ingles iv 36ensech.edu.mx/documentos/antologias/par/semestre par2-12/8sem… · contenido y...

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INDICE

INTRODUCCIÓN………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3

PROPÓSITOS GENERALES……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

3

CONTENIDO Y ORGANIZACIÓN DEL CURSO……………………………………………………………………….

4

ORIENTACIONES DIDÁCTICAS………………………………………………………………………………………………

5

EVALUACIÓN…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

6

BLOQUE I.

FAVORECIMIENTO DE LAS HABILIDADES DE COMPRENSIÓN DE LA LECTURA. ………………

9

BLOQUE II.

FAVORECIMIENTO DE LA EXPRESIÓN ESCRITA. ……………………………………………………………….

10

BLOQUE III.

DOMINIO DE LA COMPRENSIÓN AUDITIVA Y DE LA EXPRESIÓN ORAL. …………..……………….

11

BLOQUE IV.

DOMINIO DE LAS CUATRO HABILIDADES DEL LENGUAJE………………………………………………...

12

¿HOW THE STORIES HAVE BEEN CHOSEN?................................................................

14

NO SPEAK ENGLISH……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

17

POPULAR MECHANICS…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

23

THE UNICORN IN THE GARDEN……………………………………………………………………………………………..

29

SAMUEL ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

40

THE CHASER……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

47

THE BROWN HOUSE……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

52

LOVE………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

56

THE LOTTERY………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

66

A BLIZZARD UNDER BLUE SKY ……………………………………………………………………………………………

73

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THE SENTINEL………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

79

READ & THINK

SKILL SHEETS 5………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

169

ORAL LENGUAGE EXERCISE ………………………………………………………………………………….............

206

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INTRODUCCIÓN

Ingles IV es el último curso de inglés general de la Especialidad: Lengua Extranjera (Inglés),

y su propósito primordial es que los estudiantes alcancen el nivel de FCE, de Cambridge o

TOEFL550 que se ha establecido como nivel mínimo para lograr la titulación, garantizando

así un dominio adecuado de la lengua Inglesa para ejercer la profesión de maestro de Ingles.

Para alcanzar este nivel e ingresar a Inglés IV los estudiantes requieren:

Dominio de la lengua de nivel intermedio alto o más.

Voluntad de participar plenamente en el curso.

Autonomía en el aprendizaje.

De esta manera, se puede lograr establecer en esté curso una meta concreta y definida para

motivar a los estudiantes.

Cualquier indicio de que un estudiante no tenga los elementos necesarios para alcanzar dicha

meta debe ser un motivo de inquietud para el maestro de la asignatura, quien buscará

incentivarlo cuanto antes y animarlo a hacer su mejor esfuerzo. En caso de que un alumno

no alcanzara el nivel FCE/TOEFL550 durante este semestre, de todos modos deberá

esforzarse para lograrlo en el transcurso de los dos semestres que restan para terminar la

especialidad.

En Inglés IV habrá menos diferencia entre los estudiantes que han sido más sobresalientes

que otros en los cursos anteriores, y esto facilitará al maestro la planeación de clases. De

todos modos, habrá un fuerte elemento de individualización, ya que las necesidades de los

estudiantes variarán. En la mayoría de los casos el maestro debe poner mucha atención a la

precisión lingüística en la expresión oral y escrita puesto que los exámenes de competencia

(proficiency tests) exigen un alto grado de precisión, además de competencia comunicativa.

Al igual que en semestres anteriores, los estudiantes cursan otras materias de la

especialidad aparte de Inglés IV y es indispensable el trabajo coordinado entre los profesores

de dichas asignaturas, de tal manera que se establezcan los acuerdos necesarios para que

las formas de trabajo contribuyan al logro de los rasgos del perfil de egreso planteados para

la especialidad, además de fortalecer el dominio de la lengua Inglesa.

PROPÓSITOS GENERALES

A través del curso inglés IV se pretende:

1. Desarrollar la precisión en la expresión oral y escrita, además de las habilidades

comunicativas de los estudiantes; la atención a la precisión lingüística implica la corrección

individualizada de errores y por regla general la autocorrección.

2. Garantizar que todo estudiante avance hacia la meta de dominio del inglés equivalente a

FCE de la Universidad de Cambridge o 550 puntos en TOEFL, meta que, de ser posible, debe

alcanzarse al finalizar este semestre o antes de la titulación.

3. Fomentar la autonomía en el aprendizaje del estudiante, incluyendo la capacidad de

autoevaluarse y autocorregirse.

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El elemento central en este curso es la meta concreta y bien definida de alcanzar el nivel de

FCE/TOEFL550. Los exámenes estandarizados de competencia, como éstos, se utilizan con

el fin de medir la aptitud de los interesados en estudiar en una universidad extranjera, ser

becario de posgrado y tomar el primer curso para maestros de Inglés de la Universidad de

Cambridge, entre otras cosas, por lo tanto, representa una evaluación confiable y reconocida

del dominio de la lengua Inglesa adecuado para un maestro de inglés profesional. Por ser en

la actualidad uno de los exámenes más completo y comunicativos, el FCE de Cambridge se

recomienda como modelo, más que TOEFL. Establecer su aprobación como meta principal,

abarca los otros propósitos: el desarrollo de la precisión lingüística, dominio del las

hablidades comunicativas y de la autonomía en el aprendizaje. Aparte de los materiales

auténticos de siempre, es conveniente trabajar con algún libro de preparación o práctica para

FCE o, en su caso, TOEFL (véase la bibliografía).

CONTENIDO Y ORGANIZACIÓN DEL CURSO

En el curso Inglés IV la selección de temas es responsabilidad del maestro y de los

estudiantes. En caso de utilizar un libro de preparación para FCE, es necesario que éste

proponga una amplia gama de temas similares a los que se incluyen en el exámen, además

de elementos lingüísticos (exponentes de nociones y funciones, gramática, lexis) y

actividades comunicativas (comprensión auditiva, comprensión de lectura, expresión oral,

redacción y composición). que también forman parte del exámen. Los libros de preparación

para TOEFL suelen tener menos contenido temáticos, más orientación hacia ejercicios

específicos del exámen y no incluyen las habilidades productoras, expresión oral y escrita.

En caso de establecer TOEFL como meta, el maestro y los estudiantes tendrán,

forzosamente, que elegir y desarrollar los temas. De todos modos, y en gran medida, el

exámen seleccionado proporcionará el contenido lingüístico y las habilidades a desarrollar; si

se opta por FCE, también brinda los tipos de actividad productiva (expresión oral y escrita) y

los temas a tratar.

En efecto, el contenido lingüístico de este curso abarca todo lo que ya se indicó en las guías

de Ingles I, II y III, así como los elementos lingüísticos que aparecen típicamente en los

ejercicios de FCE y TOEFL; en esencia "toda la lengua Inglesa en textos generalmente

accesibles". En muchos casos, será necesario aclarar las estructuras y usos, y remediar

errores arraigados, siempre que sea posible, en forma de descubrimiento guiado (guided

discovery o consciousness-raising) y no como presentación o explicación del maestro. El

aprendizaje autónomo es absolutamente imprescindible en este nivel, y muchas veces

implica trabajo individualizado.

Las habilidades comunicativas que se requieren están bien establecidas en los libros de

preparación y práctica para FCE e incluyen:

Comprensión lectora. La habilidad de leer textos auténticos informativos y de interés

general, demostrar comprensión general y detallada, y deducir significados e intenciones.

Las tareas no son exclusivamente de opción multiple artificial, sino incluyen tareas más

auténticas como decidir cuales títulos son apropiados para las secciones de un texto.

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Expresión escrita. La habilidad de escribir textos como una carta formal, una carta

informal, un artículo para una revista o un periódico, o un breve ensayo académico.

Comprensión auditiva. La habilidad de escuchar textos auténticos (como breves

conversaciones o transacciones y entrevistas radiofónicas), demostrar comprensión

general y detallada y deducir significados e intenciones. Las tareas no son

exclusivamente de opción múltiple artificial, sino incluyen acciones más auténticas

como completar apuntes.

Expresión oral. La habilidad de expresar información, ideas y opiniones, y de

conversar con otra persona, hablando de información personal, fotografías y

conceptos abstractos.

Véase el libro especificado en el Anexo para ejemplos de materiales y tareas en FCE.

La meta de la asignatura Inglés IV, a diferencia de los otros cursos de la especialidad, es la

aprobación de un examen final, tipo proficiency test. Sin embargo, esto no significa que

todos los materiales y las actividades sean como en dicho examen, sino que habrá una

variedad que, en su mayoría, busca fortalecer en los estudiantes los conocimientos y las

habilidades en lengua Inglesa, lo que los capacitará para resolver el examen con éxito.

Conviene trabajar con un modelo del examen al inicio del curso para que los normalistas

entiendan bien la meta y el reto de la asignatura. Esto tomará varias sesiones ya que el

examen mismo de FCE tiene una duración de aproximadamente cinco horas. Luego, hacia el

final del curso, antes de la evaluacion final, conviene aplicarles un examen de práctica y

luego propiciar la retroalimentación, según sus resultados, a partir de los problemas más

generalizados de todo el grupo, y los individuales.

ORIENTACIONES DIDÁCTICAS

Los principios pedagógicos que se han planteado en los cursos anteriores -Inglés I, II y III-

son los mismos que se aplican, en términos generales, para Inglés IV, pero la preparación

para un examen estandarizado de competencia si tiene implicaciones pedagógicas. La

posibilidad de realizar las clases en forma temática y comunicativa como en los cursos

anteriores depende, hasta cierto punto, de la naturaleza del examen. Por esto se ha

recomendado FCE más que TOEFL, pues tiene menos tareas artificiales o puramente

lingüísticas y más de las que emplean el inglés fuera del aula e incluyen la expresión oral y

escrita. Sin embargo, en caso de optar por TOEFL, el maestro podrá enriquecer el curso

seleccionando temas y actividades que sean del agrado de los alumnos. La mayoría de los

libros de preparación para FCE aprovechan la posibilidad del examen, y se organizan a partir

de unidades temáticas y con actividades que integran las distintas habilidades comunicativas

y el estudio de la lengua misma (gramática, vocabulario, pronunciación, etc).

Una secuencia típica en un libro de preparación para FCE seria:

1. Discusión preliminar de una situación o tópico.

2. Comprensión de un texto hablado o escrito sobre el mismo tema.

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3. Estudio de elementos lingüísticos en el texto: gramática, vocabulario, etcétera.

4. Una tarea basada en el texto anterior: juego de roles, respuesta escrita a la postura del

texto, etcétera.

5. Un ejercicio tipo FCE Use of English, incluyendo algunos elementos que se vieron en la

etapa 3.

Las etapas 3-4-5 podrían variar en orden, por ejemplo, primero se ven las etapas 4-5 y al

final la 3 con algo más extenso como un proyecto oral o una tareas escrita.

Si deciden trabajar sin libro, pueden diseñar secuencias de este tipo eligiendo materiales

adecuados. En caso de orientar el curso hacia TOEFL será necesario elaborar sus propias

secuencias de actividades.

Cabe recalcar que la enseñanza en este curso, más que en los cursos anteriores, se dirigirá

hacia la promoción de la autonomía de cada estudiante. El maestro debe planear, organizar

y orientar las clases para que los estudiantes "hagan el trabajo". Cada alumno aclarará o

descubrirá aspectos de la gramática, el vocabulario y el uso en general de la lengua Inglesa,

así como cada uno notará sus problemas y los resolverá. Además, cada uno debe alcanzar el

nivel propuesto y aprobar el examen. El maestro sólo puede apoyar a los estudiantes en esta

tarea.

EVALUACIÓN

La evaluación será continua, pero teniendo en cuenta que el curso se dirige hacia el examen

final. La autoevaluación de los estudiantes puede comenzar con el trabajo inicial, es decir

con un modelo del examen que se ha recomendado, sobre todo para saber lo cerca o lejos

que están en ese momento de aprobarlo. La autoevaluación puede promoverse con ciertas

estrategias recomendadas por el maestro, por ejemplo, que el estudiante apunte los 10

errores de gramática o lexis que comete con regularidad, haga un esfuerzo para corregirlos y

un mes después se evalúa su avance en esas áreas.

Este examen de práctica representa una oportunidad formal para trabajar la autoevaluación

de cada estudiante y también una especie de evaluación provisional del maestro.

No debe perderse de vista que el examen final será la evaluación normativa del curso y el

reflejo de los alcances y el trabajo de todos los cursos estudiados en la especialidad: Lengua

Extranjera (Inglés), que han contribuído a desarrollar la lengua Inglesa de los estudiantes.

Un examen de este tipo, aunque motiva y estimula a muchos alumnos, puede intimidar a

otros. Sin embargo, es el elemento más confiable que se tiene para evaluar a los futuros

maestros de inglés, y es solo un ejemplo de los muchos retos que se enfrentan en la vida y,

sobre todo, en lo profesional.

BIBLIOGRAFÍA

Libros de preparación para FCE y TOEFL

Acklam, R. y S. Burgess (1997), First Certificate Gold, Pearson/Longman.

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Gear, J. y R. Gear (2000),Cambridge Preparation for the TOEFL Test, 3a ed. , CUP.

Haines, S. y B. Stewart (1997), New First Certificate Masterclass, OUP.

Naunton, J. (1997), Think First Certificate, edición revisada, Pearson/Longman.

Colecciones de pruebas FCE y TOEFL para práctica

Cambridge First Certificate in English 4, CUP.

Naunton, J. (1997),Think First Certificate Practice Exams, Pearson/Longman. Paran, A.

(1997), First Certificate Gold Practice Exams, Pearson/Longman.

ANEXO

Example of a first certificate in english examination

First Certificate Handbook, UCLES, 1997 (or later if available)

This appendix consists essentially of the above-mentioned book, First Certificate Handbook,

UCLES (University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate). This publication includes:

• An explanation of the principles and the design of the examination.

• A model of the complete examination.

•A guide to grading.

Obviously, for complete reliability students should take the actual Cambridge University FCE

examination, but a similar examination modeled on the FCE and carefully run by a Normal

can achieve something very close. For such an examination to be "carefully run", there

should be:

• Pre-established days and times for the various papers.

•Appropriate examination room conditions, e. g. candidates separated by at least 1. 5

metres, strict invigilation, quiet.

• Strict time duration for each paper.

• Training of oral examiners (never a candidate's own teacher).

•Objective grading (keys and criteria, names of candidates unknown, sample double

grading).

Since FCE is a British examination, you may wish to create versions that are typically

American in language and themes, or at least versions that are more neutral and

"international", perhaps including different varieties of standard English British American

written texts in the Reading Paper, and British, America, Australian and even non-native

speakers such as German or Japanese in the Listening Paper.

BIOGRAFÍA GENERAL

• Read and think skill sheets

• Oral language Exercise

• More true stories

• Very easy true stories

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• 20th Century American short stories

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BLOQUE I. FAVORECIMIENTO DE LAS HABILIDADES DE COMPRENSIÓN DE LA

LECTURA.

Propósito. - Mejorar el nivel de competencia lingüística, para perfeccionar su pronunciación.

1. -La comprensión de la lectura dentro del aula. Basarse en el libro de la bibliografía More

true Stories.

Actividades sugeridas.

•Leer en voz alta diariamente las lecturas del libro de texto (una historia por sesión)

•Defender su punto de vista

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BLOQUE II. - FAVORECIMIENTO DE LA EXPRESIÓN ESCRITA.

Propósito. - Que el futuro profesor de Inglés pueda escribir composiciones de cualquier tema.

1. - La expresión escrita en el aula.

•Resumir.

•Enviar mensajes.

•Cartas de negocios.

•Composiciones

•Historias

Actividades Sugeridas:

•Mostrar dibujos en acetatos y escribir acerca de los dibujos.

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BLOQUE III. - DOMINIO DE LA COMPRENSIÓN AUDITIVA Y DE LA EXPRESIÓN

ORAL.

PROPÓSITO.

Que el futuro maestro de Inglés comprenda lo que se escucha en la radio, televisión o en

una película.

1- El dominio de la comprensión auditiva.

•Ver videos

•Extractos de programas de televisión

•Ejercicios con audio

•Canciones

ACTIVIDADES SUGERIDAS.

• Intercambiar en voz alta, para el grupo, las experiencias personales de las situaciones

parecidas a las escuchadas en audio y video o canciones y conversar en equipo sobre el

tema que se haya abordado.

•Ver películas y hacer preguntas no estructuradas.

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BLOQUE IV. - DOMINIO DE LAS CUATRO HABILIDADES DEL LENGUAJE.

PROPÓSITO. combinar equilibradamente las cuatro habilidades del lenguaje para

superar el nivel general de competencia linguística.

1. - El idioma Inglés con enfoque comunicativo como un solo elemento de las cuatro

habilidades del lenguaje.

ACTIVIDADES SUGERIDAS.

•Comprender el Inglés

•Leer en Inglés

•Escribir en Inglés.

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MATERIALES

DE

APOYO

¿HOW THE STORIES HAVE BEEN CHOSEN?________________________________________

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20TH CENTURY AMERICAN SHORT

STORIES REVISED EDITION VOLUME

1

INTRODUCTION

wentieth Century American Short

Stories, Volume 1, is one of three

related publications designed to

introduce English-as-a second or foreign

language students to the richness and

variety of modern American short fiction.

The complete program includes:

Twentieth Century

American

Short

Stories,

Volume 1

high intermediate

Twentieth Century

American

Short Sories,

Volume 2

advanced

Twentieth Century

American

Short Stories, An

Anthology

a collection of all of

the

stories from

Volumes 1

and 2, without the

activities

While the choices necessarily reflect the

editor's tastes, the selections are intended

to suggest the cultural and ethnic diversity

of twentieth-century American fiction.

Some of the stories in this book are

humorous; others are serious. Some are

set in large cities- New York, Chicago, Los

Angeles; others take place in suburban or

rural areas of New England, the South, the

Midwest, or the West. Together, the

stories explore universal questions of

relations within families and between the

sexes, changing customs and traditions,

and conflicts of culture that aren't always

recognized by those involved. All are

super tales that can be read again and

again with increasing pleasure.

All of the stories are relatively short,

ranging in length from approximately five

hundred to approximately six thousand

words. They are appropriate in content

and vocabulary for highintermediate

(Volume 1) or advanced (Volume 2)

students of English as a second or foreign

language. The stories are also suitable for

high school or college students whose first

language is English, though they would

probably find the "Uncommon Words or

Meanings" section unnecessary.

The selections are from all but the first

two decades of the twentieth century, with

T

¿HOW THE STORIES HAVE BEEN CHOSEN?


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half of the stories in Volume 1 and three-

quarters of those in Volume 2 published

after mid-century. All of the twenty-four

stories represent an American point of

view, though two stories are set outside

the United States, two are by British

authors who place their stories in an

American context, and five of the twenty-

four authors spoke another language

before they learned English. While many

of the stories have been translated into

other languages, all of them were

originally written in English.

HOW THIS EDITION DIFFERS FROM

THE FIRST EDITION?

Of the nine stories in the first edition, five

have been kept for Volume 1: "The

Unicorn in the Garden" by James Thurber,

"The Chaser" by John Collier, "Love" by

Jesse Stuart, "The Use of Force" by

William Carlos Williams, and "The Lottery"

by Shirley Jackson. "The Orphaned

Swimming Pool" by John Updike appears

in Volume 2, as does Ernest Hemingway's

"Hills Like White Elephants," which has

been substituted for his story "The Killers.

"

For each author, the biographical material

has been expanded and now form part of

the introduction to the story. The glossary

now precedes the story, with no

interruption of the text to indicate glossed

words, and with objective criteria for

choosing words to be glossed. Grammar

and vocabulary exercises have been

replaced by questions concerned with

style and with connections between and

among stories.

HOW THE VOLUMES ARE ORGANIZED?

The stories in Volume 1 are, on average,

slightly shorter and simpler in structure

and vocabulary than those in Volume 2.

Within each volume, the stories have been

ordered by increasing complexity of plot

and vocabulary, with an eye to balance in

content, tone, and style. However, while

there is some crossreferencing in the

"Making Connections" questions, the

stories otherwise function as self-

contained units.

The Introduction to each story presents

the author in the context of his or her

time and previews the story. Where

appropriate, it also includes suggestions

for further reading.

Unusual Words or Meanings provides

brief explanations of words that can't

easily be found in a dictionary: cultural

references (such as brand and place

names), idioms, slang, words in languages

other than English, and words used in a

meaning other than the most common

(here defined as the first meaning listed in

the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary,

(Third Edition). Words are defined only as

they are used in the story and are pre-

sented in the order in which they appear

in the story. Nouns are glossed in their

singular form, preceded by a or an if the

noun is countable, and time-oriented

verbs are glossed in their to (infinitive)

form.

Each story is presented as the author

wrote it: nothing has been simplified; any

extra space between paragraphs was put

there by the author; the presence or

absence of quotation marks for direct

speech is the author's choice. While

words glossed in the "Unusual Words or

Meanings" section are not marked in the


16

text, line numbers have been added in the

margin to facilitate discussion. Following

the convention of many literature texts,

the original publication date appears in

square brackets at the end of the story.

Understanding the Story questions,

rather than asking for simple facts,

require synthesis and analysis. Their

purpose is to direct readers back to the

story, encouraging careful reading. This

and the following sections also provide an

opportunity for students to explore the

uses of several literary terms that are

commonly used by college-educated

speakers of English, including allusion,

connotation, foreshadowing, irony,

metaphor personification, simile, and

stereotype. The literary terms are briefly

defined the first time they are used in a

chapter, with the aim of helping readers to

become comfortable with the terms and

how they are used.

Developing a Way with Words offers a

closer look at a stylistic aspect of the

story, examining sentences that share a

common element or exploring questions of

vocabulary usage.

Making Connections provides a wide

range of options for discussion,with most

of the topics also being suitable as points

of departure for writing.

NO SPEACK ENGLISH________________________________________________________

17

n the last decade of the twentieth

century, Sandra Cisneros has

established herself as one of the

important new voices in American

literature. Cisneros, who now lives in San

Antonio, Texas, was born and raised in

Chicago. The daughter of a Mexican

father and Mexican American mother, she

grew up in a largely Spanish-speaking

neighborhood and spent her childhood

"being quiet," as was expected of a

daughter in a Latino household and of a

Latina girl in the. society atilarge.

Even in graduate school, Cisneros found

that teachers paid little attention to

women and that discussions excluded

anyone who wasn't from a white middle-

class family. When talking about the

literary symbolism of houses, for

example, one teacher spoke of attics (the

storage space under the roof) as symbols

of a family's past. Cisneros' family had

always lived in an apartment and, as she

says, "the third floor front doesn't come

with an attic. " Gradually, however, she

realized there were subjects on which she

was the expert. When other students

talked about cupolas (a tiny room with

windows on four sides on the roof of a

Victorian house), she thought about

narrow wooden back porches (a common

feature of older three-story apartment

buildings in Chicago). When others talked

of swans,, she thought about rats.

Whatever her classmates wrote about,

she presented the opposite. Gradually,

Cisneros found herself with a number of

stories about growing up in a Mexican

American community, stories that were

valuable precisely because they weren't

like anyone else's.

*These direct quotations are reconstructed

from notes taken during Cisneros' plenary

address at the twenty-seventh annual

convention of Teachers of English to Speakers

of Other Languages, Atlanta, Georgia, 1993,

Sandra Cisneros

I

NO SPEAK ENGLISH

Sandra Cisneros (born 1954)


18

Teaching high school dropouts in Chicago

the next year, Cisneros gathered

additional stories from her students.

Soon she had a collection of forty-four,

including "No Speak English. " Several

years later, they were published by

Women of Color Press under the title The

House on Mango Street.

Although Cisneros by then really wanted

to be a writer, she took another teaching

job to support herself. Trying to be

"perfect" as a teacher brought her to

near-suicidal despair, but she was

rescued by a National Endowment for the

Arts Fellowship. "It reminded me that I

was a writer," Cisneros says, "and it gave

me attitude. " This self-confidence was

supported by critics' praise for The House

on Mango Street when it was reissued by

a major publisher in 1989. Since that

time, she has published Woman Hollering

Creek and Other Stories (1991), set

mainly in San Antonio, and My Wicked

Wicked Ways (1992), her first book of

poetry.

The stories in The House on Mango Street

are very short, some less than a page.

All of them are narrated by fourteen year-

old Esperanza Cordero, a girl whose first

name means "Hope. " Some of the stories

are about her and son are about her

girlfriend Rachel; others, including "No

Speak English," are about their neighbors.

What do you suppose that title means?

Who do you suppose says it?

UNCOMMON WORDS OR MEANINGS

Words or phrases from the story are

explained if they are cultural references

(including words in a language other than

English), idioms, or slang, or if the

meaning is not the first listed in a stan-

dard dictionary. The words or phrases

appear in their order of first use in the

story.

A note on translation: The Spanish

words in this story (marked in this list

with a star) are explained according to

their meaning in Mexican Spanish; the

meaning or implications in other Spanish-

language communities may be different.

*Mamacita ("Mamacita is the big mama")

"little mother"; a term of endearment that

shows both love and respect for the

mother's authority.

a big mama ("Mamacita is the big

mama")-(slang) a man's wife or lover, his

"number one woman. "

*Mamasota ("her name ought to be

Mamasota")-(vulgar slang) a woman with

big buttocks or "a large rear end. "

mean ("I think that's mean. ")-

deliberately unkind.

a yellow taxi ("arrived in a yellow taxi")-

an officially licensed taxicab.

fuchsia ("fuchsia roses")-a deep purplish-

red color.

*Poof!-an interjection (sometimes spelled

¡Puf! or ¡Pfffs! )

roughly equivalent to "Ouf!"; said when a

strenuous physical effort suddenly

succeeds.

lavender ("her lavender hatboxes")-a

pale purple color.

Holy smokes-(slang) an exclamation of

surprise; some say "holy smoke. "

*¿Cuando?-When?

*¡Ay, Caray!-An exclamation of

impatience, with the sense of "That

doesn't make any difference! That's how it

is. "

skinny ("the only skinny thread")-very


19

thin.

tin ("the language that sounds like tin")-a

soft silver-white metal with a dull, flat

sound.

NO SPEAK ENGLISH

Mamacita is the big mama of the man

across the street, third-floor front. Rachel

says her name ought to be Mamasota, but

I think that's mean.

The man saved his money to bring her

here. 'He saved and 5 saved because she

was alone with the baby boy in that coun-

try. I worked two jobs. He came home

late and he left early. Every day.

Then one day Mamacita and the baby boy

arrived in a yellow taxi. The taxi door

opened like a waiter's arm. Out stepped

10 a tiny pink shoe, a foot soft as a

rabbit's ear, then the thick ankle, a flutter

of hips, fuchsia roses and green perfume.

The man had to pull her, the taxi driver

had to push. Push, pull. Push, pull. Poof!

All at once she bloomed. Huge,

enormous, beautiful to

15 look at, from the salmon-pink feather

on the tip of her hat down to the little.

rosebuds of her toes. I couldn't take my

eyes off her tiny shoes.

Up, up, up the stairs she went with the

baby boy in a blue blanket, the man

carrying her suitcases, her lavender

hatboxes,

20 a dozen boxes of satin high heels. Then

we didn't see her.

Somebody said it's because she's too fat,

somebody because of the three flights of

stairs, but I believe she doesn't come out

because she is afraid to speak English,

and maybe this is so since she only knows

eight words. She knows to say:

25 He not here for when the landlord

comes. No speak English if anybody else

comes, and Holy smokes. I don't know

where she learned this, but I heard her

say it one time and it surprised me.

My father says when he came to this

country he ate hamariddeggs for three

months. . Breakfast, lunch, and, dinner.

Harnan

30 deggs. That was. the only word he

knew. He doesn't eat hamandeggs

anymore.

Whatever her reasons, whether she is fat,

or can't climb the stairs, or is afraid

of:English, she won't come down. She

sits all clay by the window and plays the

Spanish radio show and sings.

35 all the homesick songs about her

country in a voice that sounds like a

seagull.

Home, Home, Home, is a house in a

photograph, a pink house, pink as

hollyhocks with lots of startled light.

The man paints the walls of the

apartment pink, but it's not the

same

40 you know. She still sighs for her

pink house, and then I think she

cries. I would.

Sometimes the man gets disgusted.

He starts screaming and you can

hear it all the way down the street.

Ay, she says, she is sad.

45 Oh, he says, not again.

¿Cuándo, cuándo, cuándo? she asks.

¡Ay,Caray! We are home. This is home.

Here I am and here I stay. Speak English.

Speak English. Christ!; ¡Ay! Mamacita,

who does not belong, every once in a

while

50 lets out a cry, hysterical, high, as if he

had torn the only skinny thread that kept

her alive, the only road out to that

country.


20

And then to break her heart forever,

the baby boy who has begun to talk,

starts to sing the Pepsi commercial

he heard on T. V.

55 No speak English, she says to the

child who is singing in the language

that sounds like tin. No speak

English, no speak English, and

bubbles into tears. No, no, no as if

she can't believe her ears. [1989]

UNDERSTANDING THE STORY

These questions call for analysis and

synthesis of the story's main points.

1. From the descriptions of

Mamacita in the first six

paragraphs of the story

(lines 1-27), how do you

picture her?

2. Like many new immigrants,

Mamacita is having trouble

adjusting to life in the

United States.

a. What three different

suggestions are given

for why Mamacita never

leaves her apartment?

Which suggestion seems

most likely to you?

Why?

b. What does "No speak

English" mean the first

time it appears (line

25)? What does it mean

in the final paragraph

c. How well does

Mamacita's eight-word

vocabulary (lines 25-26)

meet her needs? What

other words might she

need if she went

outside? Why do you

think the narrator,

Esperanza, tells the

story about

"hamandeggs" (lines

28-31)?

3. Mamacita listens to Spanish music and

sings Spanish songs about homesickness.

Do you think these activities make her

feel more or less homesick? When the

man paints their apartment pink, why is

that "not the same" (line 39)? Not the

same as what?

4. What is the evidence that the man

really wanted Mamacita to join him? How

is his reaction to Chicago different from

hers?

5. What question does the man hear in

Mamacita's “Cuando” that makes him

respond, "We are, home. This is home

“(line 47)” In what ways does Mamacita

"not belong" (line 49)?

6. In the description "the only skinny

thread that kept [Mamacita] alive, the

only road out to that country" (lines 50-

51), both "thread" and "road" are

metaphors. That is, there is no real

thread or road; the-words "thread" and

"road" mean something else and they

present that meaning through an indirect

or implied comparison.

a. What do "thread" and "road" represent

in terms of Mamacita's life? How are a

thread and a road a like? What difference

between them justifies using both words?

b. What does the man do that makes

Mamacita feel that he has "torn" that

thread?

7. What is the final blow to Mamacita's

hopes? How does

she react to the blow? What does it mean

to say that

English is a "language that sounds like

tin" (line 56)?


21

DEVELOPING A WAY WITH WORDS

For those who wish to look more closely

at how a story has been told, this section

presents either distinctive features of the

author's style or, for a few stories, a

related literary text.

1. Examine the following descriptions.

The first four use like or as to make a

direct comparison. (The literary term for

that is a simile. ) The other two are

indirectimplied-comparisons. (The literary

term for that is a metaphor, as in question

6 in the previous section. ) Which of the

five senses does each description evoke?

Does it describe how something looks,

how it sounds, how it feels, how it tastes,

or how it smells?

a. The taxi door opened like a waiter's

arm. (line 9)

b. A foot soft as a rabbit's ear (line 10)

c. A voice that sounds like a seagull (lines

35-36)

d. A pink house, pink as hollyhocks (lines

37-38)

e. Lots of startled light (line 38)

f. Bubbles into tears (line 57)

2. Write several descriptions of something

that you can see from where you are

sitting now. In two or three of the

descriptions, use like or as in a direct

comparison- simile.

In two or three, make an indirect or

implied comparison-a metaphor. Try to

use a different sense-sight, hearing,

touch, taste, or smell-in each of your

descriptions.

MAKING CONNECTIONS

These options for discussion and writing

(at varying levels of complexity) invite

readers to connect the stories with their

own experience and with other works of

literature.

1. What countries could "that country"

(line 5) refer to? Would the story be

stronger if Cisneros had specified a

particular country? Why or why not?

2. How unusual is Mamacita's situation?

Discuss that question, then write without

stopping for ten minutes on one of the

following questions. After ten minutes,

stop and discuss your answer with others

in your class.

a. What do you suppose Mamacita

expected of life in Chicago?

b. If you were in Mamacita's place, what

would you do?

c. If you were the man, what would you

do?

d. If you were Esperanza, would you try

to help? Why or why not?

3. What do you imagine will happen to

Mamacita and her family in the next two

years? Write for ten minutes on what you

think will become of her, the man, and

their son. Then compare your answer

with the answers of others in the class.

4. Have you had the experience of

moving to a new place where you dressed

differently from everyone else and didn't

know much of the language? If so:

a. What were the first words you learned?

Did you make much progress? If so, how?


22

b. Did your change your style of dress, or

other obvious aspects of your life, to

match those of the people around you? If

so, what were some of the changes?

c. How long did you stay? (Or are you still

there?)

5. What sort of letters do you imagine the

man and Mamacita wrote to each other

after he left their country but before she

came to Chicago? What sort letters do you

suppose Mamacita wrote from Chicago to

her family at home? Write some of the

letters, as you imagine them to have

been.

6. Cisneros advises beginning writers,

"Ask yourself what makes you different

from anyone else-in your school,-your

neighborhood,your family. " She also

insists that "the things you can't talk

about-the things that are so taboo that

you can't even think about them-are what

you have to write about. " Following her

advice, write two or three stories about

your school, or neighborhood, or family

when you were growing up.

POPULAR MECHANICS________________________________________________________

23

POPULAR MECHANICS

aymond Carver identified himself

as "a full-time member of the

working poor. " Born in

Clatskanie, Oregon. Carver grew up

thinking that, like his father, he would go

to work in a lumber mill after high school.

But six months in the mills was enough;he

knew he wanted more. With his wife and

their two young children, Carver moved to

northern California, where he began

college on a partial scholarship.

One of his teachers, the novelist John

Gardner, helped Carver to revive his

childhood interest in making up stories

and encouraged him to find his own voice

as a writer. Working nights at a

succession of blue-collar jobs, Carver used

the days to learn to write. Because the

house was always noisy, he often worked

in the family car. Because his writing time

was limited, he concentrated on short

pieces-a poem or story-that could be

finished in one sitting. Carver also worked

to strip the stories down to the bare

minimum"cutting them to the bone, and

then cutting them a bit more," he joked.

His first collection of stories- “Will You

Please Be Quiet, Please” (1976)-led

reviewers to speak of "Carver country," a

fictional world in which working-class

people struggle to make sense of their

lives, or failing that, simply to get through

them. But Carver had also been troubled

bled by alcoholism, which finally led him

to stop writing and destroyed his family

life.

In 1977, realizing that he was drinking

himself to death, Carver took his last drink

and began what he later identified as his

"second life. " (He and his first wife

separated that year and were divorced

five years later. ) Carver started writing

again the following year, after meeting the

poet Tess Gallagher. His next book, What

We Talk About When We Talk About Love

(1981),brought him world-wide

recognition, with translations in more than

twenty languages. His following

collection, Cathedral (1983), marked a

new direction in his work, with much

longer stories that also carried a sense of

hope. In 1988, Carver married Gallagher,

was elected to the American Academy and

Institute of Arts and Letters, and won two

awards for his story "Errand," which is

based on the death of the Russian writer

Anton Chekov. However, he also suffered

a relapse of lung cancer, for which he had

been treated earlier, and died at home in

Port Angeles, Washington, leaving five

collections of short stories, five books of

poetry, and one collection of prose and

poetry.

"Popular Mechanics" first appeared in

What We Talk About When We Talk About

Love and was reprinted under the title

"Little Things" in Where I'm Calling From

(1988). Asked once about the sense of

menace-of impending danger-in his

R

POPULAR MECHANICS

RaymondCarver

(1938-1988)


24

stories, Carver said, "The people l've

chosen to write about do feel menace, and

I think many, if not most, people feel the

world is a menacing place. . . . Try living

on the other side of the tracks for a while.

Menace is there, and it's palpable. “The

characters of Popular Mechanics” certainly

live on the wrong side of the tracks, in a

three-room house heated only by a free-

standing stove in the kitchen. For this

young couple and their baby, what do you

suppose the menace will prove to be?

Larry McCaffrey and Sinda Gregory, "An

Interview with Raymond

Carver," reprinted in Conversations with

Raymond Carver, edited by Marshall Bruce

Gentry and William L. Stull (1990).


Popular Mechanics (title)-The name of a

magazine dedicated to electronics,

automobiles, wood-working projects, and

other "manly" pursuits.

slush("Cars slushed by")-partly melted

snow; Carver has turned the noun into a

verb.

a scuffle ('In the scuffle")-a rough,

confused struggle or fight.

a fist ("Her fisted fingers")-a tightly

closed hand, with the fingers turned

under; Carver has turned the noun into an

adjective.

POULAR MECHANICS

Early that day the weather turned and the

snow was melting into dirty water.

Streaks of it ran down from the little

shoulder-high window that faced the

backyard. Cars slushed by on the street

outside, where it was getting dark. But it

was getting 5 dark on the inside too.

He was in the bedroom pushing clothes

into a suitcase when she came to the

door.

I'm glad you're leaving! I'm glad you're

leaving! she said. Do you hear?

10 He kept on putting his things into the

suitcase.

Son of a bitch! I'm so glad you're leaving!

She began to cry.

You can't even look me in the face, can

you?

Then she noticed the baby's picture on the

bed and picked it up.

15 He looked at her and she wiped her

eyes and stared at him before turning and

going back to the living room.

Bring that back, he said.

Just get your things and get out, she said.

He did not answer. He fastened the

suitcase, put on his

20 coat, looked around the bedroom

before turning off the light. Then he went

out to the living room.

She stood in the doorway of the little

kitchen, holding the baby.

I want the baby, he said.

25 Are you crazy?

No, but I want the baby. I'll get someone

to come by for his things.

You're not touching this baby, she said.

The baby had begun to cry and she

uncovered the blanket

30 from around his head

Oh, oh, she said, looking at the baby.

He moved toward her.

For God's sake!she said. She took a step

back into the kitchen.

35 I want the baby.

Get out of here!

She turned and tried to hold the baby over

in a corner behind the stove.

But he came up. He reached across the

stove and tightened


25

40 his hands on the baby

Let go of him, he said.

Get away, get away! she cried.

The baby was red-faced and screaming.

In the scuffle they knocked down a

flowerpot that hung behind the stove.

45 He crowded her into the wall then,

trying to break her grip. He held on to the

baby and pushed with all his weight.

Let go of him, he said.

Don't, she said. You're hurting the baby,

she said. I'm not hurting the baby, he

said.

50 The kitchen window gave no light. In

the near-dark he worked on her fisted

fingers with one hand and with the otner

hand he gripped the screaming baby up

under an arm near the shoulder.

She felt her fingers being forced open.

She felt the baby

55 going from her

No! she screamed just as her hands came

loose.

She would have it, this baby. She

grabbed for the baby's other arm. 'She

caught the baby around the wrist and

leaned back.

60 But he would not let go. He felt the

baby slipping out of his hands and he

pulled back very hard.

In this manner, the issue was decided.

(1981]


1.- Who are "he" and "she"? Would the

story be stronger if the characters had

names? Why or why not?

2.- How is the setting-the season,

weather, time of day, and location-

appropriate to the story? In what way has

the weather "turned" (line 1)? How has

the situation in the story turned?

3.- Why do you think she is crying? What

signs of emotion is he showing?

4.- What do you think the baby represents

to each of them? When do you suppose he

got the idea of taking the baby with him?

Is the baby a boy or a girl?

5.- Do you think she is correct in saying

that the man is hurting the baby (line 48)?

Why or why not?

6.- The last sentence of the story is

deliberately ambiguous; that is, the

author has intentionally left several

possibilities for its meaning. What is "the

issue"? In what "manner" is it decided?

What are the various possibilities for

answering those questions?

7.- What do you think the title means?

Why do youn suppose Carver later

changed the title to "Little Things"?


1. In a story this "minimal," with so few

words, any repetition carries great weight.

Discuss the meaning-direct and indirect-of

the references to light and darkness in the

following sentences.

a. Cars slushed by on the street outside,

where it was getting dark. But it was

getting dark on the inside too. (lines

4-5)

b. He fastened the suitcase, put on his

coat, looked around the bedroom before

turning off the light. (lines 19-20)

c. The kitchen window gave no light. In

the near-dark he worked on her fisted

fingers... (lines 50-51)

2. Another aspect of Carver's stripped-

down style is that there are almost no

adjectives, so the ones that are used carry

great weight. Find the seven adjectives


26

(the first is "dirty" in line 2) and comment

on their choice. How many adverbs are

there?

3. Now look at the verbs.

a. In → the → dialogue, → almost →

everything → is → "he → said, → she

said. " Therefore, "she cried" (line 42) has

great power. Where else does Carver use

a verb to indicate tone of voice?

b. Which other verbs have special power

because they are unusual? ("Slushed," line

3, is one example. )

c. For the most part, the reader is left to

imagine the emotion behind the words.

What do you think is the tone of the

woman's words in the sentence "Oh, oh,

she said, looking at the baby" (line 31)?

Choose several other statements and

discuss the emotion behind them and their

possible tone.

MAKING CONNECTIONS

1. Carver's story is reminiscent of two

legendary stories about dividing a child

between two women when each of the

women claims to be the mother. Perhaps

you will recognize one or both of them.

Read the stories aloud, then discuss the

questions following them.

THE JUDGMENT OF SOLOMON

This story is from the Bible, the First Book

of Kings, chapter 3, verses 16-27. The

story has been retold to simplify the

language.

When God offered King Solomon any gift

he wanted, Solomon asked for wisdom.

He soon had a chance to test his gift, for

two prostitutes came to him for a

judgment.

The women had two babies with them,

one alive and one dead.

5. "We live in the same house, your

majesty," the first woman said. "I

recently had a baby and three days later

this other woman also gave birth. But she

accidentally rolled over her child during

the night and he died. Then she got up

and took my baby and left me with her

dead child. "

10. The second woman said, "No, the

living child is mine and the dead one is

hers. She is trying to take my child away

from me. "

King Solomon thought for a moment, then

he called a guard to come forward with a

sword. "Cut the living child in

15 two," he said, "and gave half to each

woman. "

"No,no," cried the second woman. "Don't

harm the child.

Give it to her. "

"Not at all," snapped the first woman.

"Divide the child so that neither one of us

has it. "

20 Then Solomon said, "Give the child to

the second woman,

for she is the true mother. " And the

people knew that God had truly given

Solomon wisdom.

THE CIRCLE OF CHALK

A similar story is found in The Circle of

Chalk, a classic Chinese play of the Yuan

dynasty (1259-1368), although this story

involves not prostitutes but a concubine.

It was adapted six hundred years later by

the German playwright Bertolt Brecht as

The Caucasian Chalk Circle (1945). The

following is a summary of the Chinese

play.

A penniless family was forced by their


27

poverty to sell their beautiful daughter,

Changhi-tang, to a teahouse. There the

tax collector, Mr. Ma, bought Changhi-

tang as a concubine. Within a year, she

bore him a son.

5 Mr. Ma's wife, who was childless, was

so jealous of the concubine tlat she

poisoned her husband's tea. Then she

paid her servants to say that Changhi-

tang had killed Mr. Ma and that Mrs. Ma

was the real mother of the child.

The case was brought before the new

emperor, who had

10 said that he would judge all cases

involving a murder. The emperor listened

carefully to the evidence. Then he drew a

circle with a piece of chalk, placed the

child inside the circle, and directed Mrs.

Ma and Changhi-tang to each take hold of

one of the baby's arms. "The one who

pulls the child out of the

1s circle," the emperor said, "will have

him. "

Mrs. Ma won, since only she would risk

hurting the child. The emperor was then

certain that the concubine was the rightful

mother and that Mrs. Ma had murdered

her husband. After announcing his

finding, he ordered Changhi-tang to

20 determine Mrs Ma´s punishment

"Mrs. Ma, please prepare a cup of tea for

your self," the concubine said softly. "And

let your conscience guide you in deciding

what sort of tea it will be. "

a. How are the endings of the two stories

different? What does Changhi-tang mean

when she imposes the sentence? Do you

suppose that the emperor expected her to

say that?

b. What aspects of the two stories are the

same?

c. Compare either "The Judgment of

Solomon" or "The Circle of Chalk" to

"Popular Mechanics. " Are the stories

similar or different in setting? How similar

are the characters? What about the

situation in the story and the way the

characters react? How similar are the

stories in the way the conflict is resolved?

2. What stories do you know, from the

news or from your own life, about parents

fighting over children? What effect did the

struggle have on the children? What psy-

chological, as well as physical, ways are

there for parents to tear a child apart?

3. In class, read "Popular Mechanics" as a

play. You will need a NARRATOR (12

speeches), HE (9 speeches), and SHE (12

speeches). Leave out "he said" and "she

said" when these phrases occur. You may

also want to have a DIRECTOR to help

everyone decide where to sit or stand and

when and how to speak. Several small

groups can each prepare and present their

version. To give more students a chance

to participate, there can be a change of

cast and director after "Get out of here!"

(line 36).

4. Carver's story is told by a narrator who

isn't a character in the story. Retell it

from another point of view. How would

the story be told by a nosy neighbor who

has overheard the scene? By a police

officer who has come to investigate in

response to a call by that same neighbor?

By the woman in the story when she

writes to her mother about the incident?

How does shifting the point of view

change the story?

5. Like "No Speak English" by Cisneros,

this story is told in very simple language.

What other similarities can you see

between the two stories? What differences

are there?

6. The Public Broadcasting System (PBS)

station in Seattle, Washington, has filmed


28

an interview with Raymond Carver and

Tess Gallagher. When it was shown on

PBS in New York City, the program was

titled "Raymond Carver: To Write and

Keep Kind. " The program is not presently

available for purchase on video cassette;

however, teachers in the U. S. may want

to contact their local PBS station to see if

the film is on an upcoming program

schedule.

THE UNICORN IN THE GARDEN _________________________________________________

29

ames Thurber spent his boyhood in

Columbus, Ohio, in a family that was

delightfully crazy. As he described

the family in My Life and Hard Times

(1933), his grandmother worried about

electricity leaking out of light fixtures and

wall sockets. His grandfather used to

disappear for days at time, returning with

late-breaking news of the Civil War, which

had ended forty years before. Aunt Gracie

Shoaf lived in fear of burglars. She was

sure that they would come when she was

asleep and use chloroform to keep her

from waking up. To drive them away, she

threw shoes down the hallway in the

middle of the night. ' "Some nights,"

Thurber wrote, "she threw them all. "

A childhood accident left Thurber blind in

one eye and with only limited vision in the

other. Some might say that his unusual

view of the world is reflected in the style

of his drawings, one of which appears with

this story, as well as in the content of his

stories. For over thirty years, Thurber's

cartoons and stories about his family and

other topics appeared in The New Yorker,

a witty and sophisticated American

magazine founded by Harold Ross.

Thurber presented his version of working

on The New Yorker's staff in The Years

with Ross (1959). A representative

selection of his work appears in The

Thurber Carnival (1945).

Thurber stands beside Mark Twain as one

of the most popular American humorists

and satirists of his time. He has also

joined the ancient Greek slave Aesop and

the seventeenth century French nobleman

Jean de La Fontaine as a noted writer of

fables. Fables, which often have animals

who act like human beings as the main

characters, illustrate morals that are

stated directly at the end like proverbs.

Thurber's Fables for Our Time (1940)

includes "The Unicorn in the Garden. "

This fable illustrates a recurring theme in

Thurber's work: the battle of the sexes,

pitting timid but imaginative men against

scheming and possessive women. In this

story, a typical Thurber man finds his

long-suffering existence dramatically

altered. How? By the arrival of a unicorn-

the medieval symbol of romantic love and

sexual power.


Once upon a ("Once upon a sunny

morning")-the conventional opening for a

fairy tale is "Once upon a time. " The

conventional ending is "They all lived

happily ever after. "

a breakfast nook ("sat in a breakfast

nook")-a corner of the kitchen with a

small table and chairs.

a booby ("You are a booby. ")-(slang) a

foolish or mentally retarded person.

a booby-hatch ("put in the booby

hatch")-(slang) an insane asylum, a

hospital for people who are mentally ill.

Thurber later makes a play on words with

the verb hatch, to break out of a shell.

a gloat ("a gloat in her eye")-the verb

J

THE UNICORN IN THE GARDEN

JAMES THURBER

(1894-1961)


30

gloat means to look at with selfish or

malicious pleasure; here, the verb is used

as a noun.

a straight-jacket ("got her into the

straight-jacket")-a white jacket with very

long sleeves used to control a mental

patient.

a jay bird ("as crazy as a jay bird")-a

blue jay, a common crested bird with a

harsh cry. (The usual comparison is "as

crazy as a loon. ")

Don't count . . . . ("Don't count your

chickens until they are hatched. ")-a play

on the words of the proverb the moral of

the fable

THE" UNICORN IN THE GARDEN

Once upon a sunny morning a man who

sat in a breakfast nook looked up from his

scrambled eggs to see a white unicorn

with a gold horn quietly cropping the roses

in the garden. The man went up to the

bedroom where his wife was still asleep

and woke her. "There's an unicorn in the

garden," he said. "Eating roses. " She

opened one unfriendly eye and looked at

him. "The unicorn is a mythical beast,"

she said, and turned her back on him. The

man walked slowly downstairs and out

into the garden. The unicorn was still

there; he was now browsing among the

tulips. "Here, unicorn," said the man, and

he pulled up a lily and gave it to him. The

unicorn ate it gravely. With a high heart,

because there was an unicorn in his

garden, the man went upstairs and roused

his wife again. "The unicorn," he said,

"ate a lily. " His wife, sat up in bed and

looked at him, coldly. "You are a booby,"

she said, "and I am going to have you put

in the booby hatch. " The man, who had

never liked the words "booby" and

"booby-hat'ch," and who liked them even

less on a shining morning when there was

an unicorn in the garden, thought for a

moment. “We'll see about that,” he said.

He walked over to the door. "He has a

golden horn in the middle of his forehead,"

he told her. Then he went back to the

garden to watch the unicorn; but the

unicorn had gone away. The man sat

down among the roses and went to sleep.

As soon as the husband had gone out of

the house, the wife got up and dressed as

fast as she could. She was very excited

and there was a gloat in her eye. She

telephoned the police and she telephoned

a psychiatrist; she told them to hurry to

her house and bring a straight-jacket

when the police and the psychiatrist

arrived they sat down in chairs and looked

at'her, with great interest. "My husband,"

she said, "saw a unicorn this morning. "

The police looked at the psychiatrist and

the psychiatrist looked at the police. "He

told me it ate a lily," she said. The

psychiatrist looked at the police and the

police looked at the psychiatrist. "He told

me it had a golden horn in the middle of

its forehead," she said. At a solemn signal

from the psychiatrist, the police leaped

from their chairs and seized the wife.

They had a hard time subduing her, for

she put up a terrific struggle, but they

finally subduedd her. Just as they got,

her into the straight, jacket, the husband

came back into the house.

40. "Did you tell your wife you saw an

unicorn?" asked the police. "Of course

not," said the husband. "The unicorn is a

mythical beast. " "That's all I wanted to

know," said the psychiatrist. "Take her

away. I'm sorry, sir, but your wife is as

crazy as a jay bird. " So they took her


31

away, cursing and screaming,

45 and shut her up in an institution. the

husband lived happily ever after.

MORAL: Don't count your boobies until

they are hatched. (1939)


1. In the first sentence, what elements of

fairy tales and everyday life are

juxtaposed-set side by side?

2. The unicorn eats roses and lilies. Lilies

often symbolize purity; what do roses

suggest? The marl, we are told, has "a

high heart" (line 12) because of the unicor

in his garden. What do you suppose "high

heart" means? What do you think the

unicorn represents?

3. Why do you think the man wakes his

wife up the second time? Why do you

think she reacts as she does? What does

the man mean when he says (line 19),

"We'll see about that"?

4. When the man goes downstairs, he

finds the unicorn gone. Why do you

suppose he goes to sleep rather than look

for the unicorn?

5. To→ "have→ a→ gleam→ in→

one's→ eye"→ means→ to→ have→

a→ good

idea, but the wife has "a gloat in her eye"

(line 26).

a. What does "gloat" mean, and what

does the change from "gleam" to "gloat"

suggest about the wife's idea and the

motivation behind it?

b. What do you think the wife has in mind

when she calls the police and the

psychiatrist? What do you think she

expects them to do when they arrive?

c. What is the irony-the difference

between what the wife expects and what

act all happens -in the result of her plan?

6. Think about the husband's actions:

a. Surely he can hear his wife shouting.

Why do you suppose he doesn't come into

the house right away?

b. What would explain his response to the

psychiatrist's question?

c. Are you surprised that he allows his

wife to be "taken away cursing and

screaming" (line 44)?

7. What proverb is the moral based on?

What does the proverb mean? How is it

appropriate to this story?


Some of the words in the story-such as

garden-are generally thought of as having

pleasant associations; that is, they have a

positive connotation. Other words-such as

cursing-have unpleasant associations, a

negative feeling; that is, they have a

negative connotation. Divide the following

words into two lists-those with positive

connotations and those with negative

connotations:

booby, curse, garden, gloat, gold, heart,

institution, lily,

police, psychiatrist, rose (n. ), scream,

shining, straight

jacket, struggle, subdue, sunny, unicorn.

a. Which list can be associated with the


32

husband? Which with the wife?

b. How do these words reflect the

differences between the husband and

wife? Why do you suppose these two

people married?

MAKING CONNECTIONS

1. Is the husband crazy? Discuss the

evidence for and against the view that he

is.

2. How is the idea of the proverb "Don't

count your chickens before they are

hatched" expressed in other languages

that you know?

3. What other fables do you know? In

what ways is Thurber's fable similar to

them? In what ways is it different?

4. Plan a dramatization of the fable.

Besides a NARRATOR, how many actors

will you need? This can be done as a class

project, with some students preparing the

script, some preparing the set, some

preparing costumes and properties, some

acting, and one directing. Ontwo or three

small groups can each prepare and

present their own simple version.

5. Arrange to see the animated film

version of this story produced by the

National Film Board of Canada. Then

discuss and write about the differences

between the way you pictured the story

and the way it is presented in the film. In

the United States, teachers can contact

the National Film Board of Canada at 1251

Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY

10020-1173; 1-212-596-1770. )

Assyrian ("an As rian who, out of

loneliness, had learned to speak

Armenian”)a citizen of Assyria, an ancient

country of Asia Minor that lost its

itdependent existence in the eighth

century B. C. In another story, Saroyan

identified a well-known Armenian as

"Assyrian. " When asked why he had done

that, Saroyan answered that "in a sense

everybody in the world is an Assyrian, a

remnant of a once-mighty race, now all

but extinct" (Letters from 74 rue Taitbout,

1969).

THE SUMMER OF THE BEAUTIFUL

WHITE HORSE

One day back there in the good old days

when I was nine and the world was full of

every imaginable kind of magnificence,

and life was still a delightful and

mysterious dream, my cousin Mourad,

who was considered crazy by everybody

who

5 knew him except me, came to my house

at four in the morning and woke me up by

tapping on the window of my room.

Aram, he said.

I jumped out of bed and looked out the

window.

I couldn't believe what I saw.

10 It wasn't morning yet, but it was

summer and with daybreak not many

minutes around the corner of the world it

was light enough for me to know I wasn't

dreaming.

My cousin Mourad was sitting on a

beautiful white horse.

I stuck my head out of the window and

rubbed my eyes.

15 Yes, he said in Armenian. It's a horse.

You're not dreaming. Make it quick if you

want to ride.

I knew my cousin Mourad enjoyed being

alive more than anybody else who had

ever fallen into the world by mistake, but

this was more than even I could believe.

20 In the first place, my earliest memories


33

had been memories of horses and my first

longings had been longings to ride.

This was the wonderful part.

In the second place, we were Poor.

This was the part that wouldn't permit me

to believe what

25 I saw.

We were poor. We had no money. Our

whole tribe was poverty-stricken. Every

branch of the Garoghlanian family was

living in the most amazing and comical

poverty in the world. Nobody could

understand where we ever got money -

enough to

30 keep us with food in our bellies, not

even the old men of the family. Most

important of all, though, we were famous

for our honesty. We had been famous for

our honesty for something like eleven

centuries, even when we had been the

wealthiest family in what we liked to think

was the world. We were proud

35 first, honest next, and after that we

believed in right and wrong. None of us

would take advantage of anybody in the

world, let alone steal.

Consequently, even though I could see the

horse, so magnificent; even though I

could smell the horse, so lovely; even

though I could hear it breathing,so

exciting; I couldn't believe the horse had

anything to do with my cousin Mourad or

with me or with any of the other members

of our family, asleep or awake, because I

knew my cousin Mourad couldn't have

bought the horse, and if he couldn't have

bought it he must have stolen it, and I

refused to believe he had stolen it.

No member of the Garoghianian family

could be a thief.

I stared first at my cousin and then

at the horse. There was a pious

stillness and humor in each of them

which on the one hand delighted me

and on the other frightened me.

Mourad, I said, where did you steal this

horse?

Leap out of the window, he said, if you

want to ride.

It was true, then. He had stolen the

horse. There was no question about

it. He had come to invite me to ride

or not, as I chose.

Well, it seemed to me stealing a horse for

a ride was not the same thing as stealing

something else, such as money. For all I

knew, may be it wasn't stealin at all. If

you were crazy about horses the way my

cousin Mourad and I were, it wasn't

stealing. It wouldn't become stealing ti

otil we offered to sell the horse, which of

course I knew we would never do.

Let me put on some clothes, I said.

All right, he said, but hurry.

I leaped into my clothes.

I jumped down to the yard from the

window and leaped up onto the

horse behind my cousin Mourad.

That year we lived at the edge of

town,on Walnut Avenue. Behind our

house was the country: vineyards,

orchards, irrigation ditches, and

country roads. In less than three

minutes we were on Olive Avenue

and then the horse began to trot.

The air was new and lovely to

breathe. The feel of the horse

running was wonderful. My cousin

Mourad who was considered one of

the craziest members of our family

began to sing. I mean, he began to

roar.

Every family has a crazy streak in it

somewhere, and my cousin Mourad

was considered the natural

descendant of the crazy streak in our


34

tribe. Before him was our uncle

Khosrove, an enormous man with a

powerful head of black hair and the

largest mustache in the San Joaquin

Valley, a man so furious intemper,

so irritable, so impatient that he

stopped anyone from

80 talking by roaring, It is no harm; pay

no attention to it That was all, no matter

what anybody happened to be talking

about. Once it was his own son Arak

running eight blocks to the barber shop

where his father was having his mustache

trimmed to tell him that their house was

on fire. This man

85 Khosrove sat up in the chair and

roared, It is no harm; pay no attention to

it. The barber said, but the boy says your

house is on fire. So Khosrove roared,

nough, it is no harm, I say.

My cousin Mourad was considered the

natural descendant of this man, although

Mourad's father was Zorab, who

90 was practical and nothing else. That's

how it is in our tribe. A man could be, the

father of his son's flesh, but that did not

mean that he was also the father of his

spirit. The distribution of the various kinds

of spirit of our tribe had been from the

beginning capricious and vagrant.

95 we rode and my cousin Mourad sang.

For all any body knew we were still in the

old country where, at least according to

some of our neighbors, we belonged. We

let, the horse run as long as it felt like

running.

