Work in pairs. Discuss the following quotation by Benjamin Franklin. What does it mean? Do you agree or disagree with it?

Culture

1. SPEAKING Can you think of any famous people from the history of Viet Nam? Use the words below to help you.

(Bạn có thể nghĩ về bất kỳ người nổi tiếng nào trong lịch sử Việt Nam không? Sử dụng các từ dưới đây để giúp bạn)

actor      composer      explorer      inventor      musician

politician / statesman      scientist      soldier

sportsman /sportswoman      writer

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2. Read the introductory paragraph. Then listen. Complete the missing dates in the timeline of Benjamin Franklin’s life.

(Đọc đoạn giới thiệu. Sau đó lắng nghe. Hoàn thành những ngày còn thiếu trong dòng thời gian về cuộc đời của Benjamin Franklin)

Benjamin Franklin is a giant of American history, partly because he was successful in so many different areas. Today, he is perhaps remembered mostly as a scientist and inventor, but he was also a publisher, a musician, a newspaper owner, a politician and a philosopher. And he was able to do all of this despite quite a poor background.

1706. Born in Boston, USA, the eighth of ten children.

(1) ______ Leaves school after only two years because his parents cannot afford to pay.

1715. Starts working for his brother James, a printer.

1725. Starts his own printing company in Philadelphia.

(2) ______ Becomes owner of a newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette.

1731. Founds America’s first lending library.

(3) ______ Begins to publish the first in a series of almanacs, yearly books containing interesting facts, stories and puzzles. Their success makes Franklin rich.

1745. Retires from printing to spend more time on science and experiments.

1750. Publishes important work on electricity.

(4) ______ Carries out his famous experiment with a kite in a storm.

1776. Becomes the first American Ambassador to France, and works to improve the relationship between the two countries.

1785. Retires from politics.

(5) ______ Dies at the age of 84. Funeral is attended by 20,000 people.

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3. Listen again and complete the collocations with the verbs below.

(Nghe lại và hoàn thành các cụm từ với các động từ bên dưới)

attend      build      carryout      found      publish      retire      start      write

1. ___________ your own business

2. ___________ an article for a newspaper

3. ___________ a book

4. ___________ a hospital

5. ___________ a scientific experiment

6. ___________ strong relations between two countries

7. ___________ from a job

8. ___________ a funeral

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4. SPEAKING Describe the picture using the words below. Have you heard of this experiment? What do you think Franklin was trying to discover?

(Mô tả hình ảnh bằng cách sử dụng các từ dưới đây. Bạn đã nghe về thí nghiệm này chưa? Bạn nghĩ Franklin đang cố gắng khám phá điều gì?)

cord      electricity      key      kite

lightning      spark      stormclouds

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5. Listen to a news report about Franklin’s famous kite experiment. Are the sentences true (T) or false (F)?

(Nghe một bản tin về thí nghiệm thả diều nổi tiếng của Franklin. Các câu đúng (T) hay sai (F)?)

1. Franklin’s experiment became well known in America and other countries too.

2. According to the traditional story, Franklin bought a kite and attached a piece of metal to it.

3. According to the story, Franklin put his hand near the piece of metal and felt an electrical spark.

4. Dr Tom Tucker began investigating the experiment while working at a university.

5. Dr Tucker first became suspicious after reading Franklin’s own reports of the experiment.

6. Dr Tucker successfully recreated Franklin's experiment when he used a modern kite.

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