1 Unit Lessons for life Opener 1

2 
 
[1]
 
★
 CPT extra! Lead-in activity [after Ex.2]
• Tell students they are going to listen to two people
talking about important lessons they have learned in
life. Ask them to read questions 1–3.
• Play the recording. Students listen and answer the
questions. Let them compare answers in pairs before
checking with the class.
ANSWERS
1 Speaker 1: not to try to change other people or you 
can’t change other people
Speaker 2: not getting too attached to things or you 
shouldn’t get too attached to things
2 Speaker 1: The speaker got frustrated with his business 
partner (Giles), who always took ages to make a first 
design for the customer, and this was driving him 
(the speaker) crazy.
Speaker 2: The speaker’s house was flooded.
3 A Tuareg person would probably agree with the lesson 
from Speaker 2 because the Tuareg don’t like to get 
attached to unnecessary material objects (third quote 
in Exercise 1).
Audioscript 
 
[1]
Speaker 1
I think the most valuable lesson I’ve learned was when
I was starting a business at the age of 25. I used to get
very frustrated with my business partner, a guy called
Giles. We’d set up our own web design business and
Giles would always take ages making a first design to
show the customer. He was trying to get it perfect when
actually, it didn’t need to be. When I told my dad about
it – that it was driving me crazy – he said, ‘Look, you can’t
change other people; you can only change the way that
you behave towards them.’ So, from then on I just tried
to accept that Giles was a perfectionist and to see it as a
positive thing. And since then we’ve got on much better.
And that’s become a sort of guiding principle for me in
life – not to try to change other people.
Speaker 2
I think a good rule of thumb is: ‘Never get too attached to
things.’ But it’s a lot easier said than done and sometimes
it takes a big event to make you realize how true this is.
Our house was flooded a few years ago and because my
bedroom was on the ground floor, I lost a lot of my most
valued possessions: my laptop with all my photos on it;
my favourite books; all my shoes were ruined and some
of my best clothes too. But in fact, what mattered at the
time was knowing that everyone was safe – my parents
and my little brother. We’ve actually moved to a new
house now, and it’s not nearly as nice as the old one, but
it doesn’t matter. You need to move on. Now, I always
make a point of not getting too attached to places or
things. It’s just stuff.