Oprah's Turning Points
Grammar: Reported Speech
A Level 4 English lesson exploring work.
What's in this lesson
A Level 4 (upper intermediate) ESL lesson on work, practising reported speech. The worksheet has a reading, target vocabulary, a grammar reference with practice and discussion questions.
From the reading: Oprah's Turning Points
"I was told I was not suitable for television," Oprah Winfrey said in a 2013 interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "They said I would never connect with a mainstream audience. I decided that was their problem, not mine." At the time, Winfrey was twenty-two years old and had just lost her first television job as a co-anchor in Baltimore. Most people, she later admitted, might have walked away. She did not. Within three years, she was hosting a struggling Chicago talk show that the network warned might be cancelled within a season. By 1986, that same show — The Oprah Winfrey Show — was the highest-rated talk programme in American history.
Vocabulary
- build credibility
- face a setback
- gain recognition
- pursue an opportunity
Grammar: Reported Speech
- will → would
- "I will succeed." → She said she would succeed. — will shifts to would in reported speech
- can/may → could/might
- "It can be done." → He said it could be done. — can→could, may→might
Discussion questions
- Would you rather have talent without recognition, or recognition without talent?
- Which is harder to recover from — a public failure or a private one?
- Is it better to pursue one big ambition or several smaller goals?
Oprah's Turning Points
Grammar: Reported Speech
What's in this lesson:
Full lesson plan with reading, grammar, vocabulary, and discussion.
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