1 Success

OVERVIEW
1A
*Reading and Use of English: Multiple matching (Part 8); Word formation (Part 3)
*Vocabulary: Collocations (adjectives + nouns; verbs + nouns; phrasal verbs and expressions
with t ake)
*Listening: Developing skills: Separating main points from details; Listening for specific
information (Part 2)
*Language development: Mixed verb forms
*Writing: Letter: Using an appropriate register (Part 2)

1B
*Listening: Sentence completion (Part 2)
Speaking: Vocabulary: feelings; Long turn (Part 2)
*Language development : The passive; Register
*Reading and Use of English: Open cloze (Part 2)
*Writing: Letter of request (Part 2)

Lead-in
1 Look at the photographs. What did these people have to do to achieve success?
2 a How important are the following factors in becoming successful? Put them in order of
importance for each photo (1 = the most important, 10 = not important at all).

ability to take risks, a supportive family, clear focus, determination, financial

security, hard work, innate ability, luck, ruthlessness, self-confidence

b) Compare your answers and discuss, giving examples from your experience.
c) What differences would there be for a successful sportsperson?
3 How important is success to you? Is it more important than friends and family?

1A Finding a job
Reading (Paper 1 Part 8)

BEFORE YOU READ:

1 a Read the title, introduction and text headings. Which jobs do you think are the most and
least prestigious?
1b What qualifi cations, personal qualities, work experience, etc. would you need in order to
get one of these jobs? What might hold you back from achieving your aim?

SCANNING:
2a Read the questions first, highlighting the key points that are reported. This will help you find
the information you are looking for in the text. The first one is done for you.
2b Read each extract quickly and highlight information which answers the questions.

MULTIPLE MATCHING
3 Read the strategy, then do the task. Use the Help notes for support with certain items.
EXPERT STRATEGY
Scan the sections to find ideas or information which answer the questions, but make sure the
meaning is exactly the same. See page 169 for a full list of strategies.

HELP
1 More than one person had financial problems, but who was quite poor at one stage of
his/her life?
3 Look for an expression that means confi rm somebody’s good character or ability in the
text.
5 Look for a phrase which means knowing influential people.

For questions 1–10, choose from the people (A–D). The people may be chosen more than
once.

1 Which person overcame a financially disadvantaged background to become successful?

2 which person was rewarded for all the effort put into a work placement?
3 which person believes that personal recommendation was the main factor in obtaining a
job?
4 which person appreciated being offered encouragement and expertise as a student?
5 which person is aware that knowing influential people would have been a career benefit?
6 which person used to feel depressed by the lack of job opportunities?
7 which perwon finds the prospect of having to pay back a student loan daunting?
8 which person had a couple of false career starts?
9 which person is unsure about future career prospects?
10 which person had a strong preference about what kind of place to study at?

DISCUSSION
4 What do all these successful people seem to have in common?
5 Check the meaning of these key words from the text.

EXPERT WORD CHECK

against the odds, CV, foresee, half-hearted, master’s degree networking,
portfolio, scrape through, shadow (v), vital.

Module 1 Success 1A
The secret of my success
Four high-flying graduates talk about what it takes to land a top job in one of the elite
professions.

A) THE BARRISTER
At the age of nine, without a word of English, Hashi was sent from Kenya to live in Britain,
where he was raised exclusively on state benefi ts, with very little to live on. ‘I attended badly
performing schools and was always moving around between different relatives.’ Despite this,
Hashi managed to scrape through his exams and get into university to study law. Much later,
having done a master’s degree, he was inspired to become a barrister so that he could
represent people in court. ‘But fi rst you have to do a work placement where you shadow a
barrister. Unfortunately, it took me 18 months before I was accepted because I didn’t have any
contacts in the profession. It isn’t fair, but there is no point trying to pick a fight with a system.’
Now a junior barrister at a top firm, Hashi attributes this outstanding achievement against the
odds to a combination of the people who believed in him, the scholarships and loans which
enabled him to afford the course, strong self-discipline and a lot of hard work.

B) THE FASHION DESIGNER

Having set her heart from childhood on a career in costume design, Lilly worked in the theatre
straight after school, only to realise that this job wasn’t for her. Literature, which she tried
next, bored her. ‘So I sent some drawings off and was accepted for an art degree, which I loved
because I had tutors who knew what they were talking about. But it was the head of the
course on my master’s degree in fashion who really helped me to develop my confi dence and
individual style. Every summer, I was taken on for a three-month work placement, organised
by the college. I took these really seriously – I can’t understand people who are half-hearted
about them. In my second year I was making prints 16 hours a day for a famous designer and
some of them got used in his fashion collection.’ However, though Lilly did work for a number
of well-known designers, there were also discouragingly long periods of unemployment before
she finally got a permanent job.

