Mystery Donors - Unit 9

B2 First · Multiple Matching · Ready for B2 First 4th Edition, Macmillan Education Limited

You are going to read an article about four anonymous donors. For questions 1–10, choose from the stories (A-D). The stories may be chosen more than once.

Book sculptures appear in Edinburgh's cultural centres

Over the course of a nine-month period, a total of ten sculptures, beautifully crafted from books, were left anonymously in various cultural buildings in the city of Edinburgh. Each was accompanied by a note, which included the words, 'In support of libraries, books, words, ideas and festivals'. Cutting up books may at first seem a rather strange way to show one's support for the written word, but there was unanimous approval of the intricate sculptures from all those lucky enough to view them when they were put on display. Each sculpture was carefully chosen: a dinosaur for the National Museum or a tiny cinema for the city's Filmhouse. Despite a strong suggestion in one of the notes that the person leaving the sculptures was a woman, journalists at a local newspaper said the donor was a man. They claimed they had discovered his identity, but kept it quiet, given that the general view was that he, or she, should remain anonymous.

Ambulance crews receive anonymous thank-you notes and cash

In the lead-up to the winter holiday period one year, paramedics in London and the adjoining county of Surrey began finding cards attached to their ambulances with words of thanks for their life-saving work, and up to £10 in cash. The thank-you notes and money may have been a response to recent abusive messages received by ambulance crews who had parked their vehicles in front of people's driveways while dealing with emergency calls. The professionally printed cards, believed to be the work of a local firm that wished to remain anonymous, told the paramedics 'YOU ARE AWESOME' and included the invitation: 'Coffee and doughnuts are on us today'. To their annoyance, however, the healthcare workers were told by their management to hand over any cash donations, as the ambulance service had 'strict rules and guidelines around the acceptance of monetary gifts'.

Mystery man gives out money in supermarket

When a man entered a supermarket in Tiverton, England, and began handing out envelopes to shoppers, the recipients were delighted. In each of the envelopes was a fifty-pound note, together with a message which read: 'I have recently been fortunate enough to come into quite a lot of money – more than I need for myself and my family. So I thought that I would share some of it with you.' Believing it to be part of a marketing promotion, one beneficiary nearly threw the blank envelope away. Another went to the bank to check that the note was genuine. The donor's identity remains unknown, in spite of the efforts of one national daily, which asked readers to get in contact if they knew who the mystery benefactor was.

Philanthropist donates millions to US universities

Donations to educational establishments are nothing unusual, but one year, no fewer than twenty universities in the United States received a total of over