• Richard Branson, owner of Virgin Airlines and its 360 associated companies, is known for his unique business strategies. He dropped out of school at just 16 and started his first successful business venture, a magazine called Student. Just eight years later, at 24, he bought his own 79-acre Caribbean island.


• When Coco Chanel was 12 years old, her mother died and her father ran away. She spent six years in an orphanage. At 18, she started work as an assistant to a tailor. Later she became one of the world’s best loved fashion designers. Her signature perfume, Chanel No. 5, is still known all over the world.


• Automobile billionaire Henry Ford was born into poverty and never saw the four walls of school. He left home in his early teens to become an apprentice in a factory. He soon became an engineer and went on to build Ford Motor Company, and become one of the richest men that ever lived.


• Bill Gates is perhaps the most famous of all college dropouts. At one time, he was the world’s richest person, but not thanks to his education. His parents hoped he would be a lawyer, but he left Harvard College in 1975 to set up his own computer software company and become a pioneer of technological advance.


So the next time you feel dejected or somehow inferior to the qualified achievers around you, stop and remind yourself of these hugely successful people. A gift for entrepreneurialism may be worth far more than that degree you regret not having.


For questions 5–12, decide if the information given below agrees with the information given in the passage. Write (T) true, (F) false or (NG) not given.


5. People may worry that their friends are doing better than they are. 6. Most people who go to college don’t get the job they really want. 7. All the most successful people in the world have been to university.


___ ___ ___


8. Richard Branson started producing a magazine while he was a student. ___ 9. Coco Chanel liked making perfume more than designing clothes. 10. Henry Ford always wanted to make cars. 11. Bill Gates left college to go into business.


12. A good business sense is not as useful as a university qualification.


C Highlight the parts of the text that provide the answers. D Check the key on page 170. How many questions did you answer correctly?


E Tick the sentences about the Reading task that are true for you and think about how you can answer more questions correctly next time.


1. I skimmed the passage to answer questions 1–4. 2. I was happy with the time it took to answer questions 1–4. 3. I read more slowly and carefully to answer questions 5–12. 4. I found the information that provided answers and I didn’t need to guess. 5. I am happy with the time it took to answer questions 5–12.


Key vocabulary in context


Mark these words and phrases (L) if they are more related to learning and (W) if they are more related to work. 1. degree


4. best grades 52 Pathway to IELTS 1 ∫ WB


___ ___


7. business venture ___ 2. career ___


5. graduates ___ 8. apprentice ___


3. education ___


6. entrepreneur ___ 9. college dropout ___


For focus on reading skills, go to Workbook page 151.


___ ___ ___ ___


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