PHOTOCOPIAB

LE

lingua houseInnovation in Learning

TM

A A VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT

lingua houseInnovation in Learning

TM

A A VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT

Success and failureLesson code: JU9E-L66B-KTBM UPPER INTERMEDIATE +

1 Verbs and expressions

Study the verbs and expressions in bold and put them into the correct category below.

1. After years of hard work and patience, Joe finally made it. He’s a millionaire now.

2. We’d been organising the trip for months, but in the end our plans fell through.

3. Kate’s phone was off all day, but I managed to call her in the evening.

4. Do you think his plan will come off in the end?

5. If you don’t have a little luck on your side, all your hard work may come to nothing.

6. Despite the financial crisis, some banks are continuing to prosper.

7. Dave had a wonderful opportunity to impress his new boss, but in the end he failed.

Be successful:

Be unsuccessful:

Rewrite the sentences below using any of the verbs and expressions above.

1. It was hard work, but we finally were successful in reaching the top of the mountain.

2. After publishing his first book, he succeeded in a big way. He’s now a famous author.

3. If it starts to rain, all our plans will have no successful result in the end.

4. I hope that your business will be financially successful in the new year.

5. The project was unsuccessful due to lack of funding.

6. It was an interesting experiment, but unfortunately it was not successful in the end.

2 Collocations

Match the ‘succeeding’ verbs on the left with the nouns on the right:

1. reach a. a dream/an ambition

2. realise b. an agreement/a goal/a compromise

3. achieve c. an ambition/a dream/an obligation

4. fulfil d. an ambition/a goal/a compromise

5. accomplish e. an ambition/a goal/a task

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex 1/3Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.

c©Linguahouse.com

PHOTOCOPIAB

LE

Success and failure lingua houseInnovation in Learning

TM

A A A A VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT

Success and failure lingua houseInnovation in Learning

TM

A A A A VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT

Complete the sentences below with a suitable verb in the correct form:

1. The manager did not want to give the customer a full refund, but they managed to acompromise in the end.

2. It’s always been my dream to go on an African safari. I hope I can it one day.

3. Instead of ing his obligations as a parent, Carlo decided to party all weekend.

4. Pedro was given a difficult task to do at work, but he managed to it in less than an hour.

5. Their fund raising efforts failed to their goal of $50,000.

6. Jane has all of her ambitions, so now she wants to get involved in politics.

3 Word families

Look at the table below.

Verb Noun Adjective

succeed

accomplish

achieve

fulfil

realise

fail

a success

an accomplishment

an achievement

fulfilment

realisation

failure

successful

accomplished

achievable

fulfilling

realised

failed

Now complete the sentences below with words from the table. More than one answer may be possible.

1. Carlo never imagined that his book would become such a great . He was delighted.

2. Julia is optimistic about her language skills. She thinks that becoming fluent in English is angoal.

3. Winning the championship was the of his childhood dream.

4. The project was such a miserable . I’ll never get involved in something like that again!

5. Marco is a very musician. Everybody wants to hear him play.

6. After a experiment, the website is giving up on its job search facility.

7. Hilary was very satisfied after the of her dream. So she decided to take a break frompolitics and travel the world.

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex 2/3Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.

c©Linguahouse.com

PHOTOCOPIAB

LE

Success and failure lingua houseInnovation in Learning

TM

A A A A VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT

Success and failure lingua houseInnovation in Learning

TM

A A A A VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT

4 Idioms about success and failure

Match the underlined idioms to their definitions below.

1. Anita has just bought an expensive apartment right in the most fashionable area of the city. She iscertainly coming up in the world.

2. The project is failing. Let’s cut our losses before it’s too late.

3. James passed his exam with flying colours. He’s very proud of himself.

4. Paulina’s dream of a white wedding went up in smoke after her fiance left her.

5. Dominic has a big house, a happy family and a great job. He’s got it made.

6. After losing so matches, everyone was shocked when their team made a comeback and won thechampionship.

7. Joe made a killing on the stock exchange. He can now retire without any worries.

a. happy and successful in life

b. achieved great financial success.

c. achieved success again after a period of failure

d. came to an end before producing a result

e. end or stop being involved in something that is already failing, in order to reduce the loss ofmoney, time or effort invested in it

f. richer/more successful than before or having a higher social status

g. very successfully

5 Talking point

Discuss the questions below.

1. How do you measure success?

2. What part does luck play in success?

3. Do you think people focus too much on appearing to be successful?

4. Can money buy happiness?

5. Is there a right time to stop trying? Or should you never give up?

6. Can you think of an example of a famous failure?

7. Do you think most people fail before they succeed?

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex 3/3Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.

c©Linguahouse.com

PHOTOCOPIAB

LE

Success and failure - Key lingua houseInnovation in Learning

TM

A A A A VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT

Success and failure - Key lingua houseInnovation in Learning

TM

A A A A VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT

1- Verbs and expressions

Be successful: make it, manage, come off, prosperBe unsuccessful: fall through, come to nothing, fail

Go around the class monitoring the activity and provide feedback.

2- Collocations

The use of the verbs ‘reach’, ‘realise’, ‘achieve’, ‘fulfil’ and ‘accomplish’ is often confusing to non-native speakers.It may be helpful to explain the subtle differences between a few of the verbs: ‘Fulfil’ collocates with things we saywe want to do or things we are told to do (obligations). ‘Accomplish’ implies fully completing something, e.g. atask or goal. ‘Realise’ has the sense of ‘bringing something into reality’, e.g. a dream or ambition.1. b2. a3. d4. c5. e1. reach/achieve2. realise3. fulfil4. accomplish5. reach/achieve/accomplish6. achieved/fulfilled/realised

3- Word families

1. success2. achievable3. fulfilment/realisation4. failure5. accomplished/successful6. failed7. realisation/fulfilment

4- Idioms about success and failure

1. f 2. e 3. g 4. d 5. a 6. c 7. b

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex iReview your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.

c©Linguahouse.com