Vocabulary

FAME

• Put each of the following words or phrases in its correct place in the passage below.

interviews	bodyguards	break-up	privacy	in the public eye
autographs	celebrity	pressures	entourage	fans

Being famous, being a (a) ________ can mean wealth, recognition and being surrounded by an (b) ________ of helpers, secretaries and agents. It can mean giving (c)_________ to admiring (d) ________ and (e) ________ to the press. But being (f)_________ also has its disadvantages. Famous entertainers suffer from a lack of (g)_________. They need (h) ________ to protect them. The constant (i) _______ on them can lead to the (j) ________ of their marriages. This is the price of fame.

PRIDE

• Put each of the following words or phrases in its correct place in the passage below.

boast	proud	vain	thick-skinned
conceited	pride	snob	contemptuous

Mrs Watson next door thinks she is better than other people. She thinks she is superior, ‘high class’. In other words, she’s (a) ________. She is very (b) ________ of herself and very (c)_______ of other, ‘ordinary’ people. I’ve heard her (d) ________ to neighbours about her lovely house, her big car, her husband’s high salary. She’s a very (e) _______ person too, always admiring herself in a mirror. Mr Watson also has a very high opinion of himself. His neighbours think that he is a very (f) ________ person, but the Watsons are both so (g) ________ that other people’s criticism of them has no effect on them at all. I think that one day they’ll find that they have no friends left, and then they’ll be sorry. (h) _______ comes before a fall.

D o you know anyone who has suddenly changed their lifestyle?

What did they do? What happened to them?

PEOPLE WHO MADE THE BREAK

In the third of our series on ‘People Who Made The Break’, Sally Hoskins went to meet Jim Frobisher, chief instructor at Surrey Sailing Club.

When I arrived, Jim was instructing a group of teenagers who were preparing for a round-Britain voyage. He left his crew and greeted me warmly. He was lean, fit, suntanned and had the relaxed and confident manner of a man who is doing exactly the job he wants to do.

But it wasn’t always like this. Jim told me of a decision he made five years ago which transformed his life. He used to work as a civil servant and one cold, wet, November evening he left his office, where he had been sitting at a desk all day, and walked, tired and bored, through the bleak streets of South London to the small flat where he had lived alone since his divorce two years previously. A sudden heavy shower caused him to dart into a café to seek shelter. Sitting morosely in the corner, sipping his coffee, he picked up, just to while away the time, a newspaper that another customer had left behind. An advertisement in that newspaper would change his life forever.

Crew wanted for three-year round the world voyage. No experience necessary. Sense of humour and £50,000 essential.

‘When I look back,’ said Jim, ‘I realize it was pure chance that I saw the advertisement. I might never have known about it. But I knew I had to go – I just had to. My friends told me I was being rash. I had to sell my flat to raise the money and everybody said, ‘When you come back in three years – if you come back – you’ll have no money, no job and nowhere to live.’ But I wanted to do something with my life.

Jim applied and was selected as a crew member. Before the voyage began, he had to undergo an intensive training programme in which he learned how to sail, how to navigate, how to give first aid, how to operate a radio and many other skills. ‘I was able to improve all these skills during the voyage and learn some new ones. I learned a lot of things that might not seem very important but I’m glad I know them. For example, I can now identify all the constellations in both hemispheres which I certainly couldn’t do before.’ Jim also got married again after the voyage – to Sarah, another member of the crew.

What advice does Jim have for people who might be considering doing something similar? ‘I’d advise people to seize the opportunity to do something adventurous. It isn’t always a good idea to play safe and choose a comfortable life. It was very uncomfortable on the boat and sometimes dangerous – a couple of times we were in extreme danger – but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. In fact, in a few years’ time, when we’ve got our own boat, we’re going to do it again. It isn’t just a matter of learning new skills, it is gaining a sense of fulfillment, a feeling that you’ve made the most of yourself, that you’ve stretched yourself and lived life to the full.’

• Answer the following questions to the article:

1. What does Jim Frobisher do now?

2. What job did he do five years ago?

3. What happened to Jim seven years ago?

4. What did Jim’s friends say?

5. How did he find the money to pay for the voyage?

6. How did Jim get to see the advertisement?

7. What did Jim have to do before the voyage?

8. What did Jim do after the voyage?

9. What advice does Jim give?

10. What are his plans for the future?

• Find words in the text which, in context, are similar in meaning to:

1. people who work on a ship

2. slim and muscular

3. someone who works in a government office

4. depressing

5. move quickly

6. in a bad-tempered and unhappy way

7. drinking small amounts

8. foolish and impulsive

9. patterns of stars

10. avoid taking risks

• Find English equivalents to the following words and word-combinations:

1. изменить жизнь

2. работать в качестве государственного служащего

3. искать убежище

4. коротать время

5. чистая случайность

6. достать необходимые деньги

7. пройти интенсивное обучение

8. оказывать первую помощь

9. улучшить навыки

10. ухватиться за возможность

11. не рисковать/вести себя осторожно

12. через несколько лет

13. чувство свершения

14. раскрыть себя полностью

15. жить полной жизнью

• Summarize the text.