C) THE BANKER
While still at the London School of Economics (LSE), Wen Du got some work experience in
banking. ‘LSE helps you to find these work placements but it’s still quite tough, so I had to do
loads of networking. When you are eventually looking for a job, you need certain academic
qualifi cations so companies will be interested in interviewing you. But, after that, it’s more
about how much you know about banking, so experience while you are still at university is
vital. I was working 12–13 hours a day during my placements but you take long hours in your
stride provided you are learning. After I finished university, I was offered a job at one of my
work placements. However, I had the opportunity to do a master’s degree in fi nance, so I did
that fi rst. For me, salary isn’t the main priority in a fi rst job; it’s about how much you can
learn and how much responsibility your line manager will give you. I want to do well, but
because there are so many uncertainties in our fi eld, I can’t foresee where I’ll be in fi ve
years.’

D) THE ARCHITECT
Having eventually settled on architecture as a career, Amandine came to London from the USA
and started building a portfolio of her work by attending local college courses. This got her
onto a university foundation art course and then into the highly competitive Architectural
Association (AA) school. ‘I picked the AA because it has such a close-knit family atmosphere,
which for me is essential. But I knew I couldn’t go there unless I got a scholarship because the
fees are so high, especially given that the course takes seven years. Even though I had two-
thirds of it paid for me, I still owe a fortune; the debt is a huge weight on your shoulders at my
age. I now have a job in a company that has always interested me, thanks to friends that
worked here and could vouch for me. It’s great to have an impressive CV but even better to
have a good character reference.’

1A MODULE 1 – SUCCESS
Vocabulary
Collocations: adjectives + nouns
1ª) Complete each sentence with an adjective from A and a noun from B.
A) close-knit, heavy, high, main, tight, wide

B) community deadlines priority salary variety workload

1 How much does finding a job with a ………. matter to you?

2 What is the ………. for you when looking for a job?
3 Are you good at meeting ………..?
4 Would you be willing to take on a ……….?
5 Would you enjoy being part of a ………. at work?
6 How important is it for you to have a ………. of work to do?

1b) Ask and answer the questions in Exercise 1a about your attitude to jobs.

Verbs + nouns
2a Underline one word/expression in each set that does not normally collocate with the
word(s) in bold.
1 take something personally / severely / seriously
2 make the best of something / time for something / the opportunity for something
3 take a list / no for an answer / the time to do something
4 hand in your resignation / your business / your essay
5 do a course / law / a good impression
6 have a speech / a career / an impact
2b) Tell each other two true things about your own life and one untrue thing, using the
expressions in Exercise 2a. Ask your partner to guess which one is untrue.

Phrasal verbs and expressions with take

3A) Circle the correct prepositions in 1–8. Then replace the phrases in italics in sentences a–h
with one of these expressions in the correct form.
1 take something in / at your stride
2 be taken aback with / by someone
3 take no notice at / of something
4 take pleasure of / in something
5 take pity on / at someone
6 take advantage of / with something or someone
7 take exception with / to something
8 take pride in / of something/someone.
a Have you ever used a particular situation to get what you want from something/someone?
b What things do you ignore?
c What do you enjoy doing?
d Have you ever been very surprised or shocked by someone’s behaviour?
e Which difficult things do you do without effort?
f Have you ever helped someone that you felt sorry for?
g Which of your achievements do you feel a great sense of self-respect about?
h Have you ever been angry or upset by anything someone has said?

3b) Ask each other the questions in Exercise 3a, using the expressions with take. Did anything
surprise you?
4A) Complete the text with words from Exercises 1–3.
My (1) ………. priority after leaving university was to try and pay off some of my student loan. I
applied for jobs, but the interesting ones had all been snapped up. I ended up at a burger bar
and decided to (2) ………. the best of it. I was a bit taken (3) ………. at first by the (4) ……….
workload, but I took it all in my (5) ………. and learnt things which have stood me in good stead
later in life. Dealing with a (6)………. variety of people from all walks of life was part and parcel
of the job and I use these skills to help me with problems which crop up nearly every day in my
present job as a journalist.

4b) Look at the idiomatic expressions in bold and discuss possible meanings.

Discussion
5 At what age do people normally start working in your country? How important is it to have a
work placement to get experience before you are offered a permanent job?