Do you dream of winning the lottery(彩票)? Well now you can without paying ￡2 for a ticket each time! FreePostcodeLottery. com was created when founder, Chris Holbrook, came up with the idea of “postcode lottery”．
It offers you the chance to enter into a daily draw(抽签) when you register(注册) on the site with your postcode and email address. That’s all; you can participate without paying. They never sell data so your email is safe. All you’ll get is an email reminding you each day to check the site to see if you’ve won. Every day at noon there is a main prize draw which starts at ￡500. The site publishes the winning postcode and if it’s your postcode up there, you have 24 hours to claim(索要) your prize. If no one claims the prize then it rolls over to the next day until it is claimed.
What’s the catch? You might be wondering how they can give away money for free. Well, the ads, offers and surveys on the site pay for the prizes. The fact you have to go back each day to check if you have won the lottery creates page impressions and clicks for the advertisers. It’s a similar model to a free newspaper, but instead of paying for journalists and printing Chris pays for prizes and hosting costs.
Chris says, “I created FreePostcodeLottery. com to drag the lottery industry into the Internet－age where customers expect to participate free of charge. Not only has it grown to a successful business, but we are able to delight in the information we get from winners.” Winning can make your day and Chris has shared several of his customers’ stories, including emails sent by an 85－year－old man who bought presents for his young grandchildren with his winnings.
【解题导语】 本文是一篇说明文。Chris Holbrook突发奇想，创立了成员可免费参与抽奖的网站，把彩票带入了互联网时代。
1．What will happen if you fail to claim your prize within 24 hours?
A．You will lose the prize.
B．You will have to wait another day.
C．The site will remind you by email.
D．The prize will wait until your claiming.
A 解析：细节理解题。根据第二段的最后两句可知，中奖人必须在24小时之内领奖，过期后奖金自动滚入第二天的奖池。
2．What is Paragraph 3 mainly about?
A．The contents of the site.
B．The site’s financial sources.
C．The lottery’s expected value.
D．The advantages of the lottery.
B 解析：段落大意题。根据第三段内容可知，本段介绍了彩民在该网站无需花钱即可参加抽奖的原因，即网站的资金来源。
3．Which of the following contributed to the creation of the postcode lottery?
A．Chris’ interest in charity.
B．The safe environment of email.
C．The development of the Internet.
D．The faults of the traditional lottery.
C 解析：推理判断题。根据最后一段的第一句可知，Chris创建了邮编彩票网址，将彩票业带入了互联网时代，从而人们可以免费参与。由此可推断是互联网的发展使得免费的邮编彩票成为可能。
4．Which of the following is TRUE about the postcode lottery?
A．It causes no trouble in the use of it.
B．It brings profits to advertisers directly.
C．Its prizes go up with page impressions.
D．It is a win－win for Chris and its winners.
D 解析：推理判断题。根据最后一段中的Not only has it grown to a successful business...Winning can make your day和中奖老人的事例说明，邮编彩票给Chris带来了事业的成功，也给获奖者带来了奖金，这是双赢的局面。
