LESSON 6. A STORY OF SUCCESS AND FAILURE

Communicative area: asking for information, discussing Active grammar: inversion with hardly...when, no sooner... than Active vocabulary: fail, failure, broke, to fire, numerous, attempt, to turn down

1. Check your memory. Name the famous Americans mentioned in the anecdotes in the previous lesson. What are they famous for? Name other Americans that are world famous for their achie­vements in science and culture.

2. 9 Listen to these stories about famous Americans and write down the names you hear. What kind of stories are they?

3. a) Look at the sentences from the stories and discuss the ques­tions below.

He made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb.

He didn't seem to promise any success after giving up his studies in Harvard and starting a failed first business.

The first book by this author, the iconic thriller Carrie, was turned down 30 times.

His early businesses failed and left him broke five times be­fore he founded the successful Ford Motor Company.

Hardly had he started his first job in a newspaper when he was fired because, "he lacked imagination and had no good ideas."

He started a number of businesses that didn't last too long and ended with loss of money and failure.

No sooner had she been born than her teenage mother fled away leaving her to live on her grandmother's farm.

She also had numerous career setbacks including losing her job as a television reporter because she was "unfit for TV."

He started numerous failed businesses and lost in numerous elections for public office he participated in.

The questions.

1. How many attempts do you need to try and guess the meaning of this word? 2. Did a failed business bring any mon­ey? 3. Was the author happy that his book was turned down? Why? 4. Can you borrow some money from someone who is broke? Why? 5. Does the verb to fire mean to make someone leave their job or make someone work harder? Who can fire a worker? 6. Is failure synonym or antonym of success? 7. What are the three forms of the verb flee? 8. Does numerous mean many or few?

b) ^^ Look at the sentences in italics again. What's unusual about them? Study the information and answer the questions about inversion on pages 288-290.

c) Work in pairs. Can you name the people the sentences in ex. 3a describe?

Copy the chart below and fill in the Name column. Listen again and complete the chart as in the example below.

5. Walk around the class to check your answers and make sure you haven't missed any facts.

Example: Student 1: What problems did Henry Ford have to face? Student 2: His early businesses failed and he was bankrupt five times. Student 1: Right.

6. 0 a) Listen and repeat some famous quotations. Pay attention to intonation and stress.

1. Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.

Bill Gates

2. The whole secret to a successful life is to find out what it is one's fate to do, and then do it.

Henry Ford

3. Success consists of going from failure to failure with­out loss of enthusiasm.

Winston Churchill

4.1 have failed many times, and that's why I am a success.

Michael Jordan

b) Which of the quotes do you prefer? Why?

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 1923