TOPIC SUCCESS - LISTENING

Exercise 1:

Before you Listen

-What do you think success is? Do you consider yourself a successful person? Why? Why not? How would you measure
success? (In terms of…)

-Which of these people would you consider a clear example of a successful individual/ successful business person?
Explain your answer

Maradona Bill Gates Mother Teresa The Pope Bill Clinton

Leo Messi Riquelme Al Capone

-Which of these terms do you consider important to achieve success?

have money observe being wise get on well with partners/customers

patience being a good listener good connections being curious being lucky

being good at solving problems focus passion persist work

ideas push improve

-Exercise: Listen to R. St John ‘s talk “Success is a continuous journey”, at ted.com

-Checking meaning:

-All these terms appear in the talk. Could you explain their meaning, according to the context?

Pushed myself To come up with ideas Creative block

Comfort zone A hot shot guy

Figure out Go downhill

sth pours in

I was floating along

Outwardly /inwardly

(Put into) antidepressants

I couldn’t care less

To drop like a rock

Let employees go

To cut a long story short

It looks like

I made it

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Listen and fill in the blank
Why do so many people reach success and then (1)_____________? One of the big reasons is we think success is
(2)_____________street. So, we do everything that leads (3)_____________to success. And it doesn’t take long to
go (4)_____________. Reaching success, I worked hard, I pushed (5)_____________. But then I stopped because I
(6)_____________, “Hey I am good enough.” I couldn’t come (7)_____________with any ideas. Reaching success, I
always (8)_____________on clients and products. Soon a black cloud formed over my head and here I was,
(9)_____________very successful, but (10)_____________very depressed. I was just floating along, I couldn’t
(11)_____________less if clients ever called. It didn’t (12)_____________for business to drop like a rock. I had fun
again, I worked harder, and to cut (13)_____________: did all the things that took me back up to success. It’s not
only how we achieve success, it’s how we (14)_____________it.
Please match the following phrases with their antonyms:

to fail cannot think of anything

one-way street inside
to lead up to sth on the outside
to go downhill to pay no regard to, to turn a blind eye to sth
to push oneself to be unaware that
to figure to be anxious, to be concerned about
to come up with sth to lose
to focus on sth at length
outwardly to succeed
inwardly to come to nothing
couldn’t care less not stir from a place
to take long two-way street
to cut a long story short to go uphill
to sustain to do in no time
Exercise 2:
You will hear five different people talking about the reasons why they became very successful. For questions 1-5,
choose from the list (A – H) the reason each person gives for their success. Use the letters only once. There are three
extra letters which you do not need to use.
A natural ability 1. Speaker 1
В encouragement from others 2. Speaker 2
C careful planning 3. Speaker 3
D peer pressure 4. Speaker 4
E determination to improve 5. Speaker 5
F lack of competition
G constant good luck
H courage

Exercise 3: Listen and choose TWO letters for each answer

Questions 1-2
Which TWO people are heroes for Mr. St John?
A a religious person
B a politician
C a sports person
D an IT genius
Questions 3-4
Which TWO things has he done in his life that he is proud of?
A won an acting award
B won communications awards
C Been at the top of a mountain
D Sailed a boat in Antartica
Questions 5-6
Which TWO of these professionals has he interviews for his success project?
A Actors
B Publicists
C Amateur writers
D Astronauts
Questions 7-8
Which TWO of these traits does his include in his list of 8 to be great?
A Service work
B Ambitions
C A good mentor
D Self improvement
Exercise 4:
Questions 21 – 26

What did findings of previous research claim about the personality traits a child is likely to have because of their position
in the family?
Choose SIX answers from the box and write the correct letter, A-H, next to Questions 21-26
Personality Traits
A outgoing
B selfish
C independent
D attention-seeking

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E introverted
F co-operative
G caring
H competitive
Position in family
21 the eldest child ………….
22 a middle child ………….
23 the youngest child ………….
24 a twin ………….
25 an only child ………….
26 a child with much older siblings ………….
Questions 27 and 28
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
27 What do the speakers say about the evidence relating to birth order and academic success?
A There is conflicting evidence about whether oldest children perform best in intelligence tests.
B There is little doubt that birth order has less influence on academic achievement than socio-economic status.
C Some studies have neglected to include important factors such as family size.
28 What does Ruth think is surprising about the difference in oldest children’s academic performance?
A It is mainly thanks to their roles as teachers for their younger siblings.
B The advantages they have only lead to a slightly higher level of achievement.
C The extra parental attention they receive at a young age makes little difference.
Questions 29 and 30
Choose TWO letters, A-E.
Which TWO experiences of sibling rivalry do the speakers agree has been valuable for them?
A learning to share
B learning to stand up for oneself
C learning to be a good loser
D learning to be tolerant
E learning to say sorry
Exercise 5: Listen and fill in the blank

1. As a math teacher in some public schools in New York, she was amazed to discover that several students who
achieved the highest grades did not have ……………..
2. After several more years of teaching, she concluded that it was necessary for education to be considered from
………………..and ……………..angle.
3. She went on to become a psychologist and took up studying kids and adults in all kinds of ……………………..
4. The targets in her study included:
+ ……………. in a Military Academy,
+ Children in a spelling competition
+ ……………. in severe working conditions
+ Salespeople in …………………….
5. Grit was identified as the major predictor of success. Grit is passion and perseverance for very long-term goals.
Overall, it looks like a ………….rather than a ………………….
6. It's not just at West Point or the National Spelling Bee that grit matters. The study conducted in he Chicago public
schools also indicated higher possibility to …………………..among grittier kids.
7. Data show that there is no positive correlation between between talent and grit. In fact, it is even …........................
levels of talent.
8. Carol Dweck promotes the idea of …………, which dispels the notion that learning ability is fixed.