Famous People

Bill Gates

Pre-Reading Warm Up Questions ☀

Bill Gates 1. Do you like using computers?

2. Do you know when Bill Gates first started his company,

Bill Gates is the co-founder of the computer-software company Microsoft?
called Microsoft. His company has changed how millions of people
3. What is the difference between computer “hardware” and
in the world communicate and how they do business.
computer “software”?
Gates was born in Seattle, Washington, on October 28, 1955. His
father was a lawyer and his mother was very active in the
community. Gates attended public school until he was 12. He then
went to a private school. It was here that he met and became friends
with Paul Allen, his Microsoft co-founder. Gates was very good at
math and at 13 he began to work with computers. He and Allen
often worked together on computer projects and had their own small
company in high school.

In 1973, Gates went to Harvard University. Steve Ballmer lived in

the same building and they became friends. Ballmer later became
the president of Microsoft.

In 1974, the MITS company asked Gates and Allen to write the
programming language for its Altair 8800, the first microcomputer.
It was a success and MITS gave them more work. In 1975, Gates
and Allen moved to New Mexico and started Microsoft. The first
few years were hard.

In 1979, they moved their company to Seattle. In 1980, the IBM

company developed a computer for people to use at home.
Microsoft supplied the operating system for it. Gates and Allen
made enough money from this to stay in business.

Microsoft is still developing and building software for both personal COMPREHENSION ✍
and business computers. In 1995, it brought out the Internet A. True or False. Read the statements below. If the
Explorer browser. People all over the world use it to go onto the statement is true, write T beside the sentence. If it is
Internet. false, write F. If it is false, correct the information.

Microsoft has been so successful that Bill Gates is one of the richest 1. Bill Gates has had a very big influence on today’s world.
people in the world. He and his wife, Melinda, give billions of
dollars to charity every year. They have set up a scholarship 2. Bill Gates always went to private school.
program to help minority students go to university. They have also
3. Steve Ballmer was a co-founder of Microsoft.
given large amounts of money to global health groups, libraries, and
community projects. 4. Bill Gates started Microsoft in Seattle in 1974.

Gates, his wife, and their three children live near Seattle. Their 5. Bill Gates is very generous with his money.
40,000-square-foot house is famous for its use of technology.

1
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 Famous People
Bill Gates

B. Practice asking and answering the following questions with your partner.
Then write the answers in complete sentences.

1. Who were the co-founders of Microsoft?

2. What did they do when they were in high school?
3. What kind of work did they do in 1974?
4. What did they do for the IBM Company in 1980?
5. What does Microsoft do?
6. In what way does Bill Gates contribute to society?
7. When did Bill Gates first start working with computers?
8. What is special about Bill Gates’ house. (Name two things.) DISCUSS

1. How have computers changed our lives in the

VOCABULARY REVIEW ✍ last number of years?
A. Match the words on the left with the correct meaning on the right. 2. Do you think these changes are all good or
do you think some of them are bad?
_____ 1. co-founder a. opposite of failure
_____ 2. software b. method of making something work 3. Would you like to open your own business?
_____ 3. communicate c. read, look through If so, what kind of business would you like to
_____ 4. success d. relating to the whole world open? What are the advantages and
_____ 5. supply e. a person who starts a business with someone else disadvantages of having your own business?

_____ 6. operating system f. payment of money to help someone study 4. If you had a lot of money to give to charities,
_____ 7. browse g. share, exchange information, talk, write which charities would you choose?
_____ 8. charity h. give, provide
_____ 9. active i. computer programs
_____ 10. scholarship j. busy, involved in many things
_____ 11. minority k. small group of a community that is different from the larger group
_____ 12. global l. organization that gives money to help certain groups, such as poor
people, sick people, children

B. Choose the correct word from the left column above to complete the following sentences. (You may have to change the verb
tense.)

1. I’m looking for some new recipes. I’m going to the library to ________________ through the cookbooks.
2. He received a $20,000 ________________ to study at that university.
3. Pollution is an important ________________ problem.
4. I think that new restaurant will be a great ________________. The food is excellent and the service is also very good.
5. If you don’t want to ________________ with him in person, you can write him a letter.
6. The law in our country protects the rights of ________________ groups.
7. The hotel will ________________ all the food and drinks for the party.

2
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 Famous People
Bill Gates

ANSWER KEY

Please note:
The reading for this topic is also available in full-page format at the end of the lesson (page 4).

PRE-READING QUESTIONS
1-2. Individual answer
3. Computer software is a program or series of instructions that tells a computer what to do. WordPerfect and Mac OS X
for Macintosh computers are examples of software. Computer hardware is made up of all of the physical components
of a computer including the central processing unit (CPU), main storage, auxiliary storage, and input/output devices.

READING COMPREHENSION
A. True or False
1. T 2. F 3. F 4. F 5. T

B. Written Answers
1. Bill Gates and Paul Allen were the co-founders of Microsoft.
2. Gates and Allen often worked together on computer projects and had their own small company in high school.
3. In 1974, the MITS company asked Gates and Allen to write the programming language for its Altair 8800, the first
microcomputer.
4. Microsoft supplied the operating system to the IBM company’s home computer.
5. Microsoft develops and builds software for both personal and business computers.
6. Bill Gates gives millions of dollars to charity every year. He has also set up a scholarship program to help minority
students go to university. He has also given large amounts of money to global health groups, libraries, and community
projects.
7. Bill Gates began working with computers at the age of thirteen.
8. Bill Gates’ house is 40,000 square feet in size and is famous for its use of technology.

VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT
A. Matching
1. e 2. i 3. g 4. a 5. h 6. b 7. c 8. l
9. j 10. f 11. k 12. d

B. Complete the sentences

1. browse 2. scholarship 3. global 4. success 5. communicate
6. minority 7. supply

3
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 Famous People
Bill Gates

Bill Gates

Bill Gates is the co-founder of the computer-software company called Microsoft. His company has changed how
millions of people in the world communicate and how they do business.

Gates was born in Seattle, Washington, on October 28, 1955. His father was a lawyer and his mother was very
active in the community. Gates attended public school until he was 12. He then went to a private school. It was
here that he met and became friends with Paul Allen, his Microsoft co-founder. Gates was very good at math and at
13 he began to work with computers. He and Allen often worked together on computer projects and had their own
small company in high school.

In 1973, Gates went to Harvard University. Steve Ballmer lived in the same building and they became friends.
Ballmer later became the president of Microsoft.

In 1974, the MITS company asked Gates and Allen to write the programming language for its Altair 8800, the first
microcomputer. It was a success and MITS gave them more work. In 1975, Gates and Allen moved to New Mexico
and started Microsoft. The first few years were hard.

In 1979, they moved their company to Seattle. In 1980, the IBM company developed a computer for people to use
at home. Microsoft supplied the operating system for it. Gates and Allen made enough money from this to stay in
business.

Microsoft is still developing and building software for both personal and business computers. In 1995, it brought
out the Internet Explorer browser. People all over the world use it to go onto the Internet.

Microsoft has been so successful that Bill Gates is one of the richest people in the world. He and his wife, Melinda,
give billions of dollars to charity every year. They have set up a scholarship program to help minority students go
to university. They have also given large amounts of money to global health groups, libraries, and community
projects.

Gates, his wife, and their three children live near Seattle. Their 40,000-square-foot house is famous for its use of
technology.

4
Copyright 2009. This eBook is produced and distributed by Red River Press Inc. All rights reserved. The contents within this e-book/document may only be
photocopied by members of ESL-Llibrary.com in accordance with membership terms and conditions. Contact info@esl-library.com for complete details.