Casa ESL · B2 Upper Intermediate · Unit 13 of 20 · Step 2
Innovation, risk-taking, and emphasis with do/does/did
Name
Date
Vocabulary
venture
nounA new business activity that involves risk.
"Her first venture failed, but she learned valuable lessons from it."
disrupt
verbTo radically change an industry or market with a new approach.
"The company aimed to disrupt the traditional banking sector."
scalable
adjectiveAble to grow or be expanded to meet increased demand.
"Investors prefer business models that are highly scalable."
iterate
verbTo repeat a process in order to improve a product or idea.
"The team had to iterate on the design several times before launch."
equity
nounOwnership interest in a company, often expressed as shares.
"She offered ten per cent equity to her first investor."
pivot
verbTo fundamentally change the direction of a business strategy.
"When sales stalled, the founders decided to pivot to a subscription model."
bootstrap
verbTo build a business using personal finances rather than outside investment.
"They chose to bootstrap the company rather than seek venture capital."
viable
adjectiveCapable of working successfully; feasible.
"The market research showed that the idea was commercially viable."
Grammar Focus
Emphatic do / does / did
In affirmative sentences, adding 'do', 'does', or 'did' before the base form of the main verb creates emphasis. This structure is used to insist, contrast, or express surprise. In present tense: 'I do believe', 'She does understand'. In past tense: 'They did manage'. Stress falls on do/does/did in speech.
I do believe this start-up has enormous potential.
She does understand the risks involved in launching a new product.
We did manage to secure funding despite the difficult market.
The prototype did work — the problem was in the marketing, not the technology.
Exercises
Exercise 1
Rewrite each sentence using emphatic do, does, or did to add emphasis. Write only the missing words.
1. I appreciate everything my co-founder has done for this company.
2. She realise that the market was saturated — she just chose to enter it anyway.
3. The product have some flaws, but it also has genuine strengths.
4. We try to negotiate a better deal, but the investor refused.
5. He want to help, even though he seems reluctant at first.
Exercise 2
Choose the sentence that correctly uses emphatic do/does/did.
1. Which sentence uses emphasis correctly?
2. Which is the emphatic form of 'They succeeded'?
3. Which sentence shows contrast?
4. Choose the correct emphatic sentence.
5. Which is correct?
Reading
Failure as a Foundation
When Priya launched her first tech start-up at twenty-three, she was convinced it would succeed. The idea was innovative, and the team did work incredibly hard throughout the first year. However, the company ran out of money within eighteen months. Critics said the product was ahead of its time, and they did have a point — the market was not ready. Priya could have abandoned entrepreneurship entirely, but she did learn a crucial lesson: timing matters as much as talent. She spent two years working in a large corporation, studying how established businesses scale. When she launched her second venture, she did things differently. She bootstrapped the company, iterated rapidly on customer feedback, and chose a scalable model from the outset. This time, the market was ready. Within three years, the company had over a million users. Priya does acknowledge that her first failure was painful, but she insists it was necessary. As she often tells aspiring founders: 'I do believe that every failure contains the blueprint for future success.'
1. Why did Priya's first start-up fail?
2. What did Priya do differently with her second venture?
Speaking
Discuss these questions with a partner or your teacher.
Writing
Write a short profile (8–10 sentences) of an entrepreneur — real or imagined — who overcame failure. Use emphatic do/does/did at least three times to highlight key achievements or turning points.
Example: Lena's first restaurant closed after just six months. She did lose a significant amount of money, but she refused to give up. She does credit that early failure with teaching her the importance of location and pricing. When she opened her second restaurant, she did manage to attract loyal customers from the very first week.
Answer Key — For Teacher Use
Exercise 1
1. do · 2. did · 3. does · 4. did · 5. does
Exercise 2
1. She does work hard. · 2. They did succeed. · 3. I do agree, but I have concerns. · 4. He does believe in the project. · 5. We did manage to finish.
Reading Comprehension
1. The company ran out of money because the market was not ready for the product — the idea was ahead of its time. · 2. She bootstrapped the company, iterated rapidly on customer feedback, chose a scalable model, and waited until the market was ready.