MONEY - Rich Man / Poor Man (Advanced)
1. There are
many ways to describe how rich or poor someone is. Here are a few of them. Put the descriptions in the box into one or the other categories – rich or
poor.
poor.
filthy rich needy rich broke skint penniless poor
rolling-in-it brassic
wealthy impoverished well off
prosperous stinking rich destitute hard-up affluent
|
RICH POOR
2.
Match the following words and phrases (found underlined in the texts
below)
with their definitions.
(A)
|
cracked up to be
|
a lot of money
|
|
(B)
|
rock bottom
|
not as good as people have claimed it to be
|
|
(C)
|
piles of cash
|
to start a law case against.
|
|
(D)
|
fleeting
|
the
lowest possible level
|
|
(E)
|
sued
|
rapid
and soon passing
|
|
(F)
|
siblings pestered him
|
set (something or oneself) down with or as if with a
noise;
|
|
(G)
|
bankruptcy
|
deprived of one's job because it is no longer
necessary
|
|
(H)
|
plunk down
|
Having been legally declared financially insolvent
|
|
(I)
|
redundant
|
brother or sister troubled him persistently
|
|
(J)
|
a chunk
|
A thick mass or piece
|
3.
What would you do if you won a large sum of money?
4. Read the articles below. What is your opinion?
THEY
LOST IT ALL
Having piles of cash only compounds
problems for some people. Here are sad tales of foolishness, hit men, greedy
relatives and dreams dashed.
For a lot of people,
winning the lottery is the American dream. But for many lottery winners, the
reality is more like a nightmare.
"Winning the
lottery isn't always what it's cracked
up to be," says Evelyn Adams, who won the New Jersey lottery not
just once, but twice (1985, 1986), to the tune of $5.4 million. Today the money
is all gone and Adams lives in a trailer.
"I won the
American dream but I lost it, too. It was a very hard fall. It's called rock bottom," says Adams.
"Everybody
wanted my money. Everybody had their hand out. I never learned one simple word
in the English language -- 'No.' I wish I had the chance to do it all over
again. I'd be much smarter about it now," says Adams.
Living on food stamps
William
"Bud" Post won $16.2 million in the Pennsylvania lottery in 1988 but
now lives on his Social Security.
"I wish it never
happened. It was totally a nightmare," says Post.
A former girlfriend
successfully sued him for a
share of his winnings. It wasn't his only lawsuit. A brother was arrested for
hiring a hit man to kill him, hoping to inherit a share of the winnings. Other siblings pestered him until he
agreed to invest in a car business and a restaurant in Sarasota, Fla., -- two
ventures that brought no money back and further strained his relationship with
his siblings.
Post even spent time
in jail for firing a gun over the head of a bill collector. Within a year, he
was $1 million in debt.
Post admitted he was
both careless and foolish, trying to please his family. He eventually declared bankruptcy.
Luck is Fleeting
"For many
people, sudden money can cause disaster," says Susan Bradley, a certified
financial planner in Palm Beach, Fla., and founder of the Sudden Money
Institute, a resource center for new money recipients and their advisors.
"In our culture,
there is a widely held belief that money solves problems. People think if they
had more money, their troubles would be over. When a family receives sudden
money, they frequently learn that money can cause as many problems as it solves,"
she says.
Winning plays a game
with your head
Bill Pomeroy, a
certified financial planner in Baton Rouge, La., has dealt with a number of
lottery winners who went broke.
"Because the
winners have a large sum of money, they make the mistake of thinking they know
what they're doing. They are willing to plunk
down large sums on investments they know nothing about or go in with a
partner who may not know how to run a business."
What if you get so
(un)lucky?
To offset some bad
early decision-making and the inevitable requests of friends, relatives and
strangers, Bradley recommends lottery winners start by setting up a DFZ or
decision-free zone.
"Take time out
from making any financial decisions," she says. "People who are not
used to having money are fragile and vulnerable, and there are plenty of people
out there who are willing to prey on that vulnerability -- even friends and
family," she cautions.
