Success and Celebration

The unit opens with two pictures of people celebrating, and asks what it takes to achieve success.

Picture	What it shows	Something to say
Four young people jumping in the air with their arms raised	joy after a success: an exam passed, a goal reached	Success feels like flying, but it usually comes after months of quiet work that nobody sees.
Footballers in light blue and white stripes holding up a gold trophy, with fireworks behind them	Argentina celebrating the 2022 FIFA World Cup	A team wins when every player does a job for the others; Argentina had lost the final in 2014 and came back.

Before you read

What kind of text it is

The text is a short biography: the story of a real person’s life, written by someone else, in the third person (he, his) and mostly in the past tense. This one is not a full life story. It picks out one thread, as its title says: struggle and success. Each paragraph follows the same rhythm: a failure, then how Disney got up again. Watch for that pattern; it is what makes the text persuasive.

The biography, part by part

1. From humble beginnings

The text opens with a question: when you think of great people who started from humble (poor, ordinary) beginnings, who comes to mind? For many, it is Walt Disney, an extraordinarily creative man whose ideas as an animator (a maker of cartoons), filmmaker and theme park builder changed entertainment in the 20th century. But, the writer says, dig a little deeper and you find that his road to success was paved with an unhappy childhood and many business failures.

2. An unhappy childhood

Disney was born in Chicago in 1901 and grew up in Missouri, the fourth of five siblings (brothers and sisters). His father, Elias, was domineering (he tried to control everyone) and is said to have been harsh with his sons; he also struggled to make ends meet (to earn enough for the family’s needs). To escape from all this, young Walt found solace (comfort) in drawing, while his older brothers, one by one, ran away from home to escape their father.

At 16 he dropped out of school to join the army, but was turned down for being too young. So he joined the Red Cross, and was sent to France to drive an ambulance. He came back to the United States in 1919.

3. The first business fails

Back home, he became an apprentice (a learner who works under a skilled person) at a commercial art studio in Kansas City, where he met his lifelong friend, the animator Ub Iwerks. Itching to set off on his own (eager to start), he started his own cartoon company, Laugh-O-Gram Studio, in 1921. It went bankrupt (it could not pay its debts) about two years later.

4. Forty dollars and a move west

With the loss of his first business, he packed his bags and went to Los Angeles in 1923 with about forty dollars, to try his hand at acting. He failed at that too. But there was a silver lining (something good in a bad situation): he noticed that California had no animation studios. He persuaded his brother Roy to join him, and they set up a studio together, the start of today’s Disney company. Soon he had his first big success, a cartoon character called Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

5. Losing Oswald, finding Mickey

Oswald became a star, but Disney’s luck ran out. When he traveled to New York to renegotiate his contract (agree new terms) in 1928, he found that the man who distributed his films had hired away most of his animators, and that the rights to Oswald belonged to the film company, not to him. Instead of fighting or plotting revenge, he walked away and started again. On the train back to California, he created Mickey Mouse.

After more hard years, “eating beans” and running up debts, he brought Mickey to the screen in 1928 and was back at the top of his field.

6. Overwork and a breakdown

Even with Mickey’s success, keeping the business afloat (able to pay its way) was hard. Disney was overworked, and quarrels with the businessman who distributed his films, who took away his oldest friend and best animator, Ub Iwerks, ended in a nervous breakdown (a time of mental illness caused by stress) in 1931. After a long rest with his wife, he came back with a bold idea: a full-length cartoon film. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) was a huge hit at the box office (in ticket sales). But the next films, Pinocchio and Fantasia (1940) and Bambi (1942), lost money at first: the text calls them duds, failures.

7. War, a strike and a gamble on television

More burdens came. In 1941 his animators went on strike (stopped work to demand better pay and conditions), and his mounting (growing) debts rose to about four million dollars. After the Second World War the company was slow to recover. Disney diversified (spread his business into new areas) and turned to television, although the film studios wanted everyone to stay on the big screen. The gamble paid off: TV shows such as The Mickey Mouse Club and Davy Crockett let him harness (gather and use) enough money for his biggest venture (risky business project): Disneyland.

