brightlivesenglish.com/lessons/tu-youyou-ancient-clue/
45-minute lesson plan
| Time | Stage | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 0–3′ | Warm-up | Ask the class: “Do you know any medicines that come from plants?” Let a few students answer. |
| 3–10′ | Words | Pre-teach the 5 words with the flashcards: malaria, extract, ancient, dose, treatment. Say each word, show the meaning, and ask for a quick example. |
| 10–17′ | Video | Play the video (4:59). Students follow the transcript. Play it a second time if needed. |
| 17–25′ | Comprehension | Worksheet C (or the online Story Challenge): check answers together. Ask “How do you know?” |
| 25–33′ | Grammar | have / has been + past participle: the present perfect passive — when the result matters more than who did it. Show “Millions of lives have been saved.”, then do worksheet E together. |
| 33–40′ | Worksheet | Students do worksheet A, B and D alone or in pairs. Check with the answer key. |
| 40–45′ | Speaking | In pairs: “Tu Youyou used an ancient book and modern science together. Can old knowledge still teach us something today?” |
Homework: students finish the lesson online (flashcards + Story Challenge). With your class link, you see who finished.
Words and grammar
- malaria (noun): a serious disease that mosquitoes spread, with high fever. “Many people were dying from malaria, and the old medicines no longer worked.”
- extract (noun): a liquid that holds the active part of a plant. “Her team made 380 extracts from about 200 herbs.”
- ancient (adjective): very, very old; from a time long ago. “She discovered the answer in an ancient book.”
- dose (noun): the amount of a medicine you take at one time. “They took the first doses themselves.”
- treatment (noun): a medicine or a way to make a sick person better. “It became the best treatment for the most dangerous type of malaria.”
Grammar: have / has been + past participle — the present perfect passive — when the result matters more than who did it. “Millions of lives have been saved.”
Discussion questions
- Tu Youyou used an ancient book and modern science together. Can old knowledge still teach us something today?
- What was the hardest moment in Tu Youyou's story? What did Tu Youyou do?
- Make two sentences about your own life with “have / has been + past participle”. (From the story: “Millions of lives have been saved.”)
Student worksheet
A Match the words to their meanings
- malaria (noun)
- extract (noun)
- ancient (adjective)
- dose (noun)
- treatment (noun)
- artemisinin (noun)
- sweet wormwood (noun)
- clinical trial (noun)
- a liquid that holds the active part of a plant
- very, very old; from a time long ago
- a medicine or a way to make a sick person better
- a test of a new medicine with real patients
- the amount of a medicine you take at one time
- the medicine Tu Youyou's team found in sweet wormwood
- a serious disease that mosquitoes spread, with high fever
- a tall green plant used in traditional Chinese medicine
B Complete the sentences from the story
treatment · doses · malaria · clinical trial · ancient · Sweet wormwood · Artemisinin · extracts
- She discovered the answer in an book.
- Many people were dying from , and the old medicines no longer worked.
- is used all over the world.
- looked hopeful.
- It became the best for the most dangerous type of malaria.
- Her team made 380 from about 200 herbs.
- They took the first themselves.
- In the , all 21 patients got better.
C Did you understand?
- Sweet wormwood gave the same good result in every test.True / False
- What idea did the ancient book give her?
- Boil it longer
- Don't heat the plant
- Add salt
- Dry it in the sun
- Which sample worked in October 1971?
- Number 1
- Number 523
- Number 2,000
- Number 191
- She was the first Chinese woman to win a Nobel Prize.True / False
D Put the words in order
- been / Millions / have / saved / lives / of
E Grammar: have / has been + past participle
We use it for the present perfect passive — when the result matters more than who did it. Millions of lives have been saved. · The medicine has been used all over the world.
Example from the story: Millions of lives have been saved.
- Millions of lives have saved. (been / be / being)
- The medicine has been all over the world. (used / use / using)
- A new treatment been found. (has / have / is)
F Your turn
Retell Tu Youyou's story in 5–6 sentences. Use at least three words from exercise A.
Answer key
A. 1g 2a 3b 4e 5c 6f 7h 8d
B. 1 ancient · 2 malaria · 3 Artemisinin · 4 Sweet wormwood · 5 treatment · 6 extracts · 7 doses · 8 clinical trial
C. 1 False · 2 b · 3 d · 4 True
D. 1 Millions of lives have been saved.
E. 1 been · 2 used · 3 has
Transcript
Her team tested hundreds of plants.
Nothing worked well.
Then she read one sentence in a book written about 1,600 years earlier.
This is the story of Tu Youyou.
Welcome to brightlivesenglish.com, where we teach real English using real-life stories.
Malaria. Malaria is a serious disease that mosquitoes spread.
Many people were dying from malaria, and the old medicines no longer worked.
Extract. An extract is a liquid that holds the active part of a plant.
Her team made 380 extracts from about 200 herbs.
Ancient. Ancient means very, very old.
She discovered the answer in an ancient book.
Dose. A dose is the amount of a medicine you take at one time.
They took the first doses themselves.
Treatment. A treatment is a medicine or a way to make a sick person better.
It became the best treatment for the most dangerous type of malaria.
Now, one pattern: the present perfect passive.
Have been, plus a past participle.
Millions of lives have been saved.
We don't say who saved them; the important thing is the lives.
Millions of lives have been saved.
Ready? Let's begin.
Tu Youyou was born in Ningbo, China, in 1930.
At 16, she became ill with tuberculosis and had to stop school for two years.
This made her interested in medicine.
She studied pharmacy, the science of medicines, at Peking University.
Then she worked at an academy of traditional Chinese medicine, and she studied both old and modern ways of healing.
In the 1960s, many people were dying from malaria, and the old medicines no longer worked.
China started a secret project to find a new medicine.
It was called Project 523, after the day it started: 23 May 1967.
In 1969, she became the leader of a team.
She had to send her two young daughters to live with others.
Her team collected more than 2,000 old recipes.
Her team made 380 extracts from about 200 herbs.
One plant, sweet wormwood, looked hopeful, but the results changed from test to test.
What was wrong?
She went back to the old books.
In a handbook written by Ge Hong about 1,600 years earlier, she read, "A handful of qinghao immersed in two litres of water, wring out the juice and drink it all."
No boiling! She discovered the answer in an ancient book.
Maybe heat was destroying the medicine.
So her team made the extract at a low temperature.
In October 1971, sample number 191 worked.
In mice, and later in monkeys, it killed all the malaria parasites.
But was it safe for people?
In 1972, she and members of her team volunteered.
They took the first doses themselves.
It was safe.
Soon, in tests with 21 patients on Hainan Island, all of them got better.
The medicine was called artemisinin.
Today, medicines based on it are used all over the world.
It became the best treatment for the most dangerous type of malaria.
Millions of lives have been saved.
Doctors use these modern medicines, not plant juice or herbal tea.
In 2015, she shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine.
She was the first Chinese woman to win one.
She had no doctorate, and she had never studied abroad.
She called her discovery "a gift from traditional Chinese medicine to the world".
Let's review. Many people were dying from malaria, and the old medicines no longer worked.
Her team made 380 extracts from about 200 herbs.
She discovered the answer in an ancient book.
They took the first doses themselves.
It became the best treatment for the most dangerous type of malaria.
And remember: millions of lives have been saved.
Tu Youyou's story teaches us: old knowledge and new science can work together.
Want more interesting lessons?
Go to brightlivesenglish.com.
Please subscribe and learn with us.