Chapter Two The storm passed. The students hoped to. ‘A few days later, Felix, Elvira, Vassily, and Murph stood together on a quiet street 4 few blocks from their school. In front of them was a small two-story building with a sign over the door: MacGuFFIN ACADEMY OF Docmonocy. Below the main sign was a smaller one that read “We help you prep — with SHLEP!” Their parents had signed them up for summer SAT lessons, and today was the first day of class. They were scheduled to meet with the director for a welcoming chat. “This place looks weird,” said Felix. “It’s supposed to be good,” said Elvira. “whatever, as long as I get into Harvard,” said Vassily. Murph looked at the sign and said, “Docimology: the art of testing.” The others looked at him curiously. “What? I like words,” said Murph. Together they went up 2 short series of steps to the front door and rang the bell. The door buzzed, and they went in. Inside, they found themselves in a simple room with sparse decoration, just a few plants and posters of college campuses. Next to the front door was a plaque commemorating “Ten Years of Quality Test Prep.” There were a couple of office doors, which were closed, and a staircase leading to the upper floor. One of the doors had a panel on it that said “Mr. MacGuffin.” “That must be the director’s office,” whispered Felix to Elvira. . . Along one side of the room was a desk with a water cooler at one end. Behind the desk sat a young man with curly hair wearing 4 white shirt and a tie. He had a nametag on.that said “Abe, Administrator.” . 11 Scanned with CamScanner WTESTED “Hi,” said Abe. “Welcome to MacGuffin Academy. Let me get your names and I'll tell Mr. MacGuffin that you're here.” Abe took out some forms and pencils and put them on the desk in front of him. To make room, he:had to push aside a large rubber snake. The snake had beady plastic eyes and a goofy expression. Abe picked up the snake, shook its head in the direction of the four kids, and said, “Hiss!” Everyone just looked at him. “That stands for Helping Inspire Student Success,” said Abe. “Get it? Snake? Hiss? ... Anyway, fill these forms in.” Felix, Elvira, Vassily, and Murph took the forms. Using pencil and paper to register instead of a computer felt a little anachronistic, as if they were in a school from thirty years ago. But they did as they were asked and handed the forms back to Abe. He glanced at them briefly, then got up, walled around the desk, and knocked on Mr. MacGuffin’s office door. A voice inside told him to come in. A minute or so went by, then Abe emerged and said, “You can go in now.” The four students walked into Mr. MacGuffin’s office. The room seemed surprisingly voluminous, larger than they had expected. The walls were covered with the awards and accolades Mr. MacGuffin had received over the years; he seemed to be a highly respected teacher. Mr. MacGuffin himself sat at his desk. He was a middle-aged man with thinning hair and a bit of a belly, but his expression was full of humor and youthful charm. He looked briefly through the student forms Abe had given him, then put them aside and smiled at the students. “Welcome, welcome! Have a seat, all of you. I see you've met Abe and Jake the Fake Snake. I couldn't run this place without them. I'm so glad you've made the decision to begin studying with us during your summer respite from ‘school. You won't regret it — you'll find ‘that working with our teachers can really help you bolster your SAT scores. In fact, interest in our courses has been burgeoning in the last weeks; we almost have to turn people away, we'vé become so popular. Can I get you some tea?” The students nodded. Mr. MacGuffin | 12 Scanned with CamScannerpart ONE + Chapter THO pressed a button on his desk and said, “Janis, can you bring up four cups of tea? Thanks.” “The sign outside says, ‘We help you Prep — with SHLEP, said Murph. “What is SHLEP?” . “What is ‘Murph?” asked Mr. MacGuffin with a smile. “| use it instead of Aletheophilus Francis Xavier McMurphy- Wouldn't you?” “Wonderful!” Mr. MacGuffin sat back in his chair. “SHLEP is our school methodology. It stands for Standardized Help in Learning Exam Protocols. We developed it here ourselves over years of patient, unswerving dedication to creating the best possible method of study for the SAT. A diverse group of students — rich and poor, lazy and ambitious, bright and not so bright — has passed through this school over many years, and we have had consistently excellent results using SHLEP.” There was a knock on the door, and a woman with long hair entered carrying a tray of tea glasses. She silently placed them on Mr. MacGuffin’s desk and slipped back out. “That’s Janis,” said Mr. MacGuffin. “She just started here recently, Quiet, but efficient.” : : The students took their teacups and drank. After a moment, vassily asked, “Can you help me get a perfect score?” At this, the other students rolled their eyes, but Mr. MacGuffin said, “Don’t mock the ardor of your friend here — a passion for success is important. Sure, we can help you get your score up, but don’t forget that it’s not just the scores on paper that universities look at; they also consider intangible factors like attitude and sense of purpose.” « don’t want a perfect score, but I just can’t get math and science,” said Elvira. “you'll be working with Boyle, our math and science expert. He’s a great teacher; there isn’t a mathematical theorem or law of physics that he can’t elucidate for you.” Felix said, “How about English? I need to do well on the SAT Reading and Writing sections, but T also have trouble in my English class at school.” a 13 Scanned with CamScanner \1sPART «ONE = Chapter Two pressed a button on his desk and said, “Janis, can you bring up four cups of tea? Thanks.” “The sign outside says, ‘We help you prep — with SHLEP,” said Murph. “What is SHLEP?” . “What is ‘Murph’?” asked Mr. MacGuffin with a smile. “I use it instead of Aletheophilus Francis Xavier McMurphy. Wouldn't you?” “Wonderful!” Mr. MacGuffin sat back in his chair. “SHLEP is our school methodology. It stands for Standardized Help in Learning Exam Protocols. We developed it here ourselves over years of patient, unswerving dedication to creating the best possible method of study for the SAT. A diverse group of students ~ rich and poor, lazy and ambitious, bright and not so bright — has passed through this school over many years, and we have had consistesttly excellent results using SHLEP.” ‘There was a knock on the door, and a woman with long hair entered carrying a tray of tea glasses. She silently placed them on Mr. MacGuffin’s desk and slipped back out. “That's Janis,” said Mr. MacGuffin. “She just started here recently, Quiet, but efficient.” . 3 The students took their teacups and drank. After a moment, vassily asked, “Can you help me get a perfect: score?” ‘At this, the other students rolled their eyes, but Mr. MacGuffin said, “Don't mock the ardor of your friend here — a passion for success is important. Sure, we can help you get your score up, but don’t forget that it’s not just the scores on paper that universities look at; they also consider intangible factors like attitude and sense of purpose.” “| don’t want a perfect score, but I just can’t get math and science,” said Elvira. “you'll be working with Boyle, our math and science expert. He’s a great teacher; thére isn’t a mathematical theorem or law of physics that he can’t elucidate for you.” . Felix said, “How about English? I need to do well on the SAT Reading and Writing sections, but I also have trouble in my English class at school.” . fas 14 Scanned with CamScannerPART ONE + Chapter Two Words Used in Chapter Two Word Pronunciation Definition _Synonymi(s)_ sparse (adj) spars ‘scattered; not dense dispersed; meager ‘commemorate(v) ko'memarert to celebrate or ‘celebrate; recognize the memorialize importance of something's memory anachronistic (adj) 9, nackro‘nistk ‘chronologically outof = - place voluminous (adj) va'luzminas big; roomy; vast ‘abundant; spacious accolade (n) “eekolerd anexpression of praise praise; award respite (n) “respit ‘pause of interval ‘break; hiatus bolster (v) “boulster to support reinforce ‘burgeon (v) “barrdgon ‘to increase rapidly flourish ing (adj) an'swa:rvig steadfast; constant; dedicated unswerving (adj) on diverse (adj) dar'vaits ‘iffering from one different; ‘nother various i v) 'sistontli fing the same over regularly; ‘consistently (adv) ‘kon'sistontli sn _ ardor (n) ‘ardor intense feeling passion i 5 ‘tendgob! ‘unableto be sensed impalpable intangible (adj) tm’ tendo ina et ae matter elucidate (v) Tlussident ‘to make clear explain genre (n) “garnro type ofart or literature kind; sort pervasive (adj) por'versiv extensive; far-reaching widespread is au Scanned with CamScanner