Wang Chuk

Famous People
Jigme Singye Wangchuk
Pre-Reading Warm Up Questions ☀

1. Have you ever heard of Jigme Singye Wangchuk? If so,
what do you know about him?
Jigme Singye Wangchuk is the King of Bhutan. Bhutan is a tiny
country located in the Himalayan Mountains. It borders on China to 2. Do you know where Bhutan is located? If not, find it in an
the north and India to the south. atlas.
3. What countries are the neighbors of Bhutan?

He was born on November 11, 1955, and was educated in both
4. Have you ever heard of the term, gross national product?
Bhutan and Great Britain. He became king in 1972 when he was 17
years old, after his father died. He was the youngest king in the What do you think this means?
world at that time. 5. What kind of government do you think Bhutan has?
Bhutan had little contact with the outside world for many years.
Since 1972, King Jigme has allowed modern aspects of the world,
such as television, tourism, and the Internet, to be introduced very
slowly to his country. However, he also wanted the Bhutanese
people to keep their culture. So, in 1988, he declared that all
citizens must wear traditional dress in public and that all children
must learn the national language (Dzongkha) in school.
King Jigme is famous for suggesting that a country’s “gross national

happiness” is more important than its gross national product. This is
based on the idea that people who are happy are usually content
with their life and believe that they are rich. Working in a small log
cabin in the mountains rather than in his palace is what makes King
Jigme happy.
King Jigme has four wives, all of whom are sisters from the same
family. Several of his five sons and five daughters have gone to COMPREHENSION ✍
school in other countries.
A. True or False. Read the statements below. If the
The King believes that Bhutan should be a democracy. In 1998, he statement is true, write T beside the sentence. If it is
false, write F. If it is false, correct the information.
gave up some of his powers to the government. Then, in 2005, he
announced that he would abdicate his throne in 2008 and his eldest 1. Jigme Singye Wangchuk is the head of a very large
son would become king. He also announced that Bhutan’s first country.
national democratic elections would be held in 2008 and he sent a 2. Jigme Singye Wangchuk was a teenager when he became
proposed constitution for the new democracy to all of his people. King of Bhutan.
3. Jigme Singye Wangchuk is slowly modernizing his
country.
4. Jigme Singye Wangchuk has never left his country.

5. The King of Bhutan prefers to live a simple life.
1
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Famous People
B. Practice asking and answering the following questions with your partner. Then write the answers in complete sentences.
1. Where is Bhutan located?