"It's not a time
to decide what stocks to buy or jump into a new house purchase or new business
venture. "It's a time to think things through.”
Winner 'bored'
Three months after winning $500,000 on Lotto a redundant Christchurch man says
he is bored and wants a job at McDonald's.
James Green lost his job four weeks before he won
$500,000 in the special Easter draw, but now he wants to get back to work in a
fast-food restaurant.
The 36-year-old former apprentice welder has been
enjoying the quiet life "just playing computer games" since his big
win.
But he said it "does get a bit boring".
Green said he would love to own his own business, but
right now he wants to work in "either McDonald's or Burger King or a
supermarket something easy".
Green, who still lives in a room in his brother's
house in Linwood, said he had not spend a cent of his prize.
"I just put it in the bank. [I] haven't bought
anything with it, just living off the interest," he said.
But the Lotto winner hinted he might spend a chunk on a holiday to the
United States.
Franchisee Bruce Davis, who owns several McDonald's
restaurants, said Green stood a chance of getting a job.
"I'd love to talk to him. There's always work for
enthusiastic people."
RISK
5. In your opinion, which of the following give
the best return on your money? Which are less risky?
Write down your comments.
* gold * currencies * a high interest deposit account
* property * land / real estate * stocks and shares
* antiques
and paintings * precious stones * a new business venture
Quiz
6. (A) How
much cash do you have with you at the moment? Do you:
(i)
know exactly?
(ii)
know approximately?
(iii)
not know at all?
(B) Do you
normally check:
(i)
your change?
(ii)
your bank statement
and credit card bills?
(iii)
restaurant bill?
(iv)
your receipts when
shopping?
(v)
prices in several
shops before you buy something?
(C) Do you:
(i)
give money to beggars?
(ii)
give money to
charities?
(iii)
give away used items,
such as clothing?
(D) If you
go for a meal with someone you don’t know well, do you:
(i)
offer to pay the whole
bill?
(ii)
suggest going ‘Dutch’?
(iii)
offer to pay the whole
bill but expect them to pay next time?
(iv)
try to avoid paying
anything?
(E) If you
lend a colleague a small amount of money and they forget to pay it
back,
do you:
(i)
say nothing?
(ii)
remind them that they
owe you money?
(iii)
Arrange to go for a
drink with them and say you’ve forgotten your wallet or purse?
ANSWERS:
MONEY - Rich Man / Poor Man
·
There are many ways to describe how rich or poor someone is. Here are a
few of them. Put the descriptions in the box into one or the other categories –
rich or poor.
filthy rich needy rich broke skint penniless poor
rolling-in-it brassic
wealthy impoverished well off
prosperous stinking rich destitute hard-up affluent
|
RICH
POOR
Filthy rich rich rolling-in-it wealthy
well off prosperous stinking rich affluent
|
Needy broke skint
penniless poor brassic impoverished destitute hard up
|
2. Match the
following words and phrases (found underlined in the texts below) with their
definitions.
(A)
|
cracked up to be
|
(c)
|
a lot of money
|
(B)
|
rock bottom
|
(a)
|
not as good as people have claimed it to be
|
(C)
|
piles of cash
|
(e)
|
to start a law case against.
|
(D)
|
fleeting
|
(b)
|
the
lowest possible level
|
(E)
|
sued
|
(d)
|
rapid
and soon passing
|
(F)
|
siblings pestered him
|
(h)
|
set (something or oneself) down with or as if with a
noise;
|
(G)
|
bankruptcy
|
(i)
|
deprived of one's job because it is no longer
necessary
|
(H)
|
plunk down
|
(g)
|
Having been legally declared financially insolvent
|
(I)
|
redundant
|
(f)
|
brother or sister troubled him persistently
|
(J)
|
a chunk
|
(j)
|
A thick mass or piece
|
No comments:
Post a Comment