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Before you read: Work with a partner.

What do you know about Bill Gates?

Reading

Read the following text, and fill in the spaces using a verb from the box below.

Bill Gates is an instantly recognizable figure, who has played a

major role in the personal computer revolution. Born in 1955,
he had an early interest in computers, and 1................... of
Harvard College in 1976 to found 'Micro-Soft' (as it was then
written) with his childhood friend, Paul Allen.

With early successes, including the selling of MSDOS to IBM,

Microsoft has 2................... to become a multinational company
with annual revenue of almost 70 billion dollars. Although
Microsoft is most famous for its 'Windows' operating system
and 'Office' software package, the company has 3................... its
range of products to 4................... smart phones and video
game consoles.

Bill Gates is famous for his aggressive management style, and

Microsoft was 5................... by the US Federal Trade
Commission for unfair marketing practices.

Bill Gates 6................... from his day-to-day role at Microsoft in

2006, to concentrate on philanthropy. Having become a
billionaire when Microsoft 7................... public in 1986, he has
8
................... over twenty-eight billion dollars to charity.

include given away expanded went

grown investigated dropped out stepped down

Find words or phrases in the text with the same meaning.

1) know someone's face immediately

2) be very important

3) leave school/university early

4) a business in many countries

5) forceful

6) spend a lot of time on something

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Rewrite the sentences, using words or phrases from exercise three.

1) Tom left high school early to form a pop group.

>>

2) Abraham Lincoln was very important in American history.

>>

3) Starbucks is a company in many countries.

>>

4) Since retiring, Uncle Jack is mainly doing gardening.

>>

5) Everyone knows what Barack Obama looks like.

>>

6) Do business people need to be forceful to succeed?

>>

Discussion Ask and answer the questions with a partner. Ask follow-up questions too.

Questions related to the expressions in the reading

v Who is an instantly recognizable person in your country? What is he/she famous for?

v Who played a major role in your country's history?

v Which multi-national corporations have their headquarters in your country?

v What do you want to concentrate on after you have retired?

v Is it always bad to drop out of high school or university?

v Are you an aggressive person? How would you describe your personality?

Questions related to the topic

v Why do you think Bill Gates has been so successful?

v Do you regularly use any Microsoft products? What do you think of them?

v What do you know about any of Microsoft's competitors?

v Who are the most successful entrepreneurs in your country?

v Do you know any individuals or companies which give money to charity?

Your Ideas

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Target Structures: Various

Vocabulary: Business
Level: Intermediate
Time: 45 minutes
Preparation: None

Suggested Teaching Method:

This worksheet looks at some common expressions, and gives your students the opportunity to personalize the
language and discuss the I.T. industry.

Put students in small groups. Write 'William Henry Gates III' on the board. Elicit who he is better known as. Ask students to
brainstorm anything they know about Bill Gates.

Give one copy of the handout to each student. Pre-teach vocabulary, if necessary. You may want to pre-teach 'philanthropy'.

Direct students' attention to the words underneath the text. Students should read through the article at a brisk pace, filling in
the spaces.

When finished, students should check their answers with a partner. Go through the answers with the class at the end.

Ask a confident student the answer to question one. Students can work alone, and then check in pairs when finished. Go
through the answers as a group.

Tell students to cover the first page of the worksheet before starting this exercise. Students can work in pairs, and then
check their answers against the original text. Go through the answers with the class.

Leave plenty of time for class discussion. To maximize student talking time, its best to put students in pairs, or small groups.
Try to have students working with people they havent spoken to in the other exercises.

Students should read all the questions first, before beginning the discussion. Answer any vocabulary questions.

Encourage eye contact and follow-up questions.

While the students are speaking, monitor the conversations, but try not to interrupt. When the discussion comes to a close,
ask a few of the questions yourself, and go through any points of English you made a note of while monitoring.

The answer key is on the next page.

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Answer Key (Other answers may be possible.)

1. dropped out
2. grown
3. expanded
4. include
5. investigated
6. stepped down
7. went
8. given away

1. (be) instantly recognizable

2. play a major role in
3. drop out (of)
4. a multinational company
5. aggressive
6. concentrate on

1. Tom dropped out of high school early to form a pop group.

2. Abraham Lincoln was very important in American history.
3. Starbucks is a multinational company.
4. Since retiring, Uncle Jack is concentrating on gardening.
5. Barack Obama is instantly recognizable.
6. Do business people need to be aggressive to succeed?

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Updated 10/2/2011

Image World Economic Forum

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