Describe a famous scientist or inventor you know about. You should say: who is he/she what he/she worked on or invented what are some interesting facts about him/ her and say whether his work or invention is still important. [You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish. ] Model Answer 1: Born in the USA during the mid 19th century, Thomas Alva Edison is perhaps the most famous and influential inventors of all time. Prominent inventions like the phonograph, the electric light bulb, the motion picture camera, and the mass communication system are a few of his transcendent works. He is often credited as America's greatest inventor. I'd like to profoundly thank you to let me talk about this great mind whose inventions and work have shaped the pathway for the modern world. Thomas Edison was a genius and very inquisitive from his early childhood. He was a prolific inventor, holding more than a thousand patents in his name. Despite suffering from hearing loss, having only 12 weeks of formal education, and experiencing a bumpy ride in early childhood, he invented and develops so many wonderful devices, perhaps due to his extraordinary mental and physical stamina. Phonograph - device for the mechanical recording and reproduction of sound was perhaps his greatest invention. He also worked to improve the microphone for telephone, devised a commercially viable electric bulb, expanded DC power delivery system, designed fluoroscope - a machine that uses the X-ray to take radiographs, improved telegraphs, enhanced motion picture camera and the mass communication system. However, the list of his invention is simply overwhelming and their utilisations are mostly practical in our daily life. Edison - as a person and a scientist - had so many interesting and intriguing facts and in fact, I have already mentioned two or three of them. To reciprocate, he didn't learn to talk until almost four years old, had only 12 weeks of schooling, sold newspaper and candy on the railroad, suffered almost a total loss of hearing, had a great number of patents in his name and so on. Definitely, his inventions and works are still important. He had, in a way, shaped the foundation for the scientific development in the modern era. We just have to look at the electric lights and telephones we have in our house to understand how rich his contributions still are in our life. He literally eliminated darkness around us to give us a luminous world. Sample Answer 2: Having been born in 1879 at a place called “Ulm” in Germany, Einstein was an “average” student in his class, but showed some keen interests in science and mathematics. Little did anybody know at that time that he, as the first born of a Jewish couple called Hemann and Pauline Einstein, would one day change the course of history in science and physics. Einstein worked on many things like Brownian movement theory or the zigzag motion of microscopic particles in suspension, the quantum theory of light” and the “theory of relativity” in which Einstein explained that time and motion are relative to their observers as long as the speed of light remains constant. However, his most famous work, in my opinion, was the invention of the formula E = mc2, relating mass and energy, which later on formed much of the basis for nuclear energy. Of course, we all already know about these inventions, but what many of us perhaps didn’t know that Einstein renounced his German citizenship when he was just 16. We also perhaps didn’t know that he married the female student in his physics class at Zürich Polytechnic in Switzerland. By the way, Einstein also spent all his prize money to pay for the divorce of his first wife. The fact that surprises me the most about him is that Einstein was asked to be Israel's second president, but he refused, stating that he had "neither the natural ability nor the experience to deal with human beings". But then I wonder this is exactly one of the most prolific scientists of all time would and should do! His inventions are still important and will remain so for a long, long time as it pretty much changed the idea of energy, motion and light, and how we use them to our advantage. In fact, the global positioning system, which we use today in our mobile applications, wouldn’t function without special and general relativity. Besides, Solar panels (photovoltaic panels) which convert the sun’s energy into electricity, and the photocell eyes, which are installed on the sides of the automatic doors, rely on the photoelectric effect, explained by Einstein. Finally, the electricity, that we use, is the result of nuclear energy, derived from his famous formula E = mc2.
Describe
a
famous
scientist or
inventor
you
know
about. You should say: who is he/she what he/she worked on or invented what are
some
interesting facts about him/ her and say whether his
work
or invention is
still
important
. [You will
have to
talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to
think
about what you are going to say. You can
make
some
notes to
help
you if you wish.
