Maxim stared at Module 3, Exercise 4. The instructions asked him to describe a typical day using the present continuous, but his mind was a blank page. Outside, the sounds of Moscow’s evening traffic drifted through the window, but inside, the only sound was the ticking of the clock.
Maxim closed the tab. He looked at the prompt again. He thought about his actual afternoon—drinking tea, watching the rain, and struggling with English. He erased the stolen sentence and wrote: “I am sitting at my desk and thinking about my homework.” Maxim stared at Module 3, Exercise 4
He glanced at his smartphone. It was tempting. He knew exactly what to type into the search bar: "GDZ Vaulina 6 klass." Within seconds, a website would provide the perfect answers, the correct prepositions, and the completed sentences. It was a digital safety net for every sixth-grader facing a deadline. Maxim closed the tab
It wasn’t as perfect as the GDZ, but as he finished the page, the sense of relief was real. He closed the Vaulina workbook, the blue cover finally feeling a little less heavy. He hadn't just finished his homework; he had actually learned something. He erased the stolen sentence and wrote: “I