Money problem. Lesson one A reading

Money problem. Lesson one A reading

Unit 1 A Lottery dreams   
В Attitudes to money    
С Mind maps    

Lottery dreams

 Read this article, Dream or nightmare?, quickly. Where do sentences a-g fit in the article? The first one is done for you.

 

a Lynette Nichols was a bookkeeper before she won about $17 million in the lottery. . 3

b So why does a sudden win cause so many problems?    
с Brett Peterson was just 19 and working as a busboy in a small restaurant in California.
d So, do you still want to win the lottery?    
e On top of this, big winners are not prepared for the new expectations that people now have of them   

f For many, a big win in the
lottery is their dream    
g John and Sandy from Ohio won about $12 million and almost immediately the letters and phone calls started    

 

DREAM OR NIGHTMARE?

 

Have you always dreamed of winning the lottery? Everyone does, don’t they?
After reading Janet Bloom’s article, you might change your mind.
 1......and so they buy tickets every week hoping for a dream come true.
People think that when they win they will be able to stop doing their boring job and live a life of luxury. But if their numbers really do come up, that dream often becomes a nightmare.
2.......When he found out he was going to receive a $2 million payout
in the lottery, he immediately gave up work, lent money to all his friends, whether or not they would be able to pay it back, and went out on a wild spending spree. Within months he had huge credit card debts and no money left to pay them. A year later, he had taken a job as a sales clerk to try to make ends meet.
3.......Did it bring her happiness? Not exactly. She and her husband
immediately started fighting over money. She couldn't believe that he was wasting money on electronic toys for himself, while tie objected to her buying expensive cars for her family. They ended up in court in a trial that cost them both hundreds of thousands of dollars and, of course, they’re now divorced.
 4.......Everyone, from crazy inventors to people needing help putting
their kids through college, wanted a donation from them. Their own kids lost all their friends when they moved house to a more expensive neighborhood and they spent way too much time and energy worrying about their own safety. And to make matters worse, they both lost their jobs as accountants.
5.......Well, it seems that a large win can put enormous stress on
people who are not prepared for it The majority of people who win are people who did not have a lot of money before. They tend to come from blue-collar backgrounds and have been used to working full time and living ‘pay-check to pay-check’. When they get this unexpected windfall, they don’t know how to cope. Very often they stop working and they move house. But these are probably the two worst things they can do. Who lives in wealthy neighborhoods? Wealthy people of course - people who are used to having and spending money. Moving to these areas alienates lottery winners from their familiar world and friends.
From one day to the next, they lose the structure that the working day offers and they no longer have the support system of neighbors who come from similar backgrounds around them. They find themselves surrounded by strangers from a different world with different life experiences, and on top of that, they have plenty of free time on their hands.
    Their friends expect them to be generous and
pay for everything and they receive requests from strangers asking them to donate money to a particular cause. Very often, lottery winners do not have much experience in investing money wisely and end up making disastrous financial decisions, which quickly eat up their winnings. Many past lottery winners have commented on how easy it is to spend a lot of money very quickly once they started to believe, on a daily basis, that ‘money is no object'.
    If you do win, the best advice is probably to
get yourself some good, independent financial advice and, more importantly, to be aware that becoming rich overnight could radically change your life - and not necessarily for the better.

 

We want to hear from YOU.
How do you handle money?
What would you do if you won the lottery?
Would you save or spend? Write and let us know.

 
2    Read the article again. Complete the table with information from the text about Brett, Lynette, and John and Sandy. The first one is done for you.
job(s)    
Brett a busboy, b    
Lynette    f
John and Sandy j
           

How much did they win?
Brett ..........c    
Lynette    ...... .f
John and Sandy.......... k

             

Main problems    

Brett............. d, e
Lynette.................h, i
John and Sandy............... l, m, n    
        
3    Explain the meaning of the following words as they appear in the text.

 objected to (paragraph 3) ..............................                                       
b    windfall (paragraph 5) .................................
с    alienates (paragraph 5) ................................                                                                        
d    wisely (paragraph 6)....................................                    
e    disastrous (paragraph 6)................................                     
f    eat up (paragraph 6)....................................                                                                          
g    overnight (paragraph 7).................................                    

 

Language in chunks

 

4    Look at how these phrases are used in the text and then use them in the sentences which follow.

 

You may have to change them slightly to make them fit.

 

a dream come true/ to end up (doing something)/ (to have) time on one’s hands/ to make matters worse/
money is no object/ way too much (something)

a That girl is never at school and when she has.......she gets into trouble.
b They spent all their money and.......they then borrowed money to buy a car.
с The cost of the project doesn’t matter at all. .......    
d We didn’t know what to buy with the money we won and we......depositing it ail in a
bank account that gives high interest.
e Kevin had........ money as a kid - his parents gave him everything he wanted - and now
he doesn’t know how to manage his own financial affairs.
f Getting this new job was.......for me. I really enjoy it, the hours are great and the pay is good. 

Attitudes to money

 

5 Look up these expressions in a dictionary and write your own definition for each one.
a penny-pincher....................................    
b spendthrift .....................................                    
с on the right track...............................                                                                            
d daredevil........................................            

