BBC Learning English

The Handy Guide

Episode 10: Bill Gates
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Vocabulary
The extracts numbered 1-10 are taken from The Handy Guide Part 10: Bill Gates. Fill in the gaps in the
sentences using the words below. Do not repeat any words.

hindsight

crisis

circuit

vitality

interact

blossom

hard-nosed

endeavours

preach

kit

primitive

techies

spur

thirst

1. He doesn't join the lecture ____________ nor is he a prolific author. He has only ever written two
books and very few articles.

2. Jack Welch, who has just retired as Chairman of General Electric in America, is another of those
who ____________ by example.

3. You probably know some of it already, how he got hooked on ___________ computers at an early
age, along with his friend Paul Allen, how he and Paul stumbled across an advert for a small
____________ computer called the Altair 8800, how they started to write a programme for it

4. It all looks obvious in ____________ , but back then, I remember, computers were huge machines
that had to be kept in special temperature-controlled rooms with their own special languages that you
had to learn before you could ____________with them.

5. What he has is the ____________ for social invention. He revels in change and draws inspiration
from a ____________ .

___________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Handy Guide

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BBC Learning English 2008

Page 1 of 3

6. We didn't see, he says, that the Internet, which was originally a network for academics and
____________ , would ____________ into the global network it is today."

7. It is a striking example of how a failure can be the ____________ to new ____________ ...

8. The company headquarters at Redmond, near Seattle, has often been compared to a university
campus, but if so, it is a very ____________ university indeed

9. Incredibly bright though they both were, there was no way that they could personally control the
huge ____________ giant that Microsoft was becoming.

10. Behind the structures, however, there are some very clear people policies, which are the things that
give the company its extraordinary ____________ .

___________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Handy Guide

bbclearningenglish.com

BBC Learning English 2008

Page 2 of 3

KEY
1. He doesn't join the lecture circuit nor is he a prolific author. He has only ever written two books and
very few articles.
2. Jack Welch, who has just retired as Chairman of General Electric in America, is another of those
who preach by example.
3. You probably know some of it already, how he got hooked on primitive computers at an early age,
along with his friend Paul Allen, how he and Paul stumbled across an advert for a small kit
computer called the Altair 8800, how they started to write a programme for it
4. It all looks obvious in hindsight, but back then, I remember, computers were huge machines that had
to be kept in special temperature-controlled rooms with their own special languages that you had to
learn before you could interact with them.
5. What he has is the thirst for social invention. He revels in change and draws inspiration from a
crisis.
6. We didn't see, he says, that the Internet, which was originally a network for academics and
techies, would blossom into the global network it is today."
7. It is a striking example of how a failure can be the spur to new endeavours...
8. The company headquarters at Redmond, near Seattle, has often been compared to a university
campus, but if so, it is a very hard-nosed university indeed
9. Incredibly bright though they both were, there was no way that they could personally control the
huge sprawling giant that Microsoft was becoming.
10. Behind the structures , however, there are some very clear people policies, which are the things that
give the company its extraordinary vitality.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Handy Guide

bbclearningenglish.com

BBC Learning English 2008

Page 3 of 3