8. “Black Sunday”

Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955, in Anaheim, California, and the first day went badly. Forged (fake) tickets brought in far more people than expected, and the queue of cars was about seven miles (11 km) long. It was 100 degrees Fahrenheit, about 38 °C: the new asphalt (the black road surface) was so soft that women’s high heels sank into it, drinking fountains didn’t work (were defunct), and some rides broke down. Critics called the day “Black Sunday”.

But with determination and perseverance (continuing in spite of difficulties), Disney turned it around. Disneyland became a colossal (huge) success, paid off his debts, and is still at the heart of the company today.

9. A kick in the teeth

The text ends with Disney’s own words about failure: all the adversity (hard times) and obstacles in his life had made him stronger. You may not realize it at the time, he said, but “a kick in the teeth” (a painful setback) may be the best thing in the world for you.

Words from the biography

Word	Meaning here
humble	ordinary, not rich or important (“humble beginnings”)
sibling	a brother or sister
domineering	trying to control other people, not caring how they feel
make ends meet	to have just enough money for what you need
solace	comfort when you are sad or worried
drop out (of)	to leave school or a course before finishing it
apprentice	a young person learning a trade by working for a skilled person
set off	to start a journey; here, to start out on your own
bankrupt	unable to pay your debts, so a business has to close
silver lining	something good that comes out of something bad (“Every cloud has a silver lining”)
renegotiate	to discuss and agree the terms of a contract again
plotting	secretly planning something harmful
afloat	(of a business) having enough money to keep going
nervous breakdown	a period of mental illness caused by stress or worry, when a person cannot carry on with ordinary life
box office	the place where tickets are sold; the money a film earns
dud	something that fails or doesn’t work
mounting	increasing, growing
diversify	to start doing new kinds of business
harness	to collect and use something (energy, money) for a purpose
venture	a new business project with some risk
forged	fake, made to cheat (“forged tickets”)
defunct	no longer working
perseverance	continuing to try in spite of difficulties
colossal	very large
adversity	a difficult or unlucky situation
a kick in the teeth	a painful disappointment or setback

A. Complete the sentences

B. Phrases and idioms

C. Put the events in order

D. Answer the questions

E. Someone who has inspired you

A dictionary tells you much more than a word’s meaning. Next to each word you will find:

• its pronunciation, in phonemic symbols between slashes, like /ˈsɪblɪŋ/;
• its part of speech (noun, verb, adjective, adverb…);
• its stress, shown by a high mark ˈ before the syllable said strongest (and a low mark ˌ before a syllable with a lighter stress).

Count the syllables by counting the vowel sounds: sib·ling has two.

When someone shares good news, we congratulate them: we tell them we are happy for them and proud of what they did. A good congratulation has three parts: react (That’s wonderful news!), congratulate (Congratulations on…), and add something personal (You deserve it; all those early mornings paid off).

Informal (friends, family)	Formal (teachers, officials, at work)
Well done!	My sincere congratulations to you.
That’s wonderful news!	Please accept my heartfelt congratulations.
You did it! So proud of you.	I commend you on your accomplishment.
Congratulations! You deserve this.	Allow me to congratulate you on your success.

The reply is simple: Thank you (so much)! / Thanks a lot, that’s very kind of you.

A. The model conversation

Asha tells Bhanu that she has some good news to share with him: she has won a scholarship (money given to a student to pay for study) for her further studies. Bhanu congratulates her warmly, and Asha thanks him.

B. Congratulate people

You met prepositions of time and place in Unit 15. This unit adds the time words that come in pairs or with lengths of time, and prepositions that belong to a verb or noun.