]
Model Answer 1: Born in the USA during the mid 19th century, Thomas Alva Edison is perhaps the most
famous
and influential
inventors
of all
time
. Prominent inventions like the phonograph, the electric
light
bulb, the
motion
picture camera, and the mass communication
system
are a few of his transcendent works. He is
often
credited as America's greatest
inventor
. I'd like to
profoundly
thank you to
let
me talk about this great mind whose inventions and
work
have shaped the pathway for the modern world. Thomas Edison was a genius and
very
inquisitive from his early childhood. He was a prolific
inventor
, holding more than a thousand patents in his name. Despite suffering from hearing loss, having
only
12 weeks of formal education, and experiencing a bumpy ride in early childhood, he invented and develops
so
many
wonderful devices, perhaps due to his extraordinary mental and physical stamina. Phonograph
-
device for the mechanical recording and reproduction of sound was perhaps his greatest invention. He
also
worked to
improve
the microphone for telephone, devised a
commercially
viable electric bulb, expanded DC power delivery
system
, designed fluoroscope
-
a machine that
uses
the X-ray to take radiographs,
improved
telegraphs, enhanced
motion
picture camera and the mass communication
system
.
However
, the list of his invention is
simply
overwhelming and their
utilisations
are
mostly
practical in our daily life. Edison
-
as a person and a scientist
-
had
so
many
interesting and intriguing facts and in
fact
, I have already mentioned two or three of them. To reciprocate, he didn't learn to talk until almost four years
old
, had
only
12 weeks of schooling, sold newspaper and candy on the railroad, suffered almost a total loss of hearing, had a great number of patents in his name and
so
on. Definitely, his inventions and works are
still
important
. He had, in a way, shaped the foundation for the scientific development in the modern era. We
just
have to
look at the electric
lights
and telephones we have in our
house
to understand how rich his contributions
still
are in our life. He
literally
eliminated darkness around us to give us a luminous world.
Sample Answer 2:
Having
been born
in 1879 at a place called “Ulm” in Germany,
Einstein
was an “average” student in his
class
,
but
showed
some
keen interests in science and mathematics.
Little
did anybody
know
at that
time
that he, as the
first born
of a Jewish couple called
Hemann
and Pauline
Einstein
, would one day
change
the course of history in science and physics.
Einstein
worked on
many
things like Brownian movement theory or the zigzag
motion
of microscopic particles in suspension, the quantum theory of
light”
and the “theory of relativity” in which
Einstein
explained
that
time
and
motion
are relative to their observers as long as the speed of
light
remains constant.
However
, his most
famous
work
, in my opinion, was the invention of the formula E = mc2, relating mass and
energy
, which later on formed much of the basis for nuclear
energy
.
Of course
, we all already
know
about these inventions,
but
what
many
of us perhaps didn’t
know
that
Einstein
renounced his German citizenship when he was
just
16. We
also
perhaps didn’t
know
that he married the female student in his physics
class
at Zürich Polytechnic in Switzerland. By the way,
Einstein
also
spent all his prize money to pay for the divorce of his
first
wife. The
fact
that surprises me the most about him is that
Einstein
was asked
to be Israel's second president,
but
he refused, stating that he had
"
neither the natural ability nor the experience to deal with human beings
"
.
But
then I wonder this is exactly one of the most prolific scientists of all
time
would and should do! His inventions are
still
important
and will remain
so
for a long, long
time
as it pretty much
changed
the
idea
of
energy
,
motion
and
light
, and how we
use
them to our advantage. In
fact
, the global positioning
system
, which we
use
today
in our mobile applications, wouldn’t function without special and general relativity.
Besides
, Solar panels (photovoltaic panels) which convert the sun’s
energy
into electricity, and the photocell eyes, which
are installed
on the sides of the automatic doors, rely on the photoelectric effect,
explained
by
Einstein
.
Finally
, the electricity, that we
use
, is the result of nuclear
energy
, derived from his
famous
formula E = mc2.