Nikola Tesla

BEFORE you read the story about Tesla - answer the quenstions:
Now read Nikola’s biography. We need the verbs in brackets to be in past tense ; some of them are
regular, some others are irregular, so be careful. also, pay attention to the most relevant episodes of his
live, and the most particular aspects of his personality.
Nikola Tesla was (be) born on July 10th 1856 in Smiljan, small village in Croatia (then
part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). His father was (be) a Serbian Orthodox priest and
his mother
took (take) care of the family’s farm. Nikola said (say) that he must
(must) to thank her for his creative abilities and near photographic memory – he caned
(can) memorize entire books and recite them at will. Tesla spoke (speak) eight
languages: Serbian, Latin, German, Hungarian, Italian, Czech, French and English.

He used (use) to say ''I'm proud of my Serbian origin and my Croatian homeland''. When
Tesla’s
brother Daniel diend (die) in an accident, it was (be) a shock to the 7-year-old
Nikola. He then (start) to have visions, important also in his later life. Tesla
went (go) to the gymnasium in Carlstadt (Karlovac, Croatia). When performing
calculus
equations in his head his teachers thought (think) he was (be) cheating.
He loved (love) mathematics and science. Tesla’s father, however insisted that he enter the
priesthood. After his recovery from cholera father sent (send) him to the Polytechnic
school in
Graz, Austria in 1875. He was (be) excellent there. He began (begin)
each day at
3:00 a.m. and worked (work) until 11:00 p.m. In school Tesla was (be)
obsessed with a new direct current (DC) dynamo as he knew (know) better solution:
electric power created by alternating current (AC). At the age of 28, working for Edison, he moved
(move) from France to
New York City with only four cents in his pocket. One day, Tesla told (tell) Edison that
he caned (can) improve his motors and generators. Edison promised (promise) him
50.000 dollars. After several months Tesla improved (improve) the motor but when he
asked (ask) about payment, Edison told (tell) him that he
(be) only
joking. Tesla immediately resigned (resign). Later he founded (found) the Tesla Electric
Company and patented (patent) his AC motors. After many years of debate in so called
'War of the Currents' Tesla demonstrated (demonstrate) at 1893 World Fair in Chicago,
the safety of AC power with his new phosphorescent lighting and his gigantic ‘Tesla coils'. It was
(be) a key event in the history of electricity. Tesla and Westinghouse with the General Electric
company created
(create) the first modern power station at Niagara Falls. Tesla also made (make)
important research in radiant energy (later called X-ray), and on the fundamentals of radio. Tesla
(have) an eccentric private life. He never slept (sleep) for more than two hours at a
time. He
lived (live) alone in a hotel suite. He also had (have) several obsessions:
a phobia
of germs (when meeting people, he wanted (not want) to shake hands), round objects
(especially
jewelry), the number three and also feeding pigeons... Tesla said (say) this behavior
made (make) his concentration on the experiments better. On January 7th 1943, at the age
of 86, Nikola Tesla died (die) in New York a poor and reclusive man. He had
(have) 700 patents. His legacy, however, continues to move on.
QUIZ
What do you remember form the story? Answer the following questions using complete
sentences without reading the text!

1. When and what country was Tesla born? How was his mother relevant in his life?
Nicola was born on croatia. His mother was relevant on la religion.

2. How many languages did he speak and which ones:

He spoke eight languages.

4. What was the conclusion after the 'War of the Currents'.

The conclusion war of the currents after than he was right about the currents.

3. Why is the World Fair in Chicago mentioned in the story?

For he demonstrated than the currents ac is safe

4. Where did Tesla use AC generators to create the first modern power station?
He used AC generators in the Niagara Falls for the 1 central electric.

5. Explain the ‘meme’ with your own words. How are the words “cheating” and “betrayal” related
to this story?
Than on men used the knowledge of another person for have dinner

6. Describe Tesla’s personality with your own words.

He was on men worked and lonely than he had on person of not spread of some pathogen.

7. What’s your opinion on Tesla’s life and legacy. Do you think it is present in our d aily lives?
How?
Is on legacy important why whitout the current ac not we woult is tegnology in our
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time.

8. Look for another interesting fact about this great i nventor. What current inventor s are
contributing to nowadays world and how are they doing it?

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