Lesson 1

Vocabulary

1. Match the words in the box with the definitions.

1. a person who teaches at a university lecturer.

2. something you do to help make something successful or someone advance contribution.

3. a scientist who specialises in the field of physics physicist.

4. a person young people can look up to and try to be like them role model.

5. successfully finish a training course so you can do a job qualify.

6. a fixed idea about what a person or thing is like stereotype.

7. a prize or symbol given to recognise an achievement award.

8. an unfair or unreasonable opinion because you do not have enough knowledge prejudice.

Reading

2. Read the texts. Who was the first Egyptian woman to …

1. study in England? Hilana Sedarous.
2. become a doctor? Hilana Sedarous.
3. have a planet named after her? Yasmeen Yehya Moustafa.
4. win first place in the Intel Science and Engineering Competition? Yasmeen Yehya Moustafa.

3. Read the texts again and answer Yasmeen (Y) or Hilana (H) for each question.

1. Who was born in Damietta? Y
2. Who studied abroad? H
3. Who won an award? Y
4. Who wrote stories for children? H
5. Who attended a STEM school? Y

Speaking

4. Discuss in pairs and take notes. Compare your ideas with another pair.

1. What difficulties do you think each of these women must have had?

Yasmeen: She had to leave her village and her home to go to the Maadi STEM School in Cairo. She had to work very hard at school and compete in a global competition to win with her invention.

Hilana: There weren’t any female doctors in Egypt in those days, so it must have been dificult to persuade people to let her study medicine. The other students were probably mostly men.

2. What impact do you think these women have had on Egyptian society?

They were role models and inspired other women to try to be doctors and scientists; it made people respect women more and helped to change stereotypical views about women.