8/12/2019 What a Lotery
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Cambridge English Readers Cambridge University Press 2009
www.cambridge.org/elt/readers PHOTOCOPIABLE
Worksheet
Answer KeyStarter Level
What a Lottery! Colin Campbell
Summary
Rick Drummond is a guitarist and songwriter who
lives in Wallingford, a town west of London. He is not
a successful rock star, but he wants to be one. Each
week he buys a lottery ticket in the hope of winning a
lot of money.
The story starts with Rick being so wrapped up in his
music, listening and singing, that he walks into an ice-
cream shop instead of the shop next door to buy his
weekly lottery ticket. When he gets home, he finds that
his wife Mary is leaving him and going to stay with her
sister in Glasgow. She thinks Rick is wasting his time,
and tells him hes done nothing except write stupid
songs for ten years.
Next evening Rick is sitting sadly alone at home, as
the lottery numbers are being picked on the television.
His numbers come up and he realises he has won
8 million. Hes so excited he sits down on his guitarand breaks
it, but then thinks it doesnt matter because
he can buy lots of new ones now. He also thinks the
money will help get Mary back, so he decides to write
her a song and go to Glasgow and sing it to her.
Outside we meet Barry Green, a criminal on the run
from the police. He needs to get away quickly, and
when a taxi driver leaves his taxi with the keys in at the
petrol pump while he goes inside to pay, Barry seizes
the opportunity and steals the car.
Rick is desperate to get to Glasgow, but there are notrains or
planes from Wallingford where he lives, and
so he goes out into the street and, by chance, flags
down Barry in the stolen taxi. At first Barry doesnt
want to take him, but then he realises he can make
a lot of money, so he asks Rick for 500 to go to
Glasgow. Rick says it doesnt matter, as hes just won
the lottery. He shows Barry the ticket, and Barry finds
out that there is no name on the ticket, so anyone
could claim the money ... !
They stop for tea at a caf, and Barry purposely spills
tea over Ricks hands, and then tries to grab the lottery
ticket he is holding. But the ticket is wet, the numbers
are illegible, and it tears in half. Just then a police
car appears outside the caf, so Barry runs out. Rickjumps up to
follow him, but slips on the tea on the
floor, falls down and hits his head on the table.
A girl called Sarah helps him, but Rick has lost his
memory. In searching through some documents to find
his name, he comes across a picture of him playing the
guitar. The girl is delighted and gives him her guitar,
which Rick starts playing. It turns out that Sarah is
a singer who has just lost her guitarist, so she asks
Rick to play with her at a concert in Glasgow the next
night. Barry Green is caught by the police and taken
away.
The concert is a great success, and the story closes
with Sarah and Rick on stage, while Sarah asks who a
woman waving from the audience is (its Mary). Rick
says he doesnt know her.
Before reading
1. It is a game of chance where you buy a ticket
and hope it will be chosen, or write numbers on
a ticket and hope they are the ones which areselected, so that
you win a lot of money.
2. aT,b F, c T, d F
3. aScotland,bLondon, cGlasgow, dWallingford
4. Possible answers:it is about a young man who
plays the guitar; he probably plays rock music
and he might be in a band.
8/12/2019 What a Lotery
2/2
Cambridge English Readers Cambridge University Press 2009
www.cambridge.org/elt/readers PHOTOCOPIABLE
Worksheet
Answer KeyStarter Level
What a Lottery! Colin Campbell
Check your reading
1. aHes walking down the street listening to loud
music and singing.
bBecause Rick is singing so loudly.
2. He goes into an ice-cream shop to buy a lottery
ticket.
3. He says that hes going to be a famous rock star.
4. He thinks Rick cant sing, he writes stupid songs
and he isnt going to be a rock star.
1. aF,bF, cT, dT, eF
2. Because she thinks his songs are stupid and hes
going nowhere. She wants him to do something
with his life.
1. c,e,a,d,b
2. b
3. Because he can buy lots of guitars with the
lottery money.
1. Because he is a criminal.
2. He puts petrol into his taxi, then he goesinto the shop.
3. Because the taxi driver is in the shop and
the keys are in the taxi, so he can drive the taxi
away.
4. Because there is no train station in Wallingford
where he lives.
1. aRick,bRick, cBarry, dBarry, eRick, fBarry,
gBarry
2. He wants to take it.
Chapter 1Chapter 1
Chapter 2Chapter 2
Chapter 3Chapter 3
Chapters 4 and 5Chapters 4 and 5
Chapter 6Chapter 6
1. At a caf to drink some tea.
2. Rick pays and Barry gets it.
3. He puts the tea down fast and it goes on to Rick
and the lottery ticket.
4. It gets wet so you cant read the numbers. Barry
tries to take it, but he only gets half.
5. Because he hears a police car.
6. The floor is wet with tea, so he falls over and hits
his head on the table.
1. aYes, he is.bIts Sarah. cNo, he doesnt. dYes,
he is. eYes, he can. fNo, she isnt. gYes, she is.
hYes, he is. iNo, she isnt.
2. Because he hit his head on the table when he fell
down.
1. Because her guitarist leaves her and she finds
another in a caf.
2. Barry Green
3. Because meeting Sarah in the caf was a chance,
like winning the lottery.
4. They love it.
5. Its Ricks wife, Mary.
6. No, he doesnt.
After reading
1. Mary thinks Rick isnt a good musician, but
when she sees him playing with Sarah in
Glasgow, she thinks hes good. Maybe she made
a mistake in leaving him.
2. He takes the taxi and he tries to take Ricks
lottery ticket.37. Students own answers.
8. aassistant,blottery, cticket, dstupid, esuitcase,fcomputer,
gmoney, hpolice, iguitar,jsinger
Chapter 7Chapter 7
Chapter 8Chapter 8
Chapter 9Chapter 9
