Buying real estate. Quadrupling rents. Stacking up cash. And forcing other players into ruin. That's what playing Monopoly is all about. But it wasn't meant to be like that.
The board game's mostly forgotten inventor had the opposite in mind when she came up with the game's first version in 1904. She called it the Landlord's Game.
Elizabeth "Lizzie" Magie of Virginia was an artist, writer, and performer. She also spoke out against the oil, steel, and railroad monopolies in the United States. The Landlord's Game had a particular purpose: Magie wanted to show the dangers of just a handful of people collecting most of the wealth. Only a few businessmen got rich, while many others were poor.
Magie's square game board had nine spaces per side. Its corners were marked "Go to Jail" and "Public Park." Players moved around the board and could buy properties, collect rent, and pay rent. Sound familiar?
The Landlord's Game was first sold by a New York publisher. Then, people started copying the game. Sometimes they added different places to the boards. Copies of Magie's game multiplied and spread.
Historians say a man named Charles Darrow made a copy and called it Monopoly. In 1935, he sold his copy to Parker Brothers, a company that made games. Magie sold the Landlord's Game to Parker Brothers that same year for 500 U.S. dollars. That's equal to about $10,000 today.
But this amount was nothing compared to what Darrow made. Monopoly became an instant hit, selling more than 2 million copies in the first two years. Parker Brothers paid Darrow money every time the game was sold. He became a multimillionaire.
Meanwhile, the connection to Magie and the Landlord's Game were all but forgotten. Magie had hoped to teach players about the drawbacks of greed. But the game she invented became a race to get rich while driving the other players into poverty.
QUESTION 1
1 / 4
Suppose you were writing a summary of the article. Which would be most important to put in the summary?
Parker Brothers was a company that made board games.
The purpose of Magie's board game was all but forgotten.
The game of Monopoly is about making money.
Monopoly was a hit and Charles Darrow became a multimillionaire.
The purpose of Magie's board game was all but forgotten. Monopoly was a hit and Charles Darrow became a multimillionaire.
Think about the events below. Which happened first in the history of Magie's game?
Monopoly sold more than 2 million copies in the first two years.
Copies of the Landlord's Game multiplied and spread.
Parker Brothers bought the Landlord's Game for 500 U.S. dollars.
Charles Darrow sold a copy of the game to Parker Brothers.
Copies of the Landlord's Game multiplied and spread.
QUESTION 3
3 / 4
The article says:
Magie had hoped to teach players about the drawbacks of greed. But the game she invented became a race to get rich while driving the other players into poverty.
Which is the closest synonym for the word drawbacks?
problems
rules
sides
answers
problems
Which passage from the article best supports the idea that the popular game of Monopoly did not turn out the way Magie intended?
Magie's square game board had nine spaces per side. Its corners were marked "Go to Jail" and "Public Park."
Magie had hoped to teach players about the drawbacks of greed. But the game she invented became a race to get rich while driving the other players into poverty.
Parker Brothers paid Darrow money every time the game was sold. He became a multimillionaire.
Historians say a man named Charles Darrow made a copy and called it Monopoly.
The passage that best supports the idea that the popular game of Monopoly did not turn out the way Magie intended is:
"Magie had hoped to teach players about the drawbacks of greed. But the game she invented became a race to get rich while driving the other players into poverty."