Diapositive 1

William Wrigley started his chewing gum company by accident. In
1891 his father had a soap factory in Chicago and William was a salesman; he
sold the productsfrom the family’s factory.
First, he naturally sold Wrigley’s soap. As a premium, he gave baking
powder to his clients, and, strangely, the baking powder was very popular.
Then he decided to sell baking powder and offered free chewing
gum as a premium. Again the premium was a big success. He began making
Wrigley’s chewing gum in 1892.
After that, in 1893, came Juicy and Spearmint, the most famous
flavours. Later, he built factories in Canada, Australia and Britain and
Wrigley’s rapidly became an international company.
Finally, during World War Two, the American soldiers went to
Europe and Asia with Wrigley’s chewing gum in their rations and today,
everywhere in the world, people chew that gum originally “made in the USA”.

I- Fast reading
1- Read the text and choose a new title. Tick the right answer.
The origins of chewing gum
From soap to chewing gum
The invention of chewing gum
2- Read the text again and pick out all the names of countries and continents. Write them in the following chart
an complete it.
COUNTRIES AND
CONTINENTS NATIONALITIES INHABITANTS

I- FAST READING
3- Find, in the text, the simple past of the verbs below. Complete the chart.
INFINITIVE SIMPLE PAST FRENCH MEANING
Become
Give
Begin
Go
Build
Sell

II- VOCABULARY
1- What’s the French or English for :
en prime:
gratuit:
World war Two:
Everywhere:
Chew:
Soap:
Baking powder:
2- Find the equivalents for these phrases.
d’abord:
then:
alors:
after that:
plus tard:
finally:

III- COMPREHENSION
Right or wrong? Justify by quoting from the
text.
1- William Wrigley had an accident.
2- William Wrigley worked for his father’s
factory.
3- At the beginning, he sold chewing gum to his
clients.
4- Wrigley’s chewing gum was known all around
the world thanks to World War II.