【正文】 now that) ? Failing English Literature and Macroeconomics in the second semester sounded the alarm for me. This was the first time I did not pass a course in my life, which had greatly sapped my confidence. Although I was not a man who would easily bow to fate, as the summer break came to a close, I decided to give up economics for fear that I would fail in both subjects. Now that I had only one subject to attend to, everything seemed to be on the right track again. 。 e to a close。 given that。 try as … might。 (if you ask me。雖然我不是一個(gè)容易向命運(yùn)低頭的人，在暑假結(jié)束的時(shí)候，我還是決定放棄經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)，以免兩個(gè)專業(yè)都難以完成。因?yàn)榻?jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)需要良好的數(shù)學(xué)基礎(chǔ)，我不得不花大量時(shí)間鉆研數(shù)學(xué)，因而忽略了英語學(xué)習(xí)。無疑，我是班里最用功的學(xué)生。 8 Translate the paragraphs into English. ? 我認(rèn)為，選修第二專業(yè)并不適合每一位本科生。更可氣的是，不知從哪里冒出一個(gè)自作聰明的家伙冷不丁地給我打電話，問我要不要買養(yǎng)老金。這個(gè)地方什么東西都很貴！人人都想從我身上拿點(diǎn)錢去：國(guó)稅局要收個(gè)人所得稅，銀行經(jīng)理要我償清學(xué)生貸款，房東催我交房租、燃?xì)赓M(fèi)、水費(fèi)、電費(fèi)，手機(jī)賬單也不斷地寄來。20,000? (a) He found out it was her birthday and wanted to help. (b) He trusted her and thought it would help her. (c) He wanted her to leave the pub and work for him. (d) He was secretly in love with her. 5 .What did she do with the money? (a) She used it to pay for her course at the LSE. (b) She lost a lot of it in the 2022 stock market crash. (c ) She invested it and paid back Tony and other investors. (d) She used it to start her own business. 6. Why was Tony pleased when she repaid the loan? (a) He had had an accident and needed the money for a wheelchair. (b) It meant that he would be able to see her again. (c) It proved that he had been right to invest in her. (d) She paid back the loan with a lot of interest. ? 4 Match the words in the box with their definitions. amusing deduct demanding fortunately highlight loan sympathize 1. funny or entertaining (amusing) 2. used for emphasizing that something good has happened, especially because of good luck (fortunately) 3 an amount of money that a person, business or country borrows, usually from a bank (loan) 4. to take an amount or number from a total (deduct) 5. the most exciting, impressive, or interesting part of an event (highlight) 6. to show that you understand someone’s problems (sympathize) 7 .needing a lot of time, ability, and energy (demanding) 5 Complete the conversation with the correct form of the words in Activity 4. amusing deduct demanding fortunately highlight loan sympathize A After three years at university, I’m now quite heavily in debt. B I (1) __________ with you, I know what it’s like to have financial problems. But (2) __________ I didn’t need to take out a student (3) __________ when I was at university, because I had a parttime job. A What did you do? B I worked in a restaurant at weekends. sympathize fortunately loan amusing deduct demanding fortunately highlight loan sympathize A That must have been very (4) __________. B Yes, it was. I had to get the right balance between work and study. But the other people who worked there were good fun to be with, so it was quite (5) __________ too. The (6) __________ of the weekend was always Saturday night when we worked overtime. A But I don’t expect you made a lot of money? B No, there wasn’t much after they’d (7) __________ tax and pension contributions. But it was enough to keep me going. demanding amusing highlight deducted 6 Replace the underlined words with the correct form of the words in the box. You may need to make other changes. belongings dropout exceed gamble honesty odds thriving 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 d egree 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. belongings dropouts gamble 4 The money I spent at college was more than what I earned in my parttime 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. Our business has been thriving since we changed our advertising. 7 I think telling the truth and not cheating is always the best policy. Exercises belongings dropout exceed gamble honesty odds thriving exceeded odds thriving honesty 7 Answer the questions about the words and expressions. 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