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Unit4:PartA21stCenturyCollegeEnglish:Book2TurningFailureintoSuccessUnitFour:PartA•Pre-readingActivities•IntensiveStudy•Exercises•AssignmentWhatissuccess?Somepeopleseemtosaileasilythroughlife,overcomingeveryobstacletheyencounterwithease.Thentherearethosewhomanagetoavoidmostdifficulties,bylimitingtheirexperiencetowhat’sfamiliarandeasy,andnevertryinganythingnew.Arethesepeoplesuccessful?Thetextyou’regoingtoreadtakesadifferentapproachtosuccessandfailure.Pre-readingActivitiesFirstListening:Asyoulistentothetape,tickthequestionthatareansweredinthelisteningpassage.Don’tworryaboutansweringthequestionsyet—justidentifywhichquestionsareanswered.Pre-readingActivities1)WhatproblemisEddiehavinginschool?2)Howmanyexamplesdoestheteachergive?3)DoesEddie’smotherunderstandtheteacher’sviewpoint?4)DoesEddieagreewithhisteacher?5)WhatdoestheteacherthinkEddie’sparentsshoulddo?Check-upFirstListening:Asyoulistentothetape,tickthequestionthatareansweredinthelisteningpassage.Don’tworryaboutansweringthequestionsyet—justidentifywhichquestionsareanswered.Pre-readingActivities1)WhatproblemisEddiehavinginschool?2)Howmanyexamplesdoestheteachergive?3)DoesEddiemotherunderstandtheteacher’sviewpoint?4)DoesEddieagreewithhisteacher?5)WhatdoestheteacherthinkEddie’sparentsshoulddo?√√√√SecondListening:Nowprovidebriefanswerstothequestionsyou’veticked.Pre-readingActivities1)WhatproblemisEddiehavinginschool?Eddie’sfearoffailureiskeepinghimfromdoinghisverybest.2)Howmanyexamplesdoestheteachergive?Two.SecondListening:Nowprovidebriefanswerstothequestionsyou’veticked.Pre-readingActivities3)DoesEddie’smotherunderstandtheteacher’sviewpoint?Yes.Notatfirst,butthenshedoes.4)WhatdoestheteacherthinkEddie’sparentsshoulddo?Theyshouldteachhimhowtofail.ScriptTeacher:Eddie’saverybrightlittleboy,ofcourse,andweallwanthimtomakethemostofhisabilities.Mother:Naturally!Teacher:AndI’mafraidthatwillneverhappenunlessheovercomeshisfearoffailure.Mother:What?!Whatdoyoumean?Teacher:Eddie’sfearoffailureiskeepinghimfromdoinghisverybest.Mother:Why,I…I…Idon’tknowwhattosay!Idon’tunderstand.Canyougivemeanexample?Teacher:Well,firstofall,heoftenavoidstryingnewthings—hepreferstostickwithwhat’sfamiliar,becausehefeelssafer.Second,hedoesn’talwaysmakehisbesteffort.Thatway,ifhefails,hecanalwayssayitwasbecausehedidn’treallytry.Pre-readingActivitiesMother:Isee.Yes,IthinkIseewhatyoumean.Well,whatdoyouplantodotohelpEddiewiththisproblem?Teacher:Actually,Ithinkit’smoreaquestionofwhatyoucando.YouandEddie’sfathershouldteachhimhowtofail.IntensiveStudy•Difficultsentences•Keywords,phrases&usages•ComprehensionexercisesIntensiveStudyTurningFailureintoSuccessFredelleMaynard1Vicky—beautiful,talented,verybright,voted“MostLikelytoSucceed”incollege—gotapromisingjobwithalargecompanyaftergraduation.Then,aftertwoyearswithoutpromotions,shewasfired.Shesufferedacompletenervousbreakdown.“Itwaspanic,”shetoldmelater.“EverythinghadalwaysgonesowellformethatIhadnoexperienceincopingwithrejection.IfeltIwasafailure.”Vicky’sreactionisanextremeexampleofacommonphenomenon.IntensiveStudy2Oursocietyplacessomuchemphasison“makingit”thatweassumethatanyfailureisbad.Whatwedon’talwaysrecognizeisthatwhatlookslikefailuremay,inthelongrun,provebeneficial.WhenVickywasabletothinkcoollyaboutwhyshewasfired,forexample,sherealizedthatshewassimplynotsuitedforajobdealingwithpeopleallthetime.Inhernewpositionasacopyeditor,sheworksindependently,ishappyandonceagain“successful.”IntensiveStudyIntensiveStudy3PeoplearegenerallypronetowhatlanguageexpertS.I.Hayakawacalls“thetwo-valuedorientation”.Wetalkaboutseeingbothsidesofaquestionasifeveryquestionhadonlytwosides.Weassumethateveryoneiseitherasuccessorafailurewhen,infact,infinitedegreesofbotharepossible.AsHayakawapointsout,there’saworldofdifferencebetween“Ihavefailedthreetimes”and“Iamafailure.”Indeed,thewordsfailureandsuccesscannotbereasonablyappliedtoacomplex,living,changinghumanbeing.Theycanonlydescribethesituationataparticulartimeandplace.4Obviouslynoonecanbebrilliantateverything.Infact,successinoneareaoftenprecludessuccessinanother.Afamouspoliticianoncetoldmethathiscareerhadpracticallydestroyedhismarriage.“Ihavenotimeformyfamily,”heexplained.“Itravelalot.AndevenwhenI’mhome,Ihardlyseemywifeandkids.I’vegotpower,money,prestige—butasahusbandandfather,I’maflop.”IntensiveStudy5Certainkindsofsuccesscanindeedbedestructive.Thedangeroftooearlysuccessisparticularlyacute.Irecallfrommychildhoodagirlwhoseskilloniceskatesmarkedheras“Olympicmaterial”.Whiletherestofuswereplaying,bicycling,readingandjustloafing,thisgirlskated—everydayafterschoolandallweekend.Herpictureoftenappearedinthepapers,andtherestofusenviedherglamorouslife.Yearslater,however,shespokebitterlyofthoseearlytriumphs.“Ineverpreparedmyselfforanythingbuttheice,”shesaid.“Ipeakedat17—andit’sbeendownhilleversince.”IntensiveStudy6Successthatcomestooeasilyisalsodamaging.Thechildwhowinsaprizeforacarelessly-writtenessay,theadultwhodistinguisheshimselfatafirstjobbyluckyaccidentfacesprobabledisappointmentwhenrealchallengesarise.7Successisalsobadwhenit’sachievedatthecos