Why do you think someone who is very rich would not buy new shoes?

Do you know anyone who is very careful with money? Describe them.

Alan Naiman was known for being very careful with his money. His way of saving money was also very humorous. But his closest friends did not know about how much money he had saved and how kind he really was.  

The Washington state social worker died of cancer this year at age 63.  He left $11 million estate to children's charities that help the poor, sick, disabled and those with no parents.

The amount baffled those people who received his kindness and his best friends. People are praising him one year after he died.  

That's because the Seattle man fixed his shoes with duct tape. And he looked for deals at the grocery store deli at closing time and took his best friends out to lunch at fast-food restaurants.

He died unmarried and with no children. He loved kids but also was very private. He would save very hard, invest and work in extra jobs to collect money that he almost never spent on himself after seeing how unfair life could be for some children, his friends say.

They believe a lifelong devotion to his older brother who had a handicap had an effect on his own life. His brother died in 2013, the same year Naiman spent money on a sports car – but it was not an expensive sports car.

He had been a banker but for the last 20 years worked at the state Department of Social and Health Services. He earned US$67,234 a year and also took on side jobs, sometimes working as many as three jobs.

He saved and invested enough to make several millions of dollars and also inherited millions more from his parents, said a friend from his banking days.

He was thrilled when he finally qualified for retirement age discount. Naiman bought his clothes from the grocery store. He loved cars, but for the most of his life, drove old cars and seemed to enjoy being alone and saving money for solo road trips, friends say.

After Naiman died, Karan realized how little he knew of the other things about his longtime friend's life.

"I don't know if he was lonely. I think he was a loner,'' Karan said.

Many of the organizations benefiting from Naiman's gifts said they didn't know him, though they had crossed paths.

He left $2.5m to the Pediatric Interim Care Center, a private organization in Washington state that cares for babies born to mothers addicted to drugs. The group used some of what was its largest donation ever to pay off a large loan and buy a new vehicle to transport the 200 babies it accepts from hospitals each year.

Naiman had called the centre about a newborn baby while working for the state more than ten years ago, and its founder, Barbara Drennen, showed up in the middle of the night to get the baby.

"We would never dream that something like this would happen to us. I wish very much that I could have met him. I would have loved to have had him see the babies he's protecting,'' Drennen said.

Naiman gave $900,000 to the Treehouse foster care organization. He told them that he cared for a child and had brought kids in his care to the group's popular warehouse, where wards (wards are children with no parents that the government cares for) of the state can chose toys and things they needed for free.

Treehouse is using Naiman's money to expand its college and career counseling.

"The frugality that he lived through, that he committed to in his life, was for this,'' said Jessica Ross, Treehouse's chief development officer. "It's really a gift to all of us to see that pure philanthropy and love.''

Try to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest meaning from the choices in the right. Some of the answers are very close and have similar meaning. The meaning of these words is how they are used in the reading. Some of these words have different meanings in the dictionary depending on how they are used.

 The answers are below the table.

A=7, B=1, C=8, D=2, E=4, F=3, G=6, H=5

Some example sentences using the new words or phrases from the meaning of how they are used in the reading to help you understand better.

1. The missing Malaysian Airlines airplane has baffled everybody.

2. It is more important to be devoted to your dream and work hard than to be only smart.

3. I inherited a lot of money from my parents after they died.

4. We were thrilled when our team won the championship.

5. We crossed paths again 25 years after we were in high school together.

6. It is important to show up to work on time.

7. Students need to be frugal to pay for their living at university.

8. Bill and Melinda Gates (Microsoft) are famous philanthropists.

Some questions using the new words/phrases. Try to use the words/phrases in your answer.

1. What other people do you know (or heard of) of who are baffling? Describe them.

2. How important is it to be devoted to something if you want to succeed?

3. What things about you have you inherited from your parents?

4. What things thrill you?

5. Who would you like to cross paths with? What would you ask him/her?

6. In your culture, what should you bring to a house party when you show up?

7. How do you feel about frugality?

8. Why do you think some people are big philanthropists?