Then Carol knocked on the door. She lived in the apartment downstairs. She was holding a bag of pretzels and a worn copy of American English File 1 . “I saw the truck hit the pole. I figured you guys were dying of boredom.”
“No bars,” she whispered. “Rob? Does your phone have service?”
They played the game for an hour. They made silly guesses. Rob pretended to be the detective with a terrible British accent. Carol laughed so hard she spilled her soda. Jenny forgot about her test. american english file 1 third edition
“The panic,” Jenny said, “is that I can’t do my online grammar exercises. I can’t listen to the File 9 listening track—‘What time does the train leave?’ I can’t even check the meaning of ‘borrow’ vs. ‘lend.’ I’m going to fail.”
“Turn it off,” she said.
“Turn the Wi-Fi off. Just for one more hour.”
They sat in a circle on the floor—Jenny, Rob, Jake, and Carol. The rain hit the window. The room was quiet except for the sound of the F train in the distance. Then Carol knocked on the door
Would you like a worksheet, comprehension questions, or a role-play activity based on this story?
Jake reached behind the TV and unplugged the router. “I saw the truck hit the pole
“That’s not true,” Jenny said. But she smiled a little.