139
30
35
40
45
50
to raise money. People could buy one square of the field for £1 each. Then the
farmer let his cow walk across the field. Whoever
bought the square where
the cow dropped its first
“
cow patty
” won a prize. Surprisingly, the majority
of people who go on the adventure tours end up
collecting more than
the minimum money that the
charity asks for.
Some people see a problem with this system
of raising money for charities. They think that it is
wrong for part of the money that people collect to
be used to pay for someone’s holiday. However,
charities try to keep the
overall
cost of the tours low so that at least 60 or 70
percent of the money which is raised goes to the charity.
One charity said, “We
expect to make an average profit of £50,000 per trip.” This charity
typically
runs between ten to fifteen tours each year.
Do people really want to spend their holiday doing something like bicycling
for 400 kilometers when they could be resting on a beach? These tours are
not
for everybody
. But the people who sign up for them all
agree that it is a great
experience.
After hiking across the
Namib Desert
, a young construction worker from
London cried as he hugged all of the other people who had been on the tour with
him. Everyone cried. Most of them never thought that
they could take part in an
adventure like that. They had not only finished a difficult hike, but they had
done it for someone else, for the charity.
Reading Time
_______ minutes _______
seconds
554 words
30
cow patty --- a pile of cow dung
38
overall --- general; including everything
40
typically --- commonly; usually
43
not for everybody --- not suitable
or appealing for all people
46
Namib Desert --- a very dry area in Southwest Africa
