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Task

Tasks: Breakfast with Bill Gates


A close-up photo of Bill Gates, gesturing with his hands while talking to an audience.
Bill Gates. Image: Red Maxwell / CC BY-NC 4.0

Discuss:

Work with a partner or in a group. Study the text 'Breakfast with Bill Gates' first, then answer the questions.

  1. What do you think of Bill Gates' advice? Is this a piece of advice you would expect from a man like him?

  2. Imagine that the author Edward Docx was asked to give a piece of advice to the world. Based on what you learn about him through the text, what do you think it would be?

  3. If you were going to give a piece of advice to future generations, what would it be?

  4. If you were going to give a piece of advice to your parents, what would it be?

Writing technique:

  1. In the text that you just read, the author, Edward Docx, manages in an entertaining way to express the feeling of rush and stress that he experienced that morning, and we can clearly see that there is room for improvement with regards to his time management skills.

    Work together in pairs or small groups. Identify three passages where this feeling of stress comes out clearly in the text. Read the passages aloud.

    Study his writing technique: What does he do to achieve this hurried feeling? Comment on:
    - his choice of words
    - his choice of tense (present or past?)
    - the length of sentences (Long or short? Complete or incomplete?)
    - his inner dialogue
    - the general rhythm of the language

  2. Write a short text where you describe an episode or a situation where you have felt/often feel stressed (e.g. ‘the day I lost my brand new computer’, ‘being late for my dream job interview’, ‘a stressful episode at the airport’, 'a typical morning at my house' …).

    The aim of your text is to get the reader to really feel the stress of the situation. Draw inspiration from Edward Docx's text.

  3. Read your text aloud to the group. Remember that feelings of stress and rush can also be communicated through your voice. You may want to emphasise certain words and vary your tempo or pitch as you read.

Write:

  1. In the text, Bill Gates gave the following piece of advice:

    "If there’s just one piece of advice I could give, then I would urge people to foster a love of reading. It’s our core skill as human beings. It’s the gateway to everything else. It gets you involved. It allows your curiosity to follow its course. It connects us across time and space."

    Use the quote above as a starting point for a personal text where you discuss the benefits of reading.

  2. Students now spend a lot of time reading from screens such as computers, Kindle, and mobile devices. However, some research reports indicate that print is superior to screens when it comes to comprehension and learning.

    Write an argumentative text where you discuss the advantages and disadvantages of today's technology in terms of reading. Find relevant facts and information, and use this in your text.


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