At last my cousin Mourad said, Get down.

I want to ride

100 alone.

Will you let me ride alone? I said.

That is up to the horse, my

cousin said. Get down. The

horse:will let me ride, I

said.

We shall see, he said. Don't forget that I

have a way with a

105 horse.

Well, I said, any way you have with a

horse, I have also. For the sake of

your safety, he said, letus hope so.

Get

down.

All right, I said, but remember you've got,

to let me try to

110 ride alone.

I got down and my cousin Mourad kicked

his heels into the

horse and shouted, Vazire, run. The horse

stood on its hind

legs, snorted, and burst into a fury of

speed that was the loveli

est thing I had ever seen. My cousin

Mourad raced the horse

115 across a field of dry grass to an

irrigation ditch, crossed the

ditch on the horse, and five minutes later

returned, dripping

wet.

The sun was coming up.

Now it's my turn to ride, I said.

My cousin Mourad got off the horse.

Ride, he said.

I leaped to the back of the horse and for a

moment knew the awfulest fear imaginable.

The horse did not move.

Kick into his muscles, my cousin Mourad

said. What are you waiting for? We've got

to take him back before everybody in the

world is up and about.

I kicked into the muscles of the horse.

Once again it reared and snorted. Then it

began to run. I didn't know what to do.

Instead of running across the field to the

irrigation ditch the horse ran down the road

to the vineyard of Dikran Halabian where it

began to leap over vines.


35

The horse leaped over seven vines before I

fell. Then it continued running.

My cousin Mourad came running down the

road.

I'm not worried about you, he shouted.

We've got to get that horse. You go this

way and I'll go this way. If you come upon

him,be kindly. I'll be near.

I continued down the road and my cousin

Mourad went across the field toward the

irrigation ditch.

It took him half an hour to find the horse

and bring him back.

All right, he said, jump on. The whole

world is awake now. What will we do? I

said.

Well, he said, we'll either take him back or

hide him until tomorrow morning.

He didn't sound worried and I knew he'd

hide him and riot take him back. Not for a

while, at any rate.

Where will we hide him? I said.

I know a place, he said.

How long ago did you steal this horse? I

said.

It suddenly dawned on me that he had been

taking these early morning rides for some

time and had come for me this morning

only because he knew how much I longed

to ride. Who said anything about stealing a

horse? he said. Anyhow, I said, how long

ago did you begin riding every morning?

Not until this morning, he said.

Are you telling the truth? I said.

Of course noJ he said, but if we are found

out, that's what you're to say. I don't want

both of us to be liars. All you know is that

we started riding this morning.

All right, I said.

He walked the horse quietly to the barn of a

deserted vineyard which at one time had

been the pride of a farmer named Fetvajian.

There were some oats and dry alfalfa in the

barn.

We began walking home.

165 It wasn't easy, he said to get the horse

behave so nicely a first it wanted to run

wild, but,

as I've told you, I have a way with a

horse. Lean get it to want to do

anything I want it to do.

Horses understand me.

How do you do it? I said.

170 I have an understanding with a

horse, he said.

Yes, but what sort of an

understanding? I said.

A simple and honest one, he said.

Well, I said, I wish I knew how to

reach an understanding like that

with a horse.

175 You're still a small boy, he

said. When you get to be thirteen

you'll know how to do it.

I went home and ate a hearty

breakfast.

That afternoon my uncle Khosrove

came to our house for coffee and

cigarettes. He sat in the arlor,

sipping and smoking

180 and remembering the old

country. Then another visitor

arrived, a farmer named John Byro,

an Assyrian who, out of loneliness,

had learned to speak Armenian. My

mother brought the lonely visitor

coffee and tobacco and he rolled a

cigarette and sipped and smoked,

and then at last, sighing sadly, he

said, my white

185 horse which was stolen last

month is still gone. I cannot under-

stand it.

My uncle Khosrove became very

irritated and shouted, It's no harm.

What is the loss of a horse? Haven't


36

we all lost a homeland? What is this

crying over a horse?

190 That may be all right for you, a

city dweller, to say, John Byro said,

but what of my surrey?

What good is a surrey withcout a

horse'?

Pay no attention to it, my uncle

Khosrove roared.

I walked ten miles to get here, John

Byro said.

195 You have legs, my uncle

Knosrove shouted.

My left leg pains me, the farmer

said.

Pay no attention to it, my uncle

Khosrove roared.

That horse cost me sixty dollars, the

farmer said. I spit on money, my

uncle Khosrove said.

200 He got up and stalked out of the

house, slamming the screen door.

My mother explained.

He has a gentle heart, she said. It

is simply that he is homesick and

such a large man.

The farmer went away and I ran

over to my cousin Mourad's house.

He was sitting under a peach tree,

trying to repair the hurt wing of a

young robin which could not fly.

He was talking to the bird.

What is it? he said.

The farmer, John Byro, I said. He

visited our house. He wants his

horse. You've had it a month. I

want you to promise not to take it

back until I learn to ride.

It will take you a year to learn to

ride, my cousin Mourad said.

We could keep the horse a year, I said.

My cousin Mourad leaped to his feet.

What? he roared. Are you inviting

a member of the Garoghlanian

family to steal? The horse must go

back to its true owner.

When? I said.

In six months at the latest, lie said.

He threw the bird into the air. The

bird tried hard, almost fell twice,

but at last flew away, high and

straight.

Early every morning for two weeks

my cousin Mourad and I took the

horse out of the barn of the

deserted vineyard where we were

hiding it and rode it, and every

morning the horse, when it was my

turn to ride alone, leaped over

grape vines and small trees and

threw me and ran away.

Nevertheless, I hoped in time to

learn to ride the way my cousin

Mourad rode.

One Inorning on the way to

Fetvajian's deserted vineyard we

ran into the farmer John Byro who

was on his way to town.

Let rue do the talking, my cousin

Mourad said. I have a way with

farmers.

Good morning, John Byro, my

cousin Mourad said to the farmer.

The farmer studied the horse eagerly.

Good morning, sons of my friends,

he said. What is the name of your

horse?

My Heart, my cousin Mourad said in

Armenian.

A lovely name, John Byro said, for a

lovely horse. I could swear it is the

horse that was stolen from me

many weeks ago. May I look into

its mouth'?

Of course, Mourad said.

245 The farmer looked into the mouth of


37

the horse.

Tooth for tooth, he said. I would

swear it is my horse if I didn't

know your parents. The fame of

your family for honesty is well

known to me. Yet the horse is

the twin of my horse. A

suspicious man would believe his

eyes instead of his heart.

250 Good day, my young friends.

Good day, John Byro, my cousin Mourad

said.

Early the following morning we

took the horse to John Byro's

vineyard and put it in the barn.

The dogs followed us around

without making a sound.

255 The dogs, I whispered to my

cousin Mourad. I thought they

would bark.

They would at somebody else, he

said. I have a way with dogs.

My cousin Mourad put his arms

around the horse, pressed

260 his nose into the horse's

nose, patted it, and then we went

away.

That afternoon John Byro came to

our house in his surrey and

showed my mother the horse that

had been stolen and returned.

265 I do not know what to think,

he said. The horse is stronger

than ever. Better-tempered, too.

I thank God.

My uncle Khosrove, who was in

the parlor, became irritated and

shouted, Quiet, man, quiet. Your

horse has been returned. Pay no

attention to it.

[

1

9

Understanding the Story

1. Why is Aram so surprised

when his cousin invites him to

go

horse back riding? What are some

examples of his excitement?

How does he justify their having

the horse (lines 55-60)?

2. Identify the speaker and situation for

each of the following statements. How

does each statement reflect the per-

sonality of the speaker? Can you find one

or two more statements that are typical of

each of the characters?

a. "Don't forget that I have a way with a

horse. " (lines 104-5)

b. For all anybody knew we were

still in the old country where, at least

according to some of our neighbors,

we belonged. (lines 95-97)

c. "What is the loss of a horse?

Haven't we all lost a homeland?"

(lines 188-89)

d. "I walked ten miles to get here. " (line

194)

3. Aram, Mourad, and John Byro

each have a different

relationship with the horse.

a. What does the horse mean to each of

them? Why?

For example, why do you think Cousin

Mourad names the horse "My

Heart"?

b. How does the horse react to each of

them? Why?

4. Woven into the story of the boys

and the horse, the narrator describes

two other incidents.

a. What does the incident in the barber


38

shop (lines 82-87) show about uncle

Khosrove? How is that information related

to the story of the horse?

b. What does the incident of the robin with

a broken wing (lines 207-24) show about

cousin Mourad? How is that information

related to the story of the horse?

5. What do John Byro and uncle Khosrove

have in common? How are they different

from each other? Why is uncle Khosrove so

unsympathetic to the farmer?

6. When John Byro meets the boys, what

do you think he means by saying (lines

248-49), "A suspicious man would believe

his eyes instead of his heart"?

7. What provides the happy ending for this

story? From his final comment, do you

think uncle Khosrove believes in happy

endings?

DEVELOPING A WAY WITH

WORDS

1. In the following sentences, how does

Saroyan use irony (an unexpected

contrast), hyperbole (deliberate exag-

geration), and flawed logic to create

humor?

a. Every branch of the Garoghlanian

family was living in

the most amazing and comical poverty in

the world.

(lines 27-28)

b. We had been famous for`our honesty

for something like eleven centuries, even

when we had been the wealthiest family in

what we liked to think was the world.

(lines 32-34)

c. Well, it seemed to me that stealing a

horse to Gride was

not the same thing as stealing something

else, such as

money. For all I knew, maybe it wasn't

stealing at all. If you were crazy about

horses the way my cousin Mourad and I

were, it wasn't stealing. It wouldn't be

stealing until we offered to sell the horse,

which of

course I knew we would never do. (lines

55-60)

2. Throughout the story, there are

references to "the world," for example

"daybreak not many minutes around the

corner of the world" (lines 10-11) and "The

whole world is awake now" (line 141), as

well as the sentence in lb above. Go

through the story to find other examples.

What does Aram mean by "the world"?

3. Look at the opening paragraph. It's a

single sentence of sixty-eight words.

That's a normal length for a paragraph but

most unusual for a single sentence.

Divide the paragraph into several

sentences. Does that make the paragraph

easier to read? What other difference does

it make? Why do you think the author

made that sentence so long?

MAKING CONNECTIONS

1. Do you think the characters in the story

are meant to be realistic? Why or why not?

2 Do you agree with their families that the

behavior of Mourad and uncle Khosrove is

"crazy"? In what way or ways are they

different from the people around them?

How are they different from each other?

How are they alike?

3. Aram says (lines 90-92), "A man could

be the father of his son's flesh, but that did

not mean that he was also the father of his

spirit. " What do you think he means by


39

that? Could people in your family be used

to illustrate the same idea?

4. The older men in the story are

homesick for their native countries, while

the boys, who speak Armenian but are

growing up in the United States, are

enjoying all of the possibilities of their new

homeland. How typical is that of

immigrant groups?

5. When you were a child, did you ever

have a crazy adventure? If so, what was

it? What was the outcome?

6. This story is like "The Unicorn in the

Garden" in that it has an unusually long

opening sentence and is humorous in

tone. How else are the stories alike? In

what ways are they different?

SAMUEL___________________________________________________________________

40

race Paley was born in the Bronx,

one of the five boroughs of New

York City. Like many other Bronx

residents at the time, her parents wete

Russian Jewish immigrants. The family

members were lively story-tellers in three

languages-Russian, Yiddish, and English.

"I loved to listen," Paley has said of her

childhood, "and soon I loved to talk and

tell. " She entered Hunter College at the

age of fifteen and later attended New York

University but never completed a degree.

"I really went to school on poetry," Paley

later explained. "I learned whatever I

know about language and craft from

writing poems. "

Paley moved from writing poetry to writing

stories during her years as a wife, mother,

and political activist in the part of

Manhattan (another borough of New York)

called Greenwich Village. In the mid-

twentieth century, "the Village" was

favored by artists and political liberals.

The streets, were narrow, the buildings

were not more than five stories high, and

people talked comfortably with their,

neighbors. Meeting other women in the

shops, on the playgrounds, and at anti-war

demonstrations, Paley realized that they

were not represented in contemporary

literature. She began to write stories to

give these women "a voice," winning high

praise for her

first collection, The Little

Disturbances of Man (1959).

Then Paley put aside literary concerns and

devoted her energies to supporting the

peace movement and campaigning for the

nuclear freeze, environmentalism,

feminism, and prison reform. (Paley has

described herself as a "somewhat

combative pacifist and cooperative

anarchist. ")

Despite her total of only three books in

thirty years-the second and third are

Enormous Changes at the Last Minute

(1974), which includes "Samuel," and

Later the Same Day

(1985), Paley has become a writer with a

large reputation. (The three were reissued

in a single volume in 1994. ) Since the

early 1960s, Paley has taught university

courses in writing because, as she

explains, "teaching always puts you in

contact with new historical experience-not

just with people but with the nature of

their lives. " Paley has a gift for under-

standing this nature and capturing it

infiction. Beneath the "tough-kid" New

York voice of the stories is an unfailing

interest in and understanding of the

enormous variety of people who comprise

New York City. And through this

understanding, Paley identifies feelings

and experiences that every reader can

share.

For "Samuel,"Paley has chosen a location

where the widest variety of people meet-

the subway. The subway train in this story

is traveling from Manhattan (the island

G

SAMUEL

GRACE PALEY (BORN 1922)

SAMUEL___________________________________________________________________

41

that many people-including the men in the

story-mean when they refer to. "New

York")to the Bronx, the northernmost of

the city's five boroughs. To follow the

story, it's useful to know something about

the tracks and trains of the subway

system. First, the tracks are underground

in almost all of Manhattan but are elevated

in the Bronx. Second, the cars of the

subway train are joined by couplings

similar to freight trains or passenger trains.

A foot or so above these couplings are

steel platforms that allow passengers to

walk from one car to the next. (The doors

at the ends of the cars began to be locked

as air-conditioning was introduced in

preparation for the 1964 World's Fair. ) On

either side of these platforms, at waist-

height, are chains to keep passengers from

falling between the cars. Come for a

subway ride to meet Samuel and his

friends, with the warning that Paley has

the power to make her readers both laugh

and cry in the course of one story.

UNCOMMON WORDS OR

MEANINGS

to take a bow ("the ones who climb a

wall and take a bow at the top")-(idiom)

to acknowledge applause or verbal

admiration by bowing.

a super (“Where even the super hates to

go")- New York City abbreviation for

"superintendent," a building caretaker.

to jiggle ("jiggle and hop on the platform

between the locked doors of the subway

cars")-(informal) to 'move sideways and up

and down (as the subway train moves

rapidly along the tracks).

from New York to Rockeway Beach

("had ridden the tail of a speed

ing truck from New York to Rockaway

Beach")-a distance of twelve or thirteen

miles. Here "New York" means

Manhattan; Rockaway Beach is in the

borough of Queens, also part of New York

City.

Eighth Avenue and Fifteenth Street . .

. Twenty-third (Street) and

the [Hudson] river ("Starting at Eighth-

Avenue and Fifteenth Street, he would get

to some specified place, maybe Twenty-

third and the river")-a distance of slightly

over a mile. This is a commercial part of

Manhattan with many warehouses and a

lot of truck traffic.

Logging ("a film at school called The

Romance of Logging")-cutting down trees

for lumber. At the time of the film, North

American loggers, or lumberjacks, had one

of the world's most dangerous jobs: as

logs floated downriver to a sawmill, the

lumberjacks could be called on to walk

from one free-floating log to another to

locate and loosen the key log in a logjam.

way high over the Bronx ("we're out of

the tunnel and way high over

the Bronx")-The train is going north from

Manhattan, under the Harlem River, to the

Bronx, where it runs as an elevated train.

Fresh ("was afraid they'd be fresh and

laugh at her")-impolite, especially used of

children.

rat-tat-tatted ("then they rat-tat-tatted

the shatterproof glass pane like machine

guns")-made a sound like a machine gun,

shatterproof ("rat-tat-tatted the

shatterproof glass pane)-treated to resist

shattering, breaking violently into small

pieces.

a motorman ("For some reason known

only to the motorman, the train began a

SAMUEL___________________________________________________________________

42

sudden slowdown. ")- the "driver" in the

first car of a subway train.

to pound ("Samuel laughed the hardest

and pounded Alfred's back")-to hit heavily

and repeatedly.

the emergency cord ("where he pulled

the emergency cord")

the rope at the end of the subway car that

enabled a passenger to stop the train.

SAMUEL

Some boys are very tough. They're afraid

of nothing. They are the ones who climb a

wall and take a bow at the top. Not only

are they brave on the roof, but they make

a lot of noise in the darkest part of the

cellar where even the super hates to go.

5 They also jiggle and hop on the platform

between the locked doors of the subway

cars.

Four boys are jiggling on the swaying

platform. Their names are Alfred, Calvin,

Samuel, and Tom. The men and the

women in the cars on either side watch

them. They don't like

10 them to jiggle or jump but don't want to

interfere. Of course some of the men in

the cars were once brave boys like these.

One of them had ridden the tail of a

speeding truck from New York to Rockaway

Beachwithout getting off, without his sore

fingers losing hold. Nothing happened to

him then or later. He

15 had made a compact with other boys

who preferred to watch: Starting at Eighth

Avenue and Fifteenth Street, he would get

to some specified place, maybe Twenty-

third and the river, by hopping the tops of

moving trucks. This was hard to do when

one truck turned a corner in the wrong

direction and the near

20 est truck was a couple of feet too

high. He made three or four starts

before succeeding. He had gotten this

idea from a film at school called The

Romance of Logging. He had finished

high school, married a good friend, was

in a responsible job and going to night

school.

25 These two men and others looked at

the four boys jumping and jiggling on the

platform and thought, It must be fun to

ride that way, especially now the

weather is nice and we're out of the

tunnel and way high over the Bronx.

Then they thought, These kids do seem

to be acting sort of stupid. They are

little.

30 Then they thought of some of the

brave things they had done when they

were boys and jiggling didn't seem so

risky.

The ladies in the car became very angry

when they looked at the four boys. Most

of them brought their brows. together

and hoped the boys could see their

extreme disapproval. One of the

35 ladies wanted to get up and say, Be

careful you dumb kids, get off that

platform or I'll call a cop. But three of the

boys were Negroes and the fourth was

something else she couldn't tell for sure.

She was afraid they'd be fresh and laugh

at her and embarrass her. She wasn't

afraid they'd hit her, but she was afraid of

40 embarrassment. Another, lady

thought, Their mothers never know where

they are. It wasn't true in this particular

case. Their mothers all knew that they

had gone to see the missile exhibit on

Fourteenth Street.

Out on the platform, whenever the train

accelerated, the

45 boys would raise their hands and point

them up to the sky to act like rockets

SAMUEL___________________________________________________________________

43

going off, then they rat-tat-tatted the

shatterproof glass pane like machine guns,

although no machine guns had been

exhibited.

For some reason known only to the

motorman, the train

50 began a sudden slowdown, The lady

who was afraid of embarrassment saw the

boys jerk forward and backward and grab

the swinging guard chains. She had her

own boy at home. She stood up with

determination and went to the door. She

slid it open and said, "You boys will be

hurt. You'll be killed. I'm

55 going to call the conductor if you don't

just go into the next car and sit

down and be quiet. "

Two of the boys said, "Yes'm," and acted

as though they were about to go. Two of

them blinked their eyes a couple of times

and pressed their lips together. The train

resumed its

60 speed. The door slid shut, parting the

lady and the boys. She leaned against the

side door because she had to get off at the

next stop.

The, boys opened their eyes wide at each

other and laughed. The lady blushed. The

boys looked at her and laughed

65 harder. They began to pound each

other's back. Samuel laughed the hardest

and pounded Alfred's back until Alfred

coughed and the tears came. Alfred held

tight to the chain hook. Samuel pounded

him even harder when he saw the tears.

He said, "Why you bawling? You a baby,

huh?" and

70 laughed. One of the men whose

boyhood had been much more watchful

than brave became angry. He stood up

straight and looked at the boys for a

couple of seconds. Then he walked in a

citizenly way to the end of the car, where

he pulled the emergency cord. Almost at

once, with a terrible hiss, the pressure

75 of air abandoned the brakes and the

wheels were caught and held.

People standing in the most secure places

fell forward, then backward. Samuel had

let go of his hold on the chain so he could

pound Tom as well as Alfred. All the

passengers in the

80 car whipped back and forth, but he

pitched only forward and fell fiead first to

be crushed and killed between the cars.

The train had stopped hard, halfway into

the station, and the conductor called at

once for the trainmen who knew about

this kind of death and how to take the

body from the wheels

85 and brakes. There was silence except

for passengers from other cars who

asked, What happened! What happened!

The ladies waited around wondering if he

might be an only child. The men recalled

other afternoons with very bad endings.

The little boys stayed close to each other,

leaning and touching

90 shoulders and arms and legs.

When the policeman knocked at the door

and told her about it, Samuel's mother

began to scream. She screamed all ' day

and moaned all night, though the doctors

tried to quiet her with pills.

95 Oh, oh, she hopelessly cried. She did

not know how she could ever find another

boy like that one. However, she was a

young woman and she became pregnant.

Then for a few months she was hopeful.

The child horn to her was a boy. They

brought him to be seen and nursed. She

sriuiled. But immedi

l00 ately she saw that this baby wasn't

Samuel. She and her husband together

have had other children, but never again

will a boy exactly like Samuel be known.

SAMUEL___________________________________________________________________

44

]


1. "Some boys are very tough. They're

afraid of nothing"(line 1). In the first two

paragraphs, what are the ways that a city

boy can show he is "tough"? Which of

these ways are harmless? Which are

dangerous? Why?

2. Both the men and the women watching

Samuel and his friends knew that riding

between subway cars is dangerous;

however, all of the adults hesitated to

interfere. Why?

a. How did the memories of their own

childhoods keep the men from saying

anything?

b. How were the women's reasons for not

interfering different from the men's?

3. At several points in the story, there is

an unexpected difference-an ironic

contrast-between someone's intention and

the result. In the following examples, how

does a well-intentioned action lead to a

dangerous result?

a. When he was a schoolboy, one of the

men in the subway car had seen an

educational film about the logging industry.

What activity did the film inspire?

b. Samuel and his friends visited a missile

exhibit. What action did they imitate in the

subway car on the way home?

c. One of the women in an, adjacent

subway car scolded the boys to make them

stop acting dangerously. How did the boys

respond?

4. Two of the women had preconceived

ideas about the boys. How accurate were

the women's ideas that the boys would

"be fresh and laugh and embarrass her"

(lines 38-39) and that "Their mothers

never know where they are" (lines 40-

41)? What was the basis for the women's

ideas?

5. Early in the story (lines 14-15), a

distinction is made between boys who are

really brave and those who aren't: "He

(the boy who jumped from one moving

truck to another] had made a compact

with other toys who preferred to watch. "

a. Which kind of boy was Samuel?

b. As a youngster, which kind of boy was

the man who finally pulled the emergency

cord?

c. What emotion led the man to pull the

cord? What result did he anticipate?

6. How did Samuel die? Would the reader

be more or less horrified if Paley had

described the sight or sound of the

accident in detail? Why?

7. How did each of the following people

or groups of people react to Samuel's

death? What might account for the

difference in their reactions?

a. The conductor and the trainmen.

b. The "passengers from other cars" who

hadn't seen the accident.

c. "The ladies" in the two cars who had

seen the accident.

d. "The men" in the two cars who had

seen the accident.

e. Samuel's friends, who, after

the accident, are for the first time

described as "little boys. " (line

89)

8. How did Samuel's mother react

to the news? Why do you suppose

we're not told of his father's

reaction?

9. How would the story be different if the

last two sentences had been left out?

SAMUEL___________________________________________________________________

45


in each of the following sentences, find

the word or group of words that refers to

time. You will notice that Paley has

shifted these adverbs and adverbial

phrases from their usual place. (Adverbial

phrases commonly come at the end of a

sentence, and single adverbs ending in

often come between the subject and verb.

) When the sentences are rewritten to

make them more ordinary (the examples

in parentheses), how does the emphasis

change?

1. Then for a few months she was

hopeful. (Rewritten: Then she was

hopeful for a few months. )

2. But immediately she saw that this

baby wasn't Samuel. (Rewritten:But she

immediately saw that this baby wasn't

Samuel. )

3. She and her husband together have

had other children, but never again will a

boy exactly like Samuel be known. (

Rewritten: She and her husband have had

other children together, but there will

never be another boy just like Samuel ).

MAKING CONNECTIONS

1. Paley devotes a great deal of the story

to the differences in temperament

between boys, emphasizing the way some

boys exhibit their bravery.

a. Does she want her readers to admire

boys who take chances or, like "the

ladies," to disapprove of them? What

helps a reader to sense how she feels?

b. How do you feel about boys who, like

Samuel, like to take chances? Why?

2. In an urban setting that you know,

how do boys nowadays show that they

are tough and brave? When you were a

child, how did boys show that they were

tough and brave? What did girls need to

prove? What dangerous games do you

remember playing as a child?

3. In pairs or small groups, make a list of

people who could be considered

responsible for Samuel's death. Give the

reason for each person (or group of

people). Then order the list with "most

responsible" at the top. Finally, as a

class, compare all the lists, discussing the

reasons for the choice of people on the

list and the order in which they are

placed.

4. Which people, or groups of people, do

you think were most affected by Samuel's

death? How do you think his death

affected them? Why?

5. In class, act out the story. You will

need several NARRATORS, perhaps one

narrator for every two of the eleven

paragraphs in the story, with the last

narrator reading three paragraphs.

The other parts are FIRST LADY (read

both her thoughts, lines 35-36, and her

words, lines 54-56) and SECOND LADY

(read her thought, lines 40-41). ALFRED,

CALVIN, SAMUEL, and TOM all gesture,

make noises like machine guns, and

laugh; ALFRED also coughs (lines 66-67)

and SAMUEL speaks (line 69). The FIRST

MAN reads lines 12-24, beginning with

"One of them …"The SECOND MAN reads

the thought beginning "These kids . . . "

(line 29). Others in the class can be

PASSENGERS, the MOTORMAN, the

POLICEMAN, and SAMUEL'S MOTHER.

The teacher can serve as the DIRECTOR,

helping everyone decide where to sit or

stand and when and how to speak.

6, How is the adventure in this

story similar to and different from

that in, "The Summer of the

SAMUEL___________________________________________________________________

46

Beautiful White Horse" by

Saroyan?

7. Paley has said that everyone in her

family was a good storyteller. Who are

the best storytellers in your family or

among other people you know? Are you a

good storyteller yourself? What qualities

make a good storyteller?

THE CHASER_______________________________________________________________

47

he short stories of John Collier,

who was born and educated in

England, were regularly published

in leading American magazines from the

1930s through the 1950s. During that

time, Collier also worked as a

screenwriter in Hollywood. (He wrote the

first draft for the script of The African

Queen, which starred Humphrey Bogart

and Katherine Hepburn. ) Collier's stories

have been collected in several books

(including Fancies and Goodnights, 1951,

and The Best of John Collier, 1975) and

they continue to appear in short-story

anthologies in English and in translation.

A comprehensive study of his life and

work appears in John Collier by Betty

Richardson (1981).

As novelist Anthony Burgessnotes, in his

introduction to The Best of John Collier,

both the film' scripts and short sto ries

show Collier's skill in writing dialogue and

his gift for sharp observation. Burgess

also remarks that Collier "makes

literature out of the intrusion of fantasy,

or quiet horror, into a real world closely

observed," often making fun of both the

Hollywood films and the popular fiction of

his day, particularly their portrayal of

romantic love.

In "The Chaser," a young man adores a

woman who doesn't return his affection.

Though he is "as nervous as a kitten," the

young man goes in search of a way to win

the young woman's love. (Like many of

Collier's light-hearted heroines, she is

named Diana, after the Roman goddess of

the hunt. Diana was also the goddess of

the moon, which was believed to affect

emotions). What do you suppose the

fantasy element in this story will be?

A"'chaser" is a mild beverage drunk after

a stronger one, such as beer used to

"chase" whiskey. What do you think the

first drink will be in this story? And the

chaser?

This is a story filled with irony-an intended

or unintended contrast between what is

expected, and what actually happens, or

between what is said and what is meant.

For example, the young man wants to

change the young woman without

considering all the possible effects of the

changes. As you read, look for other

examples.


Pell Street ("in the neighbourhood of Pell

Street")-a principal street in New York's

Chinatown.

gay ("no matter how gay and giddy she

is")-light-hearted, cheerful.

giddy ("gay and giddy")-frivolously happy,

a draught ("to sit in a draught")-a

current of air (draft in American spelling).

a siren ("some sireh has caught you")-a

seductive woman; a reference to the

minor goddesses of Greek mythology who

lived on an island and used their

enchanting voices to lure sailors to their

deaths upon the rocks.

grounds ("give you the Feast . . . grounds

for-uneasiness") (usually plural) basis or

T

THE CHASER

JOHN COLLIER (1901-1980)

THE CHASER_______________________________________________________________

48

reason for a thought or action; commonly

used in the phrase "grounds for divorce. "'.

Au revoir-(French) "Good-bye until we

meet again. "

Alan Austen, as nervous as a kitten, went

up certain dark and creaky stairs in the

neighbourhood of Pell Street, and peered

about for a long time on the dim larding

before he found the name he wanted

written obscurely on one of the

5 doors.

He pushed open this door, as he had been

told to do, and found himself in a tiny

room, which contained no furniture but a

plain kitchen table, a rocking-chair, and an

ordinary chair. On one of the dirty buff-

coloured walls were a couple of shelves

10 containing in all perhaps a dozen bottles

and jars .

An old man sat in the rocking-chair,

reading a newspaper. Alan, without a

word, handed him the card he had been

given. "Sit down, Mr. Austen," said the old

man very politely. "I am glad to make your

acquaintance. "

15"Is true," asked Alan,"that you have a

certain mixture that has or quite

extraordinary effects?"

