Module 4A Film Fest Activities 1 Discuss: Does your family usually listen to the radio? If so, what kind of programmes they listen to? How many radios are there in your house? Do you listen to the radio? If not, what you listen to? Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian inventor, was born on April 25, 1874 and died on July 20, 1937 He is known as the father of wireless The young Marconi developed a deep interest in electrical phenomena When he read of experiments on electromagnetic waves, he became obsessed with the idea that such waves could be used for transmitting information without the wire connection of the electric telegraph 3 In 1894, Marconi began his wireless telegraphy project by improving the experiments on electromagnetic waves Marconi offered his wireless communication system to the Italian government, but it was refused In 1896, in London, he first patented his system In 1897, Marconi formed his wireless telegraph company His four-circuit tuning, patented in 1900, led to a widespread use of his system Universal adoption of wireless telegraphy became even more certain with Marconi’s famous experiment in December, 1901, when he received a radio-wave signal from Cornwall, England As an Italian nationalist, Marconi played an active role in World War I and represented Italy at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 Although he continued to perform experiments in the new field of radio, which evolved from wireless telegraphy, his later efforts were mainly directed to affairs of state 6 He received many honours, including sharing the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1909 When he died in Rome, he was given the unique tribute of a two-minute silence by all radio stations throughout the world Nowadays, advances in digital technology have made it possible to have access to music and news in more ways than just by listening to the radio or watching TV People are adapting to new trends such as the use of mp3s and Itunes By using digital technology, anyone can legally download music and listen to it whenever they want Due to this, there are many who prefer to enjoy only their favourite music For instance, teenagers have the latest hits on their digital music players Besides, radio stations have also updated their equipment so that people can still listen to them and even tune in more stations than before and with a better sound quality English Toolkit - Social Sciences Photocopiable © Ediciones Santillana S.A / Richmond 2011 The Radio Module 4A 2 Match the topics with the paragraphs a Marconi’s famous experiment b Political activity c New digital technology d Honours he received e Personal data f His interest g Achievements 3 True (T) or false (F)? 4 Write John Baird’s biography Use the following information as a guide Name: John Logie Baird Nationality: Scottish Born: 1888 Died: 1946 Started experiments on TV: 1922 First television picture: 1926 Main invention: TV Other inventions: first videodisc, phonodisc 5 Complete the following information about Marconi Name: Born in: Died: Nationality: Known as: Theory: 1894: 1896: 1901: 1919: Tribute: 6 In your notebook write a paragraph about Marconi using the information above and the text about the radio English Toolkit - Social Sciences Photocopiable © Ediciones Santillana S.A / Richmond 2011 a Marconi first patented his system in 1897 b The Italian government accepted the wireless system c Marconi was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics d His experiment became famous in December 1901 e He thought that electromagnetic waves could be used without the need for the wire connection f People cannot have access to radio with digital technology