Reading and comprehension

A tennis quotation about triumph and disaster

Read the quotation. Then discuss the questions below in pairs or small groups.

What do you think the poet means by saying that triumph and disaster (or victory and defeat) are impostors?

How could you respond to victory and defeat in the same way?

What message do you think the quotation is trying to give to the tennis players who play on the Wimbledon Centre Court?

Kipling’s If–: the first verse

Read this first verse of the poem If–. Then match the words and phrases with their meanings. (You will have a chance to read the whole poem in Period 3.)

1. keep your head

2. lose your head

3. blame

4. doubt

5. make allowance for

6. deal in

7. don’t give way to

• a. forgive

•

b. not trust or believe

c. get involved with

d. resist, reject

e. say a problem is someone’s fault

f. panic

• g. stay calm

Discuss the questions in pairs or small groups.

Some of the advice in the first verse of Kipling’s If– is easy to agree with (‘Keep calm in difficult situations’, ‘Don’t tell lies’, ‘Don’t hate others’). But why do you think we are advised not to ‘look too good’ or ‘talk too wise’?

The poem is a list of If … sentences that are not completed until the last two lines of the poem. What do you think the conclusion might be?

If you can …, you’ll … Make a note of your guesses. You will see the poem’s conclusion in Period 3.

Is Kipling’s If– a favourite or outdated nonsense?

Read the two texts. Then answer the questions below.

Which text

1. gives real-life examples to make a point?

2. explains the purpose of the poem?

3. examines the meaning of the poem?

4. is most critical of the poem?

Why was the poem written?

A to help the poet’s son grow up

B as an inspiration to people

C because the poet wanted to be popular

What does the writer of Text B suggest about people who like the poem?

A They are annoying.

B They don’t understand real life.

C They prefer easy poems.

What does the writer of Text B think football matches would be like if players followed Kipling’s advice?

A fairer

B less exciting

C more interesting

Find words in the texts that have these meanings.

1. something that makes you feel hopeful (Text A, paragraph 1)

2. say that something is not worth considering (Text A, paragraph 2)

3. put into practice (Text B, paragraph 1) ___

4. pieces of advice (Text B, paragraph 1) ___

5. not useful any more (Text B, paragraph 1) ___

6. dealing with (Text B, paragraph 2)

Use the words in Activity 2 to complete the sentences. (Make any necessary changes.)

1. We only saw the faults in the plan when we tried to ___ it.

2. There is some truth in his argument. It’s not easy to ___ .

3. His brave struggle against illness is an ___ to many people in the same situation.

4. Maybe we should try to look at this as an opportunity, instead of ___ it as a problem.

5. Communications technology has made writing letters seem ___ .

6. The ___ in this report will help us to solve the problem.

Look at the examples. Then answer the questions below.

Which half of the sentence contains the point the writer wants to make?

What does Of course mean in the first example?

A It is clear that …

B I accept that …

What does may be easy mean in the second example?

A I agree that it’s easy

B I’m not sure if it’s easy

Why might accepting at least part of the opposite point of view make your own argument stronger? (You will be able to practise doing this yourself in Period 7.)

The whole poem: If– by Rudyard Kipling

• The poem you are going to read contains some words and phrases that are not used very often nowadays.
• Knowing the meanings will help you to understand the poem, but it is not very important to remember them.

Remember the question about the conclusion that you answered in Period 1. How close were your guesses?

Study the rhyming pattern.

1. Read the first four lines of the poem aloud. Notice which words at the end of the lines sound the same.

2. Underline all the rhyming words.

3. The rhyming pattern of the first verse is sometimes described as A B A B C D C D. Can you see why? Does this rhyming pattern also continue in the other verses?

Find the lines that give the following advice. (The pieces of advice are in the same order as in the poem.)

1. Keep calm, don’t panic.

2. Don’t be impatient.

3. Don’t give up when things go wrong.

4. Don’t be afraid of taking risks.

5. Don’t complain about your problems.

6. Be determined and keep trying.

7. Treat all people the same way.

8. Don’t waste your time.

1. Do you think all the advice in the poem is good, or is there anything you disagree with?

2. The poem was written over 100 years ago, at a time when most people believed men should be ‘strong and silent’, not showing their feelings.

Do you think this idea of ‘real men’ has changed nowadays? If so, in what ways has it changed?

I think it’s more usual nowadays for men to say how they feel.

Men are still expected to be the strong ones in a difficult situation, but strong women are more common now.

Talent and luck: the footballer who wasn’t quite good enough

Discuss the question in small groups.

How true are these statements about being successful?

If you are lucky enough to have skill or talent, success will come in the end.

You need to be determined and never give up trying.

The most important thing is to believe in yourself.

If you want something enough, you can achieve it.

Some people are born winners, and some are born losers.

A lot of it is luck – just being in the right place at the right time.

Decide whether the statements below are TRUE or FALSE according to the text. If there isn’t enough information to decide, choose DOESN’T SAY.

1. The writer suggests that Hollywood films give an unrealistic view of success.

2. Nick Hornby’s book is about football.

3. The player is remembered by many football fans today.

4. Most players in the youth teams of big football clubs don’t succeed.

5. The young player only played one match for a First Division team.

6. Nick Hornby concludes that the player wasn’t very good after all.

Replace the underlined (bold) parts of the sentences below with words or phrases from the text. (The words and phrases are in the same order as in the text.)

1. Every time I think the work is finished, I find something else to do.

2. You have to work hard if you want to get success.

3. Can you remember the title of that book he mentioned?

4. Which one have you chosen?

5. It’s very good for a first book and the writer shows great possibilities for the future.

6. It’s very important to have a plan if you want to succeed.

7. To reach the top in any field, you need to have a lot of natural ability.

The following words, highlighted in the text, all refer back to something in the same sentence or the sentence before. What do they refer to?

1. It (line 5)

2. do (line 8)

3. his (line 9)

4. did ((line 19)

5. the country (line 22)

6. it (line 34)

Have you achieved something that you really wanted? If not, is there something that you would like to achieve?