TOKYO —
Fans bidding in a
charity online auction to buy a
teacup used once by pop diva Lady Gaga had offered more than four million yen
($50,000) by Tuesday, with five days left before the hammer falls.
The china cup and
saucer set was used by the star at a press conference in Tokyo three months
after the massive tsunami of March
last year swamped a large stretch of coastline.
Lady Gaga told
reporters at the time that she would auction the cup, marked with her
lipstick and bearing the Japanese message “We pray for Japan” along with the
star’s autograph.
All the money raised
will be used to help young Japanese artists who want to study in the United
States.
The cup was put on
“Yahoo! Japan Auctions” at midday Monday, with the starting price of one yen.
The auction is set to finish midnight Sunday.
By Tuesday morning,
more than 500 bids had been placed,
with the top offer at more than 4.1 million yen.
The quake-tsunami catastrophe killed some 19,000 people
on Japan’s northeast coast and sparked a nuclear accident, leading to a
plunge in visitors to the country.
The songstress visited Japan twice after
the disaster and called on tourists from around the world to follow suit.
She is due back in
Japan next week as part of an Asian tour.
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VOCABULARY
1.
Auction -
a public
meeting where land, buildings, paintings etc are sold to the person who offers
the most money for them
2.
Massive -
unusually large, powerful,
or damaging
3.
Placed - put something
somewhere, especially with care
4.
Catastrophe
- a terrible event in which
there is a lot of destruction, suffering, or death [= disaster]
5.
Songstress
- a female
singer (used in newspapers)
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1.
Talk about auction in your country.
2.
How is the process of bidding?
3.
Have you ever tried bidding on something or
going to an auction?
4.
What goods are usually auctioned in your country?
5.
What would you buy in an auction and why?
6.
How much would you spend just to get the item
that you like?
