News by Levels · Level 3 · For teachers
Teacher guide & answers
Swift's Gulliver's Travels Reaches Its 300th Anniversary
How to use these two pages
Give learners the student worksheet. It contains the story and questions, without the answers. Keep this guide for yourself. Use it to lead the activity and explain the answers afterwards.
Student worksheetA simple 15–20-minute lesson
- Before reading · 2 minutes
Show the title. Ask: “What do you think this story is about?”
- Read and answer · 8–10 minutes
Give out the student worksheet. Learners read for the main idea, then reread to answer the 2 questions. They can compare answers with a partner.
- Discuss and write · 5–8 minutes
Check the answers below together. Ask learners to point to the clue in the story, then finish with the open question.
Adjust the support: Let learners use word help or Level 1 if needed. For a challenge, compare the wording in another level. This activity is not a proficiency test.
Answers to the 2 questions
The question numbers match the student worksheet. Each answer includes a reason and the clue learners can find in the story.
Where and when was Gulliver's Travels first published?
Correct answer: A — London on October 28, 1726
Why: The passage gives London and October 28, 1726 as the place and date of first publication.
Clue in the story: Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels was first published anonymously in London on October 28, 1726. Three centuries later, Trinity College Dublin is marking the anniversary with an exhibition in the Old Library's Long Room.
How does the passage explain satire?
Correct answer: A — Writing that can use humour to question human behaviour
Why: The passage describes satire as writing that can use humour to question behaviour.
Clue in the story: The novel follows a traveller through imagined societies, including Lilliput, whose inhabitants are tiny. Trinity describes the work as satire: writing that can use humour to question human behaviour. The exhibition remains on display until the end of December 2026.
The open question: accept different answers
Ask learners: Explain why the book and the exhibition belong to different points in time.
One possible answer: The book was published in 1726; the Dublin exhibition marks its anniversary 300 years later and remains on display through December 2026.
This is an example, not the only correct answer. Look for a relevant idea, a reason and the learner’s own words. Learners can answer aloud or write one or two sentences.