TED Talk Video: Bill Gates

You are going to watch a video of a lecture by Bill Gates. Before you watch, look at the pictures
below and try to guess what the video might be about.

Now read the

description
below.

At TED2010, Bill Gates presents his

vision for the world's energy future,
describing the need for "miracles" to avoid planetary catastrophe and explaining why he’s
supports a very different type of nuclear reactor. The necessary goal? Zero carbon emissions
globally by 2050.

Was your prediction before correct?

Look at sentences a-c and write True or False next to them, according to the text above.

a. Bill Gates says that by 2050 we should have reduced our carbon emissions a little bit. V
b. Bill Gates describes a new way to generate electricity. F
c. Bill Gates says that we need to do something special to avoid huge global problems. V

Go to https://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gates and use the video to answer the questions below.

Feel free to use the English subtitles as you watch to help you understand. Do NOT use the
Spanish subtitles!

Tune In
Watch 0:00-1:04 of the video and answer question 1.

1. What accent does Bill Gates have? Is it easy to understand? Why?

I think he has an accent, but I can't identify which part, yet he speaks very clearly.

Listening for specific information

Now watch 1.04-7.08 of the video and answer question 2.
 2. What are the four factors which Bill Gates describes that cause carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions in the world?

the first that explains is the people, then the services, the third is the energy spent by each
service and finally the unit of energy

Now watch 7.08-11.41 of the video and answer question 3.

3. What are the five energy sources that Gates says can help to reduce CO2 emissions?
Why problems does he identify about each of them?

the 5 that bill speaks are the nuclear, the wind, the solar, the one that has solar panels, and
finally to capture coal, nevertheless all these have their impediment which are the price to
construct them and the land of use and the transmission and the storage

Now watch 11.41-15.03 of the video and answer question 4.

4. What do you think Terrapower is? Use the description that Bill Gates gives and do some
research on the internet on your phones to try and summarise what Terrapower is.
Write a short description below.

it is like a nuclear station, which uses uranium to generate energy, when you burn it the
problem is that you still do not have the technology to implement it in great magnitude, it
would be very risky

Post-video follow-up questions

Prepare some answers to these questions for a short discussion at the beginning of the next
class:
5. Do you think Terrapower would provide a solution to the world’s energy problems?

terrapower can be a solution if one is sure that it will not generate a great catastrophe, since
there is not yet a great computer to make the calculations and a single error can generate a
catastrophe as in Chernobyl

6. Do you think that humanity will be able to prevent climate change from causing a
“planetary catastrophe”?
the moment humanity is more concerned about planting trees that help consume co2
and do not pollute ecosystems, the world may be saved