He 20th Century technology time line

afirmative
I
He
She
It
was
walking.
You
We
They
were
negative
I
He
She
It
wasn’t
walking.
You
We
They
weren’t

---

The 20th Century | 33
B.
Use the past continuous
Complete the sentences with the past continuous. Use the verbs in 
parentheses.
1. Gates _______________________ at Harvard University when he started the 
company that would become Microsoft. (study)
2. Allen and Gates met while they _______________________ high school. 
(attend)
3. Other programmers _______________________ to make a deal with Altair, 
but Gates and Allen were successful. (try)
4. When Paul Allen left Microsoft in 1983, it _______________________ one of 
the world’s biggest companies. (become)
VI. READ IT AGAIN
Read the paragraphs about Bill Gates again. Answer the question.
Why was Paul Allen’s heart pounding when he saw the Altair 8080?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
ROCK AGAINST THE BERLIN WALL
I. PRE-READING
A.
Background information
The Berlin Wall separated East and West Germany from 1961 to 1989. It was a 
symbol of the separation between the Communist countries and the Western 
democracies. Most people would say the Wall came down for economic 
reasons or because of the policies of Russian president Mikhail Gorbachev and 
U.S. president Ronald Reagan. But the writer of this article points out that rock 
’n’ roll music played a part in bringing down the Wall.
B.
Words to know before you read
precipitate 
cause
downfall 
defeat; ruin
enslaved 
not free
disturbance 
trouble; interference
ampliier
a device to make sounds louder, usually used with 
music 

---

34 | Better Reading English
loudspeaker
a device that converts electronic signals to sound; may 
be used with an amplifier
clubbed 
hit with a stick
 C.
Reading strategy
Scan the text as quickly as you can. Look for the answer to this question.
What British rock groups played at the Berlin Wall concert in 1987?
II. READ
Read the text. Mark the words you don’t know, but don’t stop reading to look 
them up.
Rock Helped Roll Away Berlin Wall
As it turns out, President John Kennedy didn’t precipitate the downfall of old-
style Communism when he stood outside the Berlin City Hall 26 years ago and 
said “when one man is enslaved, all are not free.”
If there was one precipitating event, it was probably the East German 
disturbances set off by a rock ’n’ roll concert two summers ago.
Three British rock groups—David Bowie, the Eurythmics, and Genesis—set 
up their ampliiers at the Brandenburg Gate on June 6–8, 1987.
For three nights their loudspeakers blasted hard-rock sounds across the 
Wall. Thousands of young East Berliners clustered on their side, hoping to 
attend the concert.
When the police and security agents tried to chase them away, the crowd 
started chanting, “The Wall must go” and “Gorbachev, Gorbachev.”
After years of silence, this was the irst of the East German protests of the 
1980s—the one that everyone below the age of 30 remembers.
The state-controlled East German media didn’t let on that there had been 
a demonstration, even though at least 50 people were arrested and many were 
clubbed.
Source: “Rock Helped Roll Away Berlin Wall,” by Joseph Albright, Lawrence