WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE?

 

Pre-reading task

 

1. The article is about people who win huge amounts of money in a lottery or on the football pools, and how this affects their lives. Which of the following do you think are good suggestions ( V ) or bad suggestions ( X ) for such people?

 

If you win a lot of money …
… you should give up your work.
… you should buy a new house.
… you mustn't let it change you.
… it’s a good idea to keep it a secret.
… you should give money to everyone who asks for it.
… you should go on a spending spree.

 

2. The word in A are in the article. Match a word in A with a definition in B.

 

A	B
1. envy	a. a sum of money you receive unexpectedly
2. to fantasize	b. an aim, a reason for doing something
3. a jigsaw	c. a feeling of discontent because someone has something that you want
4. a windfall	d. to spend money foolishly on small, useless things
5. a purpose	e. to imagine, to dream
6. to fritter away money	f. a picture cut into pieces that you have to put together again

Reading

 

Read the article. The following sentences have been taken out of the text. Where do you think they should go?

 

1. They were furious!
2. we feel at home
3. It is tempting to move to a bigger house
4. “nothing but misery”
5. what the money would do to us
6. it seems fantastic!
7. most of their money will be fritted away
8. if you lent him some money,

 

The National Lottery creates a millionaire every week in Britain. Maybe this turns you green with envy, but what is it actually like to wake up one day with more money than you can imagine?

Nearly all of us have fantasized about winning the big prize in The National Lottery. We dream about what we would do with the money, But we rarely stop to think about (1)_________________.

For most of us, our way of life is closely linked to our economic circumstances. The different parts of our lives fit together like a jigsaw: work, home, friends, hobbies, and the local pub make our world. This is where we belong and where (2)________________. A sudden huge windfall would dramatically change it all and smash the jigsaw.

For example, most people like the idea of not having to work, but winners have found that without work there is no purpose to their day, and no reason to get up in the morning. (3)________________ in a wealthy neighbourhood but, in so doing, you leave old friends and routines behind.

Winners are usually advised not to publicize their address and phone number, but charity requests and begging letters still arrive. If they are not careful, (4)______________ on lawyers’ fees to protect them from demanding relatives, guards to protect their homes and swimming pools, and psychotherapists to protect their sanity!

People who get it wrong

There are many stories about people who can’t learn how to be rich. In 1989, Val Johnson won £ 850, 000 on the pools. Immediately, she went on a spending spree that lasted for four years and five marriages. She is now penniless and alone. “I’m not a happy person, ” she says. “Winning money was the most awful thing that happened to me.”

Then there is the story of Alice Hopper, who says that her £ 950, 000 win four years ago brought her (5)_______________. She walked out of the factory where she worked, and left a goodbye note for her husband on the kitchen table. She bought herself a villa in Spain, and two bars (one a birthday present for her eighteen-year-old son). After three months, her son was killed while driving home from the bar on the motorbike which his mother had also bought for him. She found the bars more and more difficult to run. She now sings in a local Karaoke bar to earn money for groceries. “I wish I was still working in the factory, ” she says.

“It won’t change us! ”

That’s what all winners say when they talk to reporters and television cameras as they accept the cheque and the kisses from a famous film star. And some winners, like Malcolm Price, really mean it. He refused to change his way of life when he won £ 2.5 million. The next Saturday night, he went to his local pub as usual, and as usual he didn’t buy his friends a drink. (6)_____________. He, too, is a lonely man now.

Imagine you are an average family and you have just won £ 1 million. At first (7)_____________. Just by picking up the phone you can get the toilet seat fixed, and the leak in the roof repaired – all the problems that have been making your life miserable. “But, it won't change us, darling, ” you say to your wife. “Yes, it will! ” she insists. “I want it to change us. It will make life better! It’ll be brilliant! ”

Already the children are changing. Just this morning they were ordinary, contented kids. Now they are demanding computer games, CD players, motorbikes… “Hold on! ” you shout. “Let me answer the door.”

It is your neighbour, with a bunch of flowers and a loving smile on her face. “Congratulations! ” she shouts. “I was wondering if you could lend me…” You shut the door.

In the first week you receive two thousand letters advising you how to spend your money, either by investing it or giving it to good causes. Your son comes home with a music system that is bigger than the living room, your sixteen-year-old daughter books a holiday to Barbados with her boyfriend, and your wife buys a Rolls-Royce.

“But darling, ” you say, “we haven’t received one penny of this money yet! What about the broken toilet seat? What about the leaking roof? What about me? ”

“I haven’t forgotten you, ” says your wife. “I’ve bought you a racehorse! ”

The next day you get a begging letter from a man who won the lottery a year ago. He tells you how he spent £ 2, 000, 000 in three weeks. He says (8)______________, he could start his life all over again. You begin to think that winning a fortune brings more problems than it solves! You realize that you are quite fond of the broken toilet seat and the leaking roof after all.

A final thought!

When you next buy lottery ticket, or do the football pools, just stop for a minute and ask yourself why you’re doing it. Do you actually want to win? Or are you doing it for the excitement of thinking about winning?

 

 

COMPREHENSION CHECK

 

1. Look back at the suggestions in the Pre-reading task. Have you changed your mind about any of them?

 

2. Answer the questions.

a. Does the magazine article talk more about positive side of winning a lot of money, or the

negative side?

b. How can a large amount of money affect our work? our home? our friends?

c. How does the article say money can be “frittered away”?

e. Give three facts each about the lives of Val Johnson, Alice Hopper, and Malcolm Price.

Why are they all mentioned?

f. In the imaginary family that has won £ 1 million, who says, “It won’t change us”? Who says, “I

want it to change us”?

g. What do the children want to have? What does the neighbour want?

h. Who in the family doesn’t buy anything? What do the others buy?

 

 

UNIT 2       ECONOMICS AS A SCIENCE     

 

PRE-READING ACTIVITIES

 

Economy

- a system according to which the money, industry, and trade of a country or region are organized.

- a country’s economy is the wealth that it gets from business and industry.

- careful spending or the use of things

- large-size packages of goods which are cheaper than the normal sized packages on sale.

Economic

- concerned with economics and with the organization of the money, industry, and a trade of a country, region, or social group.

- relating to services, businesses, etc. that produce a profit.

Economical

- something that is economical does not require a lot of money to operate.

- using the minimum amount of time, effort, language, etc. that is necessary.

Economics

the study of the production of wealth and the consumption of goods and services in a society, and the organization of its money, industry, and trade.

Economist

an expert or student of economics.

Economize

save money by spending it very carefully and not buying expensive things.

 

 

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