Preposition	Use	Example
at	a clock time, an exact point	at 9:15; at noon; at the age of 20
on	a day or date	on Sunday; on July 17, 1955
in	a month, year, season, part of the day; a decade of your age	in 1955; in winter; in the morning; in her twenties
in + a length of time	within that time, or at the end of it	Finish the test in the next 30 minutes.
between … and	the time from one point to another	between 9:00 and 9:15
from … to / until	the start and end	from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
since	from a point in the past until now	since 2010
for	a length of time	for ten years
by	not later than	by Friday
until	up to that time, then it stops	He worked there until 2010.

Some prepositions don’t show time or place at all: they belong to the word before them, and you learn them as a pair.

• verbs: look for (try to find), turn into (become), depend on, knock at/on the door
• nouns: a great deal of, a lack of
• position in a group: ten people working under him (he is their boss)
• measurements: water boils at 100 °C; developed at a great pace
• fixed phrases: in the dark, in my opinion, at the moment, on the radio, go on a trip, at the young age of 20

A. Choose the correct prepositions

B. In, on or at

A. A message of congratulation

How to write a message of congratulation

1. A heading that catches the eye: CONGRATULATIONS!
2. Who it is from, and the date (on a notice: the school’s name at the top, the writer at the bottom).
3. The congratulation: who, and what they achieved, in the first sentence.
4. Why it matters: the effort behind it, and a detail or two (the score, the prize).
5. Thanks to those who helped (optional), and good wishes for the future.

Keep it short (about 100 words), warm and positive. On a notice it speaks for the whole school, so use we and our.

B. A letter of congratulation

How to write a letter of congratulation

It is a personal letter: your address and date at the top, Dear Mama / Dear Uncle, then:

1. Paragraph 1: how you heard the news, and your congratulations.
2. Paragraph 2: why it is deserved: the effort or quality behind it, with a real detail.
3. Paragraph 3: your good wishes for the future, and something personal.
4. Close: congratulations again, an invitation or a hope to meet; With love, / With love and respect, and your first name.

Before you read

The poet and the poem

Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) was a British writer born in Bombay (now Mumbai), India, famous for The Jungle Book, the stories of Mowgli. He wrote “If—” for his son, and it was first printed in 1910 in his book Rewards and Fairies. Kipling said that the poem was inspired by a man he admired, the colonial leader Leander Starr Jameson. Today many people find Kipling’s praise of the British Empire hard to accept; the poem itself, though, is about qualities anyone can admire.

The poem is one long sentence, in four stanzas of eight lines. Almost every line begins with If you can…: a list of conditions. Only in the last two lines does the main clause arrive, the reward for meeting them all: the Earth is yours, and you will be a Man, my son. This is a giant conditional sentence Grade 10: Unit 5, and holding back the main clause until the very end builds suspense.

The poem, stanza by stanza

Stanza 1: calm, trust and patience

• Keep calm when everyone around you is losing theirs (keeping your head: staying calm), and blaming you for it.
• Trust yourself when everyone doubts you, but understand why they doubt (make allowance for it).
• Wait patiently without getting tired of waiting.
• If people tell lies about you, don’t lie back (don’t deal in lies); if people hate you, don’t hate them back (don’t give way to hating).
• And yet don’t look too good or talk too wise: be good without showing off.

Stanza 2: dreams, thoughts, triumph and disaster

• Dream, but don’t let dreams become your master: dreams should push you to act, not replace action.
• Think, but don’t make thinking your aim: thought is for doing something.
• When you meet Triumph (great success) and Disaster (great failure), treat them the same: both are impostors (people pretending to be what they are not). Success is never as permanent as it feels; failure is never as final as it feels.
• Bear it when knaves (dishonest people) twist your true words to trap fools.
• And when the things you gave your life to are broken, stoop (bend down) and build them up again with worn-out tools.

Stanza 3: risk and endurance

• Be brave enough to put all your winnings on one turn of pitch-and-toss (an old game of throwing coins: a risk), and if you lose, start again from the beginning without ever complaining about your loss.
• Force your heart and nerve and sinew (your courage, your nerves and your muscles) to keep working long after they are exhausted, and hold on when nothing is left in you except the Will that says Hold on!

