Computer programmer David Jones earns £35,000 a year by designing new computer games, yet he cannot find a bank prepared to let him have a cheque card. Instead, he has been told to wait another two years, until he is 18. The 16-year-old works for a small firm in Liverpool, where the problem of most young people of his age is finding a job. David's firm releases two new games for the expanding home computer market each month. But David's biggest headache is what to do with his money.
In spite of his salary, earned by inventing new programs within tight schedules, with bonus payments and profit-sharing, he cannot drive a car, take out a mortgage, or obtain credit cards. He lives with his parents in their council house in Liverpool, where his father is a bus driver. His company has to pay £150 a month in taxi fares to get him the five miles to work and back every day because David cannot drive. David got his job with the Liverpool-based company four months ago, a year after leaving school with six O-levels and working for a time in a computer shop. "I got the job because the people who run the firm knew I had already written some programs." he said. "I suppose £35,000 sounds a lot but actually that's being pessimistic. I hope it will come to more than that this year”. He spends some of his money on records and clothes, and gives his mother £20 a week. But most his spare time is spent working.
"Unfortunately, computing was not part of our studies at school," he said. "But I had been studying it in books and magazines for four years in my spare time. I knew what I wanted to do and never considered staying on at school”. Most people in this business are fairly young, anyway. David added: "I would like to earn a million and I suppose early retirement is a possibility. You never know when the market might disappear."
Question 1. How does David earn money?
A. by working as a taxi driver
B. by selling new programs
C. by designing new computer games
D. by running a small firm
Question 2. Why is David different from other young people at his age?
A. He earns an extremely high salary.
B. He is not unemployed.
C. He does not go out much.
D. He lives at home with his parents.
Question 3. David's greatest problem is_________.
A. making the banks treat him as an adult
B. inventing computer games
C. spending his salary
D. learning to drive
Question 4. He was employed by the company because__________
A. he had worked in a computer shop.
B. he had written some computer programs.
C. he works very hard.
D. he had learnt to use computers at school.
Question 5. He left school after taking O-levels because_____________
A. he did not enjoy school.
B. he wanted to work with computers and staying at school did not help him.
C. he was afraid of getting too old to start computing.
D. he wanted to earn a lot of money.
Question 6. Why does David think he might retire early?
A. You have to be young to write computer programs.
B. He wants to stop working when he is a millionaire.
C. He thinks computer games might not always sell so well.
D. He thinks his firm might go bankrupt.
Question 7. The word "it" in paragraph 2 refers to_________________________
A. computing
B. producing
C. teaching
D. introducing
