open FILE, 'test_file.txt' || die "$!\n";
my $text = join( '', @{ [ <FILE> ] } );
close FILE;

##</code><code>##

my $text;
{
   open(my $fh, '<', 'test_file.txt')
      or die("Unable to open input file: $!\n");
   binmode($fh);
   local $/;
   $text = <$fh>;
}