preparation
Listening-centered
Activities
Reading-centered
Activities

1. Interpreting witty saying on success or winning.
Directions: There are many witty sayings on success or winning. Work in pairs and study the following statements. Explain to your partner how you interpret these sayings and share your idea of success or winning.
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Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.
hard work is the most important thing for a successful person. Inspiration is essential, but it only constitutes a very small part.
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
perseverance is the only way to success. Never feel discouraged or depressed if you fail.
Nothing succeeds like success.
Once one achieves success in one thing, on will gain the confidence and courage to achieve success in many more fields. In other words, success breeds (give rise to) success.

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The harder I worked, the luckier I got.
The harder I work, the more opportunities I will get, the luckier I will be and the greater the possibility for me to succeed.
Winning isn’t the main thing; it’s the only thing.
Winning is the only thing that matters. There is nothing else that is important. One should always try to win.
Your idea (sample)
--I think success is 20%opportunity, 30% ability and 50% perspiration.
--I don’t agree with the saying: “Winning isn’t the main thing; it’s the only thing.” Because one’s ability is limited, it’s impossible for one to win in every field. If one expects nothing but success, one will only feel depressed.
--I think opportunity and luck play a very important part in one’s success in any field.

2. What do we need to become winners in life?
Directions: Read the following story and discuss in small groups the following questions.
lily is fourteen years old. She will attend secondary school next year. She is among the top ten in her class and hopes to enter a key secondary school in her city. She has been working really hard for the past tow tears because her parents keep telling her that is she wants to win in life, she should work hard and follow a certain pattern of development. That means a key secondary school, a key university and a promising job in a big company. Lily doesn't quite agree because she only has a vague idea about what she wants to do when she grows up. And she feels nervous about her mother’s comment that if she fails to enter a key secondary school, she is likely to be a failure in life.
I. What would you say to Lily’s mother?
II. What would you say to relieve Lily’s nervousness?

A List for Reference.
Genius, talent, intelligence, inspiration, ability, high IQ, high EQ, perspiration, endurance, confidence, determination, ambition, courage, perseverance, hard work, cooperative spirit, optimism, wide interests, good selfimage, self-control, self-confidence, opportunity, luck, good education, good health, positive attitude towards many things.
No pains, no gains.
All roads lead to Roma.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Nothings is too difficult if you put your heart in it.

1. What would you say to Lily’s mother?
I would say:
 Entering a key secondary school, a key university and getting a promising job in a big company is not the only thing. There are many winners in life who have neither entered key school nor had promising jobs. You shouldn’t be too hard on your daughter and you should let her make her own decisions. Just don’t push her too hard.
 You are right. Today’s world is highly competitive and people who are failures in life will be eliminated from the society sooner or later. children are just too young to understand all this. You do need to exert some pressure on her.

2. What would say to relieve Lily’s pressure?
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I would say:
There are many ways to achieve success. Just as an English proverb goes, “All roads lead to Rome.” the world won’t end if you fail to enter a key secondary school or a key university. Besides, everyone fails at certain times. Believe in yourself and work hard. You will be a winner in life.
You should be independent and you must make your won choice. You may also talk to your parents, telling them that you don’t agree with them. You shouldn’t do everything just to try to please your parents.
Your parents may feel unhappy if you don’t following their advice. But
I think one day they will understand.

Listening I How Do You Succeed discourage, aptitude, prestigious, Condoleezza Rice, African-American
Exercise I
Directions: Listen to the dialogue and note down the important information. Compare tour notes with your group members, pool all your notes together and try to get all the important information.
1. Important factors in success: energy and ambition; concentrated or focused hard work; work effectively and very motivated; attitude; accept the difficult and painful moments in a positive manner; self-confidence.
2. Example:
 Name: Condoleezza Rice .
 Nationality: African-American .
 Her score on aptitude tests: Not mentioned/ not high enough .
 At the age of 15: Entered university .
 At the age of 19: Graduated .
 Her position now: head of a college in Stanford University .