Stanza 4: people and time

• Talk with crowds and keep your virtue (goodness); walk with Kings and don’t lose the common touch (the ability to get on with ordinary people).
• Let neither foes (enemies) nor loving friends hurt you: don’t be controlled by either.
• Let all men count with you, but none too much: value everyone, but depend too much on no one.
• Fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run: a minute won’t wait and can never be lived again, so use every second of it.
• Then the Earth and everything in it is yours, and, more than that, you will be a Man: a truly grown-up, complete human being.

A. Match the words with their meanings

B. Complete the summary

C. Answer the questions

D. Advice from home and school

A. Before you listen

The textbook’s audio is part of a speech that Obama gave to schoolchildren at the start of the school year, on September 8, 2009, at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. CDC’s own recording is below: read the questions in B and C first, then listen, as many times as you need.

B and C. The textbook’s audio: answers

A prepositional phrase is a preposition and the noun (or -ing form) after it, used together as one unit: in a hurry, on board, at large. Many are fixed: you can’t change the preposition or add an article, so learn them whole, with their meaning.

Phrase	Meaning	Example
in cash	in coins and notes, not by card or cheque	She paid Rs. 500 in cash.
at large	(of a criminal) free, not yet caught	The thief is still at large.
on board	on a ship, plane, bus or train	All 70 passengers on board were safe.
on a diet	eating less or only certain foods	He is on a diet to lose weight.
in a hurry	needing to do something quickly	Sorry, I’m in a hurry.
out of reach	too far away to touch or to contact	Keep medicines out of reach of children.
out of hand	out of control	The crowd got out of hand.
in control (of) / take control of	having power over	The police took control of the situation.
with each other	between two or more people (collide with)	The bus and the truck collided with each other.
good / brilliant at	skilled in	She is brilliant at playing the sarangi.
interested in	wanting to know about	Are you interested in politics?

Complete the sentences

How to write a speech

1. Salutation: greet the audience in order of importance: Respected Chairperson, Principal, teachers and my dear friends,
2. Introduction: say who you are if needed, the topic, and your view in one clear sentence.
3. Body: two to four points, each with an example (here, famous people who failed first), in their own paragraphs.
4. Conclusion: sum up in a sentence, and end with something to remember or do.
5. Thank the audience.

Archaic words are old words that are no longer used in everyday English, though you still meet them in old poems, plays, prayers and stories. The ones below come from Early Modern English, the English of Shakespeare (around 1600) and of the old English Bible. (Old English, a thousand years ago, is so different that a modern reader can’t understand it without study.)

Archaic	Modern	Example
an	if	An you be willing… = If you are willing…
anon	soon, in a moment	I’ll come anon.
art	are (with thou)	Thou art kind. = You are kind.
aye	yes	Aye, my lord.
beseech	to beg	I beseech you, help me.
betwixt	between	betwixt the hills
dost / doth	do / does	What dost thou want? The lady doth protest too much.
ere	before	ere long = before long, soon
fain	gladly, willingly	I would fain go. = I would gladly go.
fie	shame!	Fie upon you!
forsooth	indeed, truly	Forsooth, it is so.
hast / hath	have / has (with thou / he, she)	He hath a son.
hither	here, to this place	Come hither. = Come here.
morrow	the next day (also morning)	on the morrow = the next day; Good morrow! = Good morning!
nay	no	Nay, I will not.
soft	wait! quiet!	But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?
’tis	it is	’Tis true.
thee / thou	you (thou the subject, thee the object)	Thou lovest me; I love thee.
thine / thy	your, yours (thine before a vowel)	thy name; thine eyes
thither	there, to that place	hither and thither = here and there
whence	from where	Whence comest thou? = Where do you come from?
whither	to where	Whither goest thou? = Where are you going?
wherefore	why	Wherefore art thou Romeo? = Why are you Romeo? (not where)

SEE-style practice on this unit. Try each one as in the exam, then open the answer.