School Modern Languages

LM-1246 Reading Comprehension

Journal Entry and Vocabulary Log
Professor`s name: Maureen Manley
Student`s name: Faride Picado

Date: May, 13, 2011

Bringing Down the House.

Kevin Lewis, student of MIT, Jason Fisher and Andrew Martinez are his friends,
and his roommates, that convinced him to gambling.
Andrew Martinez is more Asian than Latino.
Micky Rosa is the one who teach them how to count cards; he is in charge of all
of the gamblers.
They used to gambler on weekends.
They win a lot of money, that they had a lot luxurious things.
When any of them cheat in the casino, people of the casino get the cheaters to the
Back Room, and they ask questions and make them sign something to never come
back to the casino.
They have a system to carry the money that the win, and when Kevin had to carry
it, he felt so nervous, and he thought: “act casual, think casual, be casual”.
The first place where Kevin went to gambling was in Atlantic City, The
Holyfield.

   
Andrew Martinez was called Mr. Kim at the Casino. Dino Taratolli is the host/
body guard of Martinez.
Felicia MIT student, was majoring in engineering, was Kevin`s girlfriend.
Kianna Lam is a MIT student. She is also a gambler.
When they gambling they divided the team in three types of players:
 Spotters: The ones that have to find a good table with a hot deck, then they

have to call in either a Gorilla or a Big Player, and they never varying their

bet.

 Gorillas: The big bettors, Fisher were a Gorilla.

 Big Players: They have to act, count, and bet, Kevin was a Big Player.

They had a system to recognize how the game is.

They went to the MGM Grand.
Kevin Lewis had a dinner of the Thanks Giving Day, with his mother, father and his
two brothers.
Micky Rosa appears in the cover of the Plymouth Book (Agency by the
casinos to catch cheaters), because he is the biggest card counter.
The fight night they went to the MGM Grand, Las Vegas.
After his first weekend in Vegas, Kevin had bought a new stereo system and a
color TV, and his mother asked him where the money is coming from? And he tells
her that he took the money from the tree in the backyard.
They used to fly in the America West 69 neon express.
Kevin Lewis cheats it on Felicia, with a girl call Teri Pollack; Teri Pollack is a
cheerleader, and she was 22 years old.
    
They met Jill, she was a MIT student
also, and then she joined with them. Also they met Dylan, Jill`s husband, he also
joined with them.
Andrew Tay was a MIT student, and he was the newest gambler.
Kevin likes to swim on Sundays.
Then the team were divided in two: Amphibians and Reptiles.
 Amphibians: Fisher, Kianna, Micky Rosa, Martinez.

 Reptiles: Kevin, Dylan, Jill, Tay.

Andrew Tay the -newest and the largest- member of the team, became the
“Donkey Boy”.
Kevin hadn`t spoken to Teri in weeks. Since both of his last two trips to Vegas
had been cut short, he had not seen her in over a month.
Las Vegas is a place with casinos, strippers, gamblers and celebrities.
Kevin and his friends were kick out of the MGM Grand.
Some casinos passed around pictures of them, perhaps
through a PI firm such as Plymouth.
They could still gamble at a number of casinos: the MGM Grand, the Stardust,
Caesars, among others.
Because of these, they divided the team in two, amphibians and reptiles.
Fisher and Martinez started the new team.
They kick out Micky Rosa of the team.
Fisher wanted to kick out Kevin of Las Vegas.
Dylan and Jill were robbed.

   
Kevin and his old teammates had not spoken to Fisher in three years.
Kevin continues seeing Martinez.
Martinez and Fisher`s team still carried on their assault on Las Vegas from
A home base on the West Coast.
Jill and Dylan had gotten divorced six months after the robbery.
Jill had moved to Hartford, Connecticut, where she was a high-priced corporate
Consultant.
Dylan had a burgeoning advertising career in the South France.
Andrew Tay was still living in Boston, spending three nights a week at the frat
house.
Micky and Kianna were living together in Micky`s apartment, running a handful of
new teams out of MIT.

   

Vocabulary Log.
 Eager: (from the Bringing Down the house, page 7, paragraph 3, line 4)
A. A line of people had already formed by the check-in desk; boisterous,
drunk, mostly male, palpably eager.
B. Having or showing interest.
C. Adjective.
D. I am eager to learn English and French.

 Clenched: (from the Bringing Down the house, page 60, paragraph 1, line
3)
A. His teeth clenched together in an expression of pure violence.

B. To hold.

C. Verb.

D. Juan clenched his hands.

 Suing: (from the Bringing Down the house, page 66, paragraph 2,
line 4)
A. He tried suing, saying his constitutional rights were being
violated.
B. Legal proceeding against.

C. Verb.

D. She is aware that the institute will suing her.

 Ratios: (from the Bringing Down the house, page 96, paragraph 4,
line 1)
A. “Dad, counters don`t keep track of all the cards. It`s about ratios,
good cards to bad”
B. The relative magnitudes of two quantities.

C. Sustantive.

D. We are working at the capital ratio.

 Nailed: (from the Bringing Down the house, page 190, paragraph 3,
line 1)
 A. “I still don`t get how they nailed me”.

B. Incapable of being changed or move/ attach something.

C. Verb.

D. We nailed the boards into the wall.

 Grim: (from the Bringing Down the house, page 191, paragraph 2,
line 1)
A. “Now, this is a grim scene”.

B. Dark, somber, shadowy.

C. Adjective.

D. Your jokes are getting grim.

 Flourish: (from the Bringing Down the house, page 191, paragraph
4, line 1)
A. Fisher said, with a flourish.

B. Succeed, advance, do well.

C. Verb.

D. Their talents flourished.

 Cursed: (from the Bringing Down the house, page 204, paragraph 8,
line 1)
A. Suddenly, Dylan cursed from the backseat.

B. Deserving a curse; sometimes used as an intensifier.

C. Adjective.

D. I'll be cursed if I can see your reasoning.

 Jaw: (from the Bringing Down the house, page 206, paragraph 4,
line 4)
 A. He set his jaw.

B. Utter in a very loud voice.

C. Verb.

D. The men were sitting in the cafe and jaw a lot.

 Glare: (from the Bringing Down the house, page 207, paragraph 6,
line 2)

A. Kevin had to close his eyes against the glare.

B. Shine intensely.

C. Verb.

D. The sun glared down on us.