• Retell the text

• Write a composition (90-100 words) on the theme “Why do people make the break and what changes of lifestyle follow their decision”.

Points to cover:

• reasons for their decision

• changes in their financial situation

• acquiring new skills

• qualities required to reach the aim

• attitudes they may find on part of their friends and relatives

Make use of the phrases given in the articles and Active Vocabulary as well as the following ones:

feel unappreciated, to quit a job, to come true (dreams), enroll with school/ on a course, to have the potential to earn, a rewarding job, a demanding job, reach the goals, give encouragement, to support smb

HAVING DREAMS AND ACHIEVING THEM ARE TWO SEPARATE THINGS.

Read the advice from people who’ve achieved their dreams. What did they do practically to “make it”?

• Dame Kelly won gold medals for the 800m and 1500m in the 2004 Olympic Games. The following is an edited version of the audio interview.

What was the first step you took towards achieving your dream? Dame Kelly Holmes: First steps to achieving it...running, being disciplined, focused, motivated, having a goal, planning, preparation.

When did you know you were well on the way to achieving your dream? Dame Kelly Holmes: I won the gold medal at the Commonwealth games and European silver, so I knew I had the ability to perform at a very high level and the following year I won two medals at world championships so I knew I was a world class athlete.

How did you know you'd achieved your dream? Dame Kelly Holmes: When I won the first gold medal...it was an absolutely major thing to be Olympic champion which is always what I’ve wanted but inside me it was like I’d always dreamt of being 1500 metre Olympic champion so to actually win that as well was...my dream come true actually.

• Simon Schama is a historian and television presenter.

What was the first step you took towards achieving your dream? Simon Schama: Writing a play about Sir Francis Drake when I was 7; also a history of the Royal Navy copiously illustrated by cigarette cards - Gallaghers were the best - when I was 10. When did you know you were well on the way to achieving your dream? Simon Schama: When Citizens (a book on the French revolution) was a question on the US quiz show "Jeopardy"

How did you know you'd achieved your dream? Simon Schama: I don't know and never will. That's the beauty of it.

• In 1999 Bertrand Piccard completed first non-stop circumnavigation of the earth in a hot air baloon.

T he following is an edited version of the audio interview.

What was the first step you took towards achieving your dream?

Bertrand Piccard: Before achieving a dream you need to make very little steps... People don’t understand that when you want to make a big dream you have a lot of fastidious little things you have to do.

When did you know you were well on the way to achieving your dream? Bertrand Piccard: Well there were two failures before we had success... we had so many problems because of course if you want to do something that no one has done before you need to find a lot of new solutions and new answers to make it possible.

How did you know you'd achieved your dream? Bertrand Piccard: When I woke up in the bed of the hotel...I thought “wow I’m not in the balloon anymore, it means we’ve succeeded.”

• Iain Banks is a best selling novelist.

What was the first step you took towards achieving your dream? Iain Banks: Starting to write, I guess. Specifically, starting to write with the intention of keeping on trying until I succeeded (or until it became obvious even to somebody as stubborn as me that it wasn't going to work). In the end all it took was a million words, six novels and fourteen years, and there I was, an overnight success.

When did you know you were well on the way to achieving your dream? Iain Banks: When one of my best pals read the manuscript of The Wasp Factory and said it was just like reading a real book. I felt slightly insulted until I realised it was precisely the reaction I ought to be looking for.

How did you know you'd achieved your dream? Iain Banks: When James Hale, the head of fiction at the big London publishers where I'd left my book a week or so earlier, rang me up at my day job and said he wanted to publish The Wasp Factory.

• Lionel Barber is Editor of the Financial Times newspaper.

What was the first step you took towards achieving your dream? Lionel Barber: Winning the Laurence Stern Fellowship at the Washington Post was the first step toward achieving my dream of being a top British foreign correspondent. Every year, the Post offers a young(ish) British journalist the chance to work on the paper's national staff for three months in Washington and then travel around the US. I had the chance to work alongside Pulitzer prize winners, Bob Woodward and Ben Bradlee, my favourite newspaper editor. My experience helped me on my path to being an FT foreign correspondent in Washington, Brussels and New York. When did you know you were well on the way to achieving your dream? Lionel Barber: I first knew I was on my way to achieving my dream when the White House invited me to brief President George W. Bush ahead of his inaugural trip to Europe in May 2001. Along with four other "experts" I spent two hours talking to the most powerful man on earth. It was an unforgettable experience, even if I wonder how much influence we had on the direction of US foreign policy over the next four years!

How did you know you'd achieved your dream? Lionel Barber: I suppose I knew I had achieved my dream when I was appointed editor of the Financial Times in November 2005. It is a huge privilege to run one of the world's great newspapers and to work with some of the best journalists around.