Three Black women use their brilliant minds to help send an astronaut into space. Their country doesn't always let them sit, eat or even use the bathroom where they want. Most of this really happened.
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These are the new words. Match each word (1–8) to its meaning (A–H). Say your answers out loud — "I think 1 is D" — then check.
1 = D (a scientist) · 2 = B (a rocket) · 3 = H (a rule) · 4 = A (unfair)
5 = C (brave) · 6 = F (to prove) · 7 = G (a promotion) · 8 = E (to allow)
Hidden Figures (2016), a true story. Read each part. Then try the questions from memory, and talk about the last one. (There are spoilers — that is fine, we want to talk about it.)
In 1961, in Virginia, USA, three Black women work for NASA. Their names are Katherine, Dorothy and Mary. They are very good at maths. They work in a special room, away from the white workers. This is called segregation — different groups of people were kept apart, by rule.
Katherine is very clever with numbers. She gets a new job with an important space team. But there is a problem: she can't use the bathroom near her new office. The only bathroom she is allowed to use is far away, in another building. Every day, she must walk a long way there and back, even in the rain.
1. What do Katherine, Dorothy and Mary do at NASA?
2. What problem does Katherine have at her new job?
1. They are mathematicians. They work in a special, segregated room, away from the white workers.
2. She can't use the bathroom near her office. She has to walk far away to another building.
America wants to send a person into space before Russia does. Everyone works very hard. Katherine can't go into some important meetings, so she can't always hear the numbers she needs. Dorothy sees a new computer machine arrive. She thinks: "This machine could take away my job." So Dorothy teaches herself how to use the new machine. Then she teaches her friends too.
Mary wants to become an engineer. But she can't study the class she needs — the class is only for white students. She asks a judge for permission. The judge says yes! Now Mary can study with the other students.
1. Why does Dorothy teach herself the new computer?
2. How does Mary get permission to study her class?
1. She thinks the new machine could take away her job, so she learns it first and teaches her team too.
2. She asks a judge, and the judge says yes — now she can study with the white students.
In 1962, an astronaut called John Glenn is going to fly around the Earth. This is very dangerous. A new computer calculates the flight numbers. But John Glenn says: "I want Katherine to check the numbers too." Katherine checks every number by hand. She says the numbers are correct. John Glenn flies into space, and he comes back safely!
After this, things start to change. Dorothy finally gets the title "supervisor." Mary becomes a real engineer. And, slowly, the unfair rules at NASA begin to disappear.
1. What does John Glenn ask Katherine to do before he flies?
2. What happens to Dorothy and Mary after the flight?
1. He asks her to check the computer's flight numbers by hand, to be sure they are correct.
2. Dorothy gets the supervisor title, Mary becomes a full engineer, and the unfair rules slowly disappear.
This film is full of ability and permission from the past — what these women could do, and what the rules said they couldn't do. English uses one easy word for both ideas.
Read the meaning in brackets and complete the sentence.
1. Katherine (solve) very hard maths problems easily. (yes, she had this ability)
2. Before the judge's decision, Mary (study) the engineering class. (no, not allowed)
3. In the past, Black and white workers often (use) the same bathroom in the same building. (no, not allowed)
1. could solve (she had the ability)
2. couldn't study (not allowed yet)
3. couldn't use (not allowed)
Put the verb in the correct form after could or couldn't. Then read it out loud.
1. Dorothy could (teach) herself the new computer language.
2. For years, Katherine couldn't (join) the important meetings.
3. After 1958, Mary could finally (call) herself an engineer.
1. teach (could + base verb)
2. join (couldn't + base verb)
3. call (could + base verb)
Fill each gap with could or couldn't. Read it aloud when you finish.
Before the judge's ruling, Mary (not) study with white students. After the judge said yes, she study in the same class as everyone else. Katherine check the numbers by hand — and she was right every time.
couldn't (not allowed) · could (now allowed) · could (had the ability)
Use could for something possible or allowed, and couldn't for something impossible or not allowed.
Here is the good part: almost all of this really happened. The film is based on a true book about real women.
Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson were real women who really worked at NASA. Before astronaut John Glenn flew around the Earth in 1962, he really did ask for Katherine to check the computer's numbers by hand. Dorothy really did teach herself a new computer language called FORTRAN, in 1949 she really became NASA's first Black supervisor, and Mary really did become NASA's first Black female engineer, in 1958.
Some parts of the film are not exactly true. In the film, a boss breaks a "Coloured" bathroom sign with a tool — this never really happened. The film also puts events closer together in time than they really were: Dorothy's promotion actually happened years before the other events in the film, but the movie shows them all happening together. Still, the important facts are true: segregation was real, and these three women really did brilliant, important work.
Do all three tasks out loud. Use the timer to keep talking.
Tell the story of Hidden Figures in your own words. Use these steps to help you: three clever women work in a segregated room → Katherine joins the space team but can't use the nearby bathroom → Dorothy learns the new computer, Mary asks a judge for permission → John Glenn's flight and Katherine's numbers → things slowly get better.
Try to use some key words (scientist, rocket, rule, unfair, brave, prove, promotion, allow) and could / couldn't.
These women worked around unfair rules instead of waiting for the rules to change. Do you think this was the right way? Or should they have waited for the rules to change first? Say why.
Talk about rules, fairness and the past. Use could and couldn't.
Not sure what to say? Choose one: