Man’s “entire life” for sale on eBay

BEFORE READING

1. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

1.	strange	a.	offers
2	whole	b.	curious
3.	attached	c.	plan
4.	fresh start	d.	prepared
5.	bids	e.	connected
6.	great	f.	unfilled
7.	willing	g.	entire
8.	potential	h.	fantastic
9.	intend	i.	new beginning
10.	available	j.	possible

People have sold many strange things on the Internet auction site eBay, but never a whole life - until now. Ian Usher, a 44-year-old British man is selling his “entire life”. This includes his three-bedroom house in Perth, Australia and all its contents, his job, hobbies, and even his friends. Mr Usher said: "Everything that I have - the furniture in the house - all has memories attached to it. It's time to [say out with] the old, and in with the new.” He explained he wanted to make a “clean break” and make a “fresh start” after splitting up with his wife. The bidding opened on June 22nd and within five hours, he had attracted 70 bids. The highest offer was just over $625,000, which is more than the half-a-million dollars he wanted. There is no telling how much the final offer will be when bidding closes on June 29th.


Friends of Mr Jones thought the auction was a great idea. They are all willing to be introduced to the highest bidder as a potential new friend. Joy Jones, who co-owns a store in Perth where Ian used to work, said: "When Ian came up with this idea, because we had seen him go through a break-up of marriage and pain and bits and pieces, I thought it was really exciting. We thought, why not give it a go?" Ian can’t wait for the sale of his life. He said: "I intend to walk out of my front door with my wallet in one pocket and my passport in the other, nothing else at all.” He has no idea what the future has in store for him. "My current thoughts are to…head to the airport and ask…where the next flight with an available seat goes to, and to get on that and see where life takes me from there," he said.

COMPREHENSION

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	A man is selling everything he has, including his friends, on eBay.	T / F
b.	He wants to start a new life after his marriage ended.	T / F
c.	The man is disappointed with the latest offer from an eBay bidder.	T / F
d.	The bidding will be open until the end of the year.	T / F
e.	The man’s friends thought he was mad and tried to talk him out of it.	T / F
f.	The man’s ex-employer told him to give up and go.	T / F
g.	The man has no idea where his life will take him next.	T / F
h.	The man will go to the airport and let fate decide where he’ll fly to.	T / F