 

6 Circle the letter corresponding to the answerwhich best applies to you.
1    saving
A when you receive a gift of money, you don’t even consider saving it. instead, you buy something extravagant.
В Every month you save as much money as you can, even when it means doing without 'luxuries’ such as some new clothes, a new CD or a movie, с You have no money in savings, you owe people money and you have no savings account. D YOU save a manageable amount of money every month, and you have specific ideas about what you are going to do with it.
2    spending
A You buy what you want, when you want it - on credit if necessary - because you just know that you’ll earn the money to pay for it.
В You often put off buying the essential things you need, although you can easily afford to buy them, с Shopping is a competitive sport for you. If a friend buys the latest watch, jacket or trainers, you have to have them.too. Your wardrobe is full of clothes you’ve hardly ever worn.
D You buy what you need, you aren’t often tempted by what you don’t need, and most importantly you understand the difference between ‘need’ and ‘want’.
4 Giving
A when it comes to giving things to people, you tend to be impulsive and you're likely to give more than you can afford, в YOU give things to people but you give relatively small amounts compared to what you can afford to give.
с YOU repeatedly give away large amounts of money, especially for social events and raffles, even though you don’t have any savings. D Every month, you donate the same affordable amount to the causes of your choice. You’ve carefully budgeted your money and yourtime to support the causes that are important to you.
Count how many of each letter you haue circled and record the number below. The biggest number will reveal your attitude to money.

A............... B.................. C............. D................

D. Now look at Interpreting the results at the bottom of this page. What kind of attitude to money do you have, according to the quiz?

 Read these pieces of advice and match them to the descriptions of the different money personalities.
a You have to start spending money to make money. Why deprive yourself of fun and friends? Learn to enjoy money more.
b Continue to budget carefully and set yourself clear financial goals. This is the best way to deal with money.
с If you think about the things that are really important to you, you’ll find that they are not the things you bought, but the things that money can’t buy. You need to be honest with yourself and who you are. Ask your friends and family to help you.
d You’re in a dangerous situation and now is the time to stop and think about the future. You need to think about who you are and what you want in life, and start to save money.

 

7 Match the meanings with the words from the text in blue,

a little lottery

b attracted to (even though you know you shouldn’t)

с don’t want to because you haven’t got the energy

d financial records

e in the middle of the mess

f place where you keep clothes

g look carefully so you can remember the details

h unnecessarily expensive

i that you can afford

 

8 Now use the correct word from Activity 4 to complete these sentences.

 

a After she read the................from the bank, she realised that
she would have to start saving more money.
b John..................get cash from the machine so he always uses
his credit card.
с She went to the.................., took out her new dress and
slipped it over her head. It had been worth every penny!
d The designer shoes were.................and she couldn’t afford
them, so she left the store without even trying them on.
e She couldn’t find her Discman....................in her bedroom.
f He bought a couple of tickets for the......................, hoping that
he would win a prize for his family, g I know you don’t earn much money, but at least your flat is
small and the rent is...................... .
h Why did he find it so hard ................what he was spending? Maybe he should start writing it all down.
i She was....................the little black dress, but it was really too
expensive.
 
A DAREDEVIL
You are generous, true, but you are too often reckless. You identify yourself more by what you do with money than by who you are, which means that somewhere along the way you've lost a sense of your own identity.
В PENNY-PINCHER
You are a penny-pincher. You have more than enough money, but you won't spend your money. You are afraid of never having enough.
С SPENDTHRIFT
Your spending is way out of control, sooner, rather than later, financial reality will catch up with you-with huge credit card interest or, in the worst case, bankruptcy. Wouldn’t you rather put a stop to it before that happens?
DON THE RIGHT TRACK

 

Congratulations! You are creating a life where people come first, then money, then things. You have learned to value who you are overwhatyou have. You are on the right road.

 

Look at the end of the article from the text above DREAM OR NIGHTMARE?.

 

We want to hear from YOU.
How do you handle money?
What would you do if you won the lottery?
Would you save or spend? Write and let us know.
Write a short letter in answer to the article. Divide your writing into three paragraphs and use your mind map to help you.
Paragraph 1:
my attitude to money
Paragraph 2:
why I would spend some money and what I would spend it on
Paragraph 3:
why I would save some money and how I would save it
EXAMPLE:
My name is Yong Min and I’m a student at the University of Taegu. I’m a very careful person with money. If I have any extra money I always save it, because I might need it one day.
If I won the lottery, I would spend some of the money and save some of it. I would spend some money on…  
4    Look at the mind map that you created. Have you included all the important ideas in your piece of writing?

 

Keys:

 

Unit

1 A 1

a 3 b 5 с 2 d 7

e 6 f I g 4 A 2 Brett

a busboy b sales clerk с $2 million

d He lent or spent all his money, e bilge credit card debts Lynette

f bookkeeper g $17 million

h She and her husband fought over money.

i She divorced her husband.

John and Sandy j accountants к $12 million

I Their kids lost their friends, m They worried about safety, n They lost their jobs.

A 3

a didn’t like, was opposed ro b sudden unexpected piece of luck с makes one feel isolated or not part of a community d in an intelligent way e terrible, very bad f use up, wipe out g from one day to the next, very suddenly A 4

a rime on her hands b to make matters worse с Money is no object, d ended up с way too much f a dream come true

В 1

a someone who doesn't like to spend money at all b someone who spends money easily с doing something well d someone who takes a lot of chances and risks В 3

a penny-pincher b on the right track с daredevil d spendthrift В 4

a raffle b tempted by с can’t be bothered to d statements e amid the clutter f wardrobe g keep track of h extravagant i manageable

ВБ

a statement b can’t be bothered to с wardrobe d extravagant e amid the clutter f raffle g manageable h keep track of i tempted by С 1

The answer is a.

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