Reading practice 5

A Great Success Story: Sir Richard Branson

Richard Branson is an English entrepreneur and
businessman. He founded the Virgin Group, which controls
more than 400 companies in more than 30 countries around
the world, including the United Kingdom, the United States,
Australia, Canada, Asia, Europe and South Africa. He has
expanded his businesses to include a train company (Virgin
Trains), an airline (Virgin Atlantic), a luxury Safari game
reserve (Ulusaba), a mobile phone company (Virgin Mobile)
and a space-tourism company (Virgin Galactic), among others.

Richard Charles Nicholas Branson was born on 18 th July 1950,

in Blackheath, London, England. He never went to university. He is married to his second wife, Joan
Templeman, with whom he has two children: Holly (1981) and Sam (1985).

According to Branson, this is his usual daily routine: “I like to wake up early, usually around 5:00 a.m. I get
out of bed and do some exercise – I play a game of tennis, go for a walk or a run, or ride my bike. Then I eat
breakfast and spend time with my family“.

Getting an early start to the day isn't only about exercising. Branson lives on Necker Island in the British
Virgin Islands (BVI) located in the Caribbean. "Living in the BVI, I like to be online early, so that I am
accessible and available to our offices in other time zones. During the day I also sit down with my assistant,
Helen, to reply to anything else that comes in. In between e-mails and calls, I catch up on the news – which
normally leads me to writing blogs. No two days are the same: one day I write about conservation, the next I
share family photos from Necker Island, and then the following day I offer business tips to help young
entrepreneurs find their stride.”

He spends his workdays staying on top of business, checking his various social media platforms (“I love
logging onto Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram every day”), reading the news, and keeping in
touch with his employees. To keep up his energy throughout the day, Branson drinks up to 20 cups of tea. “ I
grab food when I can (he loves egg sandwiches), normally scheduling a meeting over lunchtime. I’m not a
fan of formal meetings and I don´t like formal clothing.” To stay focused and relaxed between his work and
extreme hobbies, Branson takes some time to practice yoga and Thai Chi during the day. He has dinner with
his family and he usually goes to bed at about 11:00 p.m. “I need around six hours sleep do it all again – a
little differently – the next day.”
Taken from https://www.biography.com/people/richard-branson-9224520, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Branson#Personal_life,
http://www.businessinsider.com/richard-branson-daily-routine-2017-8/#branson-says-its-important-to-approach-life-with-a-sense-of-adventure-the-spirit-of-adventure-
motivates-us-to-set-goals-push-ourselves-thrive-in-the-face-of-hardship-and-achieve-epic-feats-22, https://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/my-usual-daily-routine.
Adapted by Isabel Cristina Vélez and Diana Yepes 2017-2
 True or false: Read the article, and then decide if the following statements are
(5 points –
Task 1 TRUE or FALSE. Correct the false ones. (NOTE: you need to fulfill both
1 each one)
conditions in order to get a full point. Middle points will not be given)
TRUE
STATEMENT
/FALSE
1. Virgin consists of a small group of national companies.
__________________________________________________________________________ _________
2. He is single and does not have any children.

__________________________________________________________________________ _________

3. Sir Richard Branson enjoys working on business and he also likes sports.
__________________________________________________________________________ _________
4. Sir Richard Branson likes to work in a team.
_________
__________________________________________________________________________
5. Sir Richard Branson never has time to relax during the day.
_________
__________________________________________________________________________

Find the synonyms: Match each word with a corresponding synonym or definition (5 points – 1
Task 2
according to the context provided by the article. each one)

1. founded _____ business leader

2. available _____ to be in contact

3. keeping in touch _____ created; established

4. entrepreneur _____ elegant look, no jeans or tennis shoes

5. formal clothing _____ prepared and ready for action

Fill in the information: Complete the chart with information about Richard
Branson. (5 points – 1
Task 3
Important: Use complete sentences and your own words YOU CANNOT each one)
REPEAT WORD BY WORD ANY PASSAGE OF THE TEXT

Age

Nationality

Job

Family

Favourite food