News-based English language activities from the global newspaper Page 

August 2009
Level ≥ Advanced
Style ≥ Individual or group activities
Welcome to the Guardian Weekly’s special news-based materials to support learners and teachers of
English. Each month, the Guardian Weekly newspaper selects topical news articles that can be used to
practise English language skills. The materials are graded for two levels: Advanced and Lower Intermediate.
These worksheets can be downloaded free from guardianweekly.co.uk/learningenglish/. You can also
find more advice for teachers and learners on the site
Materials prepared by Janet Hardy-Gould

How dreams of lottery millions can turn deadly

Champagne moment ... but sudden wealth can be harmful Visual Media

2 win the biggest money prize in a lottery etc.

Before reading 3 receive unexpectedly a sum of money
1 The article is about the consequences of winning 4 have only a small amount of money left
the lottery. Match these phrases from the text to the 5 eat or drink too much in an uncontrolled way
definitions.
a land the jackpot 2 Work with a partner. Answer the
b get a windfall questions.
c overdose on hedonism a What might be the positive consequences of
d binge on something winning the lottery?
e be down to your last $10 b What might be the negative consequences?
c Do you know any stories about lottery winners and
1 spend too much time following a life of pleasure the consequences of their win?
Share your ideas with the class. ≥2
News-based English language activities from the global newspaper Page 

August 2009

8 Dr Dorothy Rowe, a psychologist and author of

Article The Real Meaning of Money, said a sudden wind-
How lottery dreams can fall could worsen existing problems. “You’ve
got more money to spend on the things you like,
turn deadly which may be alcohol or cigarettes. When you
win a big prize, you don’t change as a person.”
1 Winning the lottery will make you happier, but
your life of luxury might be cut short. Excessive
9 Not all winners succumb to a party lifestyle. Ac-
partying, with too much smoking and drinking,
cording to an Ipsos Mori poll of national lottery
may cause long-term health problems for many
winners, 55% said they made a cup of tea when
who land the jackpot, research shows.
they realised they had won, while 11% opened
the champagne. The survey shows many win-
2 What economists call a “positive income shock”
ners consider themselves healthier after their
leads to better mental health, but it also triggers
win, with 27% losing weight and 17% playing
“worse lifestyles”. And the bigger the win, the
more sport.
riskier people’s behaviour.
Lucy Rock, Observer
3 “Lottery wins might not be good for your physi-
cal health because you party too much,” said
Andrew Clark, of the Paris School of Economics,
one of the researchers. “Winning big does indeed
improve mental health; however, we uncovered
counteracting health effects with respect to risky
behaviours. Those who win more, smoke more
and engage in more social drinking.” Glossary
4 The study used data on 8,000 people who won self-neglect (noun) not taking care of oneself
big-money prizes in the UK between 1994 and syndicate (noun) a group of people who join together
2005. to do something eg enter the lottery
rehab clinic (noun) a place where people go to find a
5 There are many examples of winners who have cure for their drink or drugs problem
succumb to something (verb) to fail to resist a tempta-
overdosed on hedonism. Englishman Phil
tion, illness etc
Kitchen drank himself to death after winning
$3m on the national lottery in 1999. At the time,
he was an unemployed carpenter. He moved to a
$800,000 country house but was soon bingeing
on whisky and died in 2002, aged 58. The cause
of death was given as self-neglect.

6 When Wayne Thompson won $200,000 through

his work syndicate in Bristol in 1999, his drinking
became out of control. When he was down to his
last $60,000, he came to his senses and checked
in to a rehab clinic.

7 “Most of the money has gone – but it was fun

while it lasted,” he told a newspaper in 2001.
“There are more important things than money.” ≥3
News-based English language activities from the global newspaper Page 

August 2009

2 Vocabulary from the article

While reading Find words from the first four paragraphs and photo
1 Read the first three paragraphs. caption to match the definitions. Put verbs in the
Put yes (Y) or no (N) next to these sentences. base form. Find the word that runs down through all
Researchers have found that lottery winners … the words.
a have an improvement in mental health. a having a lot of money
b usually have better physical health. b a sudden surprise
c can get long-term health difficulties. c a body of facts or information
d drink and smoke less when they win a big prize. d that will last over a long period of time
e do more drinking as a social e to make something happen suddenly
activity. f the study of a subject to find new information
about it
2 Read the rest of the article from paragraph four on- g to enjoy yourself by eating, drinking and dancing
wards. In which paragraph can you find the follow-
ing information? a
a The story of a man who started drinking but
found help for his problem. b
b The reasons why some winners have difficulties.
c The reactions of most lottery winners.
d Specific details about the size of the research. c
e The reflections of a winner on his experience.
f The story of the final years of a lottery winner’s d
life.
e
3 Work with a partner. Without looking at the text,
what can you remember about each paragraph de- f
scribed in exercise two? Then look back at the article
to check your ideas.
g

After reading
1 Word building. Use the words in brackets to make
new words to complete the summary.
(a) (research) have found that
winning the (b) (nation) lot-
tery can be (c) (harm) to your
health. It seems that some lottery
(d) (win) take part in
(e) (excess) partying and a
very big win can often lead to riskier
(f) (behave) such as heavy
drinking and smoking.
One (g) (psychology) believes
that a large windfall can (h)
(worse) people’s (i) (exist)
problems because they have more money to spend on
the things that they like such as cigarettes and alcohol.
≥4
News-based English language activities from the global newspaper Page 

August 2009

Activity — role play

Divide the class into groups A and B.
Group A Imagine you have won the lottery. Work alone
and make up the following details about your charac-
ter: age, job, family, social background, health, hobbies,
size of lottery win.

Group B You are a professional advisor to lottery win-

ners. Work together in a group with other B students
and discuss the best advice you could give to a jackpot
winner.

Students work together in pairs. Student A explains

all about their background. Student B listens care-
fully and then gives specific advice. Then students
swap partners but keep the same role. At the end,
group A gives feedback to the class – what was the
best advice they received?

2 a wealth b shock c data d long-term e trigger f research g party. Lottery

chologist h worsen i existing
1 a Researchers b national c harmful d winners e excessive f behaviour(s) g psy-
After reading

2a6b8c9d4e7f5
1aYbNcYdNeY
While reading

1a2b3c1d5e4
Before reading

Answers