Wonders of the modern world
(from: Headway Intermediate, 3rd edition, OUP, text by Ann Halliday)
1 Match each topic in A with two items in B. A International travel Medical science The Internet Agriculture Space travel The Olympic Games
2 Read the text about the wonders of the world. Write a topic from A in the paragraph headings 1-6. I don't believe that today's wonders are similar in kind to the
100 years, from about 47 years in 1900 to about 77 years
wonders of the Ancient World. They were all buildings, such
as the Pyramids in Egypt, or other architectural structures.
Over the past 100 years, we have seen amazing
We are a world on the move. Airlines carry more than 1.5
technological and scientific achievements. These are surely
billion people to their destinations every year. It is estimated
that, at any one time these days, there are as many people
travelling in aeroplanes as the total number of people who
It is everywhere. More than half a billion people use it, and
travelled abroad in the whole of the nineteenth century (but I
the number of people who are online increases by 100 million
have no idea how they worked this out!).
every year. In 1994 there were only a few hundred web
It is true that they are now commercialized, and there is
It has revolutionized the way we live and work. But we are
greed and drug abuse. However, it is a competition in which
still in the early days. Soon there will be more and more
almost every country in the world takes part. Every four
interactivity between the user and the website, and we will be
years, for a brief moment, we see the world come together in
peace and friendship. We feel hope again for the future of
In 1969, Neil Armstrong stepped out of his space capsule
onto the surface of the moon and made his famous
In 1724, Jonathan Swift wrote, ‘Whoever makes two blades
statement: ‘That's one small step for a man, one giant leap
of grass or two ears of corn grow where only one grew before
for mankind'. Since then, there have been space probes to
serves mankind better than the whole race of politicians'. In
Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and even to the sun. One day, a space
Europe our farmers have done this. In 1709, whole villages in
observatory will study how the first stars and galaxies began.
France died of hunger. Now in Europe, we can't eat all the
So far, it seems that we are alone in the universe. There are
no signs yet that there is intelligent life outside our own solar
If only politicians could find a way to share it with those parts
system. But who knows what the future holds?
Surely nothing has done more for the comfort and happiness
The last wonder of the modern world is simply that we are still
of the human race than the advances in health care! How
here. We have had nuclear weapons for over 50 years that
many millions of people have benefited from the humble
could destroy the world, but we haven't used them to do it.
aspirin? How many lives has penicillin saved? Average life
This is surely the greatest wonder of all.
expectancy worldwide has risen dramatically over the past 3 Answer the questions. 1 What has changed because of the Internet? What will happen with the Internet? 2 What has happened in space exploration since 1969? 3 What is the most noticeable result of better health care? 4 X = the number of people who travelled abroad in the nineteenth century. What does X also equal? 5 What are the good and bad things about the Olympics? 6 What point was Jonathan Swift making about farmers and politicians? 7 ‘We are still here!' Why is this a wonder? 8 What do these numbers refer to? 100 million - a few hundred - 1969 - millions of people – 47 - four - 1709 - 50
Pain Medicine 2011; 12: 459–465Wiley Periodicals, Inc. NEUROPATHIC PAIN SECTION Original Research Article The Lack of Efficacy of Different Infusion Rates of Intrathecal Baclofen in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Crossover Studypme_1065459.465 Anton Adriaan van der Plas, MD,* Johan Marinus, Results. There were no significant differences PhD,* Sa