UNIT 2: TELLING STORIES UNLaM- DPU- INGLÉS 3

GRAMMAR STOP

Telling anecdotes

Look at these examples from the first story:

During my first year as project manager, I was working with two colleagues to meet a deadline on a proposal
we were drafting.

PAST CONTINUOUS

SUBJECT + WAS(N’T) / WERE(N’T) + VERB (ING)

It is used to indicate that two actions in the past happened at the same time:

Now, pay attention to what the second girl says:

I later realized that through this process, I had learned creative techniques to influence group dynamics.

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UNIT 2: TELLING STORIES UNLaM- DPU- INGLÉS 3

PAST PERFECT

SUBJECT + HAD(N’T) + VERB (PAST PARTICIPLE)

It is used to indicate that an action in the past happened BEFORE another action in the past.

PASSIVE VOICE

- As a result, I was promoted.

- I am passively excluded.
- .. and we were congratulated on by our manager and our happy client.

Uses
We use the Passive Voice:

- when the doer of the action is obvious.

- when we do not really know who the doer of the action is.

- when we want to change the focus on the sentence and emphasize the action or the person
affected by the action (so as to maintain the topic/person we are speaking about at the beginning)

Note: We mention the by-agent when it is important to say who or what is responsible for the action.
(produced by …, written by…, directed by...)

3. Now, pay attention to the information included in the anecdotes. Can you identify the following
information in the previous anecdotes?

SETTING PROBLEM SOLUTION CONSEQUENCES

BETHANY

BRANDY

SCOTT

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UNIT 2: TELLING STORIES UNLaM- DPU- INGLÉS 3

4. Order this job interview story. The first one has been done as an example. Remember to follow
the tips on page 30. Which of the “three stories you need to prepare” is this applicant answering,
in your opinion?

Order

a Instead of instantly giving him the refund, I offered to personally arrange for private swim
lessons for his son for a week, explaining to him that sometimes children react differently to
each instructor’s teaching techniques.

b An angry man once came demanding a refund.

c Early in my career, I sold memberships at a family fitness center. 1

d He finally agreed to accept without the refund. After a week of private lessons, his son was no
longer afraid of the water, and he could swim nearly a lap.

e He complained that his son had been in swimming lessons for four weeks and was still afraid
of the water.

f Although the other workers were flustered, I calmly asked the man why he wanted it.

SECTION II: MORE ANECDOTES: Starting Over

Who was Steve Jobs?

Do you know why he said this?
Which one of the following ideas do you think best describes what he meant?
• Even in our darkest times, everything is not what it seems.
• If you confront great adversity, you will undoubtedly survive
• Although you cannot see it yet, there is something much bigger in store for you.
What is the most frequent reaction when someone gets fired? Why?
What alternatives does this person have?

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UNIT 2: TELLING STORIES UNLaM- DPU- INGLÉS 3

READ THE FOLLOWING STORIES. THEY ARE ALL TRUE STORIES ABOUT STARTING OVER

1. Read Roy’s story and complete with the appropriate connector or time expression from the
box. There is an extra one

WHILE – SO – IF – HOWEVER – BECAUSE – AS A RESULT – MEANWHILE – BUT – AT FIRST – A

FEW YEARS AGO – CURRENTLY – AS A CONSEQUENCE – AS – DUE TO

Glossary
embrace: prefer, choose (here) pay the bills: pay for the electricity, gas, etc

Roy Coops

___________1 I worked for a large Fitness Company and I enjoyed a good salary, a company car, laptop
and mobile phone. All I had to do was work 7 days a week, 10 hours a day. And that was what I was doing
__________2 I didn’t need to worry.
The company was only interested in sales and ______________3 I created good ‘numbers’, nothing could
happen to me. ___________________4, this interest in sales meant people didn’t get the attention they
needed, and _________________5, they left. And I embraced people over sales. _____________6, I was laid
off in a very bad way _____________7 I wasn’t useful for the company anymore.
_______________8 I was sitting at home, I decided to start a company to do the work I love, and to be in
total control of what went right and wrong.
____________9, the company didn’t earn much money, so, ______________10, I was also doing a part-time
job working 3 days a week for the money to pay the bills and I still had 4 days to work for my own business.
______________11 it didn’t work that way.
I wasn’t very productive ______________ 12 the little time I had to build up my company. It was clear that if
I wanted to make it work, I needed 150% focus and time. Decision made. All the thoughts of failure and the
‘what if’ questions disappeared and turned into energy to move forward. Something I had never expected!
______________ 13, I am working in ‘The Lifestyle Switch’, a 16-week course that helps people discover
their passion and define what’s truly important to them in their lives.
If I had not taken that decision, I think I wouldn’t have been able to do the things I love. And even worse, I
wouldn’t have discovered who I really am and what I really want.

2. Read Alison’s story and complete it with suitable connectors. Don’t repeat them.

Glossary.

income: money you earn from your job to bid: to make offers

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UNIT 2: TELLING STORIES UNLaM- DPU- INGLÉS 3

to submit: to send to release a product: to make it possible for buying in

the market

Alison Spencer

My main business was beginning to see signs of collapse early in the year. It progressively got worse
______________ 1 the year went on. _____________2 I depended on it for income, I started to get worried.
Just then, I was introduced to an opportunity that sounded great. I was hired to work for a large Internet E-
Commerce space. The project was incredibly exciting_________________ 3 it allowed me to work within my
strengths. I had worked on that project for 6 months ________________ 4 I received a phone call that the
company was out of money ________________ 5 some bad investments that they had made, and that they
wouldn’t be able to pay me to keep going.
I was not prepared. I hadn’t had enough time to prepare. What was I going to do? My kids. They depended
on me. ________________6 , not jumping into action was not a choice. I had to move — FAST.
_____________ 7 , I started bidding on Search Engine Optimization and Small Business Internet Marketing
projects. It took a lot of proposals: I had submitted a big number of them _______________ 8 I eventually got
that first sale. It happened to be a pretty good one that would result in monthly residual income. Everything
that I had dreamt of was starting to come true.
I’m not quite there yet, _______________ 9 I feel good about the direction I’m taking. I’m helping people
and small businesses. I am now focused on building and consulting several small businesses and am about to
release a new product
If I had continued in that job, I would have been only focused on the project I was working on.
_______________ 10 it was not a bad project … ,I wouldn’t have found what I was meant to be.

3. Read the stories again and complete the chart

Job they were doing Problem at work FIRED New job Consequences

ROY

ALISON

4. Account for the use of the following tenses/expressions in the two anecdotes:

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UNIT 2: TELLING STORIES UNLaM- DPU- INGLÉS 3

Roy’s story:

a. “And that was what I was doing” At the same time as he….
b. “Something I had never expected!” Before he ….
c. “I was sitting at home…” …
d. “I am working in the Lifestyle Switch” …

Alison’s story:

a. “I was introduced to the opportunity” The important information is…

b. “I had worked for 6 months”
c. “I had submitted a big number of them”
d. “Everything I had dreamed of was starting to come true”

5. Read the story of ABTIN BUERGARI and write the verbs in their past form: simple or
continuous.

Glossary
useful for litigation: that could be used for legal actions to turn down: not to accept
to drop out: to abandon to sue: to take legal action

ABTIN BUERGARI, FOUNDER AND CEO OF MODUS EDISCOVERY*

1
When Buergari was in law school, he ____________ (work) for a company to conduct “electronic
discovery”. He 2 ____________ (read) emails, instant messages, and other documents to discover useful
information for litigation. At the same time, he 2 ____________ (develop) specific technology which could
scan the documentation faster.
As soon as he 4 ____________ (finish) it, he 5 ____________ (offer) his “electronic discovery” to his boss
who 6 ____________ (turn) it down since it was not what the company 7 ____________ (look for). As his boss
8
____________ (learn) that he 9 ____________ (use) his new technology in his cases, he was fired and sued.
10 11 12
He ____________ (drop) out law school and he ____________ (live) off of credit cards when he
____________ (decide) to start his own company.
In 2012, Buergari’s company was listed on Inc.’s 5,000 fastest-growing companies with $18 million in sales
and 1,120% growth in the last three years.

*To learn more about him log in https://www.crunchbase.com/person/abtin-buergari#/entity

And about his company watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lYi6EXCUfE

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UNIT 2: TELLING STORIES UNLaM- DPU- INGLÉS 3

6. Read the story of SALLIE KRAWCHECK and write the verbs in the correct past form: Simple or
Perfect

Glossary
wealth: money and properties a person has revenue: money a business receives for its services

SALLIE KRAWCHECK, OWNER OF 85 BROADS*

This influential woman didn’t escape a dismissal as head of Merrill Lynch’s global wealth management
division in 2011. At the moment she was dismissed, she 1 ____________ (work) for two years and she 2

____________ (obtain) very good business results but she 3 ____________ (know) she was not in the new
CEO’s inner circle.
When they 4 ____________ (tell) her, she didn’t even have time to tell her father who 5 ____________
(hear) the news on TV. It was hard to think that she 6 ____________ (spend) more time in the company than
with her own family and that her job 7 ____________ (receive) most of her attention.
8 9 10
However, she ____________ (use) everything she ____________ (acquire) in her job and
11
____________ (start) all over again. Her experience ____________ (teach) her how to look at business
opportunities and her dismissal 12 ____________ (give) her more time for her family and children.
She’s one of the most powerful women on Wall Street and made a name for herself as chief executive
officer at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. In 2013, Krawcheck bought professional women’s organization 85
Broads and has increased the company’s revenue by more than 100% since.

*To read more about the reasons for her dismissal, log in https://www.fastcompany.com/3036587/i-knew-i-
would-get-fired-sallie-krawcheck

7. Read the story of ANTHONY SALADINO and write the verbs in the correct past form: Simple,
Continuous or Perfect

Glossary
reduce expenses: spend less money

ANTHONY SALADINO, CO -FOUNDER AND CEO OF KITCHEN CABINET KINGS*

When Saladino 1 ____________ (lose) his job, he thought he 2 ____________ (do) his job better than ever.
In fact, he 3 ____________ (not, make) any mistake and the company 4 ____________ (not, try) to reduce
expenses. Indeed, he 5 ____________ (be fired) because the owner of the company 6 ____________ (have)
an argument with someone in his immediate family. At first, he 7 ____________ (feel) that experience as the
worst in his life. Mistakenly, he 8 ____________ (not, save) substantially enough.
9 10
With no financial assistance, he ____________ (use) the contacts he ____________ (make) in his
previous job, the knowledge and experience he 11 ____________ (have) in doing cabinets and ____________

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UNIT 2: TELLING STORIES UNLaM- DPU- INGLÉS 3

12 13
(start) his own company at the same time that he ____________ (control) his own destiny. He
14
____________ (open) an e-commerce company that sold kitchen cabinets and soon, it ____________
(also, sell) bathroom cabinets.
Today, he knows that it is how you respond what separates winners and losers.

* To know more about him, log in https://ideamensch.com/anthony-saladino/ or watch

https://www.youtube.com/user/KitchenCabinetKings to learn about his products.

8. Read Sheila’s story and write the verbs in the correct form and voice.

Glossary
involvement: the act of taking part in an activity distressed: uncomfortable, unhappy

Sheila Austin
I 1__________ (fire) because of my involvement in a podcast I 2__________ (start) with another
friend/co-worker. The podcast 3_________ (be) about finding your true self, and not being a drone
that 4__________ (programme) by external sources.
In the show, we 5__________ (laugh) at stereotypes. I 6__________ (work) for a multinational at
that time and our CEO 7__________ (tell) to listen to the show and 8__________ (offend) personally
by our mentioning of his religion.
At first, he 9__________ (tell) us we’d have to stop the show, apologize to the rest of the
company, and agree to never publish that type of content again. We 10__________ (come back) the
next morning and 11__________ (say) that we wouldn’t stop: our message 12__________ (be) about
love, happiness, and truth; the podcast 13__________ (not, have) anything to do with the company.
14
Anyway, the company thought that damage to the brand and employees __________ (do), and
we 15__________ (fire).
At present, the blog 16__________ (grow) little by little into a business that 17__________ (help)
people not to live their lives based on external control. Looking back, I 18______________ (constantly,
feel) distressed. But I 19____________ (show) what I 18____________ (always, want): freedom.

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UNIT 2: TELLING STORIES UNLaM- DPU- INGLÉS 3

If I had agreed to stop with the podcast, I’d have felt an unfulfilled, unmotivated drone, putting in
just enough energy to keep the system going so I could return the next day to repeat it over again. I
wouldn’t have put energy into dreaming about a new life of freedom instead of doing actual work at
the day job.

FORFOR EXTRA
EXTRA PRACTICE,
PRACTICE, GO PAGE
GO TO TO PAGE
69
FOR EXTRA PRACTICE, GO TO PAGE

VOCABULARY

9. Go over the stories so far and make a list of the verbs and expressions used to speak about:

LOSING YOUR HAVING POSITIVE NEGATIVE

JOB STARTING OVER PROBLEMS CONSEQUENCES CONSEQUENCES

10. Finally, go over the last paragraph in Roy’s, Allison’s and Sheila’s story and say:

a) How do they all feel about their dismissal?

GRAMMAR STOP

Expressing regrets

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UNIT 2: TELLING STORIES UNLaM- DPU- INGLÉS 3

See how they express that there is no regret about what happened to them

If I had not taken that decision, I wouldn’t have been able to do the things I love.

If I had agreed to stop with the podcast, I would have felt an unmotivated drone.

CONDITIONAL SENTENCES – 3º TYPE

IF + PAST PERFECT, WOULD HAVE + VERB (PAST PARTICPLE)

They are used to make suppositions about the past, i.e. what we express in the condition (after if) did not
actually happen: the supposition is unreal. And it will never happen: the supposition is impossible because
the past cannot be changed. We generally express something that we do or don’t regret.

Shaun did not continue in his job so he simply supposes the consequences of having followed but he knows
that will never happen.

“If I had continued in that job, I wouldn’t have put energy into dreaming about a new life of freedom”

11. Go back to the stories in this unit and make suppositions:

a) If Buergari’s boss had accepted his technology.

b) If Kracwcheck had had a good relationship with her CEO
c) If Saladino had had no experience in cabinets.
d) If any of them had been depressed.
e) If any of them had given up their dreams.

12. Go back to the beginning of the unit and make suppositions about Steve Jobs.

FOR EXTRA PRACTICE, GO TO PAGE 71

13. Complete this job interview story with time expressions and connectors from the box. There
is an EXTRA word.

ALSO – BUT - DUE TO - A FEW WEEKS AGO - SOME DAYS LATER – AS - AT THE INTERVIEW – THEREFORE -

AFTERWARDS

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