My dear sir," replied the old man,"my stock

in trade is not very large-I don't deal in

laxatives and teething mixtures but such

as it is, it is varied. I think nothing I sell

has effects

20 which could be precisely described as

ordinary. "

"Well, the fact is-" began Alan.

"Here, for example,'' interrupted the old

man, reaching for a bottle from the shelf.

"Here is a liquid as colourless as water,

almost tastelees, quite imperceptible in

coffee, milk, wine, or

25 any other beverage. It is also quite

imperceptible to any known method of

autopsy. "

"Do you mean it is a poison?" cried Alan,

very much horrified.

"Call it a glove-cleaner if you like," said

the old man indif-

30-ferently. "Maybe it will clean gloves. I

have never tried. One

might call it a life-cleaner. Lives need

cleaning sometimes. "

"I want nothing of that sort," said Alan.

"Probably it is just as well,"said the old

man "Do you know the price of this? For

one teaspoonful wich rs suffi

35 cient, I ask five thousand dollars.

Never less. Not a penny less. " "I hope all

your mixtures are not as expensive,"said

Alan aprehensively.

"Oh dear, no," said the old man. "It would

be no good charging that sort of price fdr

a love potion, for example.

40 Young people who need a love potion

very seldom have five thousand dollars.

Otherwise they would not need a love

potion. "

"I am glad to hear that," said Alan.

"I look at it like this," said the old man.

"Please a customer

45 with one article, and he will come back

when he needs another.

Even if it is more costly. me will save up

for it, if necessary. " "So,"said Alan, "you

really do sell love potions?"

"If I did not sell love potions,"said the old

man, reaching for another bottle,"I should

not have mentioned the other matter

50 to you. It is only when one is in a

position to oblige that one can

afford to be so confidential. "

"And these potions," said Alan. "They are

not just juster-"

"Oh, no," said the old man "Their effects

are permanent,

55 and extend far beyond the mere casual

THE CHASER_______________________________________________________________

49

impulse. But they

include it. Oh, yes, they include it.

Bountifully, insistently.

Everlastingly. " "Dear me!"said Alan atlen

rn a look of scientificdetachment. "How

very interesting.

60 "But consider the spiritual side," said

the old man. "I do indeed," said Alan.

"For indifference”, said the old man, "they

substitute devotion. For scorn, adoration.

Give one tiny mesuare of this to the young

lady-its flavour is imperceptible in orange

juice, soup,

65 or cocktails-and however gay and

giddy she is, she will

change together. She will want nothing

but solitude and you. " "I can hardly

believe it," said Alan. "She is so fond of

parties. "

"She will not like them anymore," said the

old man. "She

70 will be afraid of the pretty girls you

may meet. "

"She will actually be jealous?" cried Alan

in a rapture. "Ofme?"

"Yes, she will want to be everything to

you. " "She is already. Only she doesn't

care about it. "

75"She will, when she has taken this. She

will care intensely.

You will be her sole interest in life. "

"Wonderful!" cried Alan.

"She will want to know all you do," said

the old man. "All

that has happened to you durinng the

day. Every word of it. She will want to

know what you are thinking about, why

you smile suddenly, why you are looking

sad. "

"That is love!" cried Alan.

"Yes," said the old man. "How carefully

she will look after (you! She will never

allow you to be tired, to sit in a draught,

to neglect your food. If you are an hour

late, she will be terrified. She will think

you are killed, or that some siren has

caught you. "

"I can hardly imagine Diana like that!"

cried Alan, overwhelmed with joy.

"You will not have to use your

imagination,"said the old man. "And, by

the way, since there are always sirens, if

by any chance you should, later on, slip a

little, you need not worry. She will

forgive you, in the end. She will be

terribly hurt, of course, but she will

forgive you-in the end. "

"That will not happen," said Alan fervently.

"Of course not," said the old man. "But if

it did, you need not worry. She would

never divorce you. Oh, no! And, of

course, she herself will never give you the

least, the very least, grounds for

uneasiness. "

"And how much," said Alan, "is this

wonderful mixture?"

"It is not as dear," said the old man, "as

the glove-cleaner, or life cleaner, as I

sometimes call it. No. That is five

thousand dollars, never a penny less.

One has to be older than you are, to

indulge in that sort of thing. One has to

save up for it. "

"But the love potion?" said Alan.

"Oh, that," said the old mart, opening the

drawer in the kitchen table, and taking

out a tiny, rather dirty-looking phial.

"That is just a dollar. "

"I can't tell you how grateful I am," said

Alan, watching him fill it.

"I like to oblige," said the old man. "Then

customers come back, later in life, when

they are rather better off, and want more

expensive things. Here you are. You will

find it very effective. "

"Thank you again," said Alan. "Good-bye.

THE CHASER_______________________________________________________________

50

" "Au revoit;" said the old man. (1940)

Understanding the Story

1. Referring to Pell Street, a real place,

makes the setting seem real

What details make the setting seem

mysterious? When Alan is described

as being "as nervous as a kitten" (line 1),

what picture of him does that

create?

2. Why has Alan gone to see the old

man? How does the old man know Alan's

name? Since, as the old man says, he

sold only a few products, why doesn't he

respond directly to Alan's first question?

Doesn't he understand what Alan wants?

3. What are the four qualities of the first

product that the old man describes? What

other quality is implied? Why is the

product so expensive? Why do you think

the old man keeps coming back to it even

though Alan says he is not interested?

4. The old man refers to "the young

lady" (lines 63-64).

a. No woman has been

mentioned previously; what

"young lady" does he mean?

b. What do Alan's comments tell

the old man, and the reader, about

Diana?

c. What is the implication of her

name? (Do you think the name

"Jane" or "Mary" would have the

same effect on the reader?)

d. Why is Alan so attracted to

Diana? Why do you suppose she

isn't equally attracted to him?

5. Describe the physical and

"spiritual" effects of the love potion.

How will they change Diana's life?

How will they change Alan's life?

What is the difference between the

outcome Alan expects and that

predicted by the old man?

6. How is it ironic (providing an

unintended contradiction) that Alan is in

love with Diana as she is now but wants to

change her?

7. Discuss the meaning-direct and

indirect-of each of the following

statements. Which of them could

be described as having an

unexpected twist, as being ironic?

a. "Lives need cleaning sometimes.

"(line 31)

b. "Young people who need a love

potion very seldom have five

thousand dollars. Otherwise they

would not need a love potion. "(

lines 40-42)

c. "And, by the way, since there

are always sirens, if by' any chance

you should, later on, slip a little, you

need not worry. " (lines 91-92)

d. "She will forgive you, in the end.

She will be terribly hurt, of course,

hut she will forgive you-in the end.

" (lines 93-94)

e. "Au revoir. " (line 116)

Developing a Way with Words

Anthony Burgess has praised Collier for

having "all the script-writer's virtues-

intense economy, characterization

through speech, the sharp camera-eye of

observation. "

1. Test this story for "intense economy"

by asking two questions: Could any of the

descriptive passages be left out? Could

any of the speeches be shortened? If so,

which?

THE CHASER_______________________________________________________________

51

2. Test for "characterization through

speech" by asking this: How are the

personalities of Alan and the old man

revealed by the way they talk? Give

examples.

3. Test for "sharp camera eye of

observation" by asking this: Where is the

description of setting or behavior so clear

that the reader can see every important

detail? Give examples.

MAKING CONNECTIONS

What is Alan's idea of true love? Do you

think the old man shares the same idea?

Why or why not? In your opinion, is the

kind of love Alan believes in a good basis

for marriage? Why or why not?

2. How have American movies have

changed since the time Collier was

writing? Do they still present the view of

romantic love that Alan believes in? In the

films you have seen and books you have

read, what is the most common picture of

a love relationship?

3. If Alan could talk to the husband from

"The Unicorn-in the Garden," what do you

think the two men might say to each

other?

4. Have you ever loved someone who

didn't love you? If so, given the

opportunity, would you have given that

person a love potion like the one Alan

bought? Why or why not?

5. In class, read the story as a play.

There are three characters: the

NARRATOR (reading the first two

paragraphs), the OLD MAN (22 speeches,

leaving out the various forms of "he

said"), and ALAN (21 speeches, again

leaving out "he said"). This can be done

effectively in small groups, with "cast

changes" after every ten speeches.

6. Discuss the comments of Anthony

Burgess quoted in the introduction in

relation to this story. What elements of

"The Chaser" are realistic? What elements

are fantastic? Are there elements of

"quiet horror"? If so, what are they?

7. What do you think will become of Alan

and Diana? Write a brief scene that takes

place after the close of this story-for

example, when Alan gives Diana the love

potion, the first-time he suggests going to

a party, or a night when he comes home

late after an adventure with a siren.

THE BROWN HOUSE_________________________________________________________

52

THE BROWN HOUSE

“…and everyone knows a white-snakes

dream is a sure omen of good luck in

games of chance. ”

isaye Yamamoto, one of the

pioneers of Asian American

literature, was born in Redondo

Beach, California shortly after World War

I. At the beginning of the U. S.

involvement in World War II, which came

with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor

in December 1941, both Issei (first-

generation Japanese immigrants like

Yamamoto's parents) and Nisei (their

American-born children) were suspected

of being sympathetic to Japan. Even

though they were American citizens, these

people were forced to give up their homes

and businesses-most of which were in

some way related to raising fruits and

vegetables-and to spend the war in camps

called "relocation centers" in remote areas

away from the coast. The effect on many

was devastating, for they felt betrayed by

the country they had come to love.

(Yamamoto's brother was one of the

young Japanese American men who

volunteered for the U. S. Army. Sent to

fight in Europe, the Nisei unit was among

the most decorated in the history of the U.

S. armed forces. Yamamoto's brother

was killed in action. )

In the Arizona camp where her. family

was interned, Yamamoto wrote for. the

camp newspaper and published a

serialized murder mystery. After the' war,

she became a "rewrite man" and

columnist for the Los Angeles Tribune, a

black weekly. Her first acceptance by a

literary magazine came in 1948; two

years later a John Hay Whitney Founda-

tion Fellowship provided her an

opportunity to write full-tifne for a year.

Soon she had three award-winning

stories: "Seventeen Syllables" (1949),

"Yoneko's Earthquake" (1951), and "The

Brown House" (1951). Several years

later, while volunteering at a Catholic

Worker "rehabilitation farm on Staten

Island, a part of New York City, Yamamoto

met and married Anthony DeSoto.

Together with her adopted son, they

returned to Los Angeles, where four more

sons were born to them. Yamamoto

continued to write stories that were widely

anthologized. "I guess I write (aside from

compulsion), to reaffirm certain basic

truths which seem to get lost in the

shuffle from generation to generation,"

she has said. "If the reader is entertained,

wonderful. If he learns something, that's

a bonus. " Forty years after the first

appearance of Yamamoto's work in a

literary magazine, Seventeen Syllables

and Other Stories was published by

Women of Color Press.

"The Brown . House" illustrates several

themes that are characteristic of

H

THE BROWN HOUSE

HISAYEYAMAMOTO

(BORN 1921)

THE BROWN HOUSE_________________________________________________________

53

Yamamoto's work. As these themes are

identified by King-Kok Cheung in her

introduction to Seventeen Syllables, the

first is "the interaction among various

ethnic groups in the American West. "

What ethnic groups, besides Japanese

Americans, do you suppose there will be

in the story? The second theme is "the

precarious relationship between Issei

parents and their Nisei children. " How

delicate and difficult are the relations

between the first and second generations

of any immigrant group? The final theme

is the hopes of first-generation Japanese

immigrants in contrast to the difficulties

and frustrations that they face in America.

In "The Brown House," Mr. Hattori finds

an escape from the difficulties and

frustrations of his life in gambling. What

do you suppose his problems are? Mrs.

Hattori is very likely one of the "picture

brides" sent from Japan to marry the

Japanese bachelors who had established

themselves in the U. S. What hopes do

you suppose she had at the beginning of

her marriage? What frustrations do you

suppose she faces? And what could be the

significance of the brown house?

*Quoted in Kai-yu. Hsu and Helen

Palubinskas, eds. , Asian American

Authors (1972).


a clapboard ("a large but simple

clapboard")-a wooden house with the

outer walls covered by overlapping long

narrow boards.

physic ("brand of physic")-an old-

fashioned term for medicine.

a den ("it was a gambling der;")-a secret

meeting-place, where people meet for

illegal activities.

to be up to ("did not feel her English

(was) up to the occasion") (idiom) to be

adequate.

a stake ("trying to win back his original

stake")-money risked, an amount placed

on a bet.

to spew ("began to spew out ,all kinds of

people")-to send out in

a stream.

a kurombo (". . . looked at his wife in

reproach. "A kurombo!' he said.

")(Japanese) a deroga, any term for a

Negro.

pomade ("so unstintingly app"nd was the

pomade")-a perfumed cream for the hair

and scalp.

banzai ("'banzai, yippee, banzai "')-a

Japanese battle cry.

a lottery ("'I won it! !n the lottery"')-an

activity whose outcome depends on fate

rather than chance or skill, often used to

select winners of prizes.

bleak ("with such bleak eyes"-without

hope).

THE BROWN HOUSE

In California that year the strawberries

were marvelous. As large as teacups they

were so juicy and sweet that Mrs. Hattori,

making her annual batch of jam, found

she could cut down on the sugar

considerably. "I suppose this is supposed

to be the

5 compensation," she said to her husband,

whom she always politely called Mr.

Hattori. "Some compensation!" Mr.

Hattori answered.

At that time they were still on the best of

THE BROWN HOUSE_________________________________________________________

54

terms. It was only later, when the season

ended as it had begun, with the market,

10 price for strawberries so low nobody

bothered to pick number twos, that they

began quarreling for the first time in their

life together. W~at provoked the first

quarrel and all the rest was that Mr.

Hattori, seeing no future in strawberries,

began casting around for a way to make

some quick cash. Word some

15 how came to him that there was in a

neighboring town a certain house where

fortunes were made overnight, and he

hurried there at the first opportunity.

It happened that Mrs. Hattori and all the

little Hattoris, five of them, all boys and

born about a year apart, were with hirn

20 when he paid his first visit to the

house. When he told them to wait in the

car, saying he had a little business to

transact inside and would return in a trice,

he truly meant what he said. He intended

only to give the place a brief inspection in

order to familiarize, himself with it. This

was at two o'clock in the after

25 noon, however, and when he finally

made his way back to the car, the day was

already so dim that he had to, gropes

around a bit for the door handle.

The house was a large but simple

clapboard, recently painted brown and

relieved with white window frames. It sat

30 under several enormous eucalyptus

trees in the foreground of a few acres,of

asparagus. To the rear of the house was a

ramtackle barn whose spacious b e roof

advertised in great yellow letters a

ubiquitous brand of physic Mrs. Hattori,

peering toward the house with growing

tience, could not under

35 stand what was keeping her husband.

She watched other cars either drive into

the yard or park along the highway and

she saw all sorts of people- white, yellow,

brown, and blackenter the house. Seeing

very few people leave, she got the idea

that her husband was attending a meeting

or a party.

So she was more curious than furious that

first time when Mr. Hattori got around to

returning to her and the children. To her

rapid questions Mr. Hattori replied slowly,

pensively: it was a gambling den run by a

Chinese family under cover of asparagus,

he said, and he had been winning at first,

but his luck had suddenly turned, and that

was why he had taken so long-he had been

trying to win back his original stake at

least.

"How much did you lose?" Mrs. Hattori

asked dully.

"Twenty-five dollars," Mr. Hattori said.

"Twenty-five dollars!" exclaimed Mrs.

Hattori. "Oh, Mr. Hattori, what have you

done?"

At this, as though at a prearranged signal,

the baby. in her arms began wailing, and

the four boys in the back seat began

complaming of hunger Mr. Hattori gritted

his teeth and drove on. He told himself

that this being assailed on all sides by

bawling, whimpering, and murderous

glances was no less than he deserved.

Never again, he said to himself; he had

learned his lesson.

Nevertheless, his car, with his wife and

children in it, was parked near the brown

house again the following week. This was

because he had dreamed a repulsive

dream in which a fat white snake had

uncoiled and slithered about and everyone

knows that a white-snake dream is a sure

omen of good luck in games of chance.

Even Mrs. Hattori knew this. Besides, she

felt a little guilty about having nagged him

so bitterly about the twenty-five dollars.

THE BROWN HOUSE_________________________________________________________

55

So Mr. Hattori entered the brown house

again on condition that he would return in

a half-hour, surely enough time to test the

white snake. When he failed to return

after an hour, Mrs. Hattori sent Joe, the

oldest boy, to the front door to inquire

after his father. A Chinese man came to

open she door of the grille, looked at Joe,

said, "Sorry, no kids in" and clacked it to.

When Joe reported back to his mother she

sent him back again and this time a

Chinese woman looked out and said,

What you want, boy?" When he asked for

his father, she asked him to wait, then

returned with him to the car, carrying a

plate of Chinese cookies. Joe, munching

one thick biscuit as he led her to the car,

found its flavor and texture very strange;

it was unlike either its American or

Japanese counterpart so that he could not

decide whether he liked it or not. . '

80 A1'though the woman was about Mrs.

Hattor. is age, she immediately called the

latter "mama," assuring her that Mr.

Hattori would be coming soon, very soon.

Mrs. Hattori, mortified, gave excessive

thanks for the cookies which she would

just as soon have thrown in the woman's

face. Mrs. Wu, for so

85 she introduced herself, left them after

wagging her head in amazement that Mrs.

Hattori, so young, should have so many

children and telling her frankly, "No

wonder you so skinny, mama. ” "Skinny,

ha!" Mrs. Hattori said to the boys. "Well,

perhaps.

90 But I'd rather be skinny than fat. "

Joe, looking at the comfortable figure of

Mrs. Wu going up the steps of the brown

house, agreed.

Again it was dark when Mr. Hattori came

back to the car, but Mrs. Hattori did not

say a word. Mr. Hattori made a feeble

95 joke about the unreliability of snakes,

but his, wife made no attempt to smile.

About halfway home she said abruptly,

"Please stop the machine, Mr. Hattori. I

don't want to ride another inch with you.

"

"Now, mother. . . " Mr. Hattori said. "I've

learned my lesson.

100 I swear this is the last time. "

"Please stop the machine, Mr. Hattori,"

his wife repeated.

Of course the car kept going, so Mrs.

Hattori, hugging the baby to herselfwith

one arm, opened the door with her free

hand and made as if to hop out of the

moving car.

105 The car stopped with a lurch and Mr.

Hattori, aghast, said,

"Do you want to kill yqurself?"

"That's a very good idea," Mrs. Hattori

answered, one leg out of the door.

"Now, mother . . . " Mr. Ilattori said. "I'm

sorry; I was wrong

110 to stay so long. I promise on my

word of honor never to go near that house

again. Come let's go home now and get

some supper. " "Supper!" said Mrs.

Hattori. "Do you have any money for

groceries?"

115"I have enough for groceries," Mr.

Hattori confessed.

Mrs. Hattori pulled her leg back in and

pulled the door shut. "You see!" she cried

triumphantly. "You see!"

LOVE______________________________________________________________________

56

LOVE

“A SNAKE IS AN ENEMY TO ME, MY

FATHER SNAPPED I HATE A SNAKE. ”

esse Stuart-a farmer, teacher, and

master storytellerwas born in a log

cabin in the foothills of the

Appalachian Mountains in eastern

Kentucky, one of the poorest parts of the

United States. Stuart's mother had two

years of schooling; his father was a coal

miner and farmer who never had the

opportunity to learn to read or write.

Jesse Stuart was the first in his family to

finish high school, and he then worked his

way through college. But he remained

true to his roots, returning to live on the

land where he had been raised and

celebrating his life and the lives of those

around him in fifty-seven books of poetry

and prose.

"I am a farmer singing at the plow,"

Stuart wrote in one of his early poems.

Before that, he had also been a teacher.

It wasn't an easy job, for the Kentucky

public school system paid the lowest

wages in the country and the parents

were suspicious of anything to do with

education. But the pupils were eager and

Stuart knew from experience that

education was essential to break out of

poverty. In a rural high school, Stuart

was expected to teach everything from

Latin to algebra, so he often had to work

hard to keep ahead of his pupils. In the

third week of Stuart's first year of

teaching, a pupil came to him for help

with an algebra problem. Stuart looked at

the problem, then laughed and truthfully

said that he couldn't work it. "Mr. Stuart,

I understand," the boy responded

earnestly. "You want your pupils to work

these problems, don't you?" The boy then

happily solved the problem by himself and

brought it back. "I knew he was right

after I had seen it worked," Stuart wrote

in his autobiographical memoir, The

Thread that Runs So True (1949). "But

Billie Leonard never knew that I couldn't

actually work this problem. "

To support a wife and family, Stuart had

to give up fulltime teaching in favor of

farming. But he continued writing and in

1937 won a Guggenheim Fellowship that

enabled him to spend a year living in

Scotland (his ancestral home) and visiting

twenty-five other countries. Stuart also

taught in poetry and writing programs at

several American colleges, and he spent

the 1960-61 academic year as a visiting

professor of English at the American

University in Cairo.

"Love" is characteristic of Stuart's work in

being told in the first-person and using the

"talk style" of American folklore. Just as

urban writers use the names of real

streets to provide a sense of reality, so

Stuart names specific plants and tools and

animals to present the harsh reality and

great beauty of an Appalachian hill-

country farm. This story also reflects

Stuart's love and respect for the hill

country and its people, as well as his

J

LOVE

JESSE STUART (1907-1984)

LOVE______________________________________________________________________

57

mountain-man's easy acceptance of death

as part of the natural world. Mitch Stuart

held the same attitudes, as we see in this

passage from God's Oddling (1960),

Stuart's biography of his father, who also

may have provided the idea for "Love":

"A blacksnake is a pretty thing," he once

said to me, "so shiny and black in the

spring sun after he sheds his winter skin.

"He was the first man I ever heard say a

snake was pretty. I

never forgot his saying it. I can even

remember the sumac thicket

where he saw the blacksnake.

A love story about a snake?Read on.

From God's Oddling (1960), as reprinted

in A Jesse Stuart Reader (1963).


new ground ("the edge of the new

ground") -land that hasn't ever been

cultivated.

a cornbalk ("walked in the cornbalk") -

rows of planted corn.

bull ("a big bull blacksnake")-male

(animal).

a copperhead ("killed twenty-eight

copperheads") -a poisonous

snake.

a bench ("at the bench of the hill") -a

level, narrow stretch of land.

a greenweed ("like a greenweed held

over a new-ground fire") a small shrub

with yellow flowers that shrivels and twists

when thrown on a fire.

a pellet ("hit against my legs like pellets")

-a small piece of lead for a shotgun.

Riddled ("threw her riddled body") -filled

with holes.

a quail ("about the size of a quail's egg")

-a game bird whose eggs are about onge-

third the size of a chicken's egg.

to get up with the chickens ("This

morning my father and I got

up with the chickens. ") -to get up as the

sun is rising

posthole digger,ax, spud, measuring

pole, mattock ("We got the

posthole digger, ax, spud, measuring pole

and the mattock. ")

tools used in building a fence.

I says ("'Steady,'/ says to my father. ") -

a storyteller's shift to "historic present"

tense for dramatic emphasis;"I says,"

suggesting a challenge, is also common in

that context.

to beat ("'Did you ever see anything to

beat that?"')-(informal) to excel or

surpass.

LOVE

Yesterday when the bright sun blazed

down on the wilted corn my father and I

walked around the edge of the new

ground to plan a fence. The cows kept

coming through the chestnut oaks on the

cliff acrd running over the young corn.

They bitt off

5 the tips of the corn and trampled down

the stubble.

My father walked in the cornbalk. Bob,

our Collie, walked in front, of my father.

We heard a ground squirrel whistle down

over the bluff among the dead treetops

all, the clearing's edge. "Whoop, take

him, Bob," said my father. lie lifted up a

young

10 stalk of corn, with wilted dried roots,

where the ground squirrel had dug it up

for the sweet grain of corn left on its

tender roots. This has been a dry spring

and the corn has kept well in the earth

where the grain has sprouted. The ground

squirrels love this corn. They dig up rows

LOVE______________________________________________________________________

58

of it and eat the sweet grains. The

15 young corn stalks are killed and we

have to replant the corn.

I could see my father keep sicking Bob

after the grouch squirrel. He jumped over

the corn rows. He started to run toward

the ground squirrel. I, too, started

running toward the clearing's edge where

Bob was jumping and barking. The dust

20 flew in tiny swirls behind our feet.

There was a big cloud of dust behind us.

"It's a big bull blacksnake," said my

father. "Kill him, Bob! Kill him, Bob!"

Bob was jumping and snapping all, tare

snake so as to make

25 it strike and throw itself off guard. Bob

has killed twenty-eight copperheads this

spring. He knows how to kill a snake. He

doesn't. rush to do it. He takes his time

and does the job well.

"Let's don't kill the snake," I said. "A

blacksnake is a harmless snake. It, kills

poison snakes. It kills the copperhead. It

30 catches more mice from the fields than

a cat. "

I could see the snake didn´t want to fight

the dog. The snake wanted to get away.

Bob wouldn't let, it. I wondered Why it

was crawling toward a heap of black

loamy earth at the bench of the hill. I

wondered why it had come from the chest

35 nut oak sprouts and the matted

greenbriars on the cliff. I

looked as the snake lifted its pretty head

in response to one of

Bobs jumps. `It's not a bull blacksnake. I

said. It s a shesnake. Look at the white on

tier throat. "

"A snake is an enemy to me," my father

snapped. "I hate a snake. Kill it, Bob. Go

in there and get that snake and quit play-

ing with it!"

Bob obeyed my father. I bated to see him

take this snake by the throat. She was so

beautifully poised in the sunlight. Bob

grabbed the white patch on her throat.

He cracked her long body like an ox whip

in the wind. He cracked it against the wind

only. The blood spurted from her fine-

curved throat. Something hit against my

legs like pellets. Bob threw the snake

down. I looked to see what had struck my

legs. It was snake eggs. Bob had slung

there from her body. She was going to

the sand heap to lay her eggs, where the

sun is the settinghen that warms them

and hatches them.

Bob grabbed her body there on the earth

where the red blood was running down on

the gray-piled loam. Her body was still

writhing in pain. She acted like a

greenweed held over a new-ground fire.

Bob slung her viciously many times. He

cracked her limp body against the wind.

She was now limber as a shoestring in the

wind. Bob threw her riddled body back on

the sand. She quivered like a leaf in the

lazy wind, then her riddled body lay

perfectly still. The blood covered the

loamy earth around the snake.

"Look at the eggs, won't you?" said my

father. We counted thirty-seven eggs. I

picked an egg up and held it in my hand.

Only a minute ago there was life in it. It

was an immature seed. It would not

hatch. Mother sun could not incubate it

on the warm earth. The egg I held in my

hand was almost, the size of a quail's egg.

The shell on it was thin and tough and the

egg appeared under the surface to be a

watery egg.

I"Well, Bob, I guess you see now why this

snake couldn't fight,"I said. "It is life.

Stronger devour the weaker even among

human beings. Dog kills snare kills birds.

Birds kill the butterflies. Man conquers all

LOVE______________________________________________________________________

59

Man, too, kills for sport.. "Bob was

panting. He walked ahead of us back to

the house. His tongue was out of his

mouth. He was tired. He was hot Under

his shaggy coat of hair. His tongue nearly

touched the dry dirt and white flecks of

foam dripped front it. We walked toward

the house. Neither my father nor I spoke.

I still thought of the dead snake. The sun

was going down over the chestnut ridgge.

A lark was singing. It was late for a lark

to sing. The red evening clouds floated

above the pine trees on our

80 pasture hill. My father stood beside

the path. His black hair was moved by

the wind. His face was red in the blue

wind of lay. His eyes looked toward the

sinking sun.

"Arid my father hales a snake," I thought.

I thought aboutt the agony women know

of giving birth. I

85 thought about how they will fight to

save their children. Then, I thought of the

snake. I thought it was silly of me to

think such thoughts.

This morning my father and I got up with

the chickens. He says one has to get up

with the chickens to a day's work. We

90 got the posthole digger, ax, spud,

measuring pole and the mattock. We

started for the clearing's edge. Bob didn't

go along.

The dew was on the corn. My father

walked behind with the posthole digger

across his shoulder. I walked in front. The

wind was blowing. It was a good morning

wind to breathe and

95 a wind that makes one feel like he can

get under the edge of a hill arid heave the

whole hill upside down.

I walked out the corn row where we had

come yesterday afternoon. I looked in

front of me. I saw something. I saw it

move. It was moving like a huge black

rope winds around a

100 windlass. "Steady ,"I says to my

father. "Here is the bull blacksnake. "He

took one step up beside me and stood. His

eyes grew wide apart.

"What do you know about this," he said.

"You have seen the bull blacksnake now,"

I said. "Take a',

105 good look at him! He is lying beside

his dead mate. He has come to her. He,

perhaps, was on her trail yesterday. "

The male snake had trailed her to her

doom. He had come in the night, under

the roof of stars, as the moon shed rays of

light on the quivering clouds of green. He

had found his lover

110 dead. He was coiled beside her, and

she was dead.

The bull blacksnake lifted his head and

followed us as we walked around the dead

snake. He would have fought us to his

death. He would have fought Bob to his

death. "Take a stick," said my father,

"and throw him over the hill so Bob won't

find

115 him. Did you ever see anything to

beat that? I've heard they'd

do that. But this is my firs( time to see it.

" I took, a stick arid threw him over the

bank into the dewy sprouts on the cliff.

(1901)


1. Why was it important for the young

man (the narrator) and his father to put a

fence around their land? How was their

dog, Bob, helping them? Why does the

narrator refer to the dog as "he" rather

than "it"?

2. Why was it important to kill ground

squirrels? What about snakes? What

LOVE______________________________________________________________________

60

explains why the snake wasn't willing to

fight the dog (line 31)?

