A doctor lost almost everything. But he learned that there is always something we can choose.
Want the harder version? Open this story at C1 level → · Read before: The Man Who Decided to Believe
Say your answer out loud first. Then click Reveal.
Three words: strong · reason · finish. Say the word. Then click Reveal.
Read each part. Then try the questions without looking. Then talk. This is a serious story, told simply.
Viktor Frankl was born in Vienna in 1905. He was a doctor. He helped people who were very sad.
He had a big idea. He said: people need a reason to live. When we have a reason, we are stronger.
He was writing a book about this idea. It took many years.
1. What was his job?
2. What was his big idea?
1. He was a doctor. He helped sad people.
2. People need a reason to live, and when we have one, we are stronger.
Then came the war. Frankl was Jewish, and he was taken away from his home with his family. For years he lived in terrible places. He lost his book: he had it in his coat, and someone took the coat.
He also lost his wife, his parents and his brother. It was the worst time of his life.
But Frankl was a doctor, and he watched the people around him. He saw that some people kept going because they had a reason: a person to see again, or a job to finish. He said: other people can take many things from us. But they cannot take our choice. We can still choose how we think and what we do.
In April 1945, the war ended, and he was free.
1. What happened to his book?
2. What did he see in the people around him?
1. He lost it. It was in his coat, and someone took the coat.
2. People with a reason to keep going — a person to see again or a job to finish — often kept going longer. Other people can take many things, but they cannot take our choice.
After the war, Frankl went back to Vienna. He learned that most of his family were dead. He was very sad.
But he did not stop. In 1946, he wrote a book in only nine days. The book is called Man's Search for Meaning. Millions of people read it.
Frankl said: we cannot choose everything in life. But we can always choose some things. He lived until 1997. He was ninety-two.
1. How long did he take to write the book?
2. What did Frankl say we can always do?
1. Nine days.
2. We cannot choose everything, but we can always choose some things — for example, how we think and what we do.
We use can for things that are possible. We use can't (cannot) for things that are not possible.
Write can or can't. Think about what is true in real life.
1. We choose what we say to a friend.
2. Nobody change the past.
3. I control the weather.
4. We choose how we answer when someone is rude.
1. can 2. can't 3. can't 4. can
Say I can choose it or I can't choose it for each thing. Then reveal.
Turn each sentence into a question with can. Say it, then reveal.
Use can and can't in the Speak tab.
Say yes or no for each sentence. Then reveal.
Speak out loud. Use can and can't and the past simple.
Tell the story in the past. Use these ideas: a doctor in Vienna → a big idea → the war → he lost his book → what he saw → the book in nine days → what we can choose.
Use five verbs in the past and can / can't at least twice.
Make two lists: things I can choose and things I can't choose. Say five things in each list. Then tell me: which list is longer?
Choose one and speak for one or two minutes: