Ancient Runes

Final exam 2004

Professor Chomsky

Wednesday 9:00

Please analyse the following conversation between two Muggle students at a fraternity at Emerson college, keeping in mind what we have studied in this class for the past term.

Solution

"Hey, I hear you got a job testing soon-to-be-released software over the summer."

"Yeah, but they're only paying me, like, an arbitrarily small amount."

"Really? Well, I'm sure you'll be the leader of the wolf-pack in no time."

"Hah. The wildebeest pack, maybe."

"No, I bet you'll be at least a standard deviation above everyone else."

"I'll be fine as long as I adhere to the philosophy of Lao Tzu."

"You're lucky. I'm not going to be working with anything more interesting than helium nuclei."

"It's a shame that that gay-rights litigation group didn't offer you the internship you applied for."

"Yeah, I guess the rec letter I got from that comedian, Val, who graduated from here a few years ago, didn't go as far as I though it would."

"That letter was so glowing, if you'd been hit with any more radiation you'd have turned into the Incredible Hulk."

"Well, it didn't do the tiniest bit of good."

"She really thought you were A-number-one."

"Like they say in Yiddish: so?"

"You're not Jewish, dude. Even if your parents did go to Tel Aviv University."

"Hey, calm down. What's straightening out the bend in your colon all of a sudden?"

"Sorry. I'm edgy because I almost got run over by some lovestruck Romeo in a fancy Italian car who wasn't watching the road."

"Did you jot down the license plate number?"

"No, but I saw a bumper sticker: 'We love to fly.' And it shows."