3. When does the narrator begin to refer

to the snake as "she" instead of "it"? Are

you surprised to find a snake described

(line 36) as having a "pretty" head? What

other complimentary descriptions of the

she-snake are there?

4. How do the following similes (a direct

comparison with like or as) help the

reader to picture the dog killing the

snake? How are the comparisons

appropriate to the setting of the story?

a. He cracked her long body like an ox

whip in the wind. (lines 44-45)

h. Something hit against my legs like

pellets. (line 47)

c. She was now limber as a shoestring in

the wind. (lines 56-57)

d. She quivered like a leaf in the lazy

wind. . . . (line 58)

5. When the narrator says "It is life" (line

69), hat does "it" refer to? How are the

setting sun and "red evening clouds" (line

79) appropriate to the event that has just

taken place?

6. What thoughts does the narrator

dismiss as "silly" (line 86)? Why does he

see them that way? Do you agree? Do you

think the author agrees?

7. In the first of the following sentences,

what pronoun and what simile are used in

describing the snake? In the second and

third sentences, how have the pronoun

and the imagery changed? How do those

changes affect the reader's feelings about

the snake?

a. It was moving like a huge black rope

winds around a windlass. (lines 99-100)

b. "He is lying beside his dead mate.

"(line 105)

c. The male snake had trailed her to her

doom. He had come in the night, under

the roof of stars, as the moon shed rays of

light on the quivering clouds of green. He

had found his lover dead. He was coiled

beside her, and she was dead. (lines 107-

110)

8. In the final paragraph, what shows

that the father has changed his mind

about every snake being “an enemy”, as

he had said earlier (line 39)? What has

caused him to change his view?


This story is filled with images of birth-for

example,"It was snake eggs. "(lines 48-

49)-and death-for example,"dead treetops

at the clearing's edge" (line 8). How

many more of each can you find? What

effect do they have on the story as a

whole?

In his poetry, Stuart often celebrates the

Kentucky spring. Discuss the image he

creates in the following description (lines

93-96): "The wind was blowing. It was a

good morning wind to breathe and a wind

that makes one feel like he can get under

the edge of a hill and heave the whole hill

upside down. " Have you known days that

made you feel like that?

MAKING CONNECTIONS

1. What happens to each of the

characters as a result of the events that

take place? In this story, does

"characters"refer only to humans or does

it include the dog and the snakes as well?

2. What statement about love and hate is

Stuart making?

How, from the evidence in this story, does

each affect people?

3. How does Stuart's view of romantic

LOVE______________________________________________________________________

61

love differ from Collier's view in "The

Chaser"? What experience have you had-

or do you know of-that represents your

idea of true love?

4. In this story, Stuart suggests that

parents can make mistakes and that it's

hard for an older person to admit a

mistake to a younger one. In this story,

what mistake did the father make? How

did he show his regret? Have you had a

similar experience in your own life? If so,

what kind of mistake did the older person

make? How, if at all, did he or she admit

the mistake?

5. In "Love," the father is a farmer who

sees all snakes as enemies. In "The

Brown House" by Hisaye Yamamoto, the

Hattoris are also farmers, but they believe

that a white snake in a dream means good

luck. How common are those contrasting

ideas about snakes in American and

Japanese culture today? Ask several

people who were raised in the American

culture and several people who were

raised in the Japanese culture how they

feel about snakes. Then report how your

findings do or do not reflect these stories.

6. Three other stories in this book-"The

Unicorn in the Garden" by James Thurber,

"The Summer of the Beautiful White

Horse" by William Saroyan, and "A

Blizzard Under Blue Sky" by Pam Houston-

have animals as important characters.

What other stories do you knowin books,

movies, or real life-that have animals as

main, characters? What are the animals

like in those stories? Do any of the stories

deal with a love relationship between

animals? For a writing assignment,

compare and contrast the use of animals

as characters in this story and the

Thurber, Saroyan, or Houston story.

As it happens we had been having a

number of cases of diphtheria in the

school to which this child went, during

that month and we were all, quite

apparently, thinking of that, though no

one had as yet spoken of the thing.

Well, I said, suppose we take a look at the

throat first. I smiled in my best

professional manner and asking for the

child's first name I said, come on,

Mathilda, open your mouth and let's take

a look at your throat. Nothing doing.

Aw, come on, I coaxed, just open your

mouth wide and let me take a look. Look,

I said, opening both hands wide, I haven't

anything in my hands. Just open up and

let me see.

Such a nice man,put in the mother. Look

how kind he is to you. Come on, do what

he tells you to. He won't hurt you.

At that I ground my teeth in disgust of

only they wouldn't use the word "hurt" I

might be able to get somewhere. But I

did not allow myself to be hurried or

disturbed but speaking quietly and slowly

I approached the child again.

As I proved my chair a little nearer

suddenly with one catlike movement both

her hands clawed instinctively for my eyes

and she almost reached then too. In fact

she knocked my glasses flying and they

fell, though unbroken, several feet away

from me on the kitchen floor.

Both the mother and father almost turned

themselves inside out, in erubarrassrnent

and apology. You bad girl, said the

mother, taking her and shaking her by

one arm. Look what you've done. The

nice man…

For heaven's sake, I broke in. Don't call

me a nice man to her. I'm here to look at

her throat on the chance that she might

have diphtheria, and possibly dice of if.

LOVE______________________________________________________________________

62

But, that's nothing to her look here, I said

to the child, we're going to look al your

throat. You're old enough to understand

what I'm saying. Will you open it now by

yourself or shall we have to open it for

you?

Not a move. Even her expression hadn't

changed. Her breaths however were

coming faster and faster. Then the battle

began. I had to do it. I had to have a

throat culture for her own protection. But

first I told the parents that it was entirely

up to them. I explained the danger but

said that I would not insist on a throat

examination so long as they would take

the responsibility.

If you don't do what the doctor says you'll

have to go to the hospital, the mother

admonished her severely.

80 Oh yeah?I had to smile to myself.

After all, I had already fallen in love with

the savage brat, the parents were con-

temptible to me. In the ensuing struggle

they grew more and more abject, crushed,

and exhausted while she surely rose to

magnificent heights of insane fury of effort

bred of Irer terror

85 of me.

The father tried his best, and he was a big

man but the fact that she was his

daughter, his shame at her behavior and

his dread of hurting her made him release

her just at the critical moment several

times when I had almost achieved

success, till

90 I wanted to kill him. But his dread also

that she might have diphtheria made him

tell me to go on, go on though he himself

Was almost fainting, while the mother

proved back and forth behind us raising

and lowering her hands in all agony of

apprehension.

Put her in front of You on your lap, I

ordered, and hold

95 both her wrists.

But as soon as he did the child let out a

scream. Don't, you're hurting me. Let go

of my hands. Let them go I tell you. Then

she shrieked terrifyingly, hysterically.

Stop it! Stop it! You're killing me!

100 Do you think she can stand it,

doctor! said the mother.

You get out, said the husband to his wife.

Do you want her to die of diphtheria?

Corne on now, hold her, I said.

Then I grasped the child's head with my

left hand and tried

105 to get the wooden tongue depressor

between her teeth. She fought, with

clenched teeth, desperately! But now I

also had grown furious-at a child. I tried

to hold myself down but I couldn't, I know

how to expose a throat for inspection.

And I did my best. When finally I got the

wooden spatula behind the last

110 teeth and just the point of it into the

mouth cavity, she opened up for an

instant but before I could see anything

she came down again and gripping the

wooden blade between her molars she

reduced it to splinters before I could get it

out again.

Aren't you ashamed, the mother yelled at

her. Aren't you

115 ashamed to act like that in front of

the doctor?

Get me a smooth-handled spoon of some

sort, I told the mother. We're going

through with this. The child's mouth was

already bleeding. Her tongue was cut and

she was screaming in wild hysterical

shrieks. Perhaps I should have desisted

and

120 come back in an hour or more. No

doubt it would have been better. But I

have seen at least two children lying dead

LOVE______________________________________________________________________

63

in bed of neglect in such cases,and feeling

that I must get a diagnosis now or never I

went at it again. But the worst of it was

that I too had got beyond reason. I could

have torn the child apart in

125 my own fury and enjoyed it. It was a

pleasure to attack her. My face was

burning with it.

The damned little brat must be protected

against her own idiocy, one says to

oneself at such times. Others must be

protected against her. It is a social

necessity. And all these things

130 are true. But a blind fury, a feeling of

adult shame, bred of a longing for

muscular release are the operatives. One

goes on to the end.

In a final unreasoning assault I

overpowered the child's neck and jaws. I

forced I, he heavy silver spoon back of her

135 teeth and down her throat till she

gagged. And there it was both tonsils

covered with membrane. She had fought

valiantly to keep me from knowwirrg her

secret. She had been hiding that sore

throat for three days at least and lying to

her parents in order to escape just such

an outcome as this.

140 Now truly she was furios, she had

been on the defensive before but now she

attacked. 'Tried to get, off her father's lap

and fly at me while tears of defeat blinded

her eyes. (1938)


1. What does the reader know about the

parents from the description of them in

the first three paragraphs? In what way or

ways is the daughter different from her

parents?

2. Why is it important for the doctor to

see the girl's throat? In what different

ways does the doctor tell us about the

medical danger?

How do the doctor, the father, and the

mother each try get the girl to cooperate?

How do their approaches conflict? Why do

all of the approaches fail? ( What does

Mathilda fear? What do her parents fear?)

4. Doctors are usually thought of as being

emotionally neutral toward their patients.

But the doctor in this story is certainly not

neutral when he says (lines 80-83), "I had

already fallen in love with the savage

brat,the parents were contemptible to me.

" What accounts for his very different

feelings about Mathilda and her parents?

5. When the doctor forces the girl's

mouth open, he says (lines 123-124), "But

the worst of it was that I, too, had got

beyond reason. "

a. What does it mean to be "beyond

reason"?

b. "I, too" suggests that at least one

other person was "beyond reason. " Who?

c. In the course of the story, what are the

stages in the doctor's change from feeling

calm and in control to feeling barely

controlled fury?

6. What were the logical reasons for

doing whatever was necessary to examine

the girl's throat right away? What were

the non-logical-the emotional or

instinctive-reasons?

7. Is it a surprise that, in the end, the girl

proves to have diphtheria? Why or why

not?


1. In the story, there are many

references to looking, seeing, not wanting

to see, and trying to prevent seeing. In

the following sentences from the story,

LOVE______________________________________________________________________

64

what kind of looking or seeing does each

of the phrases in dark type describe?

What other references to looking and

seeing are there in the story? (This

question could also be used for discussion

and writing. )

a. I . . . took off my overcoat and started

to look things over. I could see that

they were all very nervous, eyeing me

up and down distrustfully. (lines 10-13)

b. Have you looked?

I tried to, said the mother, but I couldn't

see. (line 36)

c. . . . just open your mouth wide and let

me take a look. Look,I said, opening

both hands wide, I haven't anything in my

hands. Just open up and let me see.

(lines 47-49)

d. . . . clawed instinctively for my eyes

and she almost reached them too. In fact

she knocked my glasses flying . . . .

(lines 57-59)

e. . . . a blind fury . . . . (line 130)

f. . . . tears of defeat blinded her eyes.

(line 142)

2. When someone's exact words are used

in a story, the convention is to put the

words in quotation marks. This story

contains a good deal of such direct

speech, yet there are no quotation marks.

Choose a paragraph with direct speech

and add the standard punctuation.

How does that change the "feeling" of the

paragraph? Why do you think Williams

chose to ignore the convention of

quotation marks?

MAKING CONNECTIONS

1. What does each character in the story

fear? Which of them do you feel the most

sympathy for? Why?

2. The story is told from the doctor's

point of view. How would the story have

been different if the mother were the

narrator? the father? the girl?

3. Why do you think Mathilda had, as the

doctor said,"fought valiantly" (line 136) to

keep anyone from knowing that she was

ill? Why do people sometimes try to

conceal symptoms from others who care

about them? Have you ever known anyone

who concealed a serious illness or done

that yourself? If so, what was the result?

4. Are you surprised that Williams tells us

so much about a doctor's personal feeling?

Do you think that his medical experience

and feelings, as reflected in this story, are

unusual? Why or why not?

5. Consider these facts about the disease

of diphtheria: It is a highly contagious

disease caused by airborne bacteria.

Before inoculations were available, it often

spread rapidly through a community. The

first symptoms, a fever and sore throat,

are the same for many diseases. A more

serious symptom, membrane growing in

the throat, isn't visible without a specific

examination. A severe case may result in

death in as little as three days. Williams

has used diphtheria as a metaphor (an

implied comparison) for the "disease" of

the unreasoning anger and violence that

are released by using force against a

weaker opponent. Is the metaphor

appropriate? Why or why not?

6. When the English statesman Edmund

Burke argued in the British Parliament, in

March 1775, against declaring war on the

thirteen American colonies, he said: "The

use of force alone is but temporary. It

may subdue for a moment; but it does not

remove the necessity of subduing again:

and a nation is not governed, which is

perpetually to be conquered. "Do you

think that Burke would feel that the doctor

LOVE______________________________________________________________________

65

has "won" something through the use of

force? Would Burke believe that Mathilda's

spirit has been broken by the doctor's use

of force? Why or why not?

THE LOTTEY

To lapse ("this part. . . had been allowed

to lapse")-to pass away by neglect.

(someone's)old man("'Thought my old

man was out back"') (informal) husband.

Missus("'Here comes your Missus,

Hutchinson. "')-(informal) wife.

stoutly ("said stoutly')-with

determination.

a good sport("'Be a good sport,Tessie"')-

(idiom) someone who plays (a game)

fairly and is willing to accept defeat

without complaining.

THE LOTTERY______________________________________________________________

66

he morning of June 27th was clear

and sunny, with the fresh warmth

of a full-sununer (lay; the flowers

were blossoming profusely and the grass

was richly green. The people of the

village began to gather in the square,

between the post office

5 and the bank, around ten o'clock; in

some towns there were so many people

that the lottery took two days and had to

be started on June

26th, but in this village, where there were

only about three hundred people, the

whole lottery took less than two hours, so

it could begin at ten o'clock in the morning

and

10 still be through in time to allow the

villagers to get home for noon dinner.

The children assembled first, of course.

School was recently over for the summer,

and the feeling of liberty sat uneasily on

most of them; they tended to gather

together quietly for a while

15 before they broke into boisterous play,

and their talk was still of the classroom

and the teacher, of books and reprimands.

Bobby Martin had already stuffed his

pockets full of stones, and the other boys

soon followed his example, selecting the

smoothest and roundest stones; Bobby

and Harry Jones and Dicky

20 Delacroix-thevillagers pronounced this

name "Dellacroy"eventually made a great

pile of stones in one corner of the square

and guarded it against the raids of the

other boys. The girls stood aside, talking

among themselves, looking over their

shoulders at the boys, and the very small

children rolled in the

25 dust or clung to the hands of their

older brothers or sisters.

Soon the men began to gather, surveying

their children, speaking of planting and

rain, tractors and taxes. They stood

together, away from the pile of stones in

the corner, and their jokes were quiet and

they smiled rather than laughed. The

30 women, wearing faded house dresses

and sweaters, came shortly after their

menfolk. They greeted one another and

exchanged bits of gossip as they went to

join their husbands. Soon the women,

standing by their husbands, began to call

their children, and the children came

reluctantly, having to be

35 called four or five times. Bobby Martin

ducked under his mother's grasping hand

and ran, laughing, back to the pile of

stones. His father spoke up sharply, and

Bobby came quickly and took his place

between his father and his oldest brother.

The lottery was conducted-as were the

square dances, the

40 teen-age club, the Halloween program-

by Mr. Summers, who had time and

energy to devote to civic activities. He

was a round-faced jovial man and he ran

the coal business, surd people were sorry

T

THE LOTTERY

THE LOTTERY______________________________________________________________

67

for him, because he had no children and

his wife was a scold. When he arrived in

the square, carrying the black

45 wooden box, there was a murmur of

conversation among the villagers, and he

waved and called,"Little late today, folks. "

The postmaster, Mr. Graves, followed

him, carrying a three-legged stool, and

the stool was put in the center of the

square and Mr. Summers set the black

box down on it. The villagers kept their

50 distance, leaving a space between

them and the stool, and when Mr.

Summers said, "Some of you fellows want

to give me a hand?" there was a

hesitation before two men,Mr. Martin and

his oldest son, Baxter, came forward to

hold the box steady on the stool while Mr.

Summers stirred up the papers inside.

55 The original paraphernalia for the

lottery had been lost long ago, and the

black box now resting on the stool had

been put into use even before Old Man

Warner, the oldest man in town, was

born. Mr. Summers spoke frequently to

the villagers about making a new box, but

no one liked to upset even as

60 much tradition as was represented by

the black box. There was a story that the

present box had been made with some

pieces from the box that had preceded it,

the one that had been constructed when

the first people settled down to make a

village here. Every year, after the lottery,

Mr. Summers began

65 talking again about a new box, but

every year the subject was allowed to fade

off without anything's being done. The

black box grew shabbier each year; by

now it was no longer completely black but

splintered badly along one side to show

the original wood color, and in some

places faded or stained.

70 Mr. Martin arid his oldest son, Baxter,

held the black box securely on the stool

until Mr. Summers had stirred the papers

thoroughly with his hand. Because so

much of the ritual had been forgotten or

discarded, Mr. Summers had been

successful in having slips of paper

substituted for the chips of wood

75 that had been used for generations.

Chips of wood, Mr. Summers had argued,

had been all very well when the village

was tiny, but now that the population was

more than three hundred and likely to

keep growing, it was necessary to use

something that would fit more easily into

the black box. The night, before

80 the lottery, Mr. Summers and Mr.

Graves made up the slips of paper and put

them in the box, and it was then taken to

the safe of Mr. Summers´ coal company

and locked up until Mr. Summers was

ready to take it to the, square the next

morning. The rest of the year, the box

Was put away, somentimes one

85 place, sometimes another; it had spent

one year in Mr. Graves' barn and another

year underfoot in the post office, and

sometimes it was set on a shelf in the

Martin grocery and left there.

There was a great deal of fussing to be

done before Mr. Summers declared the

lottery open. There were the lists to

90 make up-of heads of families, heads of

households in each family, members of

each household in each family. There was

the proper swearing-in of Mr. Summers

by the postmaster, as the official of the

lottery; at one time, some people remem-

bered, there had been a recital of some

sort, performed by the

95 official of the lottery, a perfunctory,

tuneless chant that had been rattled off

duly each year; some people believed tha

THE LOTTERY______________________________________________________________

68

the official of the lottery used to stand

just so when he said or sang it, others

believed that lie was supposed to walk

among the people, but years and years

ago this part of the ritual had been

100 allowed to lapse. There had been,

also, a ritual salute, which the official of

the lottery had had to use in addressing

each person who came up to draw from

the box,but this also had changed with

time, until now it was felt necessary only

for the official to speak to each person

approaching. Mr. Summers

105 was very good at all this; in his clean

white shirt and blue jeans, with one hand

resting carelessly on the black box, he

seemed very proper and important as he

talked interminably to Mr. Graves and the

Martins.

Just as Mr. Summers finally left off talking

and turned to

110 the assembled villagers, Mrs.

Hutchinson came hurriedly along the path

to the square, her sweater thrown over

her shoulders, and slid into place at the

back of the crowd. "Clean forgot what day

it was," she said to Mrs. Delacroix, who

stood next to her, and they both laughed

softly. "Thought my old man was

115 out back stacking wood, "Mrs.

Hutchinson went on,"and then I looked

and the kids was gone and then I

remembered it was.

The box, Davy," Mr. Summers said. Davy

put his hand into the 285 box and

laughed. "Take just one paper," Mr.

Summers said. ” Harry, you hold it for

him. " Mr. Graves took the child's hand

and removed the folded paper from the

tight fist and held it while little Dave stood

next to him and looked tip at him

wonderingly.

390 "Nancy next," Mr. Summers said.

Nancy was twelve, and her school friends

breathed heavily as she went forward,

switching her skirt, and took a slip daintily

from the box. "Bill, Jr. ," Mr. Summers

said, and Billy, his face red and his feet

overlarge, nearly knocked the box over as

he got a paper out.

395 "Tessie," Mr. Summers said. She

hesitated for a minute, looking around

defiantly, and then set her lips and went

up to the box. She snatched a paper out

and held it behind her.

"Bill," Mr. Summers said, arid Bill

Hutchinson reached into the box arid felt

around, bringing his hand out at last with

the

300 slip of paper in it.

The crowd was quiet. A girl whispered, "I

hope it's riot. Nancy," and the sound of

the whisper reached the edges of the

crowd.

"It's not the way it used to be," Old Man

Warner said

305 clearly. "People ain't the way they

used to be. ""All right," Mr. Summers

said. "Open the papers. Harry, you open

little Dave's. "

Mr. Graves opened the slip of paper and

there was a general sigh through the

crowd as he held it up and everyone

310 could see that it was blank. Nancy

and Bill, Jr. , opened theirs at the same

time, and both beamed and laughed,

turning around to the crowd and holding

their slips of paper above their heads.

"Tessie," Mr. Summers said. There was a

pause, and then 315 Mr. Summers looked

at Bill Hutchinson, and Bill unfolded his

paper and showed it. It was blank.

"It's Tessie," Mr. Summers said, and his

voice was hushed. "Show us her paper,

Bill. "

THE LOTTERY______________________________________________________________

69

Bill Hutchinson went over to his wife and

forced the slip of

330 paper out of her hand. It had a black

spot on it, the black spot Mr. Summers

had made the night before with the heavy

pencil in the coal-company office. Bill

Hutchinson held it up, and there was a stir

in the crowd.

"All right, folks," Mr. Summers said.

"Let's finish quickly. "

325 Although the villagers had forgotten

the ritual and lost the original black box,

they still remembered to use stones. The

pile of stones the boys had made earlier

was ready; there were stones on the

ground with the blowing scraps of paper

that had come out of the box. Mrs.

Delacroix selected a stone so

330 large that she had to pick it up with

both hands and turned to Mrs. Dunbar.

"Come on," she said. "Hurry up. "

Mrs. Dunbar had small stones in both

hands, and she said, gasping for breath, "I

can't run at all. You'll have to go ahead

and I'll catch up with you. "

335 The children had stones already,

and someone gave little Davy Hutchinson

a few pebbles.

Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a

cleared space by now, and she held her

hands out desperately as the villagers

moved in on her. "It isn't fair," she said.

A stone hit her on the

340 side of the head.

Old Mari Warner was saying, "Come on,

come on, everyone. " Steve Adams was in

the front of the crowd of villagers, with

Mrs. Graves beside him.

"It isn't fair, it isn't right," Mrs.

Hutchinson screamed, and

345 then they were upon her. (1948)


1. Were you surprised by the ending?

When did you finally realize what was

going to happen? Looking back over the

story, what hints of what is to come-what

foreshadowing-can you find? For example,

what details in the first three paragraphs

create a picture of a peaceful rural village

and what details don't fit that picture?

(This unexpected contrast between the

setting and action of a story is an example

of dramatic irony).

2. Over the years, how has the lottery

changed? What aspects of it have

remained the same? What saying about

the lottery does Old Man Warner

remember? What connection does that

rhyme suggest with the rituals of primitive

cultures?

3. As the lottery was conducted, Mr.

Summers spoke "soberly" (line 134) while

Old Man Warner spoke "petulantly" (line

207). What difference does this show

between the two men? What contrasting

points of view on civic activities do they

represent?

4. In each of the following sentences,

what is the contrast between what the

speaker means and what the reader

understands? (These are good examples

of verbal irony. )

a. Chips of wood, Mr. Summers had

argued, had been all very well when the

village was tiny, but now that the

population was more than three hundred.

. . . (lines 75-77)

In the 1940 in the U. S. , a community of

three hundred people was still considered

very small. Why might it seem relatively

large to Mr. Summers?

b. "Bad enough to see young Joe

Summers up there joking with everybody.

" (lines 208-9)

THE LOTTERY______________________________________________________________

70

Mr. Summers is probably in his fifties;

would most people consider that "young"?

Why might Old Man Warner see him that

way?

c. "People ain't the way they used. To

be. " (line 305)

What changes does Old Man Warner

disapprove of? Do you think Old Man

Warner himself is the way he used to be?

d. "Be a good sport, Tessie. " (line 242)

In this context, what is the irony of urging

someone to be "a good sport"?

5. What makes Tessie Hutchinson stand

out from her neighbors when she first

arrives (lines 110-17)? When does she

first object to the lottery proceedings?

6. What builds tension in the final round

of the drawing? Looking back over the

story, how has the tension been built from

the beginning?

7. What explanations can you suggest for

the following contradictions in attitude?

a. The townspeople felt sorry for Mr.

Summers, we are told (lines 43-44),

"because he had no children and his wife

was a scold. " Yet no one feels sorry for

the annual victim of the lottery.

b. Many parents say that they would

gladly give their lives for their children.

Yet Tessie wants her married daughter

and the daughter's family to share the

danger of being chosen.

c. Nancy's friends hope that she will not

be chosen. Yet they evidently don't mind

that one member of Nancy's immediate

family will be killed.

d. In a small town, everyone speaks of

close-knit families and good neighbors.

Yet Tessie's husband and children, as well

as her friends, participate in stoning her to

death.

8. After Tessie has been identified as the

victim, jovial Mr. Summers says (line

324), "All right, folks. Let's finish quickly.

" What is the dramatic irony of such a

pleasant man encouraging a death by

stoning? What is the verbal irony,

considering their names, of Steve Adams

and Mrs. Graves being at the front of the

crowd?


Some of the names in the story are those

of people in North Bennington (e. g. ,

Percy, from the family name Percey).

However, many names have a more

general significance. Some (e. g. , Adams

and Eva) are easy to recognize. For

others (e. g. , Tessie) you may need to

consult a special dictionary of biography,

or family names, or saints' names.

(All three kinds of dictionaries can be

found in any good English-language

library).

1. How many of the following names can

you find an association for? Graves-As an

adjective,"grave" means serious. What

does it mean as a noun?

Summers-What seasonal association

does this name have? The name is really

derived from an occupation-summoner.

What did the English summoners summon

people to do? (A dictionary of names will

provide the information).

Warner-If a summoner summons, what

does a Warner do?

Adams and Eva-What Old Testament

characters have similar names?

Little Dave/Davy-What Old Testament

character also threw small stones?

Delacroix-What does this mean in French?

What association does that have?

Harry Jones-What does harry mean as a

verb? Who is "the old Harry"? What does

the sailors' term "Davy Jones' locker" refer

THE LOTTERY______________________________________________________________

71

to?

Hutchinson-In Colonial American history,

who was Anne Hutchinson?

Tessie (nickname for Teresa or

Theresa)-Who was St. Theresa of Avila?

Who was Therese Martin (St. Therese of

Liseux)?

3. For a writing project, discuss three or

four of the names in terms of their origin

and their significagce in the story.

MAKING CONNECTIONS

1. How is the outcome of the lottery in

this story different from the outcome of

the lottery that Mr. Hattori wins in” The

Brown House"? Do you see any similarities

between the two stories?

2. Before the lottery began, the men

talked about "planting and rain, tractors

and taxes" (line 27) and the women

exchanged greetings and gossip.

a. Why do you suppose no one mentioned

what was going to happen?

Do you think that most people avoid

discussing something that they fear?

c. What similarity is there to the situation

in "The Chaser" by John Collier?

3. Jackson was frequently invited to read

"The Lottery" and discuss it with college

audiences. On those occasions, she read

experts from the letters of puzzled or

angry readers. She also told her

audiences, "People at first [after the story

appeared in The New Yorker] were not so

much concerned with what the story

meant; what they wanted to know was

where these lotteries were held, and

whether they could go there and watch. "

What connection, if any, can you see

between that reaction and the view of

human nature presented in "The Lottery"?

4. What other rituals-social, familiar,

religious-can you think of that are

followed even though people no longer

remember their origins? (Shaking hands

and having a Christmas tree with lights

are two examples). What are other ways

that people hold onto the past?

5. For a writing project, either use the

library or interview elderly people in your

community (or both) to investigate the

origins of one or more rituals that you

have taken for granted.

a. How did the ritual begin?

b. How has it changed over years?

c. What purpose does the ritual serve

that has kept it alive, even though people

have forgotten its origin?

6. Can you think of examples of other

activities that, like the lottery in this story,

benefit some people while hurting others?

Would you willingly participate in such an

activity? What examples do you know-

from history or current events or personal

experience-of one person (or group of

people) being forced to accept the blame-

being used as "scapegoats"-for either a

natural disaster or something done by

others?

7. Many different interpretations have

been offered for the story. Jackson (who,

like most authors, didn't like to be asked

to explain her work), gave at least four

different responses to questioners: (1) she

told a former teacher that the story was

based entirely on his folklore course; (2)

she accepted the interpretation of The

New Yorker's publisher that the story was

meant as an ironic contrast between an

ancient superstition and a modern setting;

(3) she told one friend that it was a

picture of real people in North Bennington;

and (4) she told another friend that it was

a comment on anti-Semitism, derived

from an unpleasant incident with a local

THE LOTTERY______________________________________________________________

72

shopkeeper. Others have suggested that

the story is about choosing a scapegoat to

assume the symbolic guilt for all of the

sins of a community. Judy Oppenheimer,

Jackson's biographer, describes "The

Lottery" as "the purest, most direct

expression [Jackson] would ever give to

that knowledge of human evil she had

carried within her since childhood. "

When that many different explanations are

possible, it's obvious that there can't be

one "right" interpretation, though an

explanation is certainly wrong if it

contradicts the evidence of the story.

a. What is your interpretation of the

story?

b. What reasoning and evidence have you

used to arrive at that interpretation?

