Waste workers help find binned €1m lottery ticket
Waste workers help winner find binned €1m lottery ticket in Italy
- Level
- A2
- Estimated time
- 30–40 minutes
- Reading
- 1 min read
The story
A lottery player in southern Italy accidentally binned a winning ticket worth €1m after a shop told them the slip was "non-payable". The person only realised the mistake when a relative pointed out the numbers they always played had been drawn.
The mistake started a two-day search through a mountain of waste collected by a bin lorry. The refuse company located the truck before its contents were compacted. "This story is nothing short of miraculous," said Roberto Nicola Toscano, the head of the company. Workers are searching the truck at a special site. They are cheering as they are looking through the mountain of waste.
Finally, after two days, a waste worker found the small ticket inside a hole-ridden bag with other damaged tickets. It was one of the few intact ones. The cost of the recovery operation is set to be charged to the winner, who had signed a declaration to pay the search costs.
As a joke, Toscano and his colleagues bought a scratch card and they won €50. The small prize made everyone smile after the long search.
Key vocabulary
- lottery
- A game where people buy tickets to try to win money.
- ticket
- A small piece of paper that can win money in a game.
- binned
- Thrown away into a bin or trash.
- waste
- Things people throw away.
- worker
- A person who does a job, for example with waste collection.
- search
- An action to look for something carefully.
- found
- Past form of 'find'; to discover something you were looking for.
- prize
- Money or something you win in a game.
Comprehension check
Write your answer, reveal the model answer, then score yourself honestly.
1. Where did the player bin the winning ticket?
2. How long did the search through the waste take?
3. Who located the truck before its contents were compacted?
4. Where was the winning ticket found?
5. Who will pay the recovery cost for the search?
Grammar focus
Present continuous
Use the present continuous (is/are + -ing) to describe actions happening now or around now.
- Workers are searching the truck at a special site.
- They are cheering as they are looking through the mountain of waste.
Grammar exercise
Complete each sentence with the present continuous form of the verb in brackets.
1. Right now, the worker ___ (search) the truck.
2. Now, the workers ___ (cheer) loudly.
3. This morning, the worker ___ (find) the ticket.
4. Today, the colleagues ___ (buy) a joke scratch card.
5. At the moment, the player ___ (realise) the mistake.
Discussion
For reflection or speaking practice — not graded.
- Would you check a ticket at home or at the shop? Why?
- How can shops and waste teams help to avoid similar mistakes?
- Do you think the company should charge the winner for the recovery? Why or why not?
- Have you ever had a small lucky moment after a problem? Describe it.