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EXPLOREReading
10 What possible problems could people have with the supply of gas to their home?
Make a list.

11 Read the email and answer the questions.

1 Is the problem in the story on your list from Exercise 10?
2 Was the problem easy to solve?
3 This story was popular on the Internet. Do you think it is true? If not, why not?

James Machin

Marcin Dabrowski

FWD: This is a true story!

1 Some years ago, an Australian man received a bill for his unused gas line stating that he
owed $0.00. He ignored it and threw it away. The next month he received another bill
and threw that one away too.
2 The following month the gas company sent him a note stating they were going to
cancel his gas line if he didn’t send them $0.00 by return mail. He called them, and they
said it was a computer error and they would take care of it.
3 The month after that he decided to try out the gas line, figuring that if there was usage
on the account it would put an end to this ridiculous predicament. However, when he
went to use the gas, it had been cut off.
4 He called the gas company, who apologised for the computer error once again and said
that they would deal with it. The next day he got a bill for $0.00, stating that payment
was now overdue. Assuming that the latest bill was yet another mistake, he ignored it,
trusting that the company would sort the problem out.

5 A month later he got a bill for $0.00. This bill also stated that he had 10 days to pay his
account or the company would have to take steps to recover the debt.
6 Finally, giving in, he thought he would beat the company at their own game and mailed
them a cheque for $0.00. The computer processed his account and returned a statement
to the effect that he now owed the gas company nothing.

7 A week later, his bank manager called and asked him what he was doing writing a cheque
for $0.00. After a lengthy explanation the bank manager replied that the $0.00 cheque had
caused their cheque-processing software to fail. The bank could therefore not process ANY
cheques they had received from ANY of their customers that day.
8 The following month the man received a letter from the gas company claiming that his
cheque had bounced and that he now owed them $0.00 and unless he sent a cheque
by return mail they would take immediate steps to recover the debt.
9 At this point, the man decided to file a debt harassment claim against the gas company. It
took him nearly two hours to convince the clerks at the local courthouse that he was not
joking. The matter was heard in the nearby Magistrates’ Court and the gas company was
ordered to pay the claimant’s court costs and a total of $1,500 per month as compensation
for the aggravation they had caused their client to suffer.

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12 Put the events about the man in the story in order. Then read the story again to check.

a He tried to use his gas line.

b His bank didn’t pay the money on the cheque.
c The gas company turned off the gas to his house.
d He took legal action against the gas company.
e He sent a cheque to the gas company.
f He received a first gas bill for $0.00.
g His cheque made the bank’s computers crash.
h He first phoned the gas company.

13 Find four expressions in the story that mean the same as ‘solve the problem’.
1
2
3
4

14 Find words in the story to complete these definitions.

1 A is an unpleasant situation which is difficult to get out of.

Over to you
Have you ever had
a problem like the
one described in the
story? If so, what
was it? Was it easy or
difficult to solve?
(Paragraph 3)
2 If a gas company cancels your line, they your gas. (Paragraph 3)
3 If something is late, it is . (Paragraph 4)
4 If you owe money, you are in . (Paragraph 5)
5 A is a printed record of the money put into and removed from an
account. (Paragraph 6)
6 If a bank doesn’t pay the money on a cheque, the cheque has .
(Paragraph 8)
7 If you take legal action against somebody in court, you a
. (Paragraph 9)
8 Behaviour that is repeated and which annoys or threatens someone is
. (Paragraph 9)

GLOSSARY
figure (verb): to expect or think that something will happen
usage (noun): the amount of something that has been used
beat somebody at their own game (expression): to use to your own advantage the methods by which someone else has tried
to defeat you
aggravation (noun): trouble or difficulty

For more practice, go to Unit 2 of the Self-study DVD-ROM. 13