“In our
competitive world, we prize success and hate it when things go wrong, but is
there actually a value in failing?
By: Lucy Wallis
Published: BBC News; 3 March 2014
Level of Difficulty: *
BEFORE YOU READ
·
Think about the major failures
you faced in life? How did you feel?
·
Looking back, do you think you
benefitted from the experience?
·
What are the reasons for
attitudes to failure?
QUESTIONS
1. Why did O’Brien lie about his manuscript? There are two answers;
find both.
2. Why didn’t O’Brien renew his attempt to get his manuscript
published?
3. The mistake O’Brien made about his manuscript was
……………………………………………………………
4. Why was “failure week” organized in a high school and not a primary
school?
5. Why is fear of failure so harmful?
6. Failing well can be useful because
people……………………………………………………………………………….
7. Under what conditions does Hanburry advise parents to praise their
daughters? Why?
8. Why does she make this suggestion?
9. What is the ultimate effect on girls of “being programmed to please
adults”?
10. In order to get more done we need to:
·
Be perfectionists
·
Shed stigma
·
Be prepared to fail
occasionally
·
Be afraid of mistakes
·
All of the above
·
None of the above
·
Other: please specify
11. What enabled Andy Murray to win at Wimbledon? The fact that his
failure in 2012…………………
12. Smith benefitted psychologically from the fact that he failed to
play for England as many times as he wanted
because……………………………………………………………………………………………………
13. What conclusion can we draw from Smith’s example of the bike?
14. Failure contributes to our personal development by teaching
us………………………………………….
15. What second venture did Wimbledon High organize? Why?
WRITING TASK
Follow the plan
below to write about failure and success:
Topic Sentence: Attitudes to failure need to change to
ensure personal growth and greater success
·
Discuss popular attitudes to
failure
·
Provide reasons for the above
·
Discuss the effects of the
above personal attitude in the present and in the future
·
Discuss the change that needs
to be made
·
Provide reasons for the above
·
Discuss the effects of the
above on personal development
·
Make a concluding statement
IS
IT GOOD FOR PEOPLE TO FAIL OCCASIONALY? KEY AND TEACHER’S NOTES
This
is a very straightforward yet interesting text which can go into the simplest
reading category on this blog. It is always good to find such stuff as finding
simple adult material which is also interesting is hard. There is a very good
reading related guided paragraph to round things off.
1. He didn’t want to admit his lack of success; we prize success and
hate it when things go wrong.
2. Because he had said the manuscript had blown out of the car; he had
lied about the manuscript.
3. Not being more open about his failure to get the book printed.
4. The fear of failing and having to admit errors and mistakes to our
peers heightens as we grow towards adulthood.
5. It stops us from taking risks and this automatically cuts off new
opportunities in life.
6. Learn from the risk if it doesn’t work (enough though long answer is
alright too)
7. When they throw off the fetters and perhaps are a bit naughty; because a fear of failure affects girls more...
8. Because fear of failure often affects girls more than boys; girls
are programmed from a very young age by their parents to please adults.
9. (They recognize that the way to keep adults happy is to get things
right and getting things right means) avoiding failure at all costs.
10. 3
11. Freed from the fear of failure
12. Because failing helped conquer his sense of entitlement and relieved
the pressure he put on himself.
13. The more practice we get at failing, the more equipped we are to
deal with it.
14. To be more tolerant of human error, to learn about the limits of
willpower and social determination.
15. Blow your own trumpet week; to take the embarrassment out of pride
