Dominic Williams is 19 years old. Like many students of his age, he has decided to take a year off between school and university. But whereas most of his friends are travelling abroad or working for a year Dominic has chosen to raise money for medical charities. Since he started three months ago, Dominic has sent 22,000 letters to companies, celebrities and politicians, asking each to donate 5 pounds.
Most of the government ministers he has contacted have sent him back cheques. Only two ministers declined to make a donation. Instead of sending him money, they sent him letters wishing him well.
At the moment, Dominic is concentrating on sending letters to car dealers and accountants. By the end of the month he will have contacted almost every company in his local area arid thousands more elsewhere. After twelve months, he will have written about 250,000 letters. “I’m asking for 5 pounds because I thought it would be hard for people to say “No” to that. “I’ve only got 30,000 pounds so far. So I’ve got to speed up”, says Dominic.
What Dominic really needs is a mailing machine. It would help him put stamps on the envelopes and then he could send out letters more quickly. He also wants a picture of himself with the Prime Minister. “Then I could send the picture to other Members of Parliament, and that would improve my chances of getting more donations.” Dominic says he is doing it for medical research, to improve the lives of children with incurable diseases.
Слова:
to raise — зд. собирать, добывать
whereas — в то время как
charity — благотворительность.
celebrity — знаменитость
to decline — зд. отклонять,отвергать
to donate — преподнести в качестве дара, передать в дар, пожертвовать
donation — дар,пожертвование
to make a donation — преподнести в дар, пожертвовать
accountant — бухгалтер
mailing machine — машина для автоматического наклеивания марок
incurable — неизлечимый
