Rosa Parks: the mother of the civil rights movement

Rosa Parks was a black woman, who played an important part in the American Civil Rights Movement. She made changes to try to make life fair for black and white people in America.

Rosa Parks was tired. She had worked long hours that day as a seamstress at a local clothing store in Montgomery, Alabama. However, it was not because she was physically tired that she refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. It was because she was worn-out from being pushed around. She was tired of the discrimination in the world around her.

 Discrimination is when a person is treated differently or judged unfairly by others. Rosa Parks lived at a time and in a place where people were discriminated against based on the colour of their skin. Black people were often treated differently than white people. They could not shop at the same stores, eat at the same restaurants, or even use the same water fountains as white people

She was an African American civil rights activist She has been called "the mother of the modern-day American civil rights movement"   and "the mother of the freedom movement." She was a member of the local chapter of  NAACP ( National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People ).

So that day on December 1, 1955, Mrs. Parks took a stand against discrimination by remaining seated on the bus. The rules for who could sit in which bus seat were unjust. At that time, there was a section of the bus for white people and a smaller section at the back of the bus for black people.

 As more white passengers boarded the bus that day, the bus driver demanded that Mrs. Parks and three other passengers in the “colored” section give up their seats to four white passengers. Mrs. Parks refused

to move. She was arrested, jailed, and fined.

The city’s African Americans then decided to boycott, or not ride city buses until the segregation law was changed. The boycott was led by  Martin Luther King Jr, who was then just beginning his career as a civil rights leader.

The  Montgomery boycott 
 went on until 1956, when the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the U.S. Constitution did not allow segregation of buses. This gave hope to people who wanted all kinds of racial segregation to end. Within the next 10 years much progress was made.

 

 

A.     True  or False

1.     Rosa Parks worked as  a seamstress.

2.     She worked in a bookstore in Alabama.

3.     She refused to give her place to a white man.

4.     She didn’t approve the discrimination in the world around her.

5.     Rosa took a stand against discrimination on 1^st December 1955

6.     Segregation bus laws discriminated white people

7.     Rosa was fined because she refused to give up her place

8.     Martin Luther King jr led the bus boycott

9.     The boycott went on until 1956

10.  Rosa Parks became the grandmother of civil rights movement.

 

B.     Match the question to the answer

QUESTIONS	ANSWERS
A. What was the name of the name of the association Rosa Parks belonged to?	1. It is when a person is treated differently or judged unfairly by others
B . What is racial discrimination?	2. It was the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP).
C. What was the segregation bus law?	3. It was a law that set aside a section of the bus for white people and a smaller section at the back of the bus for black people.

 

A_____;   B_______; C______

 

C.     Answer the following questions.

 

1.     Who  was  Rosa Parks ?

2.     What was Rosa Parks job?

3.     Where did she work?

4.     Why did she refuse to give up her sit on the bus?

5.     What did happen to Rosa after her refusing?

6.     How black people were treated differently?

7.     Who led the Montgomery  bus boycott ?

8.     How long did the boycott last ?

9.     Why did the boycott finish?

 

Production

D.    Answer the personal questions

 

1.     Have you ever been discriminated? Why? Why not?

2.     How people could be discriminated in your school?

3.     Have you helped or seen someone who has been discriminated? How ?

 

READING COMPREHENSION

LETTERS TO JULIET     

Sophie is a young American journalist, who works for the famous newspaper "New Yorker", looking for a scoop to emerge and obtain confidence by her director.  One day she decides to start a journey to Italy with her boyfriend Victor  as a sort of anticipated "honeymoon". They go to Verona  for a romantic trip , which turns into an opportunity for him  to discover the gastronomic traditions of a rich and fascinating country and for her to find a story that will be the occasion to make the big "jump".

 So while Sophie was wandering through the streets of Verona, she visits  Juliet’s house, where every day tourists from all over the world pin their sentimental hopes, in the form of letters affixed to the wall. Here she meets one of Juliet’s secretary.  It is duty of the “secretaries of Juliet”, a group of volunteers who every evening collect dozens of love letters left by love and broken-hearted tourists under the famous balcony, collecting these letters and respond to each of them dispensing some advice and comfort.

 Sophie decides to help this group and a day she  finds, behind a stone , a love letter of an old woman, Claire, hidden for 50 years. She writes her answer to this letter and after some days appears in the office Charlie, Claire’s nephew and together they decide to looking for Claire's first teenage love, Lorenzo, who she has never forgotten.  First Charlie doesn't seem to like Sophie because he's afraid that his grandmother may suffer discovering Lorenzo is dead or doesn't recognize her. 

Then, during their trips, Charlie and Sophie  start to develop some feelings for each other, but since Sophie is already engaged, nothing happens between them. After numerous failures, they finally find the real Lorenzo Bartolini.  Claire decides to stay with Lorenzo and they restart their  relationship. Sophie returns to her boyfriend in Verona, and Charlie tries to reach her, but it is too late, and Sophie returns to New York City with Victor. Here, Sophie realizes that they don't have a healthy relationship and she decides to break up with him. She then receives an invitation to Claire and Lorenzo's wedding in Livorno, where she also rejoins Charlie and they can finally be together.

