文秋芳编
1 When I was at college I kept all my personal things in an old cupboard.
2 A lot of people who leave university before getting a degree end up in good jobs.
3 I think she‘ll get a good degree, but I wouldn‘t risk my money on the exact result.
4 The money I spent at college was more than what I earned in my part-time job.
5 The chances of my being offered a job after that interview must be quite remote.
6 Our business has done very well since we changed our advertising.
7 I think telling the truth and not cheating is always the best policy.
Key: (1) belongings (2) dropouts (3) gamble (4) exceeded (5) odds
(6) has thrived (7) honesty
1 If something is not all it’s cracked up to be, is it (a) valid and interesting, or (b) just a little bit disappointing?
2 If someone keeps banging on about something, are you likely to be (a) interested in, or (b) bored by what they say?
3 If there is a lot of hassle in your life, are you likely to feel (a) stressed, or (b) relaxed?
4 If something happens out of the blue, is it (a) unexpected, or (b) part of your plan?
5 If you say you ended up in a particular job, do you suggest that (a) you have fulfilled your ambition, or (b) it happened almost by chance?
6 Are the regulars in a pub (a) the customers who come very often, or (b) the food the pub offers most often?
7 If something is dead easy, is it (a) very easy, or (b) not easy at all?
8 If you treat someone to something, do you (a) buy something nice for them, or (b) behave badly to them?
9 If you cheer a place up, do you (a) make the place look brighter, or (b) make the people in the place happier?
Reading and interpreting
1 Twelve years at school and three years at university, teachers banging on about opportunities in the big wide world beyond our sheltered life as students, and what do I find?
This shows the informality of an incomplete sentence in the first part, the use of an informal
expression (banging on) and a rhetorical question to the reader (What do I find?)
2 Try as I might to stay cheerful, all I ever get is hassle, sometimes with people (especially boys, god, when will they grow up?) …
This has the use of an informal word (hassle), an informal exclamation (god) and a question to the reader (When will they grow up?)
3 Actually, I had my eye on the course at the London School of Economics (LSE).
Here there is a discourse marker typical of speech (Actually) and an informal phrase (had my eye on). 4 I kind of understand it, and not just because my degree is in economics.
Here ―kind of‖ is a sort of discourse marker of informal speech (showing something is general, vague or not definite).
5 I wanted something in finance and investments, because you know, maybe with a job like that, I