Reading

My Brief Career as a Fortune Teller in Prague

How not to make friends in the Czech Republic

Last week I was short of money. What to do? Being an American with a belief in self-reliance and the free market system, I started a new career. I bought a crystal ball, put a sign in my front window and became a fortune-teller. I thought I could earn some money and meet a few interesting people at the same time. 
My first customer was a Czech railroad man, who was proud of the years he had spent working for the railroad. I listened carefully to what he said, because a successful fortune-teller has to give his customers what they want. I made my predictions accordingly.
"The Czech railroads will run on time," I said, gazing intently into my crystal ball. "Your passengers will be very satisfied."
My customer was very dissatisfied.
"Correct English usage would be that the Czech railroads RUN on time," he answered. "Present simple with future meaning is correct, because our railroads always run according to our timetables. Our passengers will not BE satisfied. Our passengers ARE ALWAYS satisfied. This is a repeated action or situation and we use the present simple here too."
"Well, excuse me," I replied, "A prediction is made with use of will, a helping verb. I just so happen to be a native speaker and I know."
"I may not be a native speaker," the railroad man told me, "but like everyone else in the Czech Republic, I'm learning English. I'm going to start a new course shortly."
"Have you signed up for the new course yet?" I asked.
"No, I'm thinking about signing up sometime soon," he told me.
"Good. In that case you can use 'going to start.' You have an intention. Once you have signed up, you can say 'I'm starting a new course soon.' Then you will have made arrangements," I explained. I'm so happy to help people with their English. I often do it for free without even being asked.
"You are not going to make any friends in the Czech Republic if you constantly correct people's English," the railroad man said. "You are not going to have any customers as a fortune-teller."
I promptly corrected him. "You must use will to make a prediction," I said.
"Not if I base it on present evidence," he answered.

Questions

Choose the best explanations…
  1. The customer says railroad passengers are satisfied. This is: 
  2. The fortune-teller's problem is that: 
  3. The difference between "I'm going to do" and "I'm doing" is:
  4. The customer tells her she isn't going to have friends or customers. Why? 
  5. The customer is dissatisfied because: 
Are the following statements about the article correct?

1.   "I am going to Asia" indicates arrangements have been made.

2.   The present simple expresses future events which happen regularly.

3.   English generally uses will to express the future.

4.   "I'm going to go to Asia" indicates intention.

5.   Predictions about the future must use the helping verb will.