Reading
Your Account is $23 Quadrillion Overdrawn!
Before you start reading, study the following vocabulary:
stunned
bank statement
national debt
overdraft fee
outrageous
to purchase
to contemplate
A technical problem left some Visa prepaid cardholders stunned and horrified to see a $23,148,855,308,184,500 charge on their statements. That's about 2,007 times the size of the American national debt.
Josh Muszynski, 22, of Manchester, New Hampshire, was one of those Visa customers who were shocked when they found the 17-digit charge on their bills. In addition to that, Mr Muszynski was hit with a $15 overdraft fee. According to his statement, he spent the incredible sum in one pop at a nearby Mobil gas station – his regular stop for Camel cigarettes.
Mr Muszynski jumped in his car and drove quickly to the station. He asked the cashier to check the records. But there were no “outrageous” charges. Mr Muszynski wondered what he might possibly have asked to purchase for such an astronomical price. "Can I buy Europe on pump 4?"
He next called Bank of America, the issuer of his Visa prepaid debit card. The bank kept him on hold for two hours, during which time he contemplated the impossibly dark financial future that might await him. He also felt a stab of fear that all his unborn grandchildren – and their grandchildren – would have to live with a lifetime of debt. All down the generational line, nobody would have any money!
Finally, a bank representative told him that the $23 quadrillion charge – and the $15 overdraft fee – would be stricken from his account. In a statement, Visa said the incredible charges affected "fewer than 13,000 prepaid transactions" and resulted from a "temporary programming error at Visa Debit Processing Services”. The company assured customers that the problem has been fixed and that all falsely issued fees have been voided.
Questions
What do the following phrases mean?
- “The customers were STUNNED and HORRIFIED” means
- “OUTRAGEOUS charges” are
- “The charge was STRICKEN from his account” means
- “The bank kept him on hold” means
- “He also felt a stab of fear” means
Are the following statements about the text correct?
1. The problem resulted from a programming error.
2. The phone call to Bank of America was very short.
3. The technical problem affected all Visa prepaid cardholders.
4. The charge on some of the statements was the size of the American national debt.
5. Mr Muszynski was charged $23 quadrillion for a one-time purchase at a gas station.