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Innovation in Learning

A A ENGLISH IN VIDEO

Silent ambition
Lesson code: 91ND-E5CA-8UUZ UPPER INTERMEDIATE +

1 Warm-up
How important is it to have personal goals or ambitions?

2 Before you watch

Match the underlined expressions to their definitions below:

1. When you have a new personal goal, do you say it out loud or do you keep your mouth shut?
2. Having hot soup on a hot day to cool you down goes against conventional wisdom.
3. If you tell all your friends about your ambition, they will hold you to it.
4. We've only just started. We still have a long way to go to achieve our goal.
5. Although she is on a strict diet, she just couldn't resist the temptation to have another chocolate.

a. stay silent
b. expect you to keep your promise
c. not silently
d. have a lot of work left to do
e. try not do something that you want to do but that you know you should not do
f. is the opposite of what people believe

3 Listening and Watching

You are going to watch Derek Sivers talk about whether announcing your goals to other people is a
good idea or not. Watch the talk and put T (True) or F (False) next to each statement below:

1. Keeping your goals to yourself makes them more likely to happen.

2. Psychologists first discussed the topic in 1936.
3. 263 people were involved in tests by psychologist Peter Gollwitzer.
4. The participants were given 45 minutes to work towards achieving their goal.
5. Those who kept silent about their goals felt they were close to achieving their goals.
6. Those who announced their goals worked the entire 45 minutes.
7. It is better to talk about your goals in a way that gives you no satisfaction.
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You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex

Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
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 TM
Silent ambition lingua house
Innovation in Learning

A A A A ENGLISH IN VIDEO

4 Vocabulary
Now complete the extract from the talk with the words below:

acknowledge announced delay state tempted tricked

1
When you tell someone your goal and they it, psychologists have found that it's called a
2
"social reality." The mind is kind of into feeling that it's already done. And then, because
you felt that satisfaction, you're less motivated to do the actual hard work necessary.

It goes like this: 163 people across four separate tests -- everyone wrote down their personal goal. Then
3
half of them their commitment to this goal to the room, and half didn't.

So, if this is true, what can we do? Well, you could resist the temptation to announce your goal. You can
4
the gratification that the social acknowledgment brings, and you can understand that
your mind mistakes the talking for the doing. But if you do need to talk about something, you can
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it in a way that gives you no satisfaction.

6
So audience, next time you're to tell someone your goal, what will you say?

5 Describing achievement
Imagine a difficult goal. Study the phrases below and put them in order of accomplishment from 1 to 6.

I'm almost there. I'm halfway there.

I'm just getting started.
I'm not making much headway. I've got a long way to go.
I've made it!

Now complete the sentences below with the expressions above:

1. I can see the finish line. !

2. I have to read the entire book by tomorrow, but I'm only on chapter two.
.
3. I've got 13 miles left to go to finish this marathon. .
4. ! Bring out the champagne.
5. "How's your Japanese coming along?" "Well, I bought a phrasebook today, so
."
6. I set off on my round-the-world trip this morning. .
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You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex

Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
PI

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c
Linguahouse.com OC
P H OT
 TM
Silent ambition lingua house
Innovation in Learning

A A A A ENGLISH IN VIDEO

6 Talking point
Discuss any of the following questions:

1. What do you think of the speaker's advice?

2. Talk about a personal challenge or ambition you have set for yourself. How close are you to achieving
it? Talk about it in a way that gives you no personal satisfaction!

7 Flashcard review
Don't forget what you learned in this lesson! Go to www.linguahouse.com, click `Learning English' and
enter Lesson code: QWERTYUIOPASDFGHJKLZXCVBNM1234567890-.

LE

3/3
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You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex

Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
PI

O
c
Linguahouse.com OC
P H OT