Complete the text with the words from the box. Then press "Check" to mark your answers.
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The best illustration of this saying is the familiar fable of Aesop. An old man, being distressed by the constant quarrelling between his , called them to him one day and showed them a bundle of sticks tied together and asked if any of them was strong to break them. First one, and then another tried, but although they were all strong young men, they all failed. So he then the bundle and told them to break each stick separately. This they did easily, and all the sticks were soon broken into pieces. a result, he taught them that if they were united, they would be strong, but they would always be weak if they were .
The same lesson can be learnt from the organisation of an army or a football team. The strength of a regiment consists of the soldiers acting together as one man. This is the secret of the constant drilling on the parade ground and army discipline. If thousand men go into battle who have never learnt to act together, each man fighting as and when he likes, they will be with ease by a disciplined and united company of only a hundred strong. One of Napoleon's favourite maxims was "Divide and conquer." If could divide the enemy's army up and take one part at a time, he could conquer it piecemeal; or he could subdue a nation by fomenting discord among its different classes and breaking it up into warring factions.
In the same way, the success of a team in a match depends very much on their "teamwork"; that is, the way the members work together and cooperate. A team of comparatively weak individual players, but well organised and playing heartily together, has often defeated an ill-organised team composed of much better players.
In all , union, or co-operation, is a strength; disunion is a weakness. A united nation, a united community, a united family, a united society any sort is strong. But disunited, quarrelling, split up into factions, they are all weak. United they stand, disunited they fall. Their motto be, "One heart, one way."