4 Listen to the conversation and answer the question: Why were books burned in the past?
Read the conversation and mark the sentences below true or false. Support your answers with the facts from the dialogue.
In the library
Librarian: Hello, what do you have here?
Rob: It's our family history manuscript. We want to give it to the school library as a present.
Librarian: That's very kind of you. It's a very rare book. But unfortunately, the library can't pay you for it.
Mark: Don't worry about it. It's a present. Please look after it. Some people want to steal it.
Librarian: I'll send it to the Manuscript Collection. Is that good enough?
Misha: What kind of collection is that?
Librarian: It's the place where the most rare old books are kept. Some of the books are very rare. And some of them were saved from fire.
Rob: What are you talking about? Who can burn a book?
Librarian: In history it has happened more often than you think. When armies conquered new lands and continents, they not only destroyed the buildings or killed people. It was more important to destroy the memory of a nation and the national spirit.
Mark: I remember books were burned in Europe at the time of the Inquisition.
Librarian: That's true. In medieval Europe books were often burned because someone decided that they contained dangerous ideas. In fact, those ideas were simply new and different, but people were afraid of them.
Misha: You're right, awful things used to happen. But it was a long time ago.
Librarian: I'm afraid people haven't got much better since then. Books were burned in Nazi Germany and that was about seventy years ago. In fact, in a lot of countries books are still burned nowadays.
Mark: You're joking!
Librarian: No, it's true. And there are a lot of books that are not burned, but banned. That's very sad too.
Rob: But why?
Librarian: For the same reason. Books have new ideas that wake people up. But they say, a book that is worth burning is worth reading.
1. Books are burned to destroy the national spirit.
2. Books are burned to make them popular.
3. Books are burned because people don't like old ideas.
4. Nowadays books aren't burned anymore.
5. Books that are worth burning are worth reading.
6. Books are burned because they wake people up.
Read the conversation and mark the sentences below true or false. Support your answers with the facts from the dialogue.
In the library
Librarian: Hello, what do you have here?
Rob: It's our family history manuscript. We want to give it to the school library as a present.
Librarian: That's very kind of you. It's a very rare book. But unfortunately, the library can't pay you for it.
Mark: Don't worry about it. It's a present. Please look after it. Some people want to steal it.
Librarian: I'll send it to the Manuscript Collection. Is that good enough?
Misha: What kind of collection is that?
Librarian: It's the place where the most rare old books are kept. Some of the books are very rare. And some of them were saved from fire.
Rob: What are you talking about? Who can burn a book?
Librarian: In history it has happened more often than you think. When armies conquered new lands and continents, they not only destroyed the buildings or killed people. It was more important to destroy the memory of a nation and the national spirit.
Mark: I remember books were burned in Europe at the time of the Inquisition.
Librarian: That's true. In medieval Europe books were often burned because someone decided that they contained dangerous ideas. In fact, those ideas were simply new and different, but people were afraid of them.
Misha: You're right, awful things used to happen. But it was a long time ago.
Librarian: I'm afraid people haven't got much better since then. Books were burned in Nazi Germany and that was about seventy years ago. In fact, in a lot of countries books are still burned nowadays.
Mark: You're joking!
Librarian: No, it's true. And there are a lot of books that are not burned, but banned. That's very sad too.
Rob: But why?
Librarian: For the same reason. Books have new ideas that wake people up. But they say, a book that is worth burning is worth reading.
1. Books are burned to destroy the national spirit.
2. Books are burned to make them popular.
3. Books are burned because people don't like old ideas.
4. Nowadays books aren't burned anymore.
5. Books that are worth burning are worth reading.
6. Books are burned because they wake people up.
