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Bright Lives English
Name: Date:

Jesse Owens: He Was Poor and Sick as a Boy… Then Won Four Gold Medals

Level A1 (Beginner) · Watch the video and do the online quiz at https://brightlivesenglish.com/lessons/jesse-owens-four-gold-medals/

A Match the words to their meanings

  1. run (verb (past: ran))
  2. jump (verb (past: jumped))
  3. fast (adjective)
  4. race (noun)
  5. gold (noun)
  6. stadium (noun)
  7. athlete (noun)
  8. friend (noun)
  1. to go up into the air
  2. a person you like and trust
  3. a yellow metal; the winner gets a gold medal
  4. to move very quickly on your feet
  5. a very big place for sport, with seats all around
  6. people run to see who is the fastest
  7. a person who is very good at a sport, like running or jumping
  8. very quick

B Complete the sentences from the story

stadium · athlete · jumped · race · gold · fast · friend

  1. Jesse Owens was a great .
  2. The in Berlin was very big.
  3. He very far.
  4. Luz Long became his .
  5. He won four medals.
  6. He ran the 100 metres .
  7. Jesse was very .

C Did you understand?

  1. Jesse's family was rich.True / False
  2. When did Jesse run before school?
    1. Every night
    2. Only on Sundays
    3. Every morning
    4. Never
  3. Where were the Olympic Games in 1936?
    1. London
    2. Berlin
    3. Paris
    4. Cleveland
  4. In the long jump, his first two jumps did not count.True / False
  5. How many gold medals did Jesse win in Berlin?
    1. One
    2. Two
    3. Four
    4. Ten
  6. Luz Long was angry and did not talk to Jesse.True / False

D Put the words in order

  1. Berlin / won / and / He / gold / to / went

E Grammar: past simple: irregular verbs (run → ran, win → won, go → went)

We use it for to talk about finished actions in the past; some verbs do not add -ed, they change. run → ran: He ran every morning. · win → won: He won four gold medals. · go → went: He went to Berlin. · more: come → came, see → saw, take → took, say → said, become → became, break → broke · regular verbs add -ed: jump → jumped

Example from the story: He went to Berlin and won gold.

  1. He every morning before school. (run) (ran / runned / runs)
  2. He four gold medals. (win) (won / winned / wins)
  3. In 1936, he to Berlin. (go) (went / goed / goes)

F Your turn

Retell Jesse Owens's story in 5–6 sentences. Use at least three words from exercise A.

Transcript

Berlin, 1936. Jesse jumped. It did not count.

He jumped again.

It did not count again.

Only one jump left!

Could he do it?

This is the story of Jesse Owens.

Welcome to brightlivesenglish.com, where we teach real English using real-life stories.

Run. When you run, you move very quickly on your feet.

The past is ran.

He ran every morning before school.

Jump. When you jump, you go up into the air.

The past is jumped.

He jumped very far.

Fast. Fast means very quick.

A fast runner can win a race.

Jesse was very fast.

Race. In a race, people run to see who is the fastest.

He ran the 100 metres race.

Gold. Gold is a yellow metal.

The winner gets a gold medal.

He won four gold medals.

Now, one pattern: the past of some verbs.

Some verbs change.

Run becomes ran.

Win becomes won.

Go becomes went.

He went to Berlin and won gold.

Ready? Let's begin.

Jesse was born in Alabama in 1913.

His family was very poor.

Jesse was often sick.

But he loved to run.

At nine, he went to Cleveland, a big city.

At school, a coach saw him.

Jesse was very fast!

He ran every morning before school.

In 1935, he broke five world records in 45 minutes.

In 1936, he went to the Olympic Games in Berlin.

He ran the 100 metres race.

He won gold!

Next came the long jump.

Jesse jumped. It did not count.

He jumped again.

It did not count again.

He had only one jump left.

Jesse took a deep breath.

He ran. He jumped. Yes!

The jump was good.

In the final, he jumped very far.

He won gold again!

A German jumper, Luz Long, came second.

He was the first to say well done.

He hugged Jesse.

They became good friends.

Jesse won two more races.

He won four gold medals.

But later he said: our friendship was worth more than gold.

Let's review. He ran every morning before school.

He jumped very far.

Jesse was very fast.

He ran the 100 metres race.

He won four gold medals.

And remember: he went to Berlin and won gold.

Jesse Owens's story teaches us: a true friend is worth more than gold.

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Answer key

A. 1d 2a 3h 4f 5c 6e 7g 8b

B. 1 athlete · 2 stadium · 3 jumped · 4 friend · 5 gold · 6 race · 7 fast

C. 1 False · 2 c · 3 b · 4 True · 5 c · 6 False

D. 1 He went to Berlin and won gold.

E. 1 ran · 2 won · 3 went