A lonely boy from New York asked a big question: what do people really need? His answer became a famous pyramid — but he never drew it.
Harder version: read this lesson at B2 level →
Ten items. Say your answer out loud before you reveal it.
Read the sentence. Say what the word in bold means. Then check.
The words are: respect · level · grow. Read the meaning and say the word.
One word fits all three phrases. Say the word.
Read each part. After it, answer the quick check from memory, then discuss one question.
Abraham Maslow was born in New York in 1908. His parents were immigrants, and the family was poor. He was the oldest of seven children.
Maslow was not a happy child. He was lonely, and life at home was difficult. He spent his free time in public libraries, because he loved books.
Later he studied psychology at university. At that time, most psychologists studied problems: fear, illness, sad people. Maslow wanted to ask a different question. What do healthy people need to grow?
1. Where was Maslow born, and when?
2. Where did he spend his free time?
3. What question did he want to ask?
1. In New York, in 1908.
2. In public libraries.
3. What do healthy people need to grow?
In 1943 Maslow wrote a famous paper. In it, he described five groups of needs.
First, the body: food, water, sleep. Second, safety: a home, money, no danger. Third, love: family, friends, a group where you belong. Fourth, respect: from other people, and for yourself. And fifth, at the top: becoming the best person you can be.
His main idea was simple. When a need is full, it stops pulling you. A hungry person thinks about food. A person with food starts to think about safety, then about friends.
But Maslow also said something people often forget: the levels are not a strict staircase. People need many things at the same time.
1. What are the five groups, from the bottom?
2. What happens when a need is full?
3. What did Maslow say about the order?
1. Body, safety, love, respect, and becoming your best.
2. It stops pulling you; you start to think about the next one.
3. It is not a strict staircase — people need many things at the same time.
Here is the surprise. Maslow never drew a pyramid. Not in 1943, not later.
The pyramid came in 1960, from a different man: Charles McDermid, a psychologist who worked with companies. He put Maslow's five levels in a triangle, in an article for managers about money and work.
Managers loved the picture. It was easy to draw and easy to remember, and soon it was in books all over the world. But the triangle also changed the idea. It looks like a staircase: finish level one, then go up. That is exactly what Maslow did not say.
Today the pyramid is everywhere — and it belongs to a man most people have never heard of.
1. Did Maslow draw the pyramid?
2. Who drew it, and when?
3. What problem does the triangle picture cause?
1. No, never.
2. Charles McDermid, in 1960.
3. It looks like a staircase, but Maslow said the levels are not a strict order.
Five levels. The most basic needs are at the bottom. Remember: it is a guide, not a staircase.
Which level is it? Choose, then check.
1. Safety — you are protected; nothing is dangerous.
2. Respect — other people show they think you are good.
3. Food, water, sleep — the body.
4. Growth — becoming the best person you can be.
5. Love & friends — people who are close to you.
6. Respect — it is about the opinion of others.
It is not a staircase. People need friends even when life is hard.
Different cultures, different order. For many families, the group comes before the person.
It is difficult to prove. Scientists are not sure the order is always the same.
This lesson is about what people need and what they want. Both words are useful every day — and they have easy patterns.
Write the correct form: need / needs / want / wants and, if necessary, to.
1. I'm very tired. I go to bed.
2. My daughter a bicycle for her birthday.
3. The teacher us to finish the exercise at home.
4. We don't a big house — we are only two people.
5. you want to see the photos?
1. need to
2. wants
3. wants
4. need
5. Do
Which word is better? Write need or want.
1. A person in the desert water.
2. I a bigger television, but my old one works.
3. Babies sleep.
4. He to visit Japan one day.
1. needs (it is necessary)
2. want (it is not necessary)
3. need
4. wants
Now say two things you need this month, and two things you want.
Now use the pyramid. Choose a task and speak. You can start the timer.
Go up the five levels. Which level is good in your life now? Which needs work?
Somebody moves to your country tomorrow. Which needs are hardest in the first year?
Name three things in your home you need, and three you only want.