Reading
EVERYDAY PROBLEMS
Before you start reading, study the following vocabulary:
Closely
Replace
Simple
Occur
Sponge
Package
To be in a hurry
Frown
Mood
My everyday problems are closely connected with the continuous tenses of the English language. I am always running out of something or other. That means I have to replace it. Life would be very simple if I could just go to the store and buy what I need. My problems occur because stores are always running out of things too.
I am always trying to buy something that I can't find anywhere.
For example, I have been looking for sponges for several weeks now. Of course, the stores have sponges, but they are all too big. What has happened to the handy little sponges I have been using for years?
Today I ran out of brown rice. Naturally, I went straight to the store nearest my apartment. That is where I have been getting convenient packages of brown rice since I moved here. Just as naturally, they are not selling brown rice anymore. Now they only stock white rice. So I am going from store to store in Prague looking for brown rice in convenient packages. Either the stores do not have brown rice or they only sell it in huge, inconvenient packages that will not fit into my cupboards. I know at least one store in Prague must have what I want. I certainly have been trying to find that store.
If I had nothing to do but go to stores all day, I would not mind. I would go from store to store and never complain. The problem is that I can only shop on Saturday during workdays. On Saturday the stores are crowded. On workdays I'm on my way to or from work and in a hurry.
My friends know how unpleasant I can be if I don't find what I have been searching for. My frown and my bad mood warn them.
"Oh, you've been having shopping problems again, haven't you?" they say when we meet for coffee.
I have finally found a permanent solution to this problem. I have been reading about meditation. Through meditation I am going to learn to be above such things. I am going to forget about cleaning and I am going to cook whatever I can buy. My apartment may get dirty and my health may get damaged, but at least I will save time and not lose my friends.
Questions
Choose the correct explanations...
- Shopping is difficult because…
- What is the narrator going to do about her problems?
- The narrator's moods…
- Why does the narrator want small sponges?
- The narrator prefers brown rice because…
Are the following statements about the article correct?
1. She wants to buy small sponges because they are cheaper.
2. This article describes small problems.
3. The narrator has plenty of time for shopping.
4. The narrator says that there is no brown rice in Prague.
5. Friends are more important to the narrator than housekeeping.