Exercise II.
Directions: Listen to the dialogue again and write a summary of the dialogue. You may use your notes in Exercise I for reference. After you finish the summary, read it aloud to your group, choose the best
 one in your group to be read to the whole class.
Sample.
There are many factors leading to success. Firstly, one needs energy and ambition. Secondly, one needs hard work, concentrated and focused hard work.
One needs to work effectively and be highly motivated . Thirdly, one should take positive attitude towards difficulties.
A good example is the African-American Condoleezza Rice. She was not considered to be a bright child when she was young. Her scores on aptitude tests were not high enough, but she didn’t feel discouraged . Instead, she worked hard. As a result, she entered university at the age of 15 and graduated at 19. Now she holds a very important position at Stanford University .

Listening II Let Yourself Go abandon, senile, dynamic, endurance, triumph, adversity, poverty, Iowa,
Winston Churchill
Exercise I.
Directions: listen to the passage and write down the three pieces of advice given by the author.
Advice 1. To have self-respect.
Advice 2. To devote yourself to others.
Advice 3. To turn disappointments into strength

Exercise II.
Directions: listen to the passage again and fill in the missing information with what you get from the tape.
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“Ski with abandon” means skiing skillfully, joyfully, peacefully and confidently .
To have self-respect means believing in what you do and working hard . It means setting your own standards and not comparing yourself to others . It’s not a question of being better than someone else, but being better than you thought you could be .
To devote yourself to others means believing in others and taking time to help them fulfill their dreams . If you help other people to turn their dreams into reality , your own future will be brighter .
Many people who live with abandon have discovered that hardships make them more sensitive and loving . Disappointments can help build one’s endurance and character .

Exercise III
Directions: discuss in groups the following question. What is the author’s purpose in mentioning Winston Churchill, Abraham
Lincoln and Helen Keller?
 Sample
Winston Churchill was a good example of self-respect. He told the two gentlemen, in a polite and humorous way, that he still had acute hearing, refuting the gossip that he was getting senile and should retire.
Abraham Lincoln was born into a poor family and he did not have a good education as many other American presidents did. Helen Keller became blind and deaf when she was a baby, but she managed to learn to read and write and finally became a famous writer. The author mentioned
Abraham Lincoln and Helen Keller in his speech as examples of selfrespect, strong will, and great winners in life.

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In this article, the author tries to convince the reader that it is nurture rather than nature that determines whether a person is successful or not in his or her career. According to Benjamin Bloom’s research study, any extraordinary achiever has to go through three distinct stages of development and in which parents and teachers or coaches play an outstanding role.

(v)
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(adj)
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Be composed of
Water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen.
The composition of water requires hydrogen and oxygen.
Water is compound of hydrogen and oxygen.

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Her husband exerted a lot of pressure on her to succeed.
You’ll have to exert yourself more if you want to pass the exam.
He exerted all his influence to make them accept his plan.

(adj)
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 be weary with talking. Be weary of talking wear (something)out I wore out two pairs of boots.
wear (somebody) out.
they were wore out after a long day’s work.

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I’m not sure if the argument holds up, but it’s stimulating.
Hold up your hand if you know the answer to the question.
The whole thing was held up about half an hour.

 We sought out a pub by a roadside where we might sit down and have a meal.
 I knew I could win out if I just kept trying.

 His new novel tells of the heroic deeds of a great patriot.

Structure and organization of the passage
1. A study of the key to success (Para. 1-6)
A. Lead-in: Drive and determination, rather than great natural talent, led to extraordinary success. (Para. 1)
B. Subjects of the study:
120 of the nation’s top artists, athletes and scholars. (Para.1)
C. Leading researcher: Professor Benjamin Bloom. (Para.2)
D. Expectation of the researchers: finding tales of great natural gifts (Para.2)
E. Preliminary findings of the study: no great talent was found. (Para. 3-4) a. Their mothers often said it was their other children who had the greater gift; b. The most brilliant mathematicians often had trouble at school and were rarely the best at school.
c. Some world-class tennis players were often viewed by coaches as being to short to be outstanding.
d. Olympic swimmers remember getting regularly defeated in races as ten-year-olds.

