BBC Learning English
Words in the News
30th September 2011
US$130,000 left in toilet for quake victims
A mysterious donor has left more than US$130,000 in a toilet in a Japanese city hall. Written
instructions said the money should be used to help victims of March's earthquake and tsunami.
From Tokyo our Japan correspondent Roland Buerk reports.
The money was found in a plastic shopping bag, in a public toilet of the City Hall in Sakado,
part of the commuter sprawl that surrounds Tokyo.
There was 10 million yen, wrapped up in neat bundles of notes, the equivalent of more than
US$130,000.
A handwritten message had been left with the cash and read: "I am all alone. Please let the
people of Tohoku use it."
Tohoku is the northern region of Japan hit by the earthquake and tsunami in March.
City officials said the anonymous donor has slipped in and out unnoticed. If the money is
not reclaimed within three months, they're planning to give it to the Japanese Red Cross.
Japan's great disaster brought out striking generosity and honesty in its people.
The equivalent of US$50 million in cash picked up in the disaster zone has been turned in to
the police. Another US$30 million dollars was recovered from safes found amid the rubble.
Roland Buerk, BBC News
Words in the News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2011
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Vocabulary and definitions
the commuter sprawl the large and growing suburbs of a city from which people
travel to work
wrapped up folded and arranged neatly
bundles of notes an amount of paper money tied up together in blocks
the anonymous donor the unidentified person who left the gift
slipped in entered a room quietly
reclaimed asked to be returned to the person to whom it belongs
striking noticeable, impressive
turned in has been taken to the police to be looked after
recovered found and collected
safes box made of reinforced metal to store valuables
More on this story:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15110090
Read and listen to the story and the vocabulary online:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2011/09/110930_witn_donation.shtml
Words in the News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2011
Page 2 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com