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rsBN 978-0- 5?1 -683?7 -?

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Cambridge English Readers

Starter Level

Series

editor: Philip Prowse

Whm a Lottery!
Colin (lurnpbcll

F. CaUBRTDGE
Qp uwnreRstry PRESS

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY

PRESS

Cambridge, New Yok, Melbourne, Madrid,, CapeTown, Singapore,So paulo, Delhj

Contents

Camb ridge Universiry Press

Tle Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK

wwwcambridge.org
Information on rlris tile: w.cambridge. orgl 97 80521 683272

O Cambridge Universiry

Press

Chapter
Ohaptcr
Ohartcr
( )haptcr
( lhartcr

2006

'Ihis publication is in copyright. Srrbjccr to stilrr()ry t xr r'rr iorr

ard ro thc provisions ofrclcvrnt t:ollu tivc litcrrsirrg ilg(\'rr( nt\,

no reproduction

ofrny rrrt

nr.ry t,rlit rl.rtt rvitlrorrt rlr, rvirr,

pertnission ol Carrrbritlgc Ilrrivcrsity l'rcss.

3rd printing 2008

Colin Canrpbell hx assetcd his right to be idenrified as the Aurhor of the $flork in
accordance wih the Copyright, Design and l'atents Act 1988.
Prined in rhe United Kingdom at he Universiry Press, Cambridge

Illustrations by Hannah lfebb

record

for

this publication is nailttble Jrom the British

Buying a lottery ticket

Shc's leaving home
\Tinning the lottery

10

'lhc

18

'li'rr in.s to (

2
3

( )lrartcr 6

F'irst published 2006

A catalogue

Libmry

ISBN 978-0-521 -68327 -2 paperback

ISBN 978-0-521 -68328-9 paperback plus audio CL) prck
No chaacte in this work is based on any person living or dcad.
Any resemblance to an actual person or situarion is purcly accirlcnral.

Chaptcr 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9

trxi

illsgow?
l{it li stops:t tlxi
( ioorl[ryc, lottcry ticlict
Where am l? Who am i?
It's like winning the lottery!

r4
20
22

26
29
32

Chapter

Bryting a lottery ticket

'Can I help you?' the shop assisrant esl<s l{ick. I{ick looks
at the man, but he can't hear him.
'Sorry?' fuck says.
The shop assistant writes something and givcs ir to l{ick.
It says: TURN YOUR MUSIC OFF!
'Sorr' Rick says. He rurns off his music. 'Can I have a
lottery ticket, please?'

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Rick Drummond is going to buy a lottery ticket.

He's

walking down the srreet and listening to music. The music

is very loud. fuck is singing as he listens. He walks inro an
ice-cream shop.

-!tr {"F*
47
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People

in the story

Places

in the story

Rick plays the guitar and writes songs

sc0TtA il D

M"ry

is fuckk wife

Barry Green is running from the police

iletRllD
Sarah is a singer

iilrllingfodo

,F

The shop assisranr smiles. 'This is an ice-cream shop,' hc

says. '\7e dont sell lottery rickers.'
'But I always btry rny lorrery tickct here, From Mr l(ran.
'Where
is he?'says Rick.

'Mr

Khan's shop is nexr door and he sells lottery tickets,'

the shop assistant says slowly.

'Ah, I ve gor the wrong shop. Stupid me!' says Rick.

''Well,' asks the shop assistanr, 'do you want to buy an icecream?'

'No, thank you,'

you.'

says

Rick. 'lce-cream is bad for me.

See

'W'hy? \What do you do?' thc sl-ror assistant asks.

Rick turns and smiles at the man. 'I play the guitar and I
write songs. I m going to be a famous rocl< srar onc clay.'
fuck leaves the shop. He's singing a new song.
'It's an ice-cream shop, bab
You cant buy a lottery ticket here,

Itt

an ice-cream shop,

bab

No lottery tickets here.'

The shop assistant watches him. 'He cant sing and he writes

stupid songs. He isnt going to be a rock star!' He laughs.

Chapter

She?s

leauing home

'No, I'm in China,' Mary answers from the bedroom.

Rick doesnt hear her. He's looking for his guitar. Rick
it. He loves his guitar.
'I've got a new song, Mary. Do you want to hear it?' he

smiles when he sees

asl<s.

Rick buys a lottery ricket from Mr Khan and goes back to

his house. Het trying to think of the nexr words for his icccream song.

says.

l{icl< walks into thc bedroom. He doesn'r see the very big
in thc mic{dlc of the room.

stritr:rrsc

'He Mar I'm home!Are

":":--::l-

'No!' Mary

yor-r hcrc?' hc shorrrs.

*'?J

!l

[ ,1]
'i

,,f

fii.::'

10

l1

Mary closes the suitcase. Then Rick sees it for the first rime .
'lH'ey, Mxy, where are we going? Are we going on

Rick is looking at his guitar and thinl<ing.

'fue you listening to me?' Mary asks him.

holiday? Cool!' Ricl< says.

Mary looks at him sadly.

