TERM 4 WEEK 1 LESSON 3-4

Task: Look at the sentences with underlined words/phrases. You have to predict the meaning of
words/phrases from the context.
1. After becoming disillusioned with consumer society, Mark Boyle decided to live without spending cash.
2. I suppose the seeds of my decision to give up money were sown seven years ago, in my final semester of a
business degree in Ireland, when I stumbled upon a DVD about Ghandi.
3. I believe the key reason for so many problems in the world today is the fact that we no longer directly have
to see the repercussions of our actions.
4. As long as money exists, the specific symptoms will purely persist.
5. I got myself a caravan, parked it up on an organic farm where I was volunteering and kitted it out not to
use normal electricity.
6. I’d use wood I either cut or scavenged to heat my humble home; cooking would be on a rocket stove.
7. There are four legs to the food-for-free table: foraging wild food, growing your own, bartering, and using
waste food of which there is loads.
8. Finding stuff that’s been thrown away takes far more longer than popping out to the shops to buy one, and
sorting out the toiler is a hassle.
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Word/phrase Definition/synonym
Disillusioned disappointed and unhappy
Stumble upon to discover something by chance, or to meet someone by chance
Repercussion the effect that an action, event, or decision has on something, especially a bad effect
To persist continue to exist
To kit smth out to supply smth/smbd with the clothes or equipment that are needed for a particular purpose
To scavenge to look for or get food or other objects in other people's rubbish
Humble poor; ordinary; not special or very important
To forage to go from place to place searching for things that you can eat or use
To barter to exchange goods for other things rather than for money
To pop out inf to go quickly somewhere
A hassle a situation causing difficulty or trouble
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Reading tasks
Task 1: Read the text paying attention to the gaps and match the phrases with the paragraph.

1. of which there is loads 5. in a so-called 'living' room

2. than using motorised vehicles 6. as we do today
3. for one year initially 7. and other stuff
4. The trouble was 8. around my kitchen

Task 2: Read the text again and answer the questions

◦ What events and ideas made Mark decide to 'give up money'?
◦ How did he learn so much about nature?
◦ In what four ways did he get food?
◦ How did he keep it?
◦ What effect has living without money had on his friendships?

Task 3: Work in pairs and discuss the questions

1) Do you think Mark is happier now than before? Why and why not?
2) How easy do you think it would be for you not to spend any money for 24 hours?
Reading text
Is it possible to live without spending any cash whatsoever? After becoming disillusioned with consumer
society, Mark Boyle decided to give it a try.
I suppose the seeds of my decision to give up money were sown seven years ago, in my final semester of a
business degree in Ireland, when I stumbled upon a DVD about Ghandi. He said we should ‘be the change we
want to see in the world’. A ____, I hadn’t the faintest idea what change I wanted to be back then. I spent the
next five years managing organic food companies, but by 2007, I realised that even ‘ethical business’ would
never be quite enough.
I believe the key reason for so many problems in the world today is the fact that we no longer directly have to
see the repercussions of our actions. The degrees of separation between the consumer and the consumed have
increased so much that people are completely unaware of the levels of destruction and suffering involved in
the production of the food B____________ we buy. The tool that has enabled this disconnection is money.
If we grew our own food, we wouldn’t waste as third of it C___________. If we made our own tables and
chairs, we wouldn’t throw them out the moment we changed the interior décor. If we had to clean our own
drinking water, we wouldn’t waste it so freely. As long as money exists, these symptoms will purely persist.
So, I decided last November to give it up, D_____ and reconnect directly with the things I use and consume.
I got myself a caravan, parked it up on an organic farm where I was volunteering and kitted it out not to use
normal electricity. Mobile and laptop would run on solar energy; I’d use wood I either cut or scavenged to
heat my humble home; cooking would be on a rocket stove. You can’t use the rocket stove indoors, so this
meant that for the next 12 months, I was going to have to cook outside. I was a touch overwhelmed by the
thought of cooking in the snow, rain and northerly winds of a British winter. But, surprisingly, it has become
one of the joys of my life. While using the stove, I watched the moon rise in winter and the sunset in summer
in the time it took to prepare my evening meal. Birds in the trees E ________ became my new source of
music. If I still lived in my old house, I wouldn’t have learned so much about nature and wildlife.
Food was the next essential. There are four legs to the food-for-free table: foraging wild food, growing your
own, bartering, and using waste food. F ___________. Most of the year I ate my own crops.
What I soon realised is that, in a moneyless world, everything takes much more time. Hand-washing my
clothes in a sink of cold water, using laundry liquid made by boiling up some nuts on my rocket stove, can
take two hours, instead of ten minutes using a washing machine. Finding stuff that’s been thrown away – like
the steamer I cook with - takes far more longer than popping out to the shops to buy one, and sorting out the
toiler is a hassle.
Cycling 55-kilometre round trip to the nearest big town also takes a lot more time and energy than driving or
catching the bus or train, but it’s also an economical alternative to my old gym subscription, and I find cycling
much more enjoyable G _____________.
The point is, I’d much rather use my time making my own bread outdoors than kill it watching some reality
TV show H______________ .Where money once provided me with my primary sense of security, now I find
it in friends and the local community. Some of my closest friends are people I only met because I had to build
real relationships with others based on trust and kindness. If I hadn’t given up money, I would still have
friendships based on it.

Writing task
You are going to give a talk to your class about Mark Boyle, the moneyless man. Prepare some notes to use as
the basis of your talk. Make short notes under each heading.
Why Mark chose to live without money:
• ...............................................................................................................
• ...............................................................................................................
How Mark avoided using money:
• ...............................................................................................................
• ...............................................................................................................
What Mark learned from living without money:
• ...............................................................................................................
• ...............................................................................................................
• ...............................................................................................................

Imagine that you have given your talk to your class. Now your teacher has asked you to follow this up with a
summary for the school newspaper.
Look at your notes above. Using the ideas in your notes, write a short summary about Mark Boyle, the
moneyless man.
Your summary should be about 70 words long (and no more than 80 words long). You should use your
own words as far as possible.