F. Procedure of the study (Para. 5-6) a. in-depth, anonymous interviews with the top 20 performers in the six field.
b. interviews with their families.
2. Important findings of the study (Para. 7-31)
A. parents played a key role in their children’s success. (Para.9-18) supporting evidence.
a. parents exposed their children to music, sports, learning, etc. at an early age.
b. parents responded to their children’s questions seriously and often encouraged more questions .
c. parents taught their children to value hard work and competition .
d. Parents encouraged their children at ever step and were willing to step and were willing to spend time taking their children to and from music, sports classes, etc.
B. All of the top performers interviewed have gone through three distinct stages of development (Para. 19-31)

a. the first stage: parents exposed the children to playing a piano, thinking with scientific games or hitting a tennis ball only for fun.
b. The second stage: they began to gain recognition for their ability and first tasted extraordinary success. They demanded a more expert instructor or coach.
c. the final stage: they began “living” for swimming, or tennis or the piano, etc. and became completely committed to their talent field.
3. Bloom’s convictions (Para. 32-35)
A. Talent must be carefully nurtured over many years .
B. A large number of individuals could achieve at extraordinary levels if given the right encouragement and training .
C. Each society could vastly increase the amount and kinds of talent it develops .

A typical swimmer would tell of getting up at 5:30 every morning to swim tow hours before school and then two hours after school to attain his or her goal of making the Olympic team( l.20-22 )
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 attain: succeed in reaching a particular level or in getting something after trying for a long time.
e.g. India attained its independence in 1947, after decades of struggle.
achieve: succeed in doing something well or getting the result one wanted, after trying hard for a long time.
e.g. I’ve been working a whole day, but I feel as if I’ve achieved nothing.

The families of the pianists and sculptors appreciated art and music, while the parents of the research scientists displayed a great love for learning. ( l.31-32 )
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People in the families of art have different appreciation from the ones in scientific study.
The word “while” is used here to show contrast with the previous sentence.
e.g. Bill has never gone skating, while Jane has.

…an extraordinary drive and dedication, through which, for example, a child would practice the piano several hours daily for 17 years…( l.18-20 )
…these extraordinary achievers, all of whom were younger than 30 when interviewed,…( l.57-58 )
 In these two sentences, there is a non-restrictive attributive clause.
e.g. The picture, for which he paid an enormous amount of money, was a forgery.

Bloom’s study also found that these extraordinary achievers, all of whom were younger than 40 when interviewed, appeared to have one through three distinct stages of development, regardless of their field. ( l.57-59 )
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In Bloom’s study, it seemed that all the remarkable achievers who were younger than 40 when interviewed, had undergone three obvious stages in their process of developing no matter which field they were in.
appear: seem.
e.g. There appears to have been a mistake.
He appears to have many friends.
go through : 1. Undergo, suffer.
e.g. If you only knew what she has to go through with that husband of hers!
2. Discuss in detail e.g. let’s go through the argument again.
3. Search e.g. The police went through the pocket of the suspected thief.

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4. Perform, take part in e.g. She made him go through both a civil and religious wedding.
5. (of a book) be sold.
e.g. The book went through ten editions.
6. Reach the end of , spend.
e.g. In order to go overseas, he has gone through all his money.
Regardless of :paying no attention to.
e.g. He is that kind of person regardless of the consequences.

Few of the talented individuals expressed any regret about devoting so much of their time to pursuing a single goal.( l.99-
100 )
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The gifted persons seldom regretted that they gave up their entire time to achieve a single goal.
Devote to: give up (oneself, one’s time, energy, etc.) to.
e.g. She devoted herself to the cure of AIDS.

“The old saying that ‘genius will win out’ in spite of the circumstances doesn’t hold up,” he said. ( l.104-105 )
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“No matter what happens, the old saying that ‘genius will be successful sooner or later’ is not true,” he said.
Win out: make one’s way through, out, etc., free oneself, get out of a difficult position, etc. by effort.
e.g. Most people were fairly confident that the workers would win out in the end.