'No, we're not going on holida' she says. 'We are not
going anywhere. I'm going to my sistert in Glasgow. You
I'm leaving you.'
'Leaving? \(/hen?' fuck asks.
'\/hen?'Why don't you ask me why?' Mary says.
'OK thert. \fhy?' Rick asks.
'I can't live with you, Rick. You're going nowhere.' Mary
looks at a photo of Rick by the bed. 'You see this?' she asks.
'This photo is ten years old. Look at you. The same Rick

are not going anywhere.

'You write your stupid songs and lruy your lottery tickets
and wait. \fhat are you waiting for? Do sorne thing!'

'\(/hat are you waiting for? That's a good name for

song.' He gets his guitar and starts to play.

'Rick!' Mary takes her suitcase and walks to the front

door. She turns and looks at Rick. 'I ve got a song for you''
leavinghome, goodbye''
'Thatt a Beatles song, isn't it?' fuck asks.
Mary opens the door and leaves.

She sings,' I m

no changes.

12

l3

Chapter

Winning the lottery

It's Saturday evening, twenty-four hours late and fuck is

still sitting in his flat. His guitar is on the floor and his head
is in his hands. The television is on, but Rick isn't watching
it. He's thinking about Mary. '\fhat am I going to do?'
He takes his guitar and starts to pla but then stops
again.

Rick looks at the television. 'Number sixreen. Number

rwenty-three.' It's the lottery. Rick says rhe numbers after
the man. 'Sixteen, wenry-three. I ve got those numbers.'

fuck loola for his lottery ticket.

'Number forry-one. Number six. Number ninereen.
Number forty-nine. And here are the numbers again.'
Rick finds his ticket. He looks at the numbers on his
ticket and at the numbers on the television. He's got all the
numbers!

i{nd
t4

the winner tonight gets eight

l5

million poundsl'

'Mary! Mary!'Rick says. 'Come here. Quick!' He forgets

'I'm
she isnt there. For a minure he's sad. Then he thinks,
rich. We're rich. I can buy anything. I can play my music
and I can be famous. And Mary can ... Mary's going to be
h"ppy.'
He looks at the ticket again and laughs' Then he sits
down. There's a loud noise - he's sitting on his guitar'

'Oh no! My guitar! My beautiful guitar! I "'' Then he

thinks of the money. 'I can buy lots of guitars now' I must
tell Mary.'
He goes to the phone to call her. Then he stops and
thinks, 'I can't tell her on the phone! That's not right' But
how am I going to tell her?'

He sits down, on the guitar again. There's the same

loud noise. Rick doesn't hear it. 'I know. I can write her a
ncw song now. I can go to Glasgow and sing it outside her
wirr..low. Now that's c<ol!'

17

Chapter 4

The

taxi

It's late and it's dark. Barry Green is walking down the street.
The police are looking for him. He must ger away quickly.

Then a taxi comes down the seet. But Barry hasnt got any
money and he can'r rake a raxi. The taxi srops ar a petrol
station and the driver puts petrol into the taxi. Then he goes

into the shop. Barry walks across the streer and looks in the
taxi.

The keys are still in the car and the taxi driver is still in
the shop.

'It's my lucky

da' Barry thinks. He

drives away.
18

19

gets

into the taxi and

Chapter

TVains to Glasgow?

It's ten o'clock. Rick is srill in his flat. He's very happy. He
has a new song and he's going ro see M^ry.Everything is
going to be OK.
'\Vait,' he thinks. 'How am I going ro ger to Glasgow?,
He picks up the phone.

.:3\i.**':

;::'

)'",s',

'Hello,' fuck says. '\X/hen is the next train to Glasgow?'

'From where?' a woman asks.
'From here,' Rick says.
'tVheret here?' the woman asks again.
' From \Wallingford,' Rick answers.
fuck hears the woman on a computer.
'Do you live in \fallingford, sir?' she asks.
'Yes. \lhy do you ask?' fuck answers.
'Theret no train station in'll'allingford,' she says.
'Oh yeah, you're right. \hat about planes?' asks Rick.
Therek no answer.
21

--

Chapter 6 Rick sto?s a taxi

'\lhat

It's midnight. Rick wants to go to Glasgow but docsn't

know how to get there. It's late and there are no tt'ains or

do youwant?' Barry asks.

'I'm going to Glasgow,' fuck says.
'Luclcyyoul F{ave a nice time. Goodbye,' Barry answers.
'No, you dont understand. I want you to take me. This
is a taxi, isnt it?' fuck doesnt take taxis very often. Then he
smiles. 'Look,' he says, 'it says "Taxi".'

buses. He leaves his flat. 'Ihen he sees a taxi.

'Taxi! Stop!'fuck runs in front o[tllc trtxi rtrtrl it ,t,,,s.

The driver is Barry Green and he looks vcry ilrlgry.

X.

'I

know it's a taxi,' says Barry, 'but I'm not working

tonight.' Then Barry thinks, 'l havent got any money.'
22

23

rc
'OK,'he says, 'I can rake you ro Glasgow, but itt going to
be a lot of money. It's five hundred kilometres to Glasgow.
That's going to be five hundred pounds.'

fuck smiles. 'Five hundred, five thousand,' he says. 'That's

nothing. I ve got the winning lottery ticket.' fuck has the
ticket in his hand. 'I'm going to get eight million pounds
for this ticket!' Rick gets into the taxi.