 

 A.      True or false  

1.     Sophie is a young journalist.                        

2.     Sophie works for the New York Times

3.     Her boyfriend Victor is a chef

4.     They go to Verona for job.

Sophie writes a scoop about Juliet

 

 

B.     Answer the following questions 

1.     Where is Sophie from?

2.     What is Sophie’s job?

3.     Where does she go with her boyfriend?

4.     What is Victor’s job?

5.     Who are the secretaries of Juliet?

6.     What do they do?

7.     What does Sophie find behind a stone of the wall?

8.     Who does Sophie answer to?

9.     When was written the letter?

10.  What do Sophie and Claire decide to do?

11.  Why Charlie seem doesn’t like Sophie?

12.  Do they find Lorenzo Bartolini?

 

 

 

Leonardo da Vinci the ultimate Renaissance Man.

 

READING COMPREHENSION 

Leonardo da Vinci the ultimate Renaissance Man.       

Hello guys, welcome to a new episode of the English Corner.

Nowadays  we will talk about a great artist maybe you know him.  He painted one of the most famous painting in the world it's the Gioconda more commonly known as the Mona Lisa.

Do you know who is he? Of course he is  Leonardo da Vinci one of the greatest figures of all history.

Leonardo da Vinci was a wonderful artist of the 15th century of the modern age of the Renaissance, his enormous curiosity and his desire to learn about everything that surrounded him made him the greatest genius in history.

Along with Michelangelo, he is the perfect example of the Renaissance Man, able to apply himself to many different disciplines and to excel in all of them.  Indeed  the term Renaissance Man means someone who is good at everything. Leonardo is considered to be the ultimate Renaissance man.

As a painter, he was the author of masterpieces such as the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper, you can see this last one, in the refectory next to the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan .

 

As a scientist, he made significant contributions to anatomy, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, hydraulics and optics. Mechanics, however, is to be considered Leonardo’s favourite discipline. He devoted much time to it and achieved highly original results. In his notes, a large part is devoted to work on simple machines.

 

Leonardo invented and designed incredible things such as the helicopter, the parachute, the bicycle, the diving suit and even the submarine.

 

At the end of the 15^th century, Leonardo developed a theory of machines which allowed him to devise a large number of machines for applications in the field of hydraulics, for military use and to facilitate human labour.  But these wonders had to wait hundreds of years before they could be built because in Leonardo's time the materials needed to make them didn't exist can you believe it ! That's why they say that Leonardo da Vinci was ahead of his time,  but we are not going to get ahead of ourselves we are going to start from the beginning from his birth.

 

 Leonardo was born in 1452 in a small town Vinci near Florence in Tuscany Italy, hence his name Leonardo da Vinci.  From a very early age he showed a great ability to observe nature and also a great imagination he was a special boy even when it came to writing he wrote backwards instead of writing from left to right like almost everyone else he wrote from right to left and if you want to be able to read his texts you have to use a mirror strange isn't it!

 

When he was about 15 he began studying with the artist  and master of the time Andrea del Verrocchio in Florence. Verrocchio taught him about painting, sculpture, and the design of mechanical devices as bridges even  war machines such as a giant crossbow measuring 25 meters

 

Leonardo was such a good pupil and such a hard worker that he quickly surpassed his master.

He invented gadgets never seen before like the three-wheeled contraption that resembles a car he imagined cars hundreds of years before they even existed Leonardo showed such interest in being curious and learning that he never stopped investigating painting and  studying about many different things like the human body which led him to draw the Vitruvian man which is one of his best known works too.

But Leonardo above all dreamed of flying he studied for years the flight of birds and the bat the only flying mammal and he built his flying machine the ornithopter it's a very funny and weird name isn't it! It was the first contraption that resembled an aeroplane that ever existed but unfortunately Leonardo never got to fly with it but he never gave up.

He kept on researching working, learning, creating and enjoying himself until the last day of his life and that is his true genius the Renaissance was a time of science, art culture and Leonardo da Vinci truly embodied this the best 500 years later his works continue to inspire scientists, inventors, artists and all the visionaries. So guys never stop dreaming or learning and always be curious and never ever ever give up!

 

A.     True or False

1.      Leonardo was a perfect example of a Renaissance Man.

2.      Painting was Leonardo’s preferred discipline.

3.      Leonardo’s surname was Da Vinci

4.      The ornithopter  was the first machine  that resembled an aeroplane

5.      His teacher was Andrea del Verrocchio.

A.     Match questions and answers.

QUESTIONS	ANSWERS
A. In which scientific fields did Leonardo make significant contributions?	1. He invented and designed the helicopter, the parachute, the bicycle, the diving suit and even the submarine.
B . What incredible things did Leonardo invent and designed?	2. It means someone who is able to apply himself to many different disciplines and to excel in all of them
C. What does the term Renaissance Man mean?	3. In mechanics, anatomy, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, hydraulics and optics

A_____;   B_______; C______

A.     Answer the following questions

1.      When and where was born Leonardo da Vinci?

2.      When did he begin studying with Andrea del Verrocchio?

3.      What gadgets did he invent?

4.      Which Leonardo’s work together with the Gioconda and the last Supper is his best known one?

5.      What kind of period was the Renaissance time?

 Production 

B.     Answer the following  personal questions.

 1.      When did you go on the last school trip?

2. Where did you go?

3.  Who did you go with?

4.What did you visit?

5. What did you like most?

6.    Did you have fun?

2.      

Leonardo da Vinci the ultimate Renaissance Man 

 The listening is available on spotify  on The English Corner.