2. What was unusual about Jigme Singye Wangchuk when he first became King of Bhutan?
3. How has Bhutan changed since Jigme Singye Wangchuk became king?
4. What has he done to maintain the Bhutanese culture?
5. What is Jigme Singye Wangchuk famous for?
6. What idea is this suggestion based on?
7. What has Jigme Singye Wangchuk done to introduce democracy to his country? DISCUSS
1. Do you think that requiring people
VOCABULARY REVIEW ✍
to wear traditional clothes is a good way
A. Match the words on the left with correct meaning on the right. to maintain national culture? What else
can a government do to preserve
_____ 1. tiny a) cut piece of tree culture?
_____ 2. border b) give an idea; propose
2. Do you know of any countries that
_____ 3. contact c) whole, total
try to restrict contact with the outside
_____ 4. declare d) royal position of being king or queen
world? With modern technology, such
_____ 5. public e) very small
as the Internet, how are they able to do
_____ 6. suggest f) stop doing or having something
this?
_____ 7. palace g) system of laws and rules of government
_____ 8. gross h) be next to 3. What do you think of Wangchuk’s
_____ 9. content i) small house idea that “gross national happiness” is
_____ 10. log j) communication more important than “gross national
_____ 11. cabin k) happy; satisfied product”?
_____ 12. give up l) give up position of being king or queen
4. Do you think it is important to have
_____ 13. abdicate m) say or announce formally a lot of material things in order to be
_____ 14. throne n) house of a king or queen happy in life?
_____ 15. constitution o) opposite of private
B. Choose the correct word from the left column above to complete the following sentences.
1. King Edward VIII decided to ____________________ in 1936 so he could marry the woman of his choice. She was divorced and the
Church of England did not want the King to marry her.
2. They bought a beautiful little log ____________________ by the lake for a summer home.
3. His doctor told him that if he didn’t ____________________ smoking, he would die.
4. Both Mexico and Canada ____________________ on United States.
5. We haven’t had any ____________________ with our neighbors since they moved away.
6. Buckingham ____________________, where the Queen of England lives, is a very popular tourist attraction.
7. According to the ____________________ of that country, there must be an election every four years.
8. She told her daughter that it was okay to wear those old clothes at home, but not in ____________________.
2
Famous People
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
1-5 individual answers
COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
A. True or False
1. F 2. T 3. T 4. F 5. T
B. Written Answers
1. Bhutan is located in the Himalayan mountains.
2. When Wangchuk first became king, he was only 17 years old.
3. Since Wangchuk became king, Bhutan has slowly allowed the introduction of television, the internet, and tourism.
4. To maintain the Bhutanese culture, Wangchuk has declared all citizens must wear tradition dress in public and that all
children must learn the national language in school.
5. Wangchuk is famous for suggesting that a country’s “gross national happiness” is more important than its gross
national product.
6. This is based on the idea that people who are happy are usually content with their life and believe that they are rich.
7. To introduce democracy to his country, Wangchuk gave up some of his powers to the government. Then, in 2005, he
announced that he would abdicate his throne in 2008 and his eldest son would become king. He also announced that
Bhutan’s first national democratic elections would be held in 2008 and he sent a proposed constitution for the new
democracy to all of his people.
VOCABULARY REVIEW
A. Match the words

1. e 2. h 3. j 4. m 5. o 6. b 7. n
8. c 9. k 10. a 11. i 12. f 13. l 14. d 15. g
B. Choose the correct word

1. abdicate 2. cabin 3. give up 4. border 5. contact
6. palace 7. constitution 8. public
3
Famous People
Jigme Singye Wangchuk is the King of Bhutan. Bhutan is a tiny country located in the Himalayan Mountains. It
borders on China to the north and India to the south.
He was born on November 11, 1955, and was educated in both Bhutan and Great Britain. He became king in 1972
when he was 17 years old, after his father died. He was the youngest king in the world at that time.
Bhutan had little contact with the outside world for many years. Since 1972, King Jigme has allowed modern
aspects of the world, such as television, tourism, and the Internet, to be introduced very slowly to his country.
However, he also wanted the Bhutanese people to keep their culture. So, in 1988, he declared that all citizens must
wear traditional dress in public and that all children must learn the national language (Dzongkha) in school.
King Jigme is famous for suggesting that a country’s “gross national happiness” is more important than its gross
national product. This is based on the idea that people who are happy are usually content with their life and
believe that they are rich. Working in a small log cabin in the mountains rather than in his palace is what makes
King Jigme happy.
King Jigme has four wives, all of whom are sisters from the same family. Several of his five sons and five
daughters have gone to school in other countries.
The King believes that Bhutan should be a democracy. In 1998, he gave up some of his powers to the government.
Then, in 2005, he announced that he would abdicate his throne in 2008 and his eldest son would become king. He
also announced that Bhutan’s first national democratic elections would be held in 2008 and he sent a proposed
constitution for the new democracy to all of his people.
4

Wang Chuk

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Famous People

Jigme Singye Wangchuk

Pre-Reading Warm Up Questions ☀

3. What countries are the neighbors of Bhutan?

King Jigme is famous for suggesting that a country’s “gross national

4. Jigme Singye Wangchuk has never left his country.

1. Where is Bhutan located?

1-5 individual answers

A. Match the words

B. Choose the correct word

Jigme Singye Wangchuk

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