Barry looks at the ticket in Rickt hand. He looks at the

date. It's todayb date. He looks at the numbers and then he
lobks at fuck's face.

'I dont

see a name on the ticket,' Barry says.

Rick laughs. 'There arent any names on lottery tickets.'

'How do they know it's your lottery ticket then?' Barry

asks.

fuck laughs again. 'You dont know much about lotteries,

do you?' he says. 'I ve got the ticket - it's my money. Easy.'
Barry smiles. 'Eight million? You're a lucky man,' he says.

24

25

Chapter

Goodrya /otery ricet

..

Barry turns to fuck. '\7e're coming to a caf. Do you

want a coffee?' he asks.

'No, I dont,' Rick says. 'I play music and write songs.
And that's what I'm going to do, all da every diy. And
I'm going to buy my wife a ...' Rick stops and thinks. 'lin
going to buy my wife a ... That's funny. I don't know what

'No, thanks,' fuck answers. 'l only drink tea.'

'Good.' Barry smiles. '\7e can have tea.'
They stop and go into the cafe. 'Sit down,' Barry says,
'and give me some money. I can get the drinks.'
Am I buying your tea too?' fuck asks.
'You're rich, remember?' Barry says.
Rick gives Barry the money and Barry goes to buy the
drinks. Rick sits at the table and takes out the lottery ticket.
Barly cornes back with thc tca. He sees the ticket in Rick's

she wants.'

hancl ancl srnilcs.

Barry isni listening. Het thinking about the eight million

pounds.

Barry puts the tea down fast on the table. The hot tea
goes on to the table, and on to Rick, and on to the ticket.

26

27

'I'm never going to wok again,'fuck tells Barry.

'Do you work now?' Barry asks.

'Ow!'shouts Rick. 'Ir's hot. And it's all over rhe ticket.'
'Give the ticket to nre!' shouts Barry and tries to take the

Chapter

Where am I? Who am I?

ticket. But it's wct with tea. Now Rick has half the ticket
andBarry has halfl
'Give me your half of the ticket!' Barry shouts.
'The ticket is no good now,' Rick answers. 'Theret tea on
it and you can't read the numbers. And there are two halves.
Goodbye, lottery ticket. Goodbye, eight million pounds.'
'\X{hat!' Barry shouts. Then he hears a noise and hid face
goes white. There's a police car outside the cafe. Barry turns
and runs to the door. Rick gets up and runs after him.
'Stopl' Rick shouts, but he forgets about the tea. Crash!
fuck falls and his head hits the table.

'\fhere am I?' asks Rick. He looks at the young woman and

asks, Am I dead?'
'No, you're in a cafe.'
'And who are you?'
'I'm Sarah. \X/ho are you? .Vhat are you doing
floor?'

on the

'I'm ...' Rick thinks for a minute. He cant remember

his

name. He cant remember anything. 'I can'r remember my

name. I cant remember an1'thing,' he says.
28

') ()

'Look

in your pockets,'

Sarah says. ,Maybe

you,ve got
withyour name on ft.,
Rrck looks. ,No, rh1e,s
nothing. Vlait aminure ,
... He
rakes somerhing from
/ri, .ortpo.f.r
gr,., it to rhe girl.
Ir's
somerlring

,'You

rrl

photo ofRick playingnr,

grrr;^play the guitarl,t"; r";-:Crrr

asks. She gives

him a guirar.

rou play this?,she

Rick takes the guirar and starrs

to play. Very well.
'\flow, you're good!'
Sarah says. ,y;;l; very
good.,
Rick smiles and

s,op' Sarah
;6;;;;,T":'i,i
;:
J;:p!
'Sorry?' Rick

shorts,^

asks.

'I'm a singer and im

g::".g.. sing tomorrow. Bur my
guitar player isn'r
coming.

H.il."l,inr1r..

,r<l you wanr

ro
playwith me?'
Rick thinks for a minure. .Well,
I don,t know my name,
clon'r know who I
or whcre I'm going'

come and

I
s/h,'rcircyorri"gr"jl
'lrr (il.rsgow,'
says

so wh1'not?

.Sar.ah.

'Glasgow?'says

Rick. He thinks for a minure.

Are you From Clasgow?'
Sarah asks.
'I don' kro*,'Rick
answers.

30

3l

,{'*

Clralrtcr

,l

I like winning

the lottery!

l{icl< and his new friend walk out of the cafe. They look very
h"ppy. Sarah turns and smiles.

'Arent I lucky?' she says. 'My guitar player leaves me and

I find you in a caf!'
A police car drives by. Rick and Sarah dont see Barry in
the back of the car.
'Yes,' says Rick. 'I'm luclcy too. It's like winning the

lottery!'

Sarah and Rick play in Glasgow. Everyone loves them'

'They love us!' Sarah shouts to Rick. And who's that

woman there? Is she a friend?'
'No,' Rick answers. 'I dont know her.'

32