), winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1993.
MIKHAIL GORBACHEV - General Secretary of the Communist Party of the USSR, winner of the Nobel Prize for
Peace in 1990.

MUSIC

JOHN LENNON - With Paul McCartney, the lead singer of The Beatles , also recorded many famous solo songs.
BONO - The lead singer of the band U2 and writer of their lyrics, also a campaigner for third-world debt relief.
MICK JAGGER - The lead singer and songwriter of The Rolling Stones, one of the most influential groups in
modern music.
MADONNA - A modern cultural icon and one of the most popular pop singers in the world.
LUCIANO PAVAROTTI - One of the greatest tenors in history, has helped to popularise classical music.

FILM

STEVEN SPIELBERG -

One of Hollywood’s most popular and successful directors, maker of E.T. and Jaws.

MARLON BRANDO -

One of Hollywood’s greatest actors, starring in films such as The Godfather and On the

Waterfront.
ROBERT DE NIRO - One of the most popular actors in the world, has appeared in The Godfather and The
Deerhunter.

BUSINESS

BILL GATES - Founder and, until recently, CEO of Microsoft, one

of the world’s largest companies.

KARL BENZ - Inventor of the first true motorcar and founder of the Mercedes-Benz automobile company.
AKIO MORITA - Inventor, co-founder of Sony, one of the largest electronics companies in the world.

SPORT

ROGER FEDERER - For many years, the best tennis player in the world, winner of 13 grand slam titles.
MUHAMMAD ALI - Three-time heavyweight champion of the world, commonly accepted as the greatest boxer of
all time.
HAILE GEBRE SELASSIE - Ethiopian long- and middle-distance runner who has broken 26 world records and
won many titles.
CRISTIANO RONALDO - A Portuguese winger playing for Manchester United, World Footballer of the Year in
2008.

EFORE YOU READ

IRST READING

The  brainstorming  task  is a  very  difficult  one, as  it  is  quite unlikely  that  students  at this  age  will  possess much  detailed
information about Leonardo. Gathering all the information they have in feedback, therefore, is important so that they will
have  enough  to  provide  a  task  for  their  first  reading.  I  would  recommend  collecting  all  the  information  they  have  and
putting it on the board, using ‘?’ to denote guesses or uncertain information.

They should read only the first part of the text at this point.

T E A C H E R

’ S N O T E S A N D K E Y

March 2009

- 2 -

IRST READING

The students should, of course, search only for the words in their texts. Key:

1. an apprentice

2. eccentric

3. a habit

4. a cage

5. release

6. prowess

7. iconic

8. survive

9. unstable

10. extent

11. prolific

12. throughout

13. whatever

14. a topic

15. a cannon

16. including

17. a diving suit

18. know no bounds

ECOND READING

The task is a relatively open one here. You will need to monitor quite closely to help with any vocabulary issues.

UESTION FORMATION

Check the students understand that they should make questions for the texts they do not have - i.e. six questions.
Key:
DA VINCI THE ARTIST

1. How many of Leonardo’s paintings have survived?

2. Why have so many paintings been lost?

3. Do we have anything else from Leonardo, or just paintings?

DA VINCI THE SCIENTIST

1. How many pages of notes did Leonardo make?

2. Why are they hard to read?

3. Why did Leonardo write this way?

DA VINCI THE INVENTOR

1. Did Leonardo only create theoretical plans?

2. Were Leonardo's designs built in his lifetime?

3. What was the most amazing thing Leonardo designed?

PEAKING

Organise the students into groups of three or four, with at least one student with each text. After they have asked and

answered their questions the students can share their texts and read the ones they did not receive at the start.

OCABULARY

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

Key:

1. iconic

2. eccentric

3. topic

4. knows no bounds

5. throughout

6. release

7. whatever

8. including

9. extent

10. prolific

11. survive

12. prowess

T E A C H E R

’ S N O T E S A N D K E Y

March 2009

- 3 -

PEAKING

This task is intended to encourage some personal reflection and will work best if you can provide some examples from

your own life of inspiring examples or individuals. The final question is potentially controversial and needs to be handled

sensitively, but it is a fruitful area for discussion and an important topic which the students should be aware of and able to

discuss. Obviously, your role in managing any disagreements which may arise is crucial.

XTENSION

The final question in the speaking task lends itself to project work very nicely. The students could choose an individual

who has had a big influence on their country, for better or worse, and put together a poster about them, using the internet,

libraries, encyclopaedias and their course books from other subjects to help them. They could then present their chosen

individuals to the rest of the class in a future lesson. This project would help to bring in elements from across the

curriculum, especially from history and literature classes.

ONTACT

Please let me know if you have any suggestions or ideas for future editions of Around English.

Peter Moran

petersmaterials@gmail.com

T E A C H E R

’ S N O T E S A N D K E Y

March 2009

- 4 -

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...

da Vinci the artist

da Vinci the scientist

da Vinci the inventor

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.

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.

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.