A BLIZZARD UNDER BLUE SKY__________________________________________________

73

A BLIZZAR UNDER BLUE SKY

“When everything in your life is

uncertain, there´s nothing quite like

the clarity and precision of fresh snow

and blue

am Houston has taught creative

writing at Denison University in

Ohio, where she completed her

undergraduate studies, and her short

stories have appeared in various literary

magazines. Presently completing her

doctoral studies at the University of Utah,

Houston is also part of the world of

women's fashion magazines as a

contributing editor for Elle and a frequent

contributor to Mirabella and Mademoiselle.

For a number of years, Houston has also

worked part-time as a river guide and

hunting guide in the western United States

and has written about those activities for

the publications Outside and Travel and

Leisure.

Houston's interest in the outdoors forms

the core of the stories in Cowboys Are My

Weakness (1992), stories that have been

described as "exhilarating, like a swift ride

through river rapids," as well as

"beautifully written and funny. " In "A

Blizzard under Blue Sky," the exhilaration

comes from sharing a winter adventure in

the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, while

the beauty of the writing is exemplified by

this magical description of snow: "[it]

stopped being simply white and became

translucent, hinting at other colors,

reflections of purples and blues and grays.

" Much of the humor in the story is based

on the American fondness for believing

that pets think and act like humans.

Another feature of Houston's style is that

she reflects her generation's habit of

referring to items by brand names. She

also sometimes teases by not directly

identifying a character's gender, using a

name that could be either a man's or a

woman's and letting a simple pronoun do

the work, perhaps contradicting the

reader's expectations.

A heavy snowstorm with high winds, the

"blizzard" of the title, matches the

narrator's mood at the beginning of the

story. She tells us that "everyone in Park

City," a resort area near Salt Lake City,

Utah, was happy except her. Could that

be literally true, or is she exaggerating to

make fun of herself? What could have

caused such self-pity and depression? And

what do you suppose she did about it?

How did she find the "blue sky" that is the

proverbial symbol of happiness?


Clinically depressed ("The doctor said I

was clinically depressed. ") suffering from

a severe and continuing feeling of deep

sadness.

To run rampant ("the month in which

depression runs rampant" (to grow

P

A BLIZZARD UNDER BLUE SKY

Pam Houston (born 1962)


74

without limit).

An inversion ("the inversion-cloaked Salt

Lake Valley") an increase in air

temperature with elevation that traps

particles of dust and smoke at lower

altitudes.

An ex ("weekending in the desert with his

ex") (informal) a previous romantic

partner.

A housemate ("my housemate, Alex")

someone who shares the living space in a

house.

A bivvy sack ("take my bivysack")-a

large canvas bag.

Kool-Aid ("mix Kool-Aid with your

water")-a brand of sugar and flavoring to

be mixed with water to make a drink.

Lighting paste ("don't forget lighting

paste for your stove")-a sticky, flammable

substance used to help wet wood burn.

A butt ("you are going to freeze your

butt")-(informal) buttocks, the fleshy part

of the body that one sits on.

Yin and yang ("my yin and yang of

dogs")-(Chinese philosophy) yin, the

negative element, represents the female

qualities of darkness and the sky; yang,

the positive element, represents the male

qualities of light and the earth.

A Thermarest ("My sleeping bag, my

Thermarest, my stove")-a brand of

inflatable, insulated mattress.

Mountain House ("Mountain House

chicken stew")-a brand of freeze-dried

food, eaten after boiling water is added.

Carnation instant breakfast ("Carnation

instant breakfast for morning")-a brand of

powered milk with flavoring and nutrients

added, drunk after being mixed with

water.

Miles to go ("Miles to go, Mom. ")-an

allusion (an indirect reference) to the

closing lines of the poem "Stopp'ing by

Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert

Frost: "But I have promises to keep, /and

miles to go before I sleep, /and miles to

go before I sleep. "

The fourth dimension ("swears that

Utah is the, center of the fourth

dimension")-something beyond length,

breadth, and thickness (height, width, and

depth); usually taken to be time.

Bindings ("the squeaking of my

bindings")-the foot fastenings on a ski.

A dog tag (the jangle of dog tags")-a

small metal disk attached to a dog's collar

to identify the dog's owner.

Primal ("the bass line and percussion of

some primal song")from the time of the

first humans.

Moby Dick ("I thought of MobyDick, you

know, the whiteness of the whale")-in

Herman Melville's 19th-century novel of

the same name, a huge white whale

pursued by Captain Ahab.

A fatality ("winter camping fatalities")-an

accidental death.

Couch potato ("not so with Hailey, the

couch potato")-(slang) the sort of person

who likes best to sit on a couch while

watching TV and eating.

A mummy bag ("inside my mummy

bag")-a sleeping bag that is wider at the

head than at the foot.

To chastise ("I spent half the night

chastising myself ")-to criticize severely.

Wonder Woman ("thinking I was Wonder

Woman")-a comic book character with

superhuman powers.

The Iditarod ("run the lditarod")-the

annual 1,200-mile Alaskan dog sled race

from Anchorage to Nome.

To kayak ("kayakedto Antarctica")-to

travel in a kayak, a light single-seat boat

propelled with a double paddle.

A BLIZZARD UNDER BLUE SKY


75

The doctor said I was clinically depressed.

It was February, the month in which

depression runs rampant in the inversion-

cloaked Salt Lake Valley and the city

dwellers escape to Park City, where the

snow is fresh and the sun is shining and

5 Everybody is happy, except me. In

truth, my life was on the verge of more

spectacular and satisfying discoveries,

than I had ever imagined, but of course I

couldn't see that far ahead. What I saw

was work that wasn't getting done, bills

that weren't getting paid, and a man I'd

given my heart to week

10 ending in the desert with his ex.

The doctor said, "I can give you drugs. "

I said, "No way. "

She said, "The machine that drives you is

broken. You need something to help you

get it fixed. "

15 I said, "Winter camping. "

She said, "Whatever floats your boat. "

One of the things I love the most about

the natural world is the way it gives you

what's good for you even if you don't

know it at the time. I had never been

winter camping before, at least

20 not in the high country, and the

weekend I chose to try and fix my

machine was the same weekend the air

mass they called the Alaska Clipper

showed up. It was thirty-two degrees

below zero in town on the night I spent in

my snow cave. I don't know how cold it

was out on Beaver Creek. I had listened

to the

25 weather forecast, and to the advice of

my housemate, Alex, who was an

experienced winter camper.

"I don't know what you think you're going

to prove by freezing to death," Alex said,

"but if you've got to go, take my bivvy

sack; it's warmer than anything you have.

"

30"Thanks. " I said.

"If you mix Kool-Aid with your water it

won't freeze up," he said, "and don't

forget lighting paste for your stove. "

"Okay," I said.

"I hope it turns out to be worth it," he

said, "because you

35 are going to freeze your butt. "

When everything in your life is uncertain,

there's nothing quite like the clarity and

precision of fresh snow and blue sky.

120 After lunch the sun had moved behind

our backs, throwing a whole different

light, oft the path ahead of us. The snow

we moved through stopped being simply

white and became translucent,hinting at

other colors, reflections of blues and

purples, and grays. I Thought of Moby

Dick, you know, the

125 whiteness of the whale, where white

is really the absence of all color, and

whiteness equals truth, and Ahab's search

is finally futile, as he finds nothing but his

own reflection.

"Put your mind where your skis are,

"Jackson said, and we made considerably

better time after that.

130 The sun was getting quite low in the

sky when I asked Jackson if he thought

we should stop to build the snow cave,

and he said he'd look for the next good

bank. About one hundred yards down the

trail we found it, a gentle slope with erst-

ern exposure that didn't look like it would

cave in under any

135 circumstances. Jackson started to dig

first.

Let me make one thing clear. I knew only

slightly more about building snow caves

than Jackson, having never built one, and

all my knowledge coming from disaster


76

tales of winter camping fatalities. I knew

several things not to do when

140 building a snow cave, but I was

having a hard time knowing what exactly

to do. But Jackson helped, and Hailey

supervised, and before too long we had a

little cave built, just big enough for three.

We ate dinner quite pleased with our

accomplishments and set the bivvy sack

up inside the cave just as the

145 Sun slipped away and dusk came over

Beaver Creek.

The temperature, which hadn't exactly

soared during the day, dropped twenty

degrees in as many minutes, and suddenly

it didn't seem like such a great idea to

change my long underwear. The original

plan was to sleep with the dogs inside

150 the bivvy sack but outside the

sleeping bag, which was okay with

Jackson the super-metabolizer, but not so

with Hailey, the couch potato. She whined

and wriggled and managed to stuff' her

entire fat body down inside my mummy

bag, and Jackson stretched out full-length

on top.

155 One of the unfortunate things about

winter camping is that it has to happen

when the days are so short. Fourteen

hours is a long time to lie in a snow cave

under the most perfect of circumstances.

And when it's thirty-two below, or forty,

fourteen hours seems like weeks.

160 I wish I could tell you I dropped right

off to sleep. In truth, fear crept into my

spine with the cold and I never closed my

eyes. Cuddled there, amid my dogs and

water bottles, I spent, half of the night

chastising myself for thinking I Was

Wonder Woman, not only risking my own

life but the lives of my dogs,

165 and other half trying to keep the

numbness in my feet from crawling up to

my knees. When I slid doze off, I'd come

back to my senses wondering if I had

frozen to death, but lire alternating pain

and numbness that started in my

extremities and worked its way into my

bones convinced me I must still be alive.

170 It was a clear night, and every now

and again I would poke my head out of its

nest of down and nylon to watch the

progress of the moon across the sky.

There is no doubt that it was longest arid

most uncomfortable night of my life.

But then the sky began to get gray, and

then it began to get

175 pink, and before too long the sun was

on my bivvy sack, not warm, exactly, but

holding fire Fructose of warmth later in

the day. And I ate apricots and drank

Kool-Aid-flavored coffee and celebrated

the rebirth of my fingers and toes, and the

survival of many more important parts of

my body. I sang "Rocky

180 Mountain High" and "If I Had a

Hammer," and yodeled and whistled, and

even danced the two-stop with Jackson

and let him lick my face. And when Hailey

finally emerged from the sleeping bag a

full hour after I did, we shared a peanut

butter and honey sandwich and she said

nothing ever tasted so good.

185 We broke camp and packed up and

kicked in the snow cave with something

resembling glee.

I was five miles down the trail before I

realized what had happened. Not once in

that fourteen-hour night did I think about

deadlines, or bills, or the man in the

desert. For the first

190 Time in many months I was happy to

see a day beginning. The morning

sunshine was like a present front the

gods. What really happened, of course, is

that. I remembered about joy.


77

I know that one night out at thirty-two

below doesn't sound like much to those of

you who have climbed Everest or

195 run the Iditarod or kayaked to

Antarctica, and I won't try to convince you

that my life was like the movies where

depression goes away in one weekend,

and all of life's problems van ish with a

moment's clear sight. The simple truth of

the matter is this: On Sunday I had a

glimpse outside of the house of

200 mirors, on Saturday I couldn't have

seen my way out of a paper bag. And

while I was skiing back toward the truck

that morning a wind came up behind us

and swirled the snow around our bodies

like a blizzard under blue sky. And I was

struck by the simple perfection of the

snowflakes, and startled by the hope

205 fulness of sun on frozen trees. (1992)


1. As the story opens, the narrator had

been feeling extremely sad without a

major reason ("clinically depressed," line

1) for a number of weeks.

a. What two possible causes of

depression does the narrator mention?

b. Why do you think the narrator refused

drugs as a cure? What did she decide to

try instead?

c. What did the doctor mean by her

comment "Whatever floats your boat"

(line 16)?

2. Immediately after describing her

depression, the narrator says, "my life

was on the verge of a more spectacular

and satisfying discovery than I had ever

imagined" (lines 5-7).

a. What does it mean to "be on the verge

of" a discovery?

b. Why do you think the author chose to

announce at the beginning that the story

would turn out well? From the tone of'the

first few sentences, had you thought that

the story might be an unhappy one? Why

or why not?

3. What are some of the items the

narrator planned to take on her overnight

camping trip? What was the purpose of

each item?

4. What makes Jackson and Hailey good

friends to go camping with? What do you

think the narrator means by calling them

her "yin and yang of dogs" (line 46)?

5. How do the following comments and

actions reflect the personality of each of

the dogs?

a. "Miles to go, Mom," (Jackson) said

over his shoulder. (line 71)

b. Hailey turned her belly to the sun and

groaned. (line 118)

c. "Put your mind where your skis are,"

Jackson said. (line 128)

d. (Hailey and I) shared a peanut butter

and honey sandwich and she said nothing

ever tasted so good. (lines 183-84)

6. What specific details help the reader to

imagine what it feels like to sleep outdoors

in a snow cave when the temperature is

forty degrees below zero?

7. How did the narrator's feelings change

as a result of the winter camping

experience? How is the story's title related

to the change?


1. Examine the paragraph that begins

(line 90) "It was utterly quiet out there . .

. . "

a. What noises do the visitors from the

city introduce?

b. What does it mean to say (line 91) that

these sounds "intruded on the morning


78

like a brass band"? (This simile-a direct

comparison-is also an example of

hyperbole-a deliberate exaggeration).

c. What does the narrator mean by her

musical metaphor (an implied comparison)

in the statement (lines 93-95),"It was the

bass line and percussion to some primal

song, and I kept wanting to sing to it, but

I didn't know the words. "

2. In lines 111-15, the narrator uses a

simile to explain how clinical depression

feels.

a. What is the simile? Read it aloud.

b. What do you understand it to mean?

c. How does the narrator return to this

simile in the final paragraph of the story?

MAKING CONNECTIONS

1. Reviewers have described Pam

Houston's women as "strong and free-

spirited" and, lean and tough, self-created

adventurers. " How well do those

descriptions fit the narrator of this story?

Houston has also been praised for the

humor of her writing. What are some of

the humorous parts of this story?

2. Find the full poem "Stopping by Woods

on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost. (It

appears in Frost's collected poems as well

as in many anthologies). Then discuss the

following questions about the poem and

the story.

a. Some readers see the woods, which

are "lovely, dark, and deep," and the idea

of "sleep" as symbolic of death. Others

argue for a more literal interpretation of

the woods and sleep as representing a

break in a busy life. What arguments can

you think of to support each point of view?

b. How does the horse make the poem's

speaker remember his or her obligations

to others?

c. How is the quotation from the poem

appropriate to Houston's story? For

example, what obligations to others does

the narrator of the story have?

3. Have you ever been deeply depressed?

What was the cause? What did you do

about it?

(This might be a good question to answer

in a tenminute free writing that no one

else will read. )

4. Have you ever gone winter camping? If

so, what sort of preparations did you

make and where did you sleep? If you are

not a camper, do you think you'd like to

try it one day? Why or why not?

5. Have you ever had a sports adventure?

If so, what details can you remember to

help someone else to share your sense of

the adventure?

6. As a small library research project,

look for newspaper or magazine accounts

either of the Iditarod dog sled race (it

began in 1974) or of attempts to climb

Mount Everest (the first men to reach the

summit were Sir Edmund Hillary and

Tenzing Norgay in 1953). To organize the

report, begin by presenting a question

about the topic that you can answer in two

or three pages.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

79

nown for his ability to explain

scientific ideas clearly and

accurately to a popular audience,

Arthur C. Clarke is even more famous as a

master of science fiction whose work has

been translated into more than thirty

languages. He was born during the First

World War in an English seaside town and

fell in love with science fiction as a boy.

When he left school at the age of sixteen

and took a civil service job, reading and

writing science fiction remained his hobby.

Then, in what he has described as

"probably the most decisive act of my

entire life," Clarke gave up his safe job to

enlist in the British Royal Air Force at the

beginning of World War II. While training

to be a radar instructor, he taught himself

Mathematics and Electronic Theory and

continued writing.

Clarke is unique as a science fiction writer,

for he has not only dreamed of what could

be but has specified how it could be done.

In 1945, for example, he explained how a

satellite could be placed in synchronous

orbit to receive and retransmit radio

signals; eighteen years later, when the

communications satellite became a reality,

Clarke was honored for conceiving the

idea. After the war, he earned a college

degree in physics and pure and applied

mathematics and became an editor for a

technical journal. Soon, however, the

success of his books The Exploration of

Space (1952) and Childhood's End (1953)

enabled Clarke to give up the editing job

to concentrate on his own writing. While

primarily known for his science fiction

works, Clarke has also written on

underwater diving (an interest that led

him to build a home on the Indian Ocean)

and scientific mysteries.

Clarke's fiction often deals with themes of

exploration and discovery, always firmly

grounded in scientific possibility, For

example, in "The Sentinel," published in

1951, a party of scientists exploring the

moon have chosen the same landing site

as that used eighteen years later by real-

life American astronauts. Clarke makes

readers feel the wonder of scientific

inquiry as the narrator describes an

unexpected discovery, but Clarke also

enables readers to recognize their own

reality with details such as breakfast

sausages.

In the early 1960s, Clarke became a

Hollywood screen writer when film director

Stanley Kubrick asked him to collaborate

on a science fiction movie. The script,

which was four years in development,

drew in part on "The Sentinel," the

pyramidal structure turning into a black

monolith. The result, which has been

called "the most important science fiction

film ever made," was 2001: A Space

Odyssey. This film about the voyage of

the spaceship Discovery, under the control

of the computer HAL 9000, appeared in

1968. The next year, the American

K

THE SENTINEL

ARTHUR C. CLARKE

(BORN 1917)

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

80

astronaut Neil Armstrong took what he

called "one small step for man, one giant

leap for mankind" when he left the ladder

of his spacecraft to set foot on the moon's

powdery surface. Except that the powder

proved to be thicker than Clarke had

imagined and that there is no moisture to

produce hoarfrost, the moon's surface is

much as described it in "The Sentinel. "

Yes, this story is by an Englishman who

now lives in Sri Lanka. But as the

songwriter Paul Simon says in "American

Tune," the United States is "the ship that

sailed the moon. " And until someone else

plants their flag there, we're going to

claim the story.


A sentinel (title)-a sentry, someone or

something that stands guard.

Two'clock ("Round about two o'clock you

will notice")-(military) the position where

the two would be, if a clock face were

superimposed on what you are looking at.

A caterpillar tractor ("our powerful

caterpillar tractors")-a tractor with toothed

wheels covered by a circular belt; used for

heavy work on soft or uneven surfaces.

pedantic ("a geologist-or selenologist, if

you want to be pedantic")-showing off

academic knowledge.

a flank ("down the flanks of those

stupendous cliffs")-the side of a mountain.

to sit tight ("radio for help and sit

tight")-(informal) be patient and wait for

the next event.

a score ("a score of rivers")-twenty.

homely ("so normal and homely")-(British

usage) home-like.

a galley ("the corner. . . that served as a

galley")-the kitchen on a ship or airplane.

a log ("entries in yesterday's log")-a book

used on a ship or airplane for keeping a

permanent daily record of events.

Degenerate ("primitive plants and their

slightly less degenerate ancestors")-

(biology) having lost the normal or more

highly developed characteristics of its

type.

a laughingstock ("you'll he the

laughingstock of the expedition")-a person

or thing that is laughed at or made fun of.

a (wild) goose chase ("the craziest

goose chase he had ever embarked on")-

(idiom) a foolish or hopeless search (for

something or somebody that can never

he. found).

a folly ("probably be called Wilson's

Folly")-something foolish or ridiculous;

here an allusion (an indirect reference) to

"Seward's . Folly," the mocking name

given to the territory of Alaska in

1867,when Secretary of State Seward

"wasted" $7,200,000 buying it from the

Russian czar.

Haunting ("haunting doubts had driven

me forward")-returning to the mind

repeatedly.

to score ("falling meteors had pitted and

scored")-to mark with cuts, scratches, or

lines.

to ebb ("as the life of the Moon ebbed

with the dying oceans") to become weak

or faint.

to crawl ("set the scalp crawling")--to feel

as though the flesh is covered with ants or

another crawling thing.

an atomic pile ("an unshielded atomic

pile")-the early name for

a nuclear reactor.

an apparition ("crystalline apparition")-

something strange that

makes you doubt what you see.

banked ("those banked clouds of stars")-

heaped up into a flat

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

81

topped mass.

idly over the mountain walls which

covered the whole of the southern

horizon, marching out of sight to east and

west.

80 below the curve of the Moon. They

seemed only a mile or two front the

tractor, but I knew that the nearest was

twenty miles away. On the Moon, of

course, there is no loss of detail with

distance-none of that almost:

imperceptible haziness which softens and

sometimes transfigures all far-off things

on Earth.

85 Those mountains were Len thousand

feet high, and they climbed steeply out of

the plain as if ages ago some subter-

ranean eruption had smashed them

skyward through the molten crust. The

base of even the nearest was hidden front

sight by the steeply curving surface of the

plain, for the Moon

90 is a very little world, and from where I

was standing the horizon was only two

miles away.

I lifted my eyes toward the peaks which

no man had ever climbed, the peaks

which, before the coming of terrestrial life,

had watched the retreating oceans sink

sullenly into their

95 graves, taking with them the hope and

the morning promise of a world. The

sunlight was beating against. those

ramparts with a glare that hurt the eyes,

yet only a little way above them the stars

were shining steadily in a sky blacker than

a winter midnight oil Earth.

100 I was turning away when my eye

caught a metallic glitter high on the ridge

of a great promontory thrusting out into

the sea thirty miles to the west. It was a

dimensionless point. of light, as if a star

had been clawed from the sky by one of

those cruel peaks, and I imagined that

some smooth rock surface

105 was catching the sunlight and

heliographing it straight into my eyes.

Such things were not uncommon. When

the Moon is in her second quarter,

observers on Earth can sometimes see the

great ranges in the Oceanus Procellarum

burning with a blue-white iridescence as

the sunlight flashes front their slopes and

110 leaps again front world to world. But

I was curious to know what kind of rock

could be shining so brightly up there, and

I climbed into the observation turret and

swung our four-inch telescope round to

the west.

I could see just enough to tantalize me.

Clear aril sharp in

115 is the field of vision, the mountain

peaks seemed only half a mile away, but

whatever was catching the sunlight was

still too small to be resolved. Yet it,

seemed to have an elusive symmetry, and

the summit upon which it rested was

curiously flat. I stared for

a long time at that, glittering enigma,

straining my eyes into

120 space, until presently a smell of

burning from the galley told nee that our

breakfast sausages had made their

quarter-million-mile journey in vain. All

that morning we argued our way across

the Mare Crisium while the western

mountains reared higher in the sky.

125 Even when we were out prospecting

in the space suits, the discussion would

continue over the radio. It was absolutely

certain, my companions argued, that

there had never been any form of

intelligent life on the Moon. The only

living things that had ever existed there

were a few primitive plants and their

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

82

130 slightly less degenerate ancestors. I

knew that as well as any-one, but there

are times when a scientist must not be

afraid to make a fool of himself.

"Listen," I said at last, "I'm going up

there, if only for my own peace of mind.

That mountain's less than twelve thousand

135 feet high-that's only two thousand

under Earth gravity-and I can make the

trip in twenty hours at the outside. I've

always wanted to go up into those hills,

anyway, and this gives me an excellent

excuse. "

"if you don't break your no-ok said

Garnett, "you'll be the

140 laughingstock of the expedition when

we get back to Base. That mountain will

probably be called Wilson's Folly from now

on. "

"I won't break my neck," I said firmly.

"Who was the first man to climb Pico and

Helicon'?"

"But weren't you rather younger in those

days?" asked

145 Louis gently.

"That," I said with great, dignity, "is as

good a reason as any for going. "

We went to bed early that night, after

driving the tractor to within half a mile of

the promontory. Garnett was coming

150 with me in the morning; he was a

good climber, and had often been with me

on such exploits before. Our driver was

only too glad to be left in charge of the

machine. At first sight, those cliff's

seemed completely unscalable,but to

anyone with a good head for heights,

climbing is easy on

155 a world where all weights are only a

sixth of their normal value. The real

danger in lunar mountaineering lies in

overconfidence; a six-hundred-foot drop

on the Moon can kill you just as thor-

oughly as a hundred-foot fall on Earth. We

made our first halt on a wide ledge about

four thou

160 sand feet, above the plain. Climbing

had not been very difficult, but my limbs

were stiff with the unaccustomed effort,

and I was glad of the rest. We could still

see the tractor as a tiny metal insect far

down at the foot of the cliff, and we

reported our progress to the driver before

starting on the next ascent.

165 Inside our suits it was comfortably

cool, for the refrigeration units were

fighting the fierce sun and carrying away

the body thea. of our exertions. We

seldom spoke to each other, except to

pass climbing instructions and to discuss

our best plan of ascent. I do not know

what Garnet was thinking, pro

I70 bably that this was the craziest goose

chase he had ever embarked upon. I

more than half agreed with him, but the

joy of climbing, the knowledge that no

man had ever gone this way before, and

the exhilaration of the steadily widening

landscape gave me all the reward I

needed.

175 I don't think I was particularly excited

when I saw in front of us the wall of rock I

had first inspected through the telescope

from thirty miles away. It would level off

about fifty feett above our heads, and

there on the plateau would be the thing

that had lured me over these barren

wastes. It would be,

180 almost, certainly, nothing more than

a boulder splintered ages ago by a falling

meteor, and with its cleavage planes still

fresh and bright in this incorruptible,

unchanging silence,

There were no handholds on the rock face,

and we had to use a grapnel. My tired

arms seemed to gain new strength as I

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

83

185 swung the three-pronged metal

anchor round my head and sent it sailing

up toward the stars. The first time it

broke loose and came falling slowly back

when we pulled the rope. On the third

attempt, the prongs gripped firmly and

our combined weights could not shift it.

190 Garnett looked at me anxiously. I

could tell that lie wanted to go first, but I

smiled back at him through the glass of

my helmet arid shook lily head. Slowly,

taking my Iinie, I began the final ascent.

Even with lily space suit, I weighed only

forty pounds

195 here, so I pulled myself up hand over

hand without bothering to use my feet. At

the rim I paused and waved to my

companion, then I scrambled over the

edge and stood upright, staring ahead of

me. You Must understand that until this

very moment I had

200 been almost completely convinced

that there could be nothing strange or

unusual for me to find here. Almost, but

not quite; it was that haunting doubt that

had driven me forward. Well, it was doubt

no longer, but the haunting had scarcely

begun.

I was standing on a plateau perhaps a

hundred feet across.

205 It had once been smooth-too smooth

to be natural-butt falling meteors had

pitted and scored its surface through

immeasurable eons. It had been leveled

to support a glittering, roughly pyramidad

structure, twice as high as a man, that

was set, in the rock like a gigantic, many

faceted jewel.

210 Probably no emotion at all filled

my mind in those first few seconds. Then

I felt a great lifting of my heart, and a

strange, inexpressible joy. For I loved the

Moon, and now I knew that the creeping

moss of Aristarchus and Eratosthenes was

not, the only life she had brought forth in

her youth. The

215 old, discredited dream of the first

explorers was true. There had, after all,

been a lunar civilization-and I was the first

to find it. That I had come perhaps a

hundred million years too late did not

distress me; it was enough to have conic

at all.

My mind was beginning to function

normally, to analyze

220 and to ask questions. Was this it

building, a shrine- or something for which

my language had no name? If a buniding,

I then why was it erected in so inicluely

inaccessible a spot? I wondered it, if might

be a temple, and I could picture the

adepts of some strange priesthood calling

on the gods to preserve

225 them as the life of the Moon ebbed

with the dying oceans, and calling on their

gods in vain.

I took a dozen steps forward to examine

the thing more closely, but some sense of

caution kept me from going too near. I

knew a little of archaeology, and tried to

guess the cul-

230 tural level of the civilization that must

have smoothed this mountain and raised

the glittering mirror surfaces that still

dazzled my eyes. The Egyptians could

have done it, I thought, if their workmen

had possessed whatever strange materials

these far more

235 ancient architects had used. because

of t he thing's smallness, it did not occur

to me that I might be looking at the

handiwork of a race more advanced that

my own. The idea that the Moon had

possessed intelligence at all was still

almost too tremendous to grasp, and my

pride would not let me take the final,

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

84

240 humiliating plunge.

And then I noticed something that set the

scalp crawling at the back of my neck-

something so trivial and so innocent that

many would never have noticed it at all. I

have said that the plateau was scarred by

meteors' it was also coated inches

245 deep with the cosmic dust that is

always filtering down upon the surface of

any world where there are no winds to

disturb it. Yet the dust and the meteor

scratches ended quite abruptly in a wide

circle enclosing the little pyramid as

though an invisible wall was protecting it

front the ravages of time and the

250 slow but ceaseless bombardment

from space.

There was someone shouting in my

earphones, and I realized that Garnets

had been calling me for some time. I

walked unsteadily to the edge of the cliff

and signaled him to join me, not trusting

myself to speak. Then I went back

255 toward that circle in the dust. I picked

up a fragment of splintered rock and

tossed it gently toward the shining

enigma. If the pebble had vanished at

that invisible barrier, I should not have

been surprised, but it seemed to hit a

smooth, hemispheric surface and slide

gently to the ground.

260 I knew then that I was looking at

nothing that could be matched in the

antiquity of my own race. This was not a

building, but a machine, protecting itself

with forces that had challenged Eternity.

Those forces, whatever they might be,

were still operating, and perhaps I had

already come too close. I

265 thought of all the radiations man had

trapped and tamed in the past century.

For all I knew, I might be as irrevocably

doomed as if l had stepped into the

deadly, silent aura of an unshielded

atomic pile.

I remember turning then toward Garnett,

who had joined

270 me and was now standing motionless

at my side. He seemed quite oblivious to

me, so I did not disturb him but walked to

the edge of the cliff in an effort to marshal

my thoughts. There below me lay the

Marc Crisium-Sea of Crises, indeedstrange

and weird to most men, but reassuringly

familiar to ale.

275 I lifted my eyes toward the crescent

Earth, lying in her cradle of stars, and I

wondered what her clouds had covered

when these unknown builders had finished

their work. Was it the steaming jungle of

time Carboniferous, the bleak shoreline

over which the first amphibians must

crawl to conquer the land-or;

280 earlier still, the long loneliness before

the coming of life? Do not ask me why I

did not guess the truth sooner-the truth

that seems so obvious now. In the first

excitement of my discovery, I had

assumed without question that this

crystalline apparition had been built by

some race belonging to the

285 Moon's remote past, but suddenly,

and with overwhelming force, the belief

came to me that. it was as alien to the

Moon as I myself.

