8.3
BUSINESS ICONS
80
READING
1
In groups, discuss these questions.
1
What famous brands do you know for
books, soft drinks, sports clothing and
technology?
2
What do you know about the people
who started these brands?
2
Work with a partner to read about
some business icons. Try to answer as
many of the questions below as you can.
Share your answers with your partner.
Student A:
Read texts 1 and 2 on this page.
Student B:
Turn to page 160 and read
texts 3 and 4.
1
What area of business was each
person in?
2
What was each person most famous for?
3
Who started out:
a
as a bus conductor?
b
as a lawyer?
c
working in London?
d
working in a grocery store?
4
Who:
a
became the first woman to win a
particular prize?
b
thought that you did not need to
succeed at university in order to
succeed in business?
5
Which people:
a
were very good sales people?
b
liked sports?
c
moved to another country for their
work?
d
wrote a book?
e
noticed a new trend?
6
Which person:
a
didn’t have a business partner?
b
was born first?
c
lived the longest?
d
had the most children?
3
Identifying similarities and differences
Work in small groups to discuss these
questions.
1
What are the similarities and
differences between the childhoods
and education of the four people?
2
How did their childhood experiences
help in their success?
3
Do you think a difficult childhood helps
people become successful in business?
4
Do you think it is more difficult for
women to succeed in business than
men? Why?/Why not?
1
Dame Zaha Hadid, the world-famous
architect, died on 31 March 2016.
Hadid was born in Baghdad, Iraq, in
1950, and she studied mathematics
at the American University of Beirut
before beginning her architectural
career at the Architectural
Association, London, in 1972.
2
By 1979, Hadid had created her
own architecture company, but
she struggled to get noticed until
1988, when she gained international
attention with an exhibition of
architectural drawings at New York’s
Museum of Modern Art.
3
Hadid’s first important project was
the Vitra fire station in Weil am
Rhein, Germany, in 1993, and she
went on to design extraordinary
buildings such as the Guangzhou
Opera House in China, the National
Museum of 21st Century Arts in
Rome, Italy, and the Heydar Aliyev
Centre in Baku, Azerbijan.
4
In 2004, Hadid became the first
woman to win the first Pritzker Prize
for architecture after she had already
won Britain’s RIBA Stirling Prize for
architecture twice. Then, in 2012, she
was made a dame by Queen Elizabeth
II after Hadid designed the aquatic
centre for the London Olympics.
5
Hadid’s designs were always exciting
but over the years her style changed
to include curved shapes in buildings
that seemed to float in the air.
Many people believed that such
complicated shapes could only be
designed with computer technology,
but they were all drawn by hand.
6
Hadid also left behind many projects
that will continue to inspire people
around the world long after her
death. Amazing buildings, such as
the New Airport Terminal Building
in Beijing, China, and the Museum
of Contemporary Art in Manama,
Bahrain, will change the way we
experience the environment.
Zaha Hadid, born 31 October 1950;
died 31 March 2016.
1
The internet pioneer and former CFO for
a The internet pioneer and former CFO
for a world-famous online retailer died on
18 September at the age of fiŌy. She was
born in Boston, MassachuseƩs, and grew
up in San Mateo, California, where her
mother worked as a nurse and her father
was a doctor. When she was sixteen, Joy
dropped out of high school, leŌ home and
moved to Fresno, California, where she
worked as a grocery clerk.
2
Then Joy’s life started to move in a more
posiƟve direcƟon. She completed her
studies at a local college and took part in
a naƟonal accounƟng test, in which she
achieved the second highest score in the
country. AŌer graduaƟng from Harvard
University, Joy worked for a bank before
joining an internet company.
3
In the mid-1990s, the internet was sƟll
new to most people but Joy could see
that it might grow into something much
more important. So, she moved to Silicon
Valley in California, where she first heard
about a new online retail company. In
1996, this small ‘internet bookstore’ was
looking for a chief financial operator (CFO)
and Joy agreed to have an interview with
the company’s owner, Jeff Bezos, as a
favour to a friend.
4
She spent the first ten minutes explaining
why she didn’t want to work for him, but
Bezos eventually persuaded her to join
the company and five months later Joy
helped to raise $55 million so that it could
grow as a business. It worked and soon
the company was becoming extremely
successful. However, Joy’s unusual
strategic vision led the company to ignore
its success and focus on meeƟng the
needs of their customers instead. Today,
it is one of the biggest companies in the
world.
5
She is survived by her son, Tyler Covey.
Joy Covey, born 25 April 1963;
died 18 September 2013.
OBITUARIES
1
Joy Covey
2
OBITUARIES
Zaha Hadid
