1. Words and phrases
1) I did my best to keep up with what was going on on the screen.
Keep up with: to stay level or equal with someone or something
e.g.: The little boy triedvery hard to keep up with his older brother's accomplishments.
2) At that point, I was seriously thinking about going as cowboy for the second year in a row.
In a row: in a series without interruption
e.g.: They've won six games in a row.
3) Dad tried to squirm out of it, but once Mom makes up her mind, there is no way you can change it.
Squirm: to escape doing something; to escape the responsibility for having done something.
e.g.: He agreed to go but squirmed out at the last minute.
4) Manny and Jeremy wouldn’t trick-or-treat at any houses with spooky decorations on them, so that ruled out pretty much every house on our block.
Rule out: to prevent, disqualify, overrule, or cancel someone or something.
e.g.: John's bad temper rules him out for the job.
5) A little while later, Rowley told me he needed a “potty break”.
Potty break: a time when you stop what you are doing, especially when driving a car, so that you can use the toilet.
e.g. I woke up in the middle of the night to take a potty break!
2. Sentences
1) Rowley’s Mom got him this knight costume that’s way cooler than his costume from last year.
e.g.: He bought me a necklace that’s way prettier than last year.
2) When the truck drove away, I yelled out something that I regretted about two second later.
e.g.: When he is leaving, I yelled at him about something dirty that I regretted about one second later.
3. Diary
Rumor goes that they will pick a outside girl over me because she has the exact working experience. How could they do this to me? If I met him again, I want to say this to him: “Can I be honest with you? I know it is a little bit weird and unappropriated to say this to you, but why didn’t you choose me? I know I did not have the exact working experience, but when I asked you about what’s the most important quality that a person should have to take this job, what you said was what I got. Isn’t it so important that a person should do the same work? I was in charge of the business of billions dollar, how do you think that I could not handle a hundred thousand dollar account? I received the business of millions dollar every month. I sorted out their order list, deliver all the information to our factory, make sure the production goes in the correct way, arrange the shipment and collect the payment, etc. That is a very complicated serial of work. I am not stretching the truth. Thousands of worker’s job are on my hand. If I mess up anything, even a small label on the shoes, the company could not survive, thousands of worker would lose their job. How do you think I could not handle this job, just counting money, make sure the number could be matched with the system at the end of the day? Screw you!”
