40 -YEAR -OLD FATHER

HADNT BOUGHT

KILL

WIN

2 MILLION LOTTERY TICKET

NATIONAL LOTTERY

GAMBLING CAN LEAD PEOPLE TO STRANGE THINGS

Lottery Loser Kills Himself

A 40-year-old father, who filled in the same numbers each week in the National Lottery for himself and a workmate, killed himself after forgetting to renew his entry. That day they won more than 2 million. But because he hadnt bought a lottery ticket and renewed his numbers, he couldnt collect. When he discovered his mistake on Sunday, Timothy OBrien of Liverpool, realised he had lost his family and his friend 1 million each. As his wife sat downstairs, he went up to the attic, took out a 22 pistol and shot himself in the head. A police officer described Mr O Brien as a caring man, a good husband and father. He said. Its a tragedy. You can never judge what people are capable in times of stress. A neighbour described Mr OBrien as the nicest man in the street. He would do anything for anyone. We cant believe that he would take his own life. He always appeared so relaxed and never seemed to get upset. A spokesman of the organisers of the lottery, said, If his death was due to lottery, then we are very sorry. It is a very tragic incident. Mr OBrien always bought his tickets from his newsagent, Mohamed Elgadly, who said: It is very sad. Gambling can lead people to do extreme things. The National Lottery does strange things to people. They become obsessed. For some of my customers, it is all they seem to live for. They spend their last pennies on it each week.

1- According to the text, mark the correct answer: 1. According to the policeman, Mr OBrien commited suicide because a. He was suffering from stress. b. He was worried about his friend. c. He couldnt tell his family. 2- The neighbours were shocked because a. He never had problems b. He was very generous c. He didnt seem to be the sort of man who would commit suicide. 3- The newsagent a. Feels strongly that people depend too much on the lottery. b. Thinks people should continue to buy lottery tickets. c. Thinks that the lottery is a bad idea. 2- Find words in the text that mean the same as the following ones: 1. completed 2. colleague 3. pick up his winnings 4. commit suicide 5. pressure

Adapted from Thats English