Деньги - Money. Невежина С.Б - 14 стр.

is where we belong and where (2) _______________ . A sudden huge                  Imagine you are an average family and you have just won £1
windfall would dramatically change it all and smash the jigsaw.            million. At first (7) ______. Just by picking up the phone you can get
       For example, most people like the idea of not having to work,       the toilet seat fixed, and the leak in the roof repaired – all the problems
but winners have found that without work there is no purpose to their      that have been making your life miserable. 'But, it won't change us,
day, and no reason to get up in the morning. (3) ________ in a wealthy     darling,' you say to your wife. 'Yes, it will!' she insists. 'I want it to
neighborhood but, in so doing, you leave old friends and routines          change us. It will make life better! It'll be brilliant!'
behind.                                                                           Already the children are changing. Just this morning they were
       Winners are usually advised not to publicize their address and      ordinary, contented kids. Now they are demanding computer games,
phone number, but charity requests and begging letters still arrive. If    CD players, motorbikes ... 'Hold on!' you shout. 'Let me answer the
they are not careful (4) ___________ on lawyers' fees to protect them      door.'
from demanding relatives, guards to protect their homes and swimming              It is your neighbour, with a bunch of flowers and a loving smile
pools, and psychotherapists to protect their sanity!                       on her face. 'Congratulations!' she shouts. 'I was wondering if you
                                                                           could lend me ...' You shut the door.
        People who get it wrong                                                   In the first week you receive two thousand letters advising you
        There are many stories about people who can't learn how to be      how to spend your money, either by investing it or giving it to good
rich. In 1989, Val Johnson won £850.000 on the pools. Immediately, she     causes. Your son comes home with a music system that is bigger than
went on a spending spree that lasted for four years and five marriages.    the living-room, your sixteen-year-old daughter books a holiday to
She is now penniless and alone. 'I'm not a happy person,' she says.        Barbados with her boyfriend, and your wife buys a Rolls-Royce.
'Winning money was the most awful thing that happened to me.'                     'But darling,' you say, 'we haven't received one penny of this
        Then there is the story of Alice Hopper, who says that her         money yet! What about the broken toilet seat? What about the leaking
£950.000 win four years ago brought her (5) ________________ . She         roof? What about me?' 'I haven't forgotten you,' says your wife. 'I've
walked out of the factory where she worked, and left a goodbye note        bought you a racehorse!'
for her husband on the kitchen table. She bought herself a villa in               The next day you get a begging letter from a man who won the
Spain, and two bars (one a birthday present for her eighteen-year-old      lottery a year ago. He tells you how he spent £2,000,000 is in three
son). After three months, her son was killed while driving home from       weeks. He says (8) _____________, he could start his life all over
the bar on the motorbike, which his mother had also bought for him.        again. You begin to think that winning a fortune brings more problems
She found the bars more and more difficult to run. She now sings in a      than it solves! You realize that you are quite fond of the broken toilet
local Karaoke bar to earn money for groceries. 'I wish I was still         seat and the leaking roof after all.
working in the factory,' she says.                                                When you next buy your lottery ticket, or do the football pools,
                                                                           just stop for a minute and ask yourself why you're doing it. Do
       'It won't change us!'                                               you actually want to win? Or are you doing it for the excitement of
       That's what all winners say when they talk to reporters and         thinking about winning?
television cameras as they accept the cheque and the kisses from a
famous film star. And some winners, like Malcolm Price, really mean              COMPREHENSION CHECK
it. He refused to change his way of life when he won £2.5 million. The          1. Look back at the suggestions in the PRE-READING
next Saturday night, he went to his local pub as usual, and as usual he    TASK. Have you changed your mind about any of them?
didn't buy his friends a drink. (6) _____. He, too, is a lonely man now.

                                  27                                                                           28