ACTIVITY 234: Quickly
read the article below and choose the most appropriate title from
the menu. Then check the correct
answer. Don't worry if there are some words
you don't know: you should be able to get the general idea without
needing to use your dictionary.
US Congress woman
helps give a voice to new Americans - Loretta Sanchez
1
Loretta Sanchez is very proud when she talks
about her father. “My father came to the US from Mexico and worked
at a rubber and plastics factory,” she says. “Now, he owns a rubber and
plastics factory. He’s an example of what the American Dream can
do.” Like her father, Loretta Sanchez is an American success story,
too. Last autumn, Sanchez was elected to the US Congress.
2
Education is very important to Sanchez. She
has six brothers and sisters. One is a lawyer and three are engineers. “My
parents kept education the focus of our home,” Sanchez says. “They made
sure we did our homework. They were also very involved in our lives –
being scout master, little league manager and den mother.”
3
She learned at a very early age to like learning and develop important
skills. That is why she is successful today. She went on to graduate from
college and get a master’s degree in business.
4
Sanchez knows from her own family’s experience that being an immigrant can
be a wonderful thing. The combination of her parents’ Mexican culture and
American values has given her a strong background. “I never forget my
life-long values of placing family first, focusing on education and
treating everyone as equals,” she says. “Because of these values, I never
have to think twice before a vote in Congress. I simply vote for what is
right.”
"You have to change
the way you see the world" - Jo Dickie, Malaysia
I want to set up my own
marketing agency. I have taken a break in my career. I am using the
time to build up my design
skills and my understanding of what makes marketing work from a
visual point of view.
Sometimes standing back from the everyday pressure of business is
the only way to really get ahead and change the way you see the
world.
5
6
I got married just before I left the UK for
Malaysia. My husband and I decided to come to Kuala Lumpur. We thought it
would be a real adventure to cross the world and experience life from a
completely different cultural point of view. As I was unable to work, I
started a course at art college. I found it really strange to be not only
the oldest, but also the biggest student in the class - and the only one
who could not speak in Bahasa Malaysia. Everyone was
wonderful and the whole class ended up being run in English
just to make me feel at home. That’s the kind of human value I’d like to
be able to bring to my work - no matter where I find myself in the world!
"In New York City
people always need apartments" - Lan Lan Wang, New York
7
Looking for an apartment
in New York City can be a full-time job. Lan Lan Wang found a way to
make it easier. In 1993, she started Manhattan Listing Xpress (MLX).
It is a service for the rental and sale of apartments. New Yorkers
can now find an apartment more easily and also avoid the large fees
that real estate brokers charge for finding an apartment.
8
Wang didn’t discover the
problems with New York City house hunting until she moved there. She was
born in Cleveland and is one of four children of Chinese immigrants. The
family left their homeland after the Communist Party came to power in
China. “My father and mother were studying in the US during the Chinese
Communist takeover and they didn’t go
back. We wanted to adjust, so we immersed ourselves in American culture,”
she says.
Wang, 44, remembers being the only Asian in her grade school. It wasn’t
until she went to college that Wang rediscovered her Chinese heritage.
9
“My parents always told me that we had to do better,” she says. Wang
listened carefully to her parents and
she reinvented herself. After graduating from Smith College, she earned
a master’s degree in business from Harvard University. She started her
business in 1993 with the help of one assistant. Today MLX has 15
employees. There is a saying many people use: “The only things that will
always be there are death and taxes.” In New York City, people say, “The
only things that will always be there are death, taxes and people looking
for apartments.”
ACTIVITY 235:
Now, read the article carefully and find the words
which express the explanations below. Then
check your answers.
1.
feeling self-respect (PARAGRAPH 1):
2.
has, possesses
(PARAGRAPH 1):
3.
previous experience (PARAGRAPH 4):
4.
establish (PARAGRAPH 5):
5.
start, grow (PARAGRAPH
4):
6.
searching for, trying to locate (PARAGRAPH
7):
7.
sudden change of government by force(PARAGRAPH
8):
8.
made into a different,
better person (PARAGRAPH 5):
ACTIVITY 236:
Finally, for questions 1-to-6, choose the answer (A,
B, or C) which you think fits best according to the article.
Before looking up a word you don't understand in your dictionary, decide
if you really need to know what it means. Then
check your answers.
1.
Loretta Sanchez' parents ...
A.
were
involved in her six brothers' education. B. kept education the focus of their
plastics factory. C.
made sure they did their homework.
2.
Loretta holds a master's degree in ...
A. Law. B. Business.
C. Engineering.
3.
Jo
Dickie studied ...
A. business. B. art. C. marketing.
4.
For Jo moving to Kuala Lumpur meant ...
A. a real adventure and experience. B. a way of learning Bahasa Malaysia. C. the kind of human value she was looking for.
5.
Lan
Lan Wang was born in ...
A. China. B. Cleveland. C. New York City.
6.
Lan
Lan discovered the problems
with house hunting when she moved to ...
A. China. B. Cleveland. C. New York City.
CONGRATULATIONS
!!! You have finished UNIT 9 - LESSON 33 at OM Personal First Certificate. Before moving on to next lesson, please remember
to revise everything you have learnt here.
