Reading skills. Form 11.

Контрольна робота "Читання"

Learning Experience

  My name is Jerry and I am a college student at Syracuse University. I am in my sophomore year and I am studying Business Administration. I like college so far and I’ve had mostly good experiences. One issue I did have last year was my roommate situation. I didn’t get along with him at all. It made for an interesting year.

  David Cohen was who I was assigned to live with my freshman year. Most colleges select your first year roommate for you. I guess it is part of the experience. Luckily, during the years that follow, students can pick their own person to live with. I could write an entire book about the things that bothered me about David, but spending that much time thinking about it is probably not a good idea. One major thing about David that I won’t forget is that he was always on his cell phone. In the freshman year dorms students are provided with a land line. Students of course bring their own cell phones, but the land lines were provided.   David was a fast talking, pushy and self-centered. He was always blabbing on his phone loudly at all hours of the night. Sometimes he would have his cell phone in one ear and the land line in the other. He eventually got a hands free device for his cell phone to make it easier. He would pace around the room shouting into both phones. It drove me crazy.

  By November of that year David’s parents realized that he was talking too much. His dad got the cell phone bill and it was astronomical. During the month of October David had run up a $400 bill. The total airtime used was 1400 minutes. This was way over his allotted minutes. His dad was furious. He limited David’s phone right away. They had a Family plan and it allowed the family members to talk to each other for free. David was now only able to call his mother or father. He was crushed for a little while, but he was back in action within a week. David sold all of his books and dropped a few classes. This gave him some cash to work with. He went out and bought his own cell phone. So his dad wouldn’t find out, he got a prepaid plan with another service provider. His late night talking started up again. I couldn’t get any sleep. Of course I asked him to quiet down, and not talk on the phone after 10, but he didn’t listen. 

  Eventually, David ran out of minutes on his pre-paid phone. He didn’t have any money left so he couldn’t get another. At this point I had thrown away the phone for the land line. I had my own cell phone and he couldn’t use it. The semester was coming to an end. David hadn’t done much school work at all so he failed out. The college wouldn’t let him come back.  During the spring semester I was assigned a new roommate. It worked out. This new guy was quiet and spent most of his time studying. I was in heaven! I guess that first semester was a learning experience for me. I’m just glad it is over!

1. Read the text below. Choose the best answer (A, B, C, D) to questions 1-6.

2. Write T (true) or F (false) to to questions 7-12.