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Why Me?, Part 1

Why Me?, Part 1
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   high interest, readability grades 4 to 6
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   1.79

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    dismal, responsibility, lousy, college, living, stalked, person, alright, difference, difficult, plan, although, though, decision, excuse, tone
     content words:    Dean Simmons

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Why Me?, Part 1
By Kathleen W. Redman 		  
1     Tom sauntered into the living room and sat down on the sofa. He propped his feet up on the coffee table although he knew his mother didn't like that. She was on the phone, so she couldn't say anything to him anyway. He wanted to talk to her about vacation.
 
2     "Hey, Mom!" he said. Mrs. Terry looked up but continued to listen to the person on the other end of the line.
 
3     "Mom," Tom said, "I need to talk to you. Could you hurry it up with that phone call?" Mrs. Terry held up her hand, asking Tom to wait just a bit.
 
4     "Mom!" Tom almost shouted. "Let's cut it short, okay? I have things to do here." Mrs. Terry look annoyed.
 
5     "I'm sorry," she said to the person on the phone. "I have to go now. I'll call you when we've made a decision."
 
6     Tom was suddenly interested in what had been said on the phone. He had plans for the summer, and he didn't want any surprises now. He had spent last summer in summer school, and it had been a dismal excuse for a vacation! He was going to make up for it this summer. He and Scott were going backpacking in Europe.
 
7     "So, Mom, what's up? Who was that on the phone, anyway? Make a decision about what?" Tom asked.
 
8     Mrs. Terry took a deep breath and said, "Tom, I wish you wouldn't interrupt me when I'm on the phone. It's a very thoughtless thing for you to do."

Paragraphs 9 to 19:
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