READING

THANKS A MIILLION
Imagine youd bought a lottery ticket and won $ 30 million. What would you do with
the money? Would you give it all away? 1_______ But in fact, there have been several
examples over the years of millionaires who gave away all their money to help others. One of
the most famous was Percy Ross.
Ross was born in 1916 in Michigan. His parents had come to the USA from Latvia and
Russia and the family was poor. But Percy soon showed a talent for business and made a
fortune in the fur trade and auction business. 2 _______ But he soon made a fortune again
this time by manufacturing plastic bag company for millions of dollars.
Ross started giving away his fortune in 1977: he gave $50,000 to 50 Vietnamese
refugees so that they could make a new home in the USA. Then he held a Christmas party for
1,050 poor children in the American town of Minneapolis. Ross remembered that, when he
was a child, he really wanted a bike. 3 _______ Ross bought a bike for every one of the 1,050
children at the party.
After these first experiences of giving money away, Ross decided to do it on a regular
basis. He started a newspaper column called Thanks a Million, and later a radio show, in
order to give away his money. Readers and listeners wrote in and asked for money. 4_______
He received about 40,000 requests every month and sent cheques to about 150 every week.
His gifts included money for poor families to help with their shopping bills and $16,500 in
silver coins for children at a parade.
It took years, but Ross finally succeeded in giving away his entire fortune. He
published his last newspaper column on 19 September 1999. Ive achieved my goal, he
wrote. Ive given it all away. 5________ I never tell anybody, he said. Its not a question
of how much one gives. Would I be a better person if I gave away $2 million than if I gave $
1 million? However, people estimate that he gave away around $30 million. And did he have
any regrets? On the contrary. If Id had twice as much, he said, I still would have given it
all away. For every person I helped, there were 400 to 500 I couldnt help.
Percy Ross died in 2001 at the age of 85.

A. Match the sentences (a-f) with the gaps (1-5) in the text. There is one extra.(5 x 2 = 10
pts)
a. His parents would have bought him one if they had been able to afford it, but they were too
poor.
b. He would have given it all away.
c. Then disaster struck and he lost all his money.
d. Surely, nobody in their right mind would do that.
e. If Ross thought that they genuinely needed and deserved the money, he gave it to them.
f. Nobody knows exactly how much this was.

B. Circle T for true, F for false. (8 x 1 = 8 pts)

a. T F Percy Ross is the only millionaire who has given away all his money.
b. T F Rosss parents were born in the USA.
c. T F Rosss first business was a company that made plastic bags.
d. T F Ross gave money to some people who had come to the USA to start a new life.
e. T F Ross gave bikes to poor children because their parents hadnt been able to give him a
bike.
f. T F Ross started his newspaper column and radio show at the same time.
g. T F Ross did not send money to everyone who asked for it.
h. T F After giving away all his money, Ross wished that he hadnt done it.
 Read the text and choose the correct answer:
HELP US SAVE THE ORANGUTANS!
Join us on a trip to the Indonesian rainforests and see wild orangutans in their native (1) ___.
The area you will visit is part of a national (2) ___ where orangutans are protected, since they
are an endangered (3) ___. If you join our trip, you may be able to observe them at feeding
time.
(4)___ will be in wooden huts or in tents which are of a comfortable standard. Your holiday
will go towards helping with the (5) ___ of the whole rainforest area and funds raised will
also support other projects in the park itself. Any donations to the work carried out here with
the orangutans are welcome.
Orangutans are solitary animals that are active during the day and sleep at night. Their (6) ___
in the wild is being put in (7) ___ because of deforestation and kidnapping of the babies to be
sold as pets. If orangutans are kept in captivity for any length of time, it is difficult after that
to get them (8) ___ in the wild again. These unique animals need to be (9) ___ in secure areas
that include large stretches of forest. Otherwise, they will surely die out.
1. A. home b. island c. trees d. habitat e. houses
2. A. park b. region c. wildlife d. centre e. zoo
3. A. company b. type c. species d. group e. council
4. A. Self-catering b. Bed and breakfast c. tourism d. vacation e. Accommodation
5. A. wilderness b. conservation c. environment d. breeding e. feeding
6. A. reserve b. maintenance c. living d. happiness e. survival
7. A. danger b. risk c. fire d. house e. project
8. A. used to living b. used to live c. use to live d. used to lived e. lived
9. A. conserved b. reserved c. covered d. protected e. kept