Context, context, context. split returns an array. When an array is put into scalar context, it gives the number of elements in the array, not the first value.

while (<FILE>) {
    ($class) = split /\s+/, $_;
    print $class, $/;
}
[download]

It will discard all the other elements.

As an aside, check out strict and warnings. They'll help save your life sometime.

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