way2go! 6, Schulbuch

157 Look at these six events that helped make the world a smaller place. What do you know about them? How do you think they made the world ‘smaller’? READING 6 a Now work in groups of three or four and do these tasks: 1 Share what you know about each of these events and discuss how they helped shape our modern world. 2 Put the events in order of influence (1 = most influential, 5 = least influential). Form new groups and discuss your ranking from exercise 7. Try to come to an agreement on the most and least influential event. Then do some research on another important event or invention that has caused the world to become more connected. Present your findings in class. SPEAKING 7 8 1 The invention of the jet airplane 2 The fall of the Berlin Wall 3 The invention of the internet 4 The discoveries of Christopher Columbus 5 The spread of the Roman Empire 6 The launch of YouTube Now read the descriptions of the events. Match the headings above to the correct texts. There is one heading that doesn’t fit any of the texts. b Shrinking the world A Since it began in 2005, this has enabled people all over the world to connect and share their interests and experiences. It started with amateur videos, the very first one showing a visit to the zoo, but progressed to much wider content. Each day it has billions of views and seems to be gradually replacing TV. B Lasting for nearly five centuries, this used to be one of the greatest civilisations in history. At its height in the third century AD, it had more than 70 million citizens. Stretching from Spain and Northern Africa, through France, into the UK, across Southern Europe and into Turkey and Arabia, it brought many technological inventions such as water heating systems. C Scientists developed this in the 1930s, and the first commercial service flew from London to Johannesburg in 1952. This invention keeps on making the world smaller. Now so-called hypersonic aircraft are being designed to fly five times the speed of sound. This technology would make it possible to fly anywhere on Earth in under three hours. D In 1492, a journey began to find a direct water route from Europe to Asia going west. When he found land, this famous explorer believed he had reached the East Indies and called the local people ‘Indians’, a name which stuck. Instead, the ‘New World’ was discovered, which began a period of exploration and helped the Spanish create a huge empire in the Americas. E In November 1989, the whole world watched as one of its major symbols of segregation came crashing down. More than two million people from the eastern part of the city visited the West to participate in a celebration described as ‘the greatest street party in the history of the world’. For 28 years, this had physically and symbolically kept East and West apart. With its fall, the Cold War was officially over. remains of the Berlin Wall Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv