Famous People Sam Walton Pre-Reading Warm Up Questions

Famous People
Sam Walton
Sam Walton
Pre-Reading Warm Up Questions ☀
1. Do you shop at Wal-Mart? If so, what do you like about it?
Sam Walton started Wal-Mart, a chain of stores that is now the
largest in the world.
Walton was born on March 29, 1918, in rural Oklahoma. His father
farmed but, in 1923, he moved the family to Missouri to work as a
mortgage man.
As a boy, Walton was the youngest Eagle Scout in America. In high
school, he played sports, was an honor student, and sold milk and
newspapers to make extra money for his family. He worked all
through college, where he studied economics. After graduating, he
If not, why don’t you shop there?
2. Do you know when and where Sam Walton opened the first
Wal-Mart store?
3. What is the meaning of a chain of stores? Besides WalMart, give several other examples.
4. Have you ever heard of a “five and dime store”? What do
you think it means?
5. How many Wal-Mart stores do you think there are worldwide?
worked in a store and a munitions plant, before serving in the U.S.
Army from 1943 to 1945.
After the war, he managed a five-and-dime store and, by 1962, he
had 15 stores in Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. He also
introduced some new business practices. He bought large
quantities of goods at low prices and then sold them at lower prices
than other stores. He put stores where people could get to them
easily, kept them open longer, especially at Christmas, and offered
his managers part of the store’s profits to gain their loyalty.
In 1962, he used these ideas when he and his brother opened the first
Wal-Mart store, in Rogers, Arkansas. He also put check-out tills near
exits so customers could buy everything at once and, in 1966, began
using computers to run his business. To keep his prices low, he had
to sell more. To do this, he opened a chain of Wal-Marts across rural
America and always supported local charities, which made his
COMPREHENSION ✍
stores very popular.
A. True or False. Read the statements below. If the
statement is true, write T beside the sentence. If it is
false, write F. If it is false, correct the information.
By 1985, Walton was the richest man in the United States. When he
died on April 6, 1992, the company went to his wife and four
1. Sam Walton was a poor student.
children. In 1998, he was named one of the 20th century’s most
important people and awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
2. Sam Walton tried many new ideas in his stores.
Wal-Mart is often criticized for putting small-town retailers out of
business, but this has not stopped its growth. Today, there are more
than 4,500 Wal-Marts (some of them in other countries), which
4. Small-town stores were always happy when Wal-Mart
employ at least 1.5 million people.
3. Sam Walton was a generous person.
opened in their towns.
5. Wal-Mart is the world’s largest retailer.
1
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Famous People
Sam Walton
B. Practice asking and answering the following questions with your partner. Then write the answers in complete sentences.
1. Why did the Walton family move from Oklahoma to Missouri?
2. How did Sam Walton help out his family when he was a teenager?
3. What did Walton do when he finished college?
4. What new practices did Walton introduce in his stores to make his customers happy?
5. Why did Walton decide to open a chain of stores across rural America?
DISCUSS
6. Who inherited the Wal-Mart stores when Sam Walton died?
1. What kind of a person do you think
7. Why is Wal-Mart often criticized?
Sam Walton was? Give several
adjectives to describe him and examples
VOCABULARY REVIEW ✍
from the story to support your opinion.
A. Match the words on the left with the correct meaning on the right.
2. Why do you think Wal-Mart became
such a successful retail chain?
_____ 1. rural
_____ 2. graduate
_____ 3. practices
a) methods
b) in the area
c) hire, give work to
3. Why do you think so many smalltown retailers went out of business
_____ 4. quantities
_____ 5. profits
d) complete school or university
e) seller
when Wal-Mart opened in their towns?
What can small retailers do to compete
with big chains like Wal-Mart?
_____ 6. local
_____ 7. charities
_____ 8. criticize
f) in or of the country
g) amounts
h) organizations that help children, poor people, sick people, etc.
4. What kind of stores do you like to
shop in? Is price most important to you
_____ 9. retailer
_____ 10. employ
i) give a bad opinion; find fault with
j) money gained in business
or do you care more about good
customer service?
B. Choose the word(s) with the closest meaning to the underlined words in the following sentences.
1. Sam Walton’s father moved the family to Missouri to work as a mortgage man.
a) farmer
b) teacher
c) person who gives loans to people to buy houses
2. As a child, Sam Walton was the youngest Eagle Scout in America.
a) pilot
b) member of a particular organization of boys
c) newspaper seller
3. In high school, Sam Walton was an honor student.
a) poor student
b) very good student
c) teacher’s assistant
4. Before serving in the army, Sam Walton worked in a munitions plant.
a) factory that makes weapons
b) flower store
c) farm
5. Walton put the check-out tills in his stores near the exits so the customers could buy everything at once.
a) sales people
b) bags
c) cash registers
6. He offered his store managers part of the store’s profits to gain their loyalty.
a) make them work hard
b) make them trust him and be faithful to him
c) get their money
2
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Famous People
Sam Walton
ANSWER KEY
Please note:
The reading for this topic is also available in full-page format at the end of the lesson (page 4).
PRE-READING QUESTIONS
1-5. Individual answers &
2. Sam Walton opened the first Wal-Mart in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962.
3. A chain of stores refers to a number of retail stores under the same ownership and dealing in the same merchandise.
4. A five and dime store was a common nickname in the United States for five-and-ten-cent stores (also called 5 and 10s),
popular in the early to mid-20th century. These stores sold a wide variety of inexpensive items.
COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
A. True or False
1. F
2. T
3. T
4. F
5. T
B. Written Answers
1. The Waltons moved from Oklahoma to Missouri so Sam Walton’s father could work as a mortgage man.
2. As a teenager, Sam Walton helped his family by selling milk and newspapers for extra money.
3. When he finished college, Walton worked in a store and a munitions plant before serving in the army from 1943 to
1945.
4. Walton bought large quantities of goods at low prices and sold them at lower prices than other stores; he put stores
where people could get to them easily, kept them open longer, and offered his managers part of the store’s profits to
gain their loyalty. He also placed check-out tills near exits so customers could buy everything at once.
5. Walton decided to open a chain of stores across rural America to sell more so that he could continue to keep his prices
low.
6. When Walton died, the company went to his wife and four children.
7. Wal-Mart is often criticized for putting small-town retailers out of business.
VOCABULARY REVIEW
A. Choose the correct meaning
1. f
2. d
3. a
9. e
4. g
5. j
6. b
4. a
5. c
6. b
7. h
10. c
B. Matching
1. c
2. b
3. b
3
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8. i
Famous People
Sam Walton
Sam Walton
Sam Walton started Wal-Mart, a chain of stores that is now the largest in the world.
Walton was born on March 29, 1918, in rural Oklahoma. His father farmed but, in 1923, he moved the family to
Missouri to work as a mortgage man.
As a boy, Walton was the youngest Eagle Scout in America. In high school, he played sports, was an honor student,
and sold milk and newspapers to make extra money for his family. He worked all through college, where he
studied economics. After graduating, he worked in a store and a munitions plant, before serving in the U.S. Army
from 1943 to 1945.
After the war, he managed a five-and-dime store and, by 1962, he had 15 stores in Arkansas, Missouri, and
Oklahoma. He also introduced some new business practices. He bought large quantities of goods at low prices
and then sold them at lower prices than other stores. He put stores where people could get to them easily, kept them
open longer, especially at Christmas, and offered his managers part of the store’s profits to gain their loyalty.
In 1962, he used these ideas when he and his brother opened the first Wal-Mart store, in Rogers, Arkansas. He also
put check-out tills near exits so customers could buy everything at once and, in 1966, began using computers to run
his business. To keep his prices low, he had to sell more. To do this, he opened a chain of Wal-Marts across rural
America and always supported local charities, which made his stores very popular.
By 1985, Walton was the richest man in the United States. When he died on April 6, 1992, the company went to his
wife and four children. In 1998, he was named one of the 20th century’s most important people and awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Wal-Mart is often criticized for putting small-town retailers out of business, but this has not stopped its growth.
Today, there are more than 4,500 Wal-Marts (some of them in other countries), which employ at least 1.5 million
people.
4
Copyright 2009. This eBook is produced and distributed by Red River Press Inc. All rights reserved. The contents within this e-book/document may only be
photocopied by members of ESL-Llibrary.com in accordance with membership terms and conditions. Contact [email protected] for complete details.