He 20th Century technology time line

negative
I
You
We
They
don’t
see.
He
She
It
doesn’t
see.
afirmative
I
You
We
They
see.
He
She
It
sees.
B.
Use the narrative present
Rewrite the sentences using the narrative present.
1. 1990
Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web.
2. 1995
The DVD was invented.
3. 2001
Apple Computer announced the release of the iPod.

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The 20th Century | 29
4. 2003
Toyota produced its irst hybrid car.
5. 2005
Time magazine named YouTube the invention of the year.
6. 2008
For the irst time, people in the United States sent more text messages 
than they made phone calls.
7. 2009
Movies in 3-D became the rage.
8. 2010
The Apple iPad came out and sold millions of units.
VI. READ IT AGAIN
Read the time line in Part II again. Answer the question.
Which of the inventions mentioned in the time line has medical implications?
BILL GATES AT COLLEGE
I. PRE-READING
A.
Background information
Everyone knows who Bill Gates is—one of the richest men in the world, the 
founder of Microsoft, and the creator, with his wife, of the Bill and Melinda 
Gates Foundation, which gives millions of dollars every year to help people in 
need. These paragraphs from a biography of Bill Gates tell about the 
impression he made on a classmate when he was in college. It also describes 
the moment in 1975 that led to him and his friend Paul Allen selling their irst 
software.
B.
Words to know before you read
poker 
a card game that people play for money
Aiken Computer Center a computer center at Harvard University
Currier House 
a residence at Harvard

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30 | Better Reading English
kiosk
a small structure for selling things, often 
newspapers and magazines
toggle switches 
switches for turning things off and on
BASIC
a computer programming language first created 
in the 1960s
 C.
Reading strategy
Scan the text as quickly as you can. Look for the answer to this question.
What did Paul Allen see on the cover of a magazine?
II. READ
Read the text. Mark the words you don’t know, but don’t stop reading to look 
them up.
When Gates wasn’t playing poker at night, he was usually working in the
Aiken Computer Center. That was when the machines were least used. 
Sometimes, an exhausted Gates would fall asleep on computer worktables 
instead of returning to his room at Currier House. “There were many mornings 
when I would ind him dead asleep on the tables,” recalled Leitner, a graduate 
math student who was also interested in computers. “I remember thinking he 
was not going to amount to anything. He seemed like a hacker, a nerd. I knew 
he was bright, but with those glasses, his dandruff, sleeping on tables, you
sort of formed that impression. I obviously didn’t see the future as clearly as
he did.”
But Paul Allen saw the future. He may have seen it even more clearly than 
Gates.
On a cold winter day in December 1974, Allen was walking across Harvard 
Square in Cambridge on his way to visit Gates, when he stopped at a kiosk and 
spotted the upcoming January issue of Popular Electronics, a magazine he had 
read regularly since childhood. This issue, however, sent his heart pounding.
On the cover was a picture of the Altair 8080, a rectangular metal machine with 
toggle switches and lights on the front. “World’s First Microcomputer Kit to 
Rival Commercial Models,” screamed the magazine cover headline.
“I bought a copy, read it, and raced back to Bill’s dorm to talk to him,” said 
Allen, who was still working at Honeywell in nearby Boston. “I told Bill, ‘Well, 
here’s our opportunity to do something with BASIC.’ ”
Gates knew Allen was right. It was time. The personal computer miracle 
was going to happen.
Source: Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire,
by James Wallace and Jim Erickson, New York: HarperCollins, 1992,
pp. 66–67

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The 20th Century | 31
III. COMPREHENSION CHECK
Mark the sentences T (True) or F (False).
_____ 1. Gates spent many hours at the computer.
_____ 2. Leitner thought Gates would be very successful.
_____ 3. Paul Allen saw a computer on the cover of Popular Electronics.
_____ 4. Allen had never read Popular Electronics before.
_____ 5. Allen told Gates about the Altair 8080.
IV. VOCABULARY BUILDING
Read the definitions. Then use the words and expressions to complete the 
following sentences. Use the correct verb form, and make nouns plural if 
necessary.
instead of 
in place of
give the impression 
give an idea or feeling
not amount to anything 
not be successful
hacker
a skillful computer programmer; sometimes one 
who uses computers illegally. (In the paragraph, 
Leitner uses the word negatively to mean 
someone who is clever with computers but isn’t 
serious or respectable.)
nerd
a person without social skills; usually refers to 
someone interested in science, technology, or 
academic subjects
bright 
intelligent
dandruff 
small pieces of dead skin in the hair
to spot
to notice
to rival 
to give competition to; to be as good as
race 
run; try to beat an opponent
dorm 
short for “dormitory,” a student residence
1. He ____________________________________ that he was just a nerd, but he 
was much more than that.
2. You have to be careful with your passwords to protect yourself from 
__________________________.
3. Technology companies __________________________ to invent new devices 
and software.
4. University students usually live in the __________________________ for the 
irst year or two of school.

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32 | Better Reading English
5. They called him a __________________________ because he was more 
interested in computers than in socializing.
6. Gates started a company __________________________ staying in
college.
7. Only very __________________________ students are admitted to Harvard.
8. His __________________________ left white specks on his shoulders.
9. Nowadays Apple and Google __________________________ Microsoft in 
the technology market.
10. When Allen __________________________ the Altair 8080 on the magazine 
cover, he saw the opportunity right away.
11. His classmate thought that he would _________________________________
_______, but he became one of the most successful people in the
world.
V. UNDERSTANDING GRAMMAR: PAST CONTINUOUS
A.
Read about the past continuous
The past continuous shows an ongoing action in the past. It is often used to 
show actions that are happening at the same time.
When he wasn’t playing poker, he was working in the computer lab.
It’s also used to show an ongoing action that was interrupted by another action.
He was walking across Harvard Square when he spotted the magazine 
cover.
Sometimes it is used to show that something is taking place at the same time as 
the rest of the action in the story.
Allen was still working at Honeywell (as the events of the story were 
happening).
Look at the charts to review the form of past continuous statements: