Hans Rosling recalls when his family acquired their first washing machine in the late 1940s in Sweden. It was a major event that greatly relieved his mother's workload and allowed her more leisure time. However, most of the world's population does not have access to machines and appliances that could make their lives easier. While environmentally conscious students in rich countries argue people in poorer nations should not be allowed to increase their energy consumption through acquiring machines, Rosling believes providing all people with access to modern technologies is an important goal that will improve lives worldwide. Economic development that lifts more out of poverty will inevitably increase energy usage but there are solutions to address this challenge sustainably.

1. First Name: ____________ Last Name: ____________ Student #: ____________ Group: ____________
Hans Rosling and the Magic Washing Machine
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Hans Rosling
PARAGRAPH 1 : I was only four years old when...
1) What important event (in his house) happened when Hans Rosling was four years old?
2) How long had Mr. Rosling’s parents been saving their money up for this machine?
3) Why was his grandmother very excited?
PARAGRAPH 2 : My mother carefully opened the door...
1) Who turned on the washing machine for the first time?
2) How long did his grandmother watch the washing?
3) How did his grandmother feel about the washing machine?

2. PARAGRAPH 3: Today, in Sweden and other rich countries...
1) Whose homes are full of machines?
2) How many people live below the poverty line?
3) How many people live above the “air line?”
PARAGRAPH 4 : But this is just one, two, three billion people...
1) How many people are there in the world?
2) How many of them live in between the poverty line and the “air line?”
3) How many of those people live above the “wash line”?
PARAGRAPH 5 : And the remaining five billion, how do they...
1) How do the other five billion women (mostly) in the world wash clothes?
2) Why is this a difficult job?
3) Do they like doing their washing in this way?
4) How are these women similar to Mr. Rosling’s grandmother?

3. PARAGRAPH 6 : But when I lecture to environmentally-concerned...
1) What do environmentally-concerned students say?
2) Does Mr. Rosling think that the students’ perspective is fair? ( )
3) How many of the students hand wash their own jeans and sheets?
PARAGRAPH 7 : So how come [this is] something ...
1) How many units of energy are used in the world?
2) How many of those units are used by people above the “air line?”
3) 1/2 of the energy in the world is used by _________ of the world population.
4) How many units of energy do people above the “wash line” use?
PARAGRAPH 8 : But the main concern for the environmentally-
1) What are the two things which can increase energy use?
2) Will population growth have a big impact on energy use?

4. PARAGRAPH 9 : What will happen is economic...
1) What will happen when the *“New East” jumps the “air line?”
2) What will happen to the two poorer groups?
3) In the projection, how many energy units will we be using in the year 2050?
4) What should we be doing to solve this problem?
5) Should we (rich and environmentally-conscious countries) be telling poor countries not to use
washing machines? ( )
PARAGRAPH 10: This is what we hope...
1) What does the lady in Rio (Brazil) want?
2) Why did the poor people in Brazil vote for Dilma Rousseff?
PARAGRAPH 11 and 12: And what’s the magic...
1) How did the washing machine change Mr. Rosling’s mother’s life? (and his own)
2) Why did Hans and his mother say thank you to industrialization, steel mills, power stations, and the
chemical processing industry?