Transcript Jules Verne The Father of Science Fiction

Unit 12 Fact and Fantasy
Warming Up
1. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Although submarines had been built and
used as early as 1620, the first steampowered submarine was not comstructed
until 1875. In Jules Verne’s book, 20,000
Leagues Under the Sea, therefore, the
submarine of Captain Nemo can still be
seen as a science fiction invention. When
rumours are spread about a large sea
creature, three men set out to look for it.
They discover it isn’t an animal,but a
submarine,and they are kept as prisoners
by its captain, Nemo. The submarine is a
fantastic and beautiful ship and in it they
travel 20,000 leagues(=60,000 sea miles or
111,000 kilometers) under the sea. Nemo
shows the most beautiful places under the
sea, including sunken ships and
underwater cities. For more information
on this book, see the main reading.
Around the World in Eighty Days(1872)
Around the World in Eighty Days was
written at a time when travel and
communications were still a matter of
long time. Although the invention of
steam-powered machines had made the
development of trains possible, they
travelled at low speeds. Beside railways,
steamships were the fastest and most
reliable way of travel. Still, at the time
when Jules Verne wrote this book, people
believed it was impossible to travel around
the world in about 80 days. On his travels,
from London to India, from there to Hong
Kong and across the Pacific to San
Francisco and hence to New York, to
return to London from there, he has many
exciting adventures. Many of these
adventures make him lose time, but he
always find ways of catching up, always
just on time to board the next train or
steamship.
Question 2
1. The highest mountain on earth is
Mount Qomolangma, also known as
Mount Everest, in the Chinese part of
the Himalaya, with an elevation of
8,848 metres. The second highest
mountain is Mount Chimborazo
(6,272m) in Ecuador, south America.
2. The deepest point in ocean is
generally believed to be in the
Marianas Trench in the Western
Pacific Ocean at approximately
11,033 metres. The second deepest
point in the ocean is in the Mindano
Trench, With just over 11,000
metres)
3. The longest river on earth is the
River Nile, in Africa, with a total
length of 6,695 km. The second
longest river, is the River Amazon, in
South America,(6,400km) followed
by the Chang Jiang (Long River) in
Asia (China), with a total length of
6,300km. The yellow River (Huang
He ) in China ranks fourth, with a
length of 5,464km.
4. The average distance from the
earth to the moon is about
384,401km. The distance to the
planet Mars ranges from 56 million
km to 375 million km. The average
distance to the nearest star, our own
sun, is 93 million miles (150 million
km).
5. The diameter of the earth at the
equator is 7,926.41 miles (12,756.32
kilometres), while it is a bit shorter at
the poles: 7,901 miles (12,715.43 km).
So the distance to the centre of the
earth lies between 3,963
miles(=6,378km) and 3,950.5
miles(6,358km).
6. The inner part of the earth is
divided into two layers, the inner core
and the outer core. The outer core is
about 2,260 km thick. The temperature
in the outer core is about 72009032°F(4000-5000 °C). The inner
core is about 1220 km tick. The
temperature in the inner core is about
9032-10832 °F (5000-6000 °C)
7. Travelling around the world the
longest distance is along the equator. It
is 24,901.55 miles(40,075.16 kilometres)
long.
8. Balloons travel at the speed of the
wind that is blowing. Most modern
balloon rides do not take passengers
with wind speed of over 20 miles per
hour. However, in races modern
balloons may reach speeds of up to 200
mph(322.25kmh). Modern aeroplanes
with jet propulsion fly at a speed of
about 900 miles per hour. The speed of
a space shuttle in orbit around the
earth is about 17,600 miles per hour.
Jules Verne
The Father of Science Fiction
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Pre-reading:
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When do you think the inventions in the pictures
were made?
P1:
built by the German Werner Von
Siemens in 1879.


Light bulb
P2:
Invented in
1879
simultaneously
by Thomas Alva
Edison in the
United States
and Sir Joseph
Wilson Swan in
England.
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P3: James
Watt in
1769 built a steampowered boat. It was
John Fitch who
developed and
produced the first
successful steampowered ships. Steampowered ships were in
use between 1790 and
the end of the 19th
century.

When was electricity discovered and how
was it used in the following 200 years?
1752-Franklin:invention of the
lightening rod
 1800-Volta:invention of the electric
battery
 1821-Faraday:invention of the electric
motor
 1844-Morse: invention of the telegraph
 1876-Bell:invention of the telephone
 1879-Edison:invention of the electric
lamp
1904-Tesla:invention of the radio
 1911-Carrier:invention of the air
conditioner
 1913-invention of the electric
refrigerator
 1928-Farnsworth: invention of the
television
 1947-invention of the transistor

About the inside of the earth:
The earth’s core consists of fluid
outer core and a solid inner core.
 The region between the crust and
the earth’s core is called the
mantle. The earth’s outermost
surface is called the crust. The
crust is about 25 miles thick
beneath ocean.
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Five important words of the text:
Science ; fiction; electricity;
submarine and ship.
 Reading:
 Read
the text and finish
the post –reading exercises.
Born in:
Jules Verne
1828
Died in:
1905
Nationality:
Interested in:
French
Botany and applied science
Remembered as: The father of science fiction
Famous novels: 20,000 Leagues Under the
Sea and Journey to the Centre of the Earth
Describe the character of
Captain Nemo:
1. Nemo is the kind of person
who It is difficult to say
whether you like or not.
 2. He is hard and cruel, but
also has a soft and gentle side.

Use your own words to paraphrase the
following sentences or parts of sentences:
e.g.
To make a living, Verne had to write and sell
stories.
Verne had to write and sell stories to make
money.
In their efforts to survive, they find
themselves on the surface of the monster
itself…
While they are trying to survive the accident, they
---found
___________________________________
they were right on top of the creature itself.
___________________________________
His prisoners
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Exercise 3:
Submarine
Spaceship
Does not exist
Exists now
Travel in
Similaritie Travels in water space
s
Can leave the ship Can leave the
in diving suit
ship in a space
suit
Because humans cannot live
Difference outside the ship, the life
s
conditions inside the ship must be
kept constant.
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Exercise 4:
Explain where Jules Verne might have got
his ideas when he wrote his novels.
1. Why would there be a huge underground
ocean?
The finds of skeletons and bones
of ancient sea creatures and
shells in rocks on the continents
suggest that a huge underground
ocean existed in the earth.

2. Why do the characters find plants and animals
that lived on the earth millions of years ago?
Finds such as rests of ancient plants in coal
and bones and teeth of ancient animals
suggest that such life existed deep in the earth.

3. Why would there be a boiling river inside the
earth?
In some countries, such as Iceland,there are
hot springs. As the inside of the earth in very
hot, water inside the earth must be boiling and
probably boiling rivers feed the hot springs.
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Exercise 5: climb down into a very deep cave
Preparation: tools &things Risks:dangers & things
•Bring ropes
•Wear good shoes
•Bring a torch & extra
batteries
•Matches & candles
•Take drinking water
&food
•Bring a hammer /pick
axe
•You may lose your
way
•You may fall into a
pit
•A cave may collapse
•You may be killed by
falling rocks
•You run out of power
and then all is dark