At College

Dearest Daddy-Long-Legs, I have some awful news to tell you, but I won’t begin with it. I’ll try to get you in a good humor first. I am an author now. A poem entitled “From My Tower” appears in the February Monthly on the first page, which is a very great honor for a freshman.

I will send you a copy in case you care to read it. Let me see if I can’t think of something else pleasant. — Oh, yes. I am learning to skate, and can glide quite respectably all by myself. Also I’ve learned how to slide down a rope from the roof of the gymnasium. This is a sunny winter afternoon, with icicles dripping from the fir trees and all the world bending under a weight of snow — expect me, and I’m bending under a weight of sorrow. Are you surely in a good humor? I flunked mathematics and Latin prose. I am tutoring in them, and will take another examination next month. I’m sorry if you are disappointed, but otherwise I don’t care a bit, for now I know such a lot of things not mentioned in the catalogue. I’ve read seventeen novels and a lot of poetry — really necessary novels like “Vanity Fair”, and “Alice in Wonderland”. So you see, Daddy, I’m much more intelligent than if I’d just learnt only Latin. Will you forgive me this once if I promise never to flunk again?

Yours truly, Judy

Exercises

1. Find in the text the English equivalents of:

  • Առաջին կուրսի ուսանող — Freshman
  • Լավ տրամադրություն ունենալ — to (be) get in a good humor
  • Կռանալ ծանրության տակ — bending under a weight
  • Հուսահատված լինել — To be disappointed
  • Պատշաճորեն /կարգին/ — respectably
  • Մարմնամարզական դահլիճ — a gymnasium
  • Կաթել — to drip
  • Սարսափելի լուր — awful news
  • Մեծ պատիվ — a great honor
  • Սահել — to glide
  • Այլապես — otherwise
  • Տապալել /չհանձնել/ — to flunk
  • Ինչ համար բոլորովին միևնույնն է — I don’t care a bit
  • Վերնագրել — to title

2. Give the three forms of the verbs.

  • lean — leaned — leaned
  • bend — bent — bent
  • learn — learnt — learnt
  • forgive — forgave — forgiven
  • begin — began — begun
  • grow — grew — grown
  • spell — spelt (spelled) — spelt (spelled)
  • rise — rose — risen
  • mean — meant — meant
  • blow — blew — blown
  • fly — flew — flown
  • cast — cast — cast
  • weep — wept — wept
  • make — made — made
  • steal — stole — stolen
  • slide — slid — slid