Words and Their Stories: Money, Part 1
04 December 2010
Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
I think people everywhere dream about having lots of money. I know I do. I would give anything to
make money hand over fist.
I would like to earn large amounts of money. You could win a large amount of money in the United States through
lotteries
. People pay money for tickets with numbers. If your combination of numbers is chosen, you win a huge amount of money – often in the millions. Winning the lottery is
a windfall
.
A few years ago, my friend Al won the lottery. It changed his life. He did not have a rich family. He was not
born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
Instead, my friend was always
hard up
for cash. He did not have much money. And the money he did earn was
chicken feed
– very little.
Sometimes Al even had to accept
hand-outs,
gifts from his family and friends. But do not get me wrong. My friend was not a
deadbeat.
He was not the kind of person who never paid the money he owed. He simply
pinched pennies.
He was always very careful with the money he spent. In fact, he was often a
cheapskate.
He did not like to spend money. The worst times were when he was
flat broke
and had no money at all.
One day, Al
scraped together
a few dollars for a lottery ticket. He thought he would never
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