In twenty years we had found no trace of

life but a few degenerate plants. No lunar

civilization, -whatever its doom,

290 could have left but a single token of

its existence.

I looked at the shining pyramid again, and

the more I looked the more remote it

seemed from anything that had to do with

the Moon. and suddenly I felt myself

shaking with a foolish, hysterical laughter,

brought on by excitement and overex

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

85

295 ertion: for I had imagined that the

little pyramid was speaking

to me and was saying,"Sorry, I'm a

stranger here myself. "

It, has taken us twenty years to crack that

invisible shield and to reach the machine

inside those crystal walls. What we could

riot understand, we broke at last with the

savage might

300 of atomic power and now I have seen

the fragments of the lovely, glittering

thing I found up there on the mountain.

They are meanIngless. The mechanisms-

if indeed they are mechanisms of the

pyramid belong to a technology that lies

far beyond our horizon, perhaps to the

technology of para-

305 physical forces . The mystery haunts

us all the more now that the other planets

have been reached and we know that only

Earth has ever been the home of

intelligent life in our Universe. Nor could

any lost civilization of our own world have

built that

310 machine, for the thickness of the

meteoric dust on the plateau has enabled

us to measure its age. It was set there

upon its mountain before life had emerged

from the seas of Earth.

When our world was half its present age,

something from the stars swept through

the Solar System, left this token of its

315 passage, and went again upon its

way. Until we destroyed it, that machine

was still fulfilling the purpose of its

builders; and as to that, purpose, here is

my guess.

Nearly a hundred thousand million stars

are turning in the circle of the Milky Way,

and long ago other races on the worlds

320 of other suns must have scaled and

passed the heights that we have reached.

Think of such civilizations, far back in time

against the fading afterglow of Creation,

masters of a universe so young that life as

yet had come only to a handful of worlds.

Theirs would have been a loneliness we

cannot imagine, the

325 loneliness of gods looking out across

infinity and finding none to share their

thoughts.

They must have searched the star clusters

as we have searched the planets.

Everywhere there would be worlds, but

they would be empty or peopled with

crawling, mindless

330 things. Such was our own Earth, the

smoke of the great volcanoes still staining

the skies, when that first ship of the

peoples of the dawn came sliding in from

the abyss beyond Pluto. It passed the

frozen outer worlds, knowing that life

could play no part in their destinies. It

came to rest among the inner plan

335 ets, warming themselves around the

fire of the Sun and waiting for their stories

to begin.

Those wanderers must have looked on

Earth, circling safely in the narrow zone

between fire and ice, and must have

guessed that it was the favorite of the

Sun's Children. Here, in

340 the distant future, would be

intelligence; but there were countless

stars before them still, and they might

never come this way again.

So they left a sentinel, one of millions

they scattered throughout the Universe,

watching over all worlds with the

345 promise of life. It was a beacon that

down the ages patiently signaled the fact,

that no one had discovered it.

Perhaps you understand now why that

crystal pyramid was set upon the Moon

instead of on the Earth. Its builders were

not concerned with races still struggling

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

86

up from say

350 an agery. They would be interested

in our civilization only if we proved our

fitness to survive-by crossing space and

so escaping from the Earth, out, cradle.

That is the challenge that all intelligentt

races must meet, sooner or later. It is a

double challenge, for it depends in turn

upon the conquest of atomic

355 energy and the last choice between

life and death. Once we had passed that

crisis, it was only a matter of time before

we found the pyramid and forced it open.

Now its signals have ceased, and those

whose duty it, is will be turning their

minds upon Earth. Perhaps they wish to

help our infant

360 civilization. But they must be very,

very old, and the old are often insanely

jealous of the young.

I can never look now at the Milky Way

without wondering from which of those

banked clouds of stars the emissaries are

coming. If you will pardon so

commonplace a simile, we have

365 set off the fire alarm and have

nothing to do but to wait.

I do not think we will have to wait for

long.

(1951)

UNDERSTANDIGTHE STORY

1. What is the span of time discussed in

the story? According to the story, when

did exploration on the moon begin? When

is the story being told?

2. What specific facts does the reader

learn about the narrator in the course of

the story?

3. According to the story, what difficulties

do scientists face in the lunar

environment? How are these difficulties

brought out in the story?

4. While Wilson is staring at a "glittering

enigma" on the horizon (line 119), he is

suddenly "brought back to earth" (to use

an idiom not found in the story) by an

occurrence much "closer to home"

(another idiom).

What is the occurrence?

5. Why did Wilson's companions say that

Wilson would be the "laughingstock" (line

140) of the expedition if he went to

investigate the reflected sunlight? How did

they tease him about his idea of climbing

the mountain?

6. When Wilson reached the plateau at

the top of the cliff, what was his first

analysis of what he found? What second

discovery "set the scalp crawling at the

back of (his) neck" (lines 241-42)?

7. Discuss what Wilson means by each of

the following statements.

a. I'had been almost completely

convinced that there could be nothing

strange or unusual for me to find here.

Almost, but not quite; it was that haunting

doubt that had driven me forward. (lines

199-202)

"Almost, but not quite" what? What was

the "haunting doubt"?

b. For all I knew, I might be as

irrevocably doomed as if I had stepped

into the deadly, silent aura of an

unshielded atomic pile. (lines 266-68)

If someone unknowingly came near an

unshielded nuclear reactor, what sort of

trouble would he or she be in? Why

wouldn't the person be aware of the

trouble?

c. I had imagined that the little pyramid

was speaking to me and was saying,

"Sorry, I'm a stranger here myself. " (line

296)

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

87

In what situation does someone normally

make an apology like that?

d. What we could not understand, we

broke at last with the savage might of

atomic power (lines 298-300)

What does Wilson mean by "the savage

might of atomic power"? How is it ironic

(the opposite of what one might logically

expect) to smash something that, after

long effort, you still can't understand?

e. long ago other races on the worlds of

other suns must have scaled and passed

the heights we have reached. (lines 319-

21)

What "heights" is Wilson referring to? Who

does he mean by "we"?

8. Discuss Wilson's ideas and theories

about the machine at the time he is telling

the story:

a. Why is he sure that it was not made by

any beings in Earth's solar system, "our

Universe" (line 308)?

b. Who does he think made it?

c. For what purpose does he think it was

made?

9. Wilson feels that the machine's

purpose has now been fulfilled.

a. What does he think will happen next?

b. Discuss the implications of his

statement (lines 359-61), "Perhaps they

wish to help our infant civilization. But

they must be very, very old, and the old

are often insanely jealous of the young. "

c. Could it be said that Wilson and his

companions are just "sitting tight," as

Wilson once said they could always do if

they ever "ran into trouble" (lines 40-41)?


1. Like all good scientific writers, Clarke

uses context to clarify the meaning of

many words in this story. In the following

sentences, how are the words in dark type

explained by the rest of the sentence?

Where else in the story can a reader use

the context to understand the meaning of

a word?

a. one of my favorite melodies, the old

Welsh air "David of the White Rock" (lines

71-72)

b. a vast delta where a score of rivers

once found their way into the ocean (lines

49-50)

c. those cliffs seemed completely

unscalable, but to anyone with a good

head for heights, climbing is easy on a

world where all weights are only a sixth of

their normal value. (lines 153-55)

d. There were no handholds on the rock

face, and we had to use a grapnel. My

tired arms seemed to gain new strength

as I swung the three-pronged metal

anchor round my head and set it sailing

up toward the stars. (lines 183-86).

2. Many scientific words are composed of

Latin and Greek prefixes, suffixes, and

roots, some of which are listed below.

Use the information in the list to explain

the words in dark type in the examples

that follow it.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

88

a. I was geologist-or selenologist, if

you want to be pedantic-in charge of the

group exploring the southern region of

Mare. (lines 21-23)

b. As I stood by the frying pan, waiting,

like any terrestrial housewife, for the

sausages to brown (lines 76-77)

c. some smooth rock surface was catching

the sunlight and heliographing it straight

into my eyes (lines 104-6)

d. the great ranges in the Oceanus

Procellarum burning with a blue-white

iridescence (lines 107-9)

e. I knew a little of archaeology, and

tried to guess the cultural level of the

civilization that must have smoothed this

mountain. . . . (lines 229-31)

f. The mechanisms. . . of the pyramid

belong to a technology that lies far beyond

our horizon, perhaps to the technology of

paraphysical forces. (lines 302-5)

3. As a writer, Clarke has been praised

not only for his scientific imagination but

also for his poetry. Explain the similes

(direct comparisons) and metaphors

(implied comparisons) in dark type in the

following sentences. What other similes

and metaphors did you notice in the

story?

a. as if a star had been clawed from

the sky by one of those cruel peaks

(lines 103-4)

b. see the tractor as a tiny metal insect

far down at the foot of the cliff (lines 162-

63)

c. sent it sailing up toward the stars (line

186)

d. the crescent Earth, lying in her

cradle of stars (lines 275-76)

MAKING CONNECTIONS

1. How realistic do you find the

characters in this story? What nationality

would you say they are? Do they match

your idea of scientists and space

explorers? Why or why not?

2. Human beings, as a race, have a need

to explore the unknown. What do you

think explains that need? Would you like

to be part of a scientific expedition to

outer space? Why or why not?

3. In the story, written in 1951, humans

have established and staffed a scientific

base for long-term exploration on the

moon by the year 1996. Why do you

think that hasn't happened?

4. What major scientific advances have

been made in your parents' lifetimes?

What advances have you been aware of so

far in your lifetime? What further

advances do you hope to live to see?

5. When the next full moon comes, go

outdoors one evening to look for the Mare

Crisium-the Sea of Crises. Alternatively,

find a map of the moon in an atlas. On

the "near" side, find the geographical

features-the Mare Crisium, the Mare

Serenitatis, the Oceanus Procellarum (the

Ocean of Storms), and the craters

Aristarchus and Eratosthenes-mentioned

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

89

in the story.

6. Arrange to see the film 2001: A Space

Odyssey. (It is available on video

cassette. ) Then discuss how the film

differs from this story. Alternatively, read

and discuss the novel 2001: A Space

Odyssey, which Clarke wrote while the

film was heinci made.

TEXT CREDITS

"No Speak English" : From THE HOUSE ON

MANGO STREET. Copyright 1989 by

Sandra Cisneros. Published in the United

States by Vintage Books, a division of

Random House, Inc. , New York, and

distributed in Canada by Random House of

Canada Limited, Toronto. Originally

published, in somewhat different form, by

Arte Publico Press in 1984 and revised in

1089. Reprinted by permission of Susan

Bergholz Literary Services, New York.

"Popular Mechanics": Reprinted by

permission of Tess Gallagher. Copyright

© 1978 by Tess Gallagher.

"The Unicorn in the Garden": From

FABLES FOR OUR TIME by James Thurber

(Hamish Hamilton, 1939) copyright ©

James Thurber, 1939, copyright © Helen

Thurber, 1968. Reproduced by permission

of Hamish Hamilton Ltd.

"The Summer of the Beautiful White

Horse": From MY NAME IS ARAM by

William Saroyan. Copyright © 1938 and

renewed 1966 by William Saroyan.

Reprinted by permission of Harcourt Brace

& Company. Acknowledgement to The

William Saroyan Foundation.

"Samuel": From ENORMOUS CHANGES AT

THE LAST MINUTE by Grace Paley.

Copyright © 1968, 1974 by Grace Paley.

Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus

& Giroux, Inc.

"The Chaser": Copyright © 1940, 1967 by

John Collier. Reprinted by permission of

Harold Matron Company, Inc.

"The Brown House": From SEVENTEEN

SYLLABLES AND OTHER STORIES by I

lisaye Yamamoto. Copyright © 1988 by I

Hisaye Yamamoto. Used by permission of

the author and of Kitchen Table: Women

of Color Press, P.0.Box 908, Latham, N. Y.

12110 on all reprinted materials.

"Love": From DAWN OF REMEMBERED

SPRINGS by Jesse Stuart. Copyright ©

1940 by Jesse Stuart. Copyright ©

renewed 1968 by Jesse Stuart Foundation.

Reprinted by permission of Jesse Stuart

Foundation, P.0.Box 391, Ashland,

Kentucky, 41114.

Quotes on Pages 84-85 used by

permission of the Jesse Stuart Foundation,

Box 391, Ashland, Kentucky 41114.

"The Use of Force": From THE FARMERS'

DAUGHTERS by William Carlos Williams.

Copyright © 1938 by William Carlos

Williams. Reprinted by permission of New

Directions Publishing Corp.

"The Lottery": From THE LOTTERY by

Shirley Jackson. Copyright © 1948, 1949

by Shirley Jackson. Copyright renewed ©

1976, 1977 by Laurence Hyman, Barry

Hyman, Mrs. Sarah Webster, and Mrs.

Joanne Schnurer. Reprinted by permission

of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

90

"Biography of a Story": Front COME

ALONG WITH ME by Shirley Jackson.

Copyright 1948, 1952,© 1960 by Shirley

Jackson. Used by permission of Viking

Penguin, a division of Penguin Books USA

Inc.

"A Blizzard Under Blue Sky": Reprinted

from COWBOYS ARE MY WEAKNESS,

Stories by Pam Houston, by permission of

W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. Copyright

© 1992 by Pam Houston.

"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy

Evening": From THE POETRY OF ROBERT

FROST, edited by Edward Connery

Lathem,published by Jonathan Cape.

Reprinted by permission of the Estate of

Robert Frost.

"The Sentinel": Arthur C. Clarke.

Reprinted by permission of the author and

the author's agents, Scovil Chichak Gaden

Literary Agency, Inc.

ART CREDIT

Drawing on page 27 reprinted by

permission of James Thurber Literary

Properties. For the British

Commonwealth: Reproduced by

permission of Hamish Hamilton Ltd.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

91

Contents

UNIT 1 Brats 2

UNIT 2 Trouble with Everyday Things 8

UNIT 3 More Alike Than Different 14

UNIT 4 The World's Largest Family 20

UNIT 5 Healthy Again 26

UNIT 6 The Buried City 32

UNIT 7 Misunderstandings 38

UNIT 8 A Real Bargain 44

UNIT 9 Black Cats and Broken Mirrors 50

UNIT 10 Mother's Camp 56

UNIT 1 1 The Treasure Hunt 62

UNIT 12 The Plain People 68

UNIT 13 Postponing Death 74

UNIT 14 An Unexpected Adventure 80

UNIT 1 5 An Unsolved Mystery 86

Answer Key 92

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

92

I. PRE-READING

Look at the picture and think about these

questions. Discuss your answers with

your classmates.

•The girl in the picture is named Lizzie.

What kind of a girl do you think Lizzie is?

Do you think she does what her parents

want her to do? Do you think she usually

behaves or misbehaves?

•If you guessed that Lizzie often

misbehaves, you were right. She threw

her mother's wedding ring into the toilet

and put ice cream into the VCR. She is a

brat. (Brat is not a polite word. )

•In this story you will read about Lizzie

and other brats. Have You ever known any

brats? What did they do when they

misbehaved?

BRATS

A FEW years ago a French toy company

had an unusual contest-a "biggest brat"

contest. The company had a prize for the

child whose behavior was the worst in the

world. Over 2,000 parents entered their

children in the contest. "Our child is the

world's biggest brat!" they wrote. The

parents made lists of all the bad things

their children had done. Judges read the

lists and chose the winner. She was a little

girl from the United States. Her name

was Lizzie, and she was four years old.

Here are a few of the things Lizzie did to

win the title, "The World's Biggest Brat":

She put a garden hose into the

gas tank of her father's car. Then

she turned on the water.

She painted a leather sofa with

spray paint.

She threw her mother's wedding

ring into the toilet. Then she

flushed the toilet.

She put an ice cream sandwich

into the VCR.

She set the table for dinner. Then

she glued the silverware to the

table. Imagine her parents'

surprise when they sat down to

eat and tried to pick up their

forks!

Lizzie may be the world's biggest brat, but

she is certainly not the world's only brat.

Alo is a five-year-old boy from

Bangladesh. One afternoon, while his

father was asleep on the sofa, Alo cut off

his father's mustache. A few days later,

he cut off his brother's eyebrows when his

brother was sleeping in the bedroom. A

few weeks after that, he cut off most of

his mother's hair when she was asleep at

night. Alo's family now keeps every pair

of scissors under lock and key and always

sleeps behind locked doors.

The behavior of a Mexican boy named

Manuel is perhaps even worse than

Lizzie's and Alo's because it is more

dangerous. Manuel likes to play with

matches. One day he found some

matches near the kitchen stove. He took

the matches, sneaked into his parents'

bedroom, and set fire to the curtains.

Fortunately, Manuel's mother walked into

the bedroom just in time. She pulled

down the curtains and put out the fire

before is spread.

Hiroshi, a young Japanese man, says that

he rarely misbehaved when he was a

young child but turned into a real brat

when he was about 13. "My friends and l

used to sneak around at night and let the

air out of tires. We were terrible," he

says. "Our parents tried to control us, but

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

93

they didn't have much success. We drove

them crazy. "

No mother or father wants to be the

parent of a brat. Parents everywhere try

to control their children's behavior. Some

parents spank their children when they

misbehave. Other parents won't let their

children watch TV or eat dessert. In

Japan, parents often send their children

outside when they misbehave and tell

them they can't come into the house. In

the United States, parents do just the

opposite: they send their children to their

bedrooms and tell them they can't go

outside.

Lizzie's parents don't know what to do

about Lizzie. Her mother says, "I keep

telling myself that Lizzie is going through

a stage, but sometimes I don't know. . . It

seems like she's always getting into

trouble. " Lizzie's father says, "One day

we'll look back on all this and laugh. "

What does Lizzie think about her

behavior? Lizzie doesn't like to talk about

it. When a reporter asked Lizzie if she

was "a bad girl," Lizzie kicked his leg.

Then she yelled, "I'm not a brat! I'm an

angel! Get out of my house!"

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

94

2. VOCABULARY

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

95

First, form small groups. One student in

each group is the "teacher. " The

"teacher" will write each word on a

separate small piece of paper, fold the

papers, and give one to each person in the

group. The "teacher" will take a word, too.

Hold your paper so that no one can see

your word. Make up a little story for your

word like the ones above. (Be careful not

to say your word. ) Your classmates will

listen to your story and try to guess which

word you have. Then listen to your

classmates' stories and try to guess which

words they have.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

96

3. COMPREHENSION/READING

SKILLS

A. UNDERSTANDING THE MAIN

IDEAS

WHAT INFORMATION IS NOT IN THE

STORY? DRAW A LINE THROUGH THE

INFORMATION.

B. UNDERSTANDING DETAILS

Read the following sentences. One

word in each sentence is not correct.

Find the w, a cross it out. Write the

correct word.

1. A few years ago a french toy company

had an unusual contest.

2. The company wanted to find the child

whose behavior was the best in the world.

3. Over 200 parents entered their

children in the contest.

4. The parents made lists of all the good

things their children had done.

5. The winner of the contest was a little

boy from the United States.

Now copy three sentences from the story,

but change one word in each sentence so

that the information is not correct. Give

your sentences to a classmate. Your

classmate will find the incorrect word in

each sentence, cross it out, and write the

correct word. When your classmate is

finished, check the corrections.

4. DISCUSSION

A. Think about these questions.

Discuss your answers with your

classmates.

1. When you were a child, were you a

"brat" sometimes or were you always an

"angel"?

Can you remember am thing bad you did?

Tell your classmates about it.

2. What do you think about spanking

children who misbehave?

3. Do you know a child who often

misbehaves? What bad things does the

child do?

4. Do you think children in different

countries behave differently? Or do you

think children everywhere behave the

same way?

B. Imagine that you are a parent in

the following situations. In small

groups, read about each problem and

decide what you would do. Circle the

answers your group chooses, or write

your own answers.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

97

I. When you return home from shopping

with your son, you discover a small toy in

his pocket. He has stolen the toy from a

department store. You

a. spank him and send him to his room.

b. let him keep the toy this time.

c. go back to the store with him and

return the toy.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

98

Now answer one of the question in writing.

UNIT 2

1. PRE-READING

Find a partner. With your partner,

make a list of things that you or your

partner uses every day.

Here are some examples

Do not list clothes or things you use up,

like food or toothpaste. In three minutes,

try to make the longest list in the class.

•Do you think about the things you use

every day? The man in the picture does.

II says that our "everyday things"" often

give us trouble. In the next story, you will

learn why.

TROUBLE WITH EVERYDAY THINGS

Jane couldn't watch her favorite TV

programs because she worked in a

restaurant at night. She decided to buy a

VCR so that the VCR could record the TV

programs while she worked. Then she

could watch them when she came home.

Jane was excited the day she bought her

VCR. She hurried home from the store

and, after an hour's work, finally

succeeded in connecting the VCR to the

TV. Then she tried to program the VCR to

record a TV program. Two hours later she

was still trying. Jane didn't figure out how

to program her VCR that day, or the next

day. In fact, she never figured out how to

program her VCR. "I'm just not good with

machines," she thought.

Jane blamed herself when she couldn't

program her VCR. Donald Norman says

she shouldn't have. He has a degree in

electrical engineering and uses a multi-

million-dollar computer at work, and he

can't figure out his VCR either. He is the

author of The Design of Everyday Things.

In his book Dr. Norman says that if people

have trouble with the things they use

every day- VCRs stoves, watches, doors-

they shouldn't blame themselves. Instead,

they should blame the design of these

"everyday things. "

The modern stove, for example, is an

everyday thing with a poor design. Most

stoves in the United States look like this:

The four burners form a square, but the

knobs form a line. That's a bad design,

says Dr. Norman. That's why people

often turn on the wrong burner, even

though the knobs are labeled. A better

design might look like this:

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

99

The burners form a square, so the knobs

form a square, too. It's easier to see

which knob controls each burner. "Why

can't all stoves be like this?" Dr. Norman

asks.

Another everyday thing with a confusing

design is the digital watch. In the past,

watches simply told the time; now

watches often have as many as 15

different features. They beep on the hour

and show the day and date; some even

tell the temperature. Can people really

figure out how to use all those features?

Dr. Norman says that a lot of people

can't. The problem, he says, is that

generally only three buttons control all the

features on a digital watch. That design

means trouble. Simple things like doors

sometimes have confusing designs, too.

Have you ever had trouble opening a

door? Have you ever pushed on a door

that pulls open, or pulled on a door that

pushes open? When you have trouble

opening a door, it's probably because the

door is poorly designed. Well-designed

doors tell people exactly what to do. A

door with a handle tells people to pull; a

door with a bar tells people to push. If

you're pulling at a door that pushes open,

the door probably has a handle on it. The

door is giving you the wrong signal. It

has a bad design.

What should people do about all these

everyday things that are poorly designed?

"Don't buy them!" Dr. Norman says. If

you're shopping for a VCR, ask the

salesperson if you can try to program it

right in the store. If you can't program

that VCR, keep shopping until you find one

you can program. And don't buy

something just because it looks good.

Washing machines, for example, often

look impressive. Their control panels have

a dozen buttons to push and dials to turn;

they look like they came from a spaceship.

The washing machines look great, but can

you figure out how to work them? If

people continue to buy poorly designed

products, Dr. Norman says, companies

will continue to make them-and people

will continue to have trouble with

everyday things.

2. VOCABULARY

A. LOOKING AT THE STORY

Read the sentences. Then complete

the statements below each. Circle the

letter of the correct answer.

Jane finally succeeded in connecting the

VCR to the TV, but she never figured out

how to program the VCR. She blamed

herself when she couldn't program her

VCR.

1. Machines that are connected look like

this:

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

100

Don't buy something just because it looks

good. Washing machines often look

impressive. Their control panels have a

dozen buttons to push and dials to turn;

they look like they came from a spaceship.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

101

First, form small groups of students. One

student in each group will be the "teacher.

" The "teacher" will write each word on a



group. The "teacher" will take a word,

too. Hold your paper so that nobody can

see your word. Make up a little story for

your word like the ones above. (Be

careful not to say your word. ) Your

classmates will listen to your story and try

to guess which word you have. Then

listen to your classmates' stories and try

to guess which words they have.


SKILLS


IDEAS

What information is not in the story?

Draw a line through the information.

1. Jane

A. bought a VCR to record TV programs

while she worked.

B. succeeded in connecting the VCR to

the TV after an hour's work.

C. never figured out how to program her

VCR.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

102

D. has worked in a restaurant for 11

years.

2. Donald Norman

A. has a degree in electrical engineering.

B. uses a multi-million-dollar computer at

work.

C. has two VCRs.

D. is the author of The Design of

Everyday Things.

3. Examples of everyday things with

poor designs are:

A. most stoves in the United States

B. microwave ovens

C. digital watches

D. some doors

4. Most stoves in the United States

have

A. Clocks that beep on the hour.

B. four burners that form a square.

C. four knobs that form a line.

D. poor designs.

5. Digital watches have

a. as many as 15 different features.

b. three buttons that control all the

features.

c. confusing designs.

d. small batteries.

6. A well-designed door

a. has the word “Exit” on it.

b. tells people exactly what to do.

c. pulls open if it has a handle

d. pushes open if it has a bar.

7. Dr. Norman gives this advice:

a. Don't buy everyday things that are

poorly designed.

b. Buy everyday things only if they're on

sale.

c. Try to program a new VCR right in the

store.

d. Don't buy something just because it

looks good.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

103

4. DISCUSSION

A. Dr. Norman says that digital watches

often have confusing designs. Is that

true? Do an experiment. Find one person

in your class who knows how to set his or

her digital watch. Find another person who

has no experience with digital watches.

Ask the person with the watch to teach

the other person how to set the watch so

that the alarm goes off in five minutes.

Can they do it?

B. Compare designs of everyday things in

your native country and in the country

where you are living now, for example:

With a partner or in a small group,

describe or draw the everyday things that

have different designs in your native

country.

5. WRITING

Write a riddle. Describe an everyday

thing in as many sentences as you can.

Write your description so that your

classmates cannot guess what the

everyday thing is until they hear the last

sentence. For example:

What is it? (Answer: a button)

Now write your sentences. When you are

finished, read your riddle to your

classmates. They will try to guess what

the everyday thing is.

UNIT 3

1. PRE-READING

Compare gestures in your native country

with gestures in other countries. Your

teacher will ask you the questions below.

Answer the questions using only your

hands. Do not speak! As you answer each

question, look at your classmates. Which

gestures are the same? Which gestures

are different?

IN YOUR NATIVE COUNTRY HOW DO

YOU SAY. . . ?

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

104

MORE ALIKE THAN DIFFERENT

EVERYONE listened attentively as the

woman spoke.

"If you want to say 'OK,' don't make a

circle with your thumb and first finger,"

the woman began.

"That means OK here in the United States,

but in the

Soviet Union it's an obscene gesture. "

The audience of 300 Americans chuckled;

a few people took notes.

"It's all right to admire something," the

woman continued, "but don't be too

enthusiastic. Don't say, 'I really like your

tablecloth. ' Your Soviet friend will offer

you the tablecloth and will be offended if

you don't take it.

"Remember that, in general, life in the

Soviet Union is not as comfortable as life

in the United States. You might not have

hot running water, or you might have to

share a bathroom with five or six people. "

The woman was preparing the Americans

for their trip to the Soviet Union. In the

Soviet Union, the language, customs, and

food would be different. Even simple

things, like making a phone call, would be

different. The Americans wanted to learn

about these differences before their trip.

They didn't want to experience culture

shock.

When they arrived in the Soviet Union, the

Americans were glad that they had

prepared for their trip. Most of them

experienced only a little culture shock.

They enjoyed their visit and made a lot of

Soviet friends.

Making friends was, in fact, the purpose of

the trip. The trip was planned by The

Friendship Force, an international

organization that promotes world peace.

The Friendship Force believes that people

who are friends will not fight wars. So, to

help people from all over the world

become friends, it organizes exchanges of

people. The U. S. -Soviet exchange was

the largest exchange that it has ever

organized. In April 1990, 300 Americans

visited the Soviet Union, and 300 Soviets

visited the United States.

The Soviets, like the Americans, prepared

for their visit by learning about life in the

other country. Still, they, too,

experienced a little culture shock.

The Soviets knew that Americans were

found of pets, but they were shocked to

see pets inside homes. They couldn't

believe their eyes when they saw dogs

eating in the kitchen and sleeping on

people's beds.

They were surprised at the difference

between everyday life in the Soviet Union

and in the United States. The Americans'

lives, they said,were much easier. A

Soviet woman gasped when she saw an

American pour rice directly from a box

into a pan of boiling water. "You didn't

wash the rice?" she asked. She explained

that at home she had to wash the rice

carefully and pick out all the stones. "Are

you kidding?" the American said. "If

people here had to do that, nobody would

buy rice. "

The Soviets knew that Americans liked to

eat fast food in restaurants, but they were

disappointed to see that Americans ate

fast meals at home, too. In the Soviet

Union, the evening meal often lasts an

hour or two because families sit at the

table and talk. When American families

eat together-if they eat together they

often eat quickly and don't take time for

long conversations. The Soviets thought

that was a shame.

In spite of their differences in language

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

105

and culture, the Soviets and Americans

became friends. The two women in the

picture became friends, even though the

Soviet woman couldn't speak a word of

English and the American woman couldn't

speak a word of Russian. For two weeks

they communicated through sign language

and. dictionaries.

Some of the Americans who traveled to

the Soviet Union were schoolchildren from

a sixth-grade class. When they returned to

the United States, their teacher asked

them to write about their trip. One 11-

year-old girl wrote, "I have learned a lot

from this experience. I learned to adapt

to a different culture. And I learned that

people all over the world are more alike

than they are different. "

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

106

2. VOCABULARY

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

107

An 11-year-old girl wrote,”I learned to

adapt to new culture. And I learned that

people all over the world are more alike

than they are different.







too. Hold your paper so that no one can






listen to your classmates' stories and try



SKILLS

A. UNDERSTANDING THE MAIN IDEAS

Circle the letter of the best answer.

