UNIT 5

I’m Not Your Inspiration

Exploring a Sample Speech

A. Listen to the beginning of the speech. Based on what the speaker said, check whether each statement is true (T) or false (F).

Script
I grew up in a very small rural town in Victoria. I had a very normal, low-key kind of upbringing. I went to school, I hung out with my friends, and I fought with my younger sisters. It was all very normal. When I was 15, a member of my local community approached my parents and wanted to nominate me for a community achievement award, and my parents said, “Hmm... That’s really nice, but there’s kind of one glaring problem with that. She hasn’t actually achieved anything.” (Laughter) And they were right, you know. I wasn’t doing anything that was out of the ordinary at all. I wasn’t doing anything that could be considered an achievement if you took disability out of the equation.