How to Start a Successful Business: 17 Women Entrepreneurs Share Their Stories

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Gyles Walker
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Reading 1 Read the extract of the news article quickly. Then circle the correct words to complete the sentences. / 0.4 point a. The text is about female entrepreneurs / Sophia Amoruso. b.

1 Reading 1 Read the extract of the news article quickly. Then circle the correct words to complete the sentences. / 0.4 point a. The text is about female entrepreneurs / Sophia Amoruso. b. It presents personal stories / facts and statistics. How to Start a Successful Business: 17 Women Entrepreneurs Share Their Stories By Jeff Haden Contributing editor, Inc. Every successful entrepreneur started somewhere. There s no magic pill that effortlessly launches you out of your cubicle confinement and into the free world of entrepreneurship. For some, the dream to be your own boss grows for a long time, even years, before it finally comes to fruition. The truth is, great success in business grows from just one, tiny seed. We asked some of our favorite women entrepreneurs to share how they got their start in business. Their answers revealed the deep motivators and personal qualities that drove them to make their big idea a reality. By reading about how they grew their businesses over the years, our goal is that you ll identify a similar entrepreneurial seed, within yourself. Here s what these women had to share about getting their start as entrepreneurs. Sophia Amoruso Don t give up, don t take anything personally, and don t take no for an answer, Sophia advises. Since founding Nasty Gal as an ebay store in 2006, selling vintage clothing, Sophia has transformed the business into a multimillion-dollar empire with its own clothing line that was named the Fastest Growing Retailer in Recently, The New York Times Bestseller of #GIRLBOSS has stepped out of her role as the CEO of Nasty Gal to become the executive chairman and shift her focus to overseeing just the creative and brand marketing functions of the business. Without any fashion or business experience before starting Nasty Gal, Sophia credits much of her hardearned success to her inability to accept failure as an option. The people who told me no, were the people who eventually told me yes, she adds. [ ] HADEN, Jeff. How to Start a Successful Business: 17 Women Entrepreneurs Share Their Stories. Available at: <

2 2 Read the news article again. Check ( ) all the statements that are correct about it. a. Some women think about having their own business for a long time before they start it. ( ) b. In the article, female entrepreneurs explain how they started their business. ( ) c. The article aims at inspiring other women to be entrepreneurs. ( ) d. Sophia Amoruso started selling clothes online in ( ) e. She wrote a book that became a bestseller. ( ) f. She is now the CEO of Nasty Gal, working with the creative side of the business. ( ) g. Before founding Nasty Gal, Sophia worked in the fashion industry. ( ) h. She is good at convincing people to follow her ideas. ( ) / 0.8 point 3 Read the news article once more. Match the information in the text with their meaning. / 0.9 point a. There s no magic pill that effortlessly launches you out of your cubicle confinement and into the free world of entrepreneurship. ( ) People can use magic to solve problems in entrepreneurship. ( ) There aren t easy ways to become an entrepreneur. ( ) Sleeping pills don t help entrepreneurs to relax at night. b. The truth is, great success in business grows from just one, tiny seed. ( ) A simple thing can be the origin of success in entrepreneurship. ( ) Planting seeds to grow trees can be a great way to start a business. ( ) It is difficult to grow a successful business only telling the truth. c. Don t give up, don t take anything personally, and don t take no for an answer. ( ) Be persistent and take things professionally. ( ) Accept when people say No. ( ) Consider criticism as a personal thing. Vocabulary 4 Use the words in the box to complete the sentences. / 0.6 point angry excited happy sad surprised tired a. Anna is really about her new business. She can t stop smiling. b. I m so today. I feel like I could sleep for 24 hours c. Don t get so! Shouting at me won t solve your problems! d. The Taylors are really about their new store. They talk about it all the time. e. Kayla is still about her fight with Mia. I saw her crying during recess. f. Were you at Allison s decision of leaving school? It came as a shock to me.

3 5 Complete the sentences with adjectives depicting how people feel in these situations. /0.8 point a. You are alone at home at night. You hear someone trying to open the front door. b. You are walking down the patio at school during recess. You stumble and fall. c. You ate too much cake and candy at a party. d. You get a good grade in a very difficult test. 6 Complete the crossword puzzle with the nouns from the adjectives. / 1 point Across 1. calm 4. happy 10. excited 5. surprised 8. disappointed Down 2. embarrassed 3. sad 6. generous 7. angry 9. tired

4 7 Use four of the nouns in Act. 6 to complete the sentences. / 1 point a. I think is one of the most important qualities of an entrepreneur. It is important to remain relaxed in stressful times. b. That new store on Oak Ave. was such a! The prices are high and the clothes are ugly. c. What a, Emma! I didn t know you were coming to the party! d. We believe is the most important quality of our boss. She is kind to her subordinates and shares her knowledge with us. e. We believe is the most important quality of our boss. She is kind to her subordinates and shares her knowledge with us. f. My mom always say: You can t buy! Grammar 8 Complete the sentences with the correct passive form of the verbs in brackets. / 0.8 point a. The business (launch simple past) by my grandpa in b. Don t worry, all the problems (solve simple future) in due time. c. The windows (clean simple present) every Tuesday. d. Girls education (neglect present perfect) in several countries for many years. e. Do you think women (pay going to) as much as men in the future? f. My favorite book (write simple past) in 1952! g. Women entrepreneurship (discuss simple present) at our school in all classes. h. When that movie about women rights (produce simple past)? 9 Rewrite the sentences in the passive voice. / 0.8 point a. J.K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter series. b. Ms. Brown will teach the new course on entrepreneurship. c. A Taliban gunman shot Malala Yousafzai in d. The girls in the 8th grade sell the campaign T-shirts to raise money.

5 10 Complete the sentences with the correct active or passive form of the verbs in brackets. a. Facebook (start) by Mark Zuckerberg in b. New ways to access the Internet (invent) in the future. c. My mom (work) to start a new business right now. d. We (donate) books to a girls school in Africa every year. / 0.8 point Listening 11 Listen to an extract of a speech given by Malala Yousafzai at the United Nations in Then complete its transcript with the words from the box. / 1 point failed education friends girl live opportunity silence social workers terrorists voice There are hundreds of human rights activists and a. who are not only speaking for their rights, but who are struggling to achieve their goal of peace, b. and equality. Thousands of people have been killed by the c. and millions have been injured. I am just one of them. So here I stand. So here I stand, one d., among many. I speak not for myself, but so those without a e. can be heard. Those who have fought for their rights. Their right to f. in peace. Their right to be treated with dignity. Their right to equality of g.. Their right to be educated. Dear friends, on 9 October 2012, the Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead. They shot my h., too. They thought that the bullets would silence us, but they i.. And out of that j. came thousands of voices.

Writing 12 Write an email to a fictitious organization about a cause you would like to

6 Writing 12 Write an to a fictitious organization about a cause you would like to contribute to. / 1.1 points From: To: Subject: Dear Sir or Madam, My name is I am writing because

How to Start a Successful Business: 17 Women Entrepreneurs Share Their Stories

How to Start a Successful Business: 17 Women Entrepreneurs Share Their Stories Reading 1 Read the extract of the news article quickly. Then check ( ) the correct words to complete the sentences. / 0.4 point a. The text is about. ( ) Sophia Amoruso ( ) female entrepreneurs b. It presents.