LANGUAGES INSTITUTE

ENGLISH LEVEL V WORKSHOP - CONDITIONS

1. WARM UP ACTIVITY

1.1 Read the following quotes and say what they mean to you; look up unknown words in the dictionary if necessary.

1.2 Watch one or two of the following videos, according to your teacher´s guidelines and report what it is mentioned.
Take notes to remember what you are going to report.

Famous failures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLYECIjmnQs

Eminem’s life story video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cYKf1b6t5Q
Oprah’s life story video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1mPB5SJaEU

2. READING ACTIVITY

2.1 Read the text.

SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE WHO FAILED AT FIRST

Not everyone who’s on top today got there with success after success. More often than not, those who history best
remembers were faced with numerous obstacles that forced them to work harder and show more determination than
others. An obstacle is a thing that blocks one’s way or prevents and obstructs progress. Next time you’re feeling down
about your failures in college or in a career, keep these famous people in mind and remind yourself that sometimes
failure is just the first step towards success.
In first place it’s Henry Ford. While Ford is today known for his invocative assembly line and American-made cars, he
wasn’t an instant success. In fact, his early businesses failed and left him broke five times. Before he founded the
successful Ford Motor which is today one of the best vehicle cars companies in USA.
Secondly, Bill Gates at first didn’t seem successful after dropping out of Harvard and starting a failed first business.
While this early idea didn’t work, Gates’ later work did, creating the global empire that is known today as Microsoft.
Microsoft has many competitors such as Dell, Apple and Google. Some people think that if Bill Gates doesn’t do
something innovative with Microsoft, he will lose fame. However, Bill Gates informs that there is no software like
Microsoft.
In third place there is Oprah Winfrey. Most people know Oprah as one of the most prominent faces on the North
American TV, but she is not as famous in other countries like the UK. Oprah faced a rough and often abusive childhood
life as well as numerous career setbacks including being fired from her job as a television reporter, however Oprah is a
great figure for many people but there are countries that are not familiar with Oprah. If Oprah spoke more than one
language, she would be famous worldwide.
Most people wouldn’t believe that Michael Jordan recognized as the best basketball player of a time was actually cut from
his high school basketball team. Luckily, Jordan didn’t let this setback stop him playing the game just like Stan Smith
didn’t let his failure upset him, and now he is one of the best tennis players in the world. He states out that he missed
more than 9,000 shots in his career. He has lost almost 300 games. He has failed over and over and over again in his life.
If Michael Jordan practices another sport, maybe he will be good at it, because of his attitude and motivation towards
sport.
The common sense point here is simple.  Successful people commit to taking personal responsibility for their career
success.  They set high goals and do whatever it takes to achieve them.  They also react positively to the people and
events in their lives – especially the negative people and events. If people were more positive, they would be more
successful in life. Taken and adapted from: http://www.budbilanich.com/50-famous-people-who-failed-at-their-first-attempt-at-career-success

2.2 Answer the questions using complete sentences.

a. What’s the main idea of the text? (Use the skimming strategy for answering this question)

b. Who does the article refer to? (Use scanning strategy for answering this question)
c. According to the article, what should you keep in mind and remember next time you feel down? (Use scanning
strategy for answering this question)

d. Who would be famous worldwide if she/he spoke more languages? (Use the scanning strategy for answering this question)

e. Do you think that if Michael Jordan practices another sport, he will be good at it? (Support your ideas)

3. GRAMMAR FOCUS

3.1 First and Second Conditionals: Conditional tenses are used to speculate about what could happen, what might
have happened, and what we wish would happen. In English, most sentences using the conditional contain the word “if”.
Many conditional forms in English are used in sentences that include verbs in one of the past tenses. This usage is
referred to as "the unreal past" because we use a past tense but we are not actually referring to something that
happened in the past.

Conditional
Usage If + clause verb tense Main clause verb tense
sentence type
A possible conditional
Conditional 1 If + verb in simple present Simple future – Will
and its probable result.
If your company fails on you will probably be successful on
Example
the first try, your second attempt.
A hypothetical
Use should, could, might or
Conditional 2 conditional and its If + verb in past simple
would then the verb in present.
probable result.
Example If I were Henry Ford, I would invent flying cars.

3.2 Conditional exercises:

a. Find an expression in the text that indicates conditional type 1 as in this example: “if Bill Gates doesn’t do
something innovated with Microsoft, he will lose fame.”
b. Find an expression in the text that indicates conditional type 2 as in this example: “if Oprah spoke more than
one language, she would be famous worldwide.”
3.3 Answer the following questions:
a. What will you do if you win the balotto?
a. What would you do if you were the Colombian president?
3.4 Write 5 questions to ask your classmates following the examples above about conditionals type 1 and 2.
 LANGUAGES INSTITUTE
ENGLISH LEVEL V READING WORKSHOP

ANSWER SHEET

Professor’s name: Carmen Stella Franco Vidal. Date: 29/09/2020.

Student’s name: Juan Camilo Millan Echeverry . Group: 3.

1.2
This is a black woman named Oprah Winfrey, when she was a kid, she had to live the job discrimination against black
people, but she felt she wasn’t going to have the life her grandparents had and now she was a famous person who
worked in television.
2.2
a. The main idea of the text is that many of the people who are successful today failed many times before reaching it.
b. The article tells of successful people like Henry Ford, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey and Michael Jordan who failed early in
their career.
c. The article says that the next time I fail or feel bad, remember successful people because failure is only the first step
to success.
d. Oprah Winfrey would be famous all over the world if she spoke more languages.
e. I think if Michael Jordan played another sport he would be one of the best because he would never stop fighting for
his goals and commit to improving every day in his sports career.

3.2
a. _______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

3.3
a. _______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

3.4

____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________