Reading

1. | GW. Read the text and discuss reasons for charity giving your own opinions.

• What reasons does Paul Newman give for donating to charity?
• What are some reasons why people donate money?
• What kinds of people or organizations get contributions? Why?
Charity and Investment

Actor Paul Newman began acting in 1953 and appeared in more than fifty films in his lifetime. He won an Oscar for best actor in 1986 for the Colour of Money. In 1993, Newman received a special Oscar for humanitarian service. These two awards reflect his dual success as an actor and a philanthropist. In 1982, Newman and his friend, A.E. Hotchner, founded Newman’s Own, a not-for-profit food products company. The company’s first product was a salad dressing* that Newman and Hotchner made at home themselves. Newman was told that the salad dressing would be sold only if his face was on the label. Though he didn’t want to call attention to himself, Newman agreed because he planned to donate all profits to charity. The salad dressing was a big success: in the first year, Newman contributed approximately $ 1,000,000 to charitable organizations. Newman’s Own expanded, and the company made many other food products. Every year Newman donated 100% of the profits from the sale of Newman’s Own products to thousands of educational and charity organizations. And since Paul Newman’s death in 2008, Newman’s Own Inc. has continued this practice and has donated more than $ 295 million to charities in the USA and 31 other countries around the world.

To Paul Newman, generosity was simply a human trait, a commonsense way of living. “I respect generosity in people. I don’t look at it as philanthropy. I see it as an investment in the community. I am not a professional philanthropist,” said Newman. “I’m not running for sainthood. I just happen to think that in life we need to be a little like the farmer who puts back into the soil what he takes out.”

Paul Newman, the actor and philanthropist
2. PW. Match the halves and build up sentences using them
a) attention
b) a special Oscar
c) sainthood
d) generosity
e) a million dollars
f) success
1. to run for
2. to donate
3. to call
4. to reflect
5. to win
6. to respect
*salad dressing - a sauce for salads typically one consisting of oil and vinegar with herbs or other flavourings