1. "More Alike Than Different" is

about

a. the language, customs, and food in the

Soviet Union.

b. U. S. -Soviet exchange of people that

was organized by The Friendship Force.

c. communicating through sign language

and dictionaries.

2. The Friendship Force is

a. an international organization that

promotes world peace.

b. an organization that prepares

Americans for visiting the Soviet Union.

c. an international organization of

children who visit other countries.

3. The Friendship Force believes that

a. people who live in the Soviet Union do

not have comfortable lives.

b. people who are friends will not fight

wars.

c. people who do not speak English will

experience culture shock in the United

States.

4. To help people become friends,

The Friendship Force

a. sends language teachers all over the

world.

b. mails letters all over the world.

c. organizes exchanges of people.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

108

5. The Americans prepared for their

visit by

a. etperiencing culture shock.

b. writing essays.

c. learning about Soviet life.

6. The soviets who visited the United

States were shocked to see

a. Americans eating rice.

b. pets in people's homes.

c. fast-food restaurants.

7. Although their languages and

cultures were different, the Soviets

and the Americans

a. are the same food.

b. became friends.

c. the same everyday lives.

B. UNDERTANDING SUPPORTING

DETAILS

Find the best way to complete each

sentence. write the letter of your answer

on the line.

1,__it´s allright to

admire

something,

but don´t be too

enthusiastic.

for example

a. they

could´believe their

eyes

when they saw

dogs eating

in the kitchen.

2. __the friendship

force

organizes

exchanges

of people. for

example,

b. the two women in

the picture

became

friends,even though

the soviet woman

could´t

speak English and

the

American woman

couldn´t

speak Russian

3. __the soviets

were

shocker to see

pets inside homes,

for example

c. don´t say ,“Í

really

like your

tablecloth´”

4. __the soviets

said that

the Americans

lives were much

easier than theirs.

for

example

d. soviets have to

wash their rice

carefully but

Americans don´t.

5. __in spite of

their

differences in

language

and culture, the

soviets

and American

became

friends. for

example,

e. in 1990 The

Friendship

force sent 300

Americans to the

soviet Union and 300

Soviets

to the United States.

4. DISCUSSION

A. Have you ever had a bad,

embarrassing, or funny experience in a

foreign country because you didn't know

the customs? Tell your classmates about

it.

B. When people move to a new country,

they often go through three stages.

These are the stages:

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

109

Are you in a new country? If so, where are

you-at stage 1, stage 2, stage 3, or

somewhere in between? Put an X to show

where you are. Then show a classmate

where you put your X. Tell your classmate

why you put your X where you did.

5. WRITING

Imagine that The Friendship Force is

sending a group of people to your native

country. What might surprise the visitors?

Prepare the visitors so that they don't

experience culture shock. Here is what

one student wrote.

Now write about your native country.

Prepare visitors so that they don't

experience culture shock.

UNIT 4

1. PRE-READING

LOOK AT THE PICTURE AND THINK

ABOUT THESE QUESTIONS. DISCUSS

YOUR ANSWERS WITH YOUR

CLASSMATES.

Do you come from a large family?

Do your classmates come from

large families? How many brothers

and sisters do they have? Which

classmate comes from the largest

family?

Your family or your classmate's

family may be large, but it is not

as large as the family of the man

and woman in the picture. They

have the world's largest family.

They are the parents of 53

children.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

110

THE WORLD'S LARGEST FAMILY

MR. and Mrs. Albina don't know where all

their grown children are living now. Some

of them, they know, are in Argentina, but

they aren't sure where in Argentina. They

aren't sure how old all their children are,

either. Ask them, for example,"How old is

your daughter Susanna? "and they say,

"We're not sure. " They might even say,

"Which Susanna?" But it is understandable

that the Albinas can't keep track of their

children's addresses and ages. After all,

they have 53 children.

Mr. and Mrs. Albina, with 53 children,

have the world's largest family. Not one

of their children is adopted.

When people hear about the Albinas' large

family, the first question they ask is, "How

is it possible? How can one woman give

birth to 53 children in her lifetime?" The

answer is simple: Every time Mrs. Albina

gave birth, she had twins or triplets. She

was a triplet herself; she thinks that's why

she always had twins or triplets. The

Albinas married when Mrs. Albina was 12

years old and Mr. Albina was 30. The

children came quickly, in twos and threes.

The first 21 children were boys. Mrs.

Albina loved her sons, but she wanted a

daughter very much.

The Albinas spent the early years of their

marriage in Argentina. Then they decided

to move to Chile. To travel from

Argentina to Chile, they had to cross the

Andes Mountains. Mr. and Mrs. Albina

and their 21 sons made the difficult, two-

week journey on mules. One night there

was a terrible snowstorm in the

mountains. During the snowstorm, Mrs.

Albina gave birth to triplets,a boy and-two

girls! Mrs. Albina now has 16 more girls,

including twins who are 15 months old.

The oldest Albina children are in their

thirties and forties. They are on their own

now, but 18 of the Albina children still live

with their parents. The family lives in a

two-room shack in Colina, Chile. The

shack has electricity but no toilet or

running water. The children wash in a

small bowl in the dusty backyard.

At times there is very little food in the

Albinas' small house. When there is not

enough food for everyone, Mrs. Albina

makes sure the youngest children do not

go hungry. "The smallest eat first, and

then the bigger ones. We've always done

it that way," she says. Obviously, the

Albinas do not have enough money for

their big family. Why, then, do they

continue to have children?

The Albinas do not use birth control

because it is against their religion. They

could let other people take care of their

children, but Mrs. Albina will not allow it.

"When my two brothers and I were

babies," she says,"our mother left us at an

orphanage and never returned. We lived

there together until we were five. Then a

couple adopted my brothers, and I was

left behind. I was heartbroken. I

promised myself that when I became a

mother, I would never give my children

away. Even if I didn't have much money,

I would always take care of my children

myself. " Mrs. Albina has kept her

promise.

So, the Albina family continues to grow.

Mr. and Mrs. Albina have so many

children that they ran out of names for

them all and had to give some children

the same name. There are three

Susannas, three Miriams, two Estrellas,

and two Soledades. Will there be a fourth

Susanna or a third Estrella? Will the

Albinas stop at 53 children, or will there

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

111

be more? Mr. Albina is 77 years old, and

Mrs. Albina is 59. "I'm getting old," she

says with a smile. "I would like God to

think of me and consider my age. But, if

God sends more children to me, yes, there

will be more.

2. VOCABULARY


Think about the story and answer the

questions.

1. Are grown children babies or adults?

2. When a woman gives birth to triples,

how many children are born at the same

time?

3. Is a journey a long trip or short trip?

4. Who are the parents of a mule-a horse

and a donkey, or a dog and a wolf?

5. Is a shack small and roughly built or

large and well built?

6. Is somenting that is obvious easy to

see or difficult to see?

7. Birth control is against the

albinas´religion. Does their religion

permit birth control,does it not permit

birth control?

8. Is an orphanage a home for children

who are sick or for children who have no

parent?

9. Did the couple who adopter Mrs.

Albina´s brother take the boys into their

family or leave them at the orghanage?

10. Mrs. Albina wants god to consider

her. does she want god to forget her age

or think about her age?

2. LOOKING AT SPECIAL

EXPRESSIONS


sentence. Write the letter of your answer

on the line to keep track of - to

remember; to keep a record of

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

112

B. SCANNING FOR INFORMATION

The underlined information is not correct.

Find the correct information in the story

ane write it. Work quickly; try to

complete this exercise in three minutes or

less.

1. The Albinas married when Mrs. Albina

was 12 years old and Mr. Albina was

30

29.

2. The first 24 children were boys.

3. The Albinas spent the early years of

their marriage in Peru.

4. Then they decided to move to Bolivia.

5. The Albinas and their sons made the

three-week journey across the Andes

Mountains on

mules.

6. During a snowstorm Mrs. Albina gave

birth to twins.

7. Mrs. Albina now has 14 more girls.

8. The Albinas live in a two-room shack in

Santiago, Chile.

9. Mrs. Albinas and her brothers lived

together at the orphanage until they were

four.

10. There are two Miriams.

4. DISCUSSION

A. First answer the questions

yourself. Then ask a classmate

the questions. Talk over the

answers with your classmate.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

113

you Your

classmate

1. How many brothers and sister

does your mother have?

2. How many brothers and sisters

does your father have?

3. How many brothers and sisters

do you have?

4. If your are not married: Do you

want to have children someday? How

many?

5. How many children are in the ideal family?

(Is one child best? two children? Five children

someday? how many?

6. How many children do most families in your country

have today?

7. Are families in your country getting bigger or

smaller?

8. Does your country have too many people?

9. Does the government try control population in your

country?

Now work as a class and answer the

following questions.

1. Which classmate has the most aunts

and uncles?

2. Which classmate has, or wants to

have, the most children?

3. Do your classmates agree on the

number of children in the ideal family?

4. In which countries are families getting

bigger? Getting smaller? Staying the same

size?

5. Which countries have too many

people?

B. Talk about your family with a partner.

First, take a piece of paper. On the paper,

draw a square for each person in your

family. Do not draw inside the squares.

Now imagine that your paper is a page

from a photo album and that each square

is a photo of someone in your family.

Show your "album" to your partner. Tell

your partner about each person in your

family. Then listen while your partner

describes the people in his or her family.

5. WRITING

Write about your family or your partner's

family. Here is what one student wrote.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

114

Now write abuot your family or your

classmate´s family.

UNIT 5

1. PRE-READING

Look at the picture and think about

these questions. Discuss your

answers with your classmates.

•The fish have needles in their backs.

Have you ever seen needles like these?

What are they used for?

•Why do you think the fish have needles

in their backs?

HEALTHY AGAIN

MR. Cho was worried. Something was

wrong with his goldfish. They had red

patches on their skin, they weren't eating,

and they didn't have much energy. Mr.

Cho thought the fish probably had an

infection. To cure the infection, he stuck

needles into the backs of the fishes. That

may seem unusual to some people, but it

didn't seem unusual to Mr. Cho. Mr. Cho is

an acupuncturist-a person who uses

needles to treat illness and pain.

Mr. Cho left the needles in the fish for

several minutes and then took them out.

During the next few days he repeated the

treatments. Soon the fish began to feel

better. They swam with more energy and

started to eat again, and the red patches

on their skin disappeared. Did the fish get

better because of the acupuncture

treatments? Mr. Cho thinks so.

Although acupuncture for goldfish is

uncommon, acupuncture for people is very

common in Asia. Acupuncturists there

help people who have medical problems

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

115

like infections, ackaches, and

stomachaches. They even use cupuncture

during operations so that patients don't

feel pain.

To see what happens during an

acupuncture treatment, let's imagine that

Ming, a man who often has headaches,

decides to go to Dr. Han, an

acupuncturist. This is what might happen

at Dr. Han's office.

First Dr. Han examines Ming and asks

him about his headaches. There are many

kinds of headaches, and Dr. Han needs to

know what kind of headaches Ming has.

Then Dr. Han decides where to insert the

needles. Ming is surprised when Dr. Han

tells him that she will insert needles in his

neck and foot, but none in his head. That

is not unusual. Often acupuncture needles

are not inserted in the place where the

patient feels pain.

Next, Dr. Han chooses the needles, which

range in size from one-half inch long to six

inches. Dr. Han chooses one-inch

needles for Ming and begins to insert

them. Ming feels a little pinch when each

needle goes in. That is not unusual, either.

Some patients say it hurts a little when

the needles go in; other patients say it

doesn't hurt at all. The needles stay in

place for 15 minutes. Then Dr. Han

removes them. Before he goes home,

Ming makes an appointment to see Dr.

Han in a week. Dr. Han says that Ming

will know in a few weeks if the treatments

are working.

Acupuncture has helped millions of people,

not only in Asia, but all over the world.

People say that acupuncture works. But

how does it work?

One explanation of how acupuncture

works is thousands of years old. The

ancient Chinese, who were the first to use

acupuncture, believed that energy flowed

through the human body. They thought

that sometimes too much energy-or too

little energy-flowed to one part of the

body. That caused pain or sickness. There

were, however, several hundred places on

the body where an acupuncturist could

change the flow of energy. Those places

were called acupuncture points. A needle

inserted into an acupuncture point on a

patient's leg, for example, changed the

flow of energy to the patient's stomach.

When the energy flowed correctly again,

the patient would feel better.

There is also a modern explanation of how

acupuncture works. Scientists point out

that the acupuncture points have many

more nerve endings than other places on

the skin. Nerve endings receive pain

messages when someone is sick or hurt.

The pain messages then travel through

the nerves. Perhaps acupuncture also

sends messages through the nerves.

These messages interrupt pain messages

that are on their way to the brain.

Because the pain messages never reach

the brain, the patient feels better.

People who have been helped by

acupuncture probably don't care which

explanation is correct. They are just happy

to be like Mr. Cho's fish-healthy again.

2. VOCABULARY


Which words have the same meaning as

the words in the story? Circle the letter of

the correct answer.

1. The fish had red patches on their skin.

a. places that looked different from b.

places where acupuncturists insert

the area around them

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

116

needles

2. Mr. Cho wanted to cure the infection.

a. learn about the fish b. make the

sickness go away

3. He stuck needles into the backs of the

fishes.

a. threw b.

pushed

4. An acupuncturist is a person who uses

needles to treat illness and pain.

a. try to cure

b. cause

5. During the next few days he repeated

the treatments.

a. watched his b.

stuk needles into the backs

fish very carefull

again

6. Acupuncture for fish is uncommon.

a. difficult

b. unusual

7. Dr. Han decides where to insert the

needles.

a. put in

b. buy

8. The needles range in size from one-

half inch long to six inches.

a. The smallest b.

The needles come in two

needles are one-half sizes,

one-half

inch, the largest are six inches, and

inch and six inches.

there are other sizes in between.

9. The ancient Chinese believed that

energy flowed through the human body.

a. escaped b.

ran like a river

10. These messages interrupt pain

messages that are on their way to the

brain.

a. stop

b. help

B. LOOKING AT SPECIAL

EXPRESSIONS



on the lint to point out = to draw attention

to; to say "Look at this" or "Think about

this”

1. __Scentists point

out that

acupuncture points

a. arrived in

Chicago in the

middle of the

night.

2. __He pointed out

that the

bus we wanted to

take

b. were missing

from the

answer key.

3. __the student

pointed out

that the answer for

Unit 9

c. have many

more nerve

endings than

other places

on the skin


SKILLS

A. UNDERSTANDING THE MAIN IDEAS

What information is not in the story?

Draw a line through the information.

1. What was wrong with Mr. Cho's

goldfish?

a. They had red patches on their skin.

b. They weren't eating.

c. They had fevers

d. They didn't have much energy.

2. After the acupuncture treatments, Mr.

Cho's fish

a. swam with more energy.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

117

b. started to eat again.

c. were sold for a lot of money.

d. didn't have red patches on their skin

anymore.

3. Acupuncturists in Asia use acupuncture

a. to help people with backaches.

b. to help people stop smoking.

c. to help people with stomachaches.

d. during operations so that patients don't

feel pain.

4. What happened before Dr. Han

inserted the needles?

a. She told Ming how much the treatment

would cost.

b. She examined Ming and asked him

about his headaches.

c. She decided where to insert the

needles.

d. She chose one-inch needles.

5. What happened during Ming's

acupuncture treatment?

a. Dr. Han inserted the needles.

b. Ming felt a little pinch when each

needle went in.

c. Ming walked around the office.

d. The needles stayed in place for 15

minutes.

6. What are some explanations of how

acupuncture works?

a. It corrects the energy flow in the body.

b. It interrupts pain messages on their

way to the brain.

c. It changes the flow of blood through

the body.

4. DISCUSSION

A. Think about these questions. Discuss

your answers with your classmates.

1. Do you think Mr. Cho's fish got better

because of the acupuncture treatments?

2. Have you ever had a sick pet? What

did you do? Some people take their sick

pets to animal doctors. The pets net

medicine and sometimes operations.

What do you think about that?

3. Have you ever had an acupuncture

treatment? If you have, tell your

classmates about it. If you've never had

an acupuncture treatment, would you try

it?

B. Acupunture is one type of medicine.

There are many other types of medicine,

too. Look at the seven types of medicine

below. Each type of medicine has a

treatment for headache. Read about the

treatments. If you had headaches often,

which types of medicine would you try?

For each type of medicine, check(√)"yes"

or "no. " Then ask a classmate, "Would

you try it?" Ask about each type of

medicine and check "yes" or "no. " If our

classmate answers "no," ask, "Whv not?"

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

118

NOW WORK AS A CLASS AND

DISCUSS THESE QUESTIONS.

•Has anyone in the class tried these types

of medicine?

• What was the medical problem?

•Did the treatment work?

5. WRITING

A. Imagine that you receive a letter from

a friend. Your friend writes you that he

has a medical problem and is going to try

acupuncture. Your friend is afraid because

he has never had an acupuncture

treatment and doesn't know what will

happen. Write a letter to your friend. Tell

your friend what happens during an

acupuncture treatment.

B. Have you ever needed medical

treatment? What was the problem? Which

type of medicine did you choose? What

happened during the treatments? Did you

get better? Write about your experience.

Here is what one student wrote

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119

UNIT 6

1. PRE-READING




What do you see in the picture? What do

you think happened?

The picture was taken at Pompeit Where is

Pompeii? Do you Know what happened

there? Tell your classmates what you

know.

THE BURIED CITY

EVERY year thousands of tourists visit

Pompeii, Italy. They see the sights that

Pompeii is famous for-its stadiums and

theaters, its shops and restaurants. The

tourists do not, however, see Pompeii's

people. They do not see them because

Pompeii has no people. No one has lived

in Pompeii for almost 2,000 years.

Once Pompeii was a busy city of 22,000

people. It lay at the foot of Mount

Vesuvius, a grass-covered volcano. Mount

Vesuvius had not erupted for centuries, so

the people of Pompeii felt safe. But they

were not safe.

In August of the year 79 Mount Vesuvius

erupted. The entire top of the mountain

exploded, and a huge black cloud rose into

the air. Soon stones and hot ash began to

fall on Pompeii. Then came a cloud of

poisonous gas. When the eruption ended

two days later, Pompeii was buried under

20 feet of stones and ash. Almost all of

its people were dead.

Among the dead was a rich man named

Diomedes. When the volcano erupted,

Diomedes decided not to leave his home.

The streets were filled with people who

were running and screaming. Diomedes

was probably afraid that he and his family

would be crushed by the crowd. So,

Diomedes, his family, and their servants-

16 people all together-took some food and

went down to the basement. For hours

they waited in the dark, hoping the

eruption would end. Then they began to

cough. Poisonous gas from the mountain

was filling the city. Diomedes realized that

they had to leave. He took the key to the

door, and a servant picked up a lantern.

Together they walked upstairs. But the

poisonous gas was already filling the

house. When they were a few feet from

the door, Diomedes and his servant fell to

the floor and died. The 14 people

downstairs died embracing one another.

For centuries Diomedes and his family lay

buried under stones and ash. Then, in the

year 1861, an Italian archeologist named

Giuseppe Fiorelli began to uncover

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

120

Pompeii. Slowly, carefully, Fiorelli and his

men dug. The city they found looked

almost the same as it had looked in the

year 79. There were streets and

fountains, houses and shops. There was a

stadium with 20,000 seats. Perhaps most

important of all, there were many

everyday objects. These everyday objects

tell us a great deal about the people who

lived in Pompeii.

Many glasses and jars had a dark blue

stain in the bottom, so we know that the

people of Pompeii liked wine. They liked

bread, too; metal bread pans were in

every bakery. In one bakery oven there

were 81 round,flat loaves of bread-a type

of bread that is still sold in Italy today.

Tiny boxes filled with a dark, shiny powder

tell us that the women liked to wear eye

makeup, and the jewelry tells us that

pearls were popular in the year 79. Graffiti

is everywhere in Pompeii. On one wall

someone wrote "Romula loves Staphyclus.

" On another wall someone wrote

"Everyone writes on these walls-except

me. "

Fiorelli's discoveries tell us much about

the way the people lived. They also tell us

much about the way they died.

One day Fiorelli was helping his men dig.

When he tapped on the hard ash, he

heard a hollow sound. He suspected that

the space beneath was empty. As an

experiment, he drilled a few holes in the

ash and poured liquid plaster down the

holes. When the plaster was hard, Fiorelli

cleared away the ash. He found the

plaster form of a man. The man's body

had turned to dust long ago, but the ash

had hardened around the space where the

body had been.

During the next years Fiorelli filled dozens

of spaces with plaster. The plaster forms

show how the people of Pompeii looked in

their last moments of life. Some have

calm expressions on their faces; others

look very afraid. Some peoplee died

holding their children. Others died holding

gold coins or jewelry. Diomedes died with

a silver key in his right hand, and his

servant died holding a lantern.

Giuseppe Fiorelli, too, has died, but his

work continues. One-fourth of Pompeii

has not been uncovered yet.

Archeologists are still digging, still making

discoveries that draw the tourists to

Pompeii.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

121

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

122


each group is the "teacher. "The "teacher"

will write each word on a separate small

piece of paper, fold the papers, and give

one to each person in the group. The

"teacher" will take a word, too. Make up a

little story for your word like the ones

above. (Be careful not to say your word.

) Your classmates will listen to your story

and try to guess which word you have.

Then listen to your classmates' stories and

try to guess which words they have.


SKILLS

A. UNDERSTANDING CAUSE AND

EFFECT



on the line.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

123

B. UNDERSTANDING TIME

RELATIONSHIPS

"The Buried City"describes Pompeii at

three different times: around the year

79,in the 1860s, and today. Read the

sentences from the story. Decide what

time the sentence tells about. Put a check

(√) in the right column.

4. DISCUSSION



1. Have you ever seen a volcanic

eruption? Tell your classmates about it.

Are there any volcanos in your native

country? Where are they? Do they erupt

sometimes?

2. The people of Pompeii lived at the foot

of a volcano. That was a dangerous place

to live

What cities today are in dangerous places?

Why do people live there?

3. Do you know any other places that

archeologists have uncovered or are still

uncovering?

Tell your classmates about them.

B. When the volcano erupted at Pompeii,

people who left took their most important

possessions. Imagine that your home is

on fire. Everyone who lives with you is

safe,be your home will burn to the

ground. There is time for you to save

three of your possession which

possessions will you save?

I will save

Why are the possessions on your list

important? Are they expensive? Were they

gifts from special people? Are they things

you can't buy? Show your list to a

classmate. Explain why the things on

your list are important to you.

5. WRITING

A. Write a description of one

possession that is on the list you

made in Exercise 4B. Explain why

it is important to you. Here is

what one student wrote.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

124

NOW WRITE ABOUT A POSSESSION

THAT YOU WOULD SAVE.

B. Every year thousands of tourists visit

Pompeii. Have you ever been a tourist?

Have you ever visited a beautiful or

interesting place in your country or in

another country? Write about it. Here is


Now write your paragraph.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

125

I. PRE-READING

Below are pairs of English words that

sound alike. Your teacher will say one

word from each pair, Circle the word that

you hear.

After you finish this exercise, your teacher

will tell you the correct answers. Was the

exercise difficult for you? If it was, don't

worry-it's difficult for native speakers of

English, too. In this story you will learn

how the last two pairs of words caused big

problems for people whose native

language is English.

MISUNDERSTANDINGS

HE had uncombed hair, dirty clothes, and

only 35 cents in his pocket. In Baltimore,

Maryland, he got on a- bus and headed

straight for the restroom. He thought that

if he hid in the restroom, he could ride to

New York without paying. But a

passenger at the back of the bus saw him.

She tapped the person in front of her on

the shoulder and said, "There's a bum in

the restroom. Tell the bus driver. " That

passenger tapped the person sitting in

front of him. "Tell the bus driver there's a

bum in the restroom," he said.

The message was passed from person to

person until it reached the front of the

bus. But somewhere along the way, the

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

126

message changed. By the time it reached

the bus driver, it was not "There's a bum

in the restroom" but "There's a bomb in

the restroom. "The driver immediately

pulled over to the side of the highway and

radioed the police. When the police

arrived, they told the passengers to get

off the bus and stay far away. Then they

closed the highway. That soon caused a

15-mile-long traffic jam. With the help of

a dog, the police searched the bus for two

hours. Of course, they found no bomb.

Two similar-sounding English words also

caused trouble for a man who wanted to

fly from Los Angeles to Oakland,

California. His problems began at the

airport in Los Angeles. He thought he

heard his flight announced, so he walked

to the gate, showed his ticket, and got on

the plane. Twenty minutes after takeoff,

the man began to worry. Oakland was

north of Los Angeles, but the plane

seemed to be heading west, and when he

looked out his window all he could see was

ocean. "is this plane going to Oakland?"

he asked the flight attendant. The flight

attendant gasped. "No,"she said. We're

going to Auckland-Auckland, New

Zealand”.

Because so many English words sound

similar, misunderstandings among

English-speaking people are not

uncommon. Not all misunderstandings

result in highways being closed or

passengers flying to the wrong continent.

Most misunderstandings are much less

serious. Every day people speaking

English ask one another questions like

these: "Did you say seventy or

seventeen?" "Did you say that you can

come or that you can't?" Similar-sounding

words can be especially confusing for

people who speak English as a second

language.

When a Korean woman who lives in the

United States arrived at work one

morning, her boss asked her, "Did you get

a plate?" "No…," she answered, wondering

what in the world he meant. She worked

in an office. Why did the boss ask her

about a plate? All day she wondered about

her boss's strange question, but she was

too embarrassed to ask him about it. At

five o'clock, when she was getting ready

to go home, her boss said, "Please be on

time tomorrow. You were 15 minutes late

this morning. " "Sorry," she said. "My car

wouldn't start, and… "Suddenly she

stopped talking and began to smile. Now

she understood. Her boss hadn't asked

her, "Did you get a plate?" He had asked

her, "Did you get up late?" English is not

the only language with similar-sounding

words. Other languages, too, have words

that can cause misunderstandings,

especially for foreigners.

An English-speaking woman who was

traveling in Mexico saw a sign in front of a

restaurant. The sign said that the special

that day was "sopa con jamón y cebollas.

" She knew that was Spanish for "soup

with ham and onions. "That sounded

good. As the woman walked to her table,

she practiced ordering. She whispered to

herself, "Soya con jamón y cebollas. Sopa

con jamón y cebollas. " Then she sat

down, and a waiter came to take her

order. "Soya con jabón y caballos," she

said. "What?" the waiter asked. No

wonder the waiter didn't understand. The

woman had just ordered a very unusual

lunch: soup with soap and horses.

Auckland and Oakland. "A plate" and "up

late. "Jamon and jabbn. When similar-

sounding words cause a

misunderstanding, probably the best thing

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

127

to do is just laugh and learn from the

mistake. Of course, sometimes it's hard

to laugh. The man who traveled to

Auckland instead of Oakland didn't feel

like laughing. But even that

misunderstanding turned out all right in

the end. The airline pad for the man's

hotel room and meals in New Zealand and

for his flight back to California. "Oh well,"

the man later said,"I always wanted to see

New Zealand. "

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

128

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

129

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

130


Read the sentences from the story.

One word in each sentence is not

correct. Find the word and cross it

out. Write the correct word.

1. He had uncombed hair, dirty clothes,

and only 35 dollars in his pocket.

2. In Baltimore, Maryland, he got on a

train and headed straight for the

restroom.

3. He thought that if he hid in the

restroom, he could ride to Washington

without paying.

4. But a driver in the back of the bus saw

him.

5. She tapped the passenger in front of

her on the foot and said, "There's a bum

in the restroom. "

Now copy three sentences from the

story, but change one word in each

sentence so that the information is

not correct. Give your sentences to a

classmate. Your classmate will find

the incorrect word in each sentence,

cross it out, and write the correct

word. When your classmate is


THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

131

4. DISCUSSION



1. In your country, if someone tried to

ride a bus without paying, what do you

think other passengers would do? What

would you do?

2. Have you ever confused two similar-

sounding English words? Which two words

did you confuse? What happened?

3. In your native language, are there

similar-sounding words (like seventy and

seventeen) that people sometimes

confuse? What are the words?

B. The message "There's a bum in the

restroom" changed as people passed

it to the front of the bus. Will a

message that is passed around your

classroom change, too? To find out,

play the telephone game.

One of your classmates (Classmate #1)

will whisper a message to a classmate

sitting nearby (Classmate #2). The

message can be anything, for example,

"The weather in Thailand is warmer than

the weather here" or "When are we going

to have a coffee break? "Classmate #2 will

whisper the message to Classmate #3.

Classmate #3 will whisper the message to

Classmate #4, and so on. (When a

classmate whispers the message to you,

you may not ask him or her to repeat it.

You must pass the message you hear,

even if it makes no sense. ) The last

classmate to hear the message will say it

out loud. Is it the same message that

Classmate #1 whispered?

5. WRITING

A. "I always wanted to see New Zealand,"

the man who flew to Auckland said. Is

there a place that you've always wanted

to see? Why do you want to go there?

What sights do you want to see? Write

about a place you've always wanted to

visit.

B. The woman in the story ordered soup

with soap and horses. Have you ever had

a misunderstanding about food? Have you

ever had a problem eating at someone's

house, or buying food at a supermarket,

or ordering food at a restaurant? Write

about your experience. Here is what one

student wrote.

Now write about your experience.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

132

1. PRE-READING




What is a thrift store?

In your native country, do you

have thrift stores or other places

where you can buy things

cheaply? Describe them to your

classmates.

The men in the picture are looking

at something that one of the men

bought at a thrift store. What do

you think it is? Why do you think

the man on the right looks so

happy?

A REAL BARGAIN

A Few years ago Ed Jones was