BAN SMESI FROM LIFE

The!Student!Center
Eating!in!the!Student!Center!is!a!pleasant!experience.!First!the!food!is!
excellent.!It!is!well!prepared,!it!tastes!delicious,!and!there!are!many!different!kinds!
of!food!like!hamburgers,!tacos,!pizza,!and!chicken.!Moreover,!each!person!serves!his!
or!herself,!selecting!just!what!he!or!she!wants.!Second,!the!environment!in!the!
Student!Center!is!positive.!Many!happy!young!people!are!talking!and!laughing.!
However, the!atmosphere!is!still!calm;!it’s!possible!to!study!and!do!homework.!
Finally,!there!are!many!friendly!people!in!the!Student!Center.!Even!the!strangers!
say,!“Hi!” and!offer!to!share!their!tables.!When!that!happens,!practice!in!speaking!
English!and!friendship!often!follow.!For!these!reasons,!it!is!nice!to!go!to!the!student
center!cafeteria!once!in!a!while!to!enjoy the!eating,!studying,!and!talking!with!new!
people.
,Sergio!Pas!(Honduras),!Paragraph!Writing!
Paragraph'Example'2
My!Job!in!an!Apple!Plant
Working!in!an!apple!plant!was!the!worst!job!I!ever!had.!First!of!all,!the!work!
was!physically!hard.!For!ten!hours!a!night,!I!took!cartons!that!rolled!down!a!metal!
track!and!stacked!them!onto!wooden!stands!in a!tractor,trailer.!Each!carton!
contained!twenty,five!pounds!of!bottled!apple!juice,!and!they!came!down!the!track!
fast.!The!second!bad!feature!of!the!job!was!the!pay.!I!was!getting!the!minimum!wage!
at!that!time,!$3.25!an!hour.!I!had!to!work!over!sixty!hours!a!week!to!get!a!decent!
take,home!pay.!Finally,!I!hated!the!working!conditions.!We!were!limited!to!two!ten,
minute!breaks!and!an!unpaid!half!hour!for!lunch.!Most!of!my!time!was!spent!outside!
loading!dock!in!the!freezing!cold.!I!was!very!lonely!on!the!job!because!I!had!no!
interests!in!common!with!the!other!workers.!I!felt!this!isolation!especially!when!the!
production!line!shut!down!for!the!night,!and!I!spent!two!hours!by!myself!cleaning!
the!apple!vats.!The!vats!were!an!ugly!place!to!be!on!a!cold!morning,!and the!job!was!
a!bitter!one!to!have.!
“ English!Skills”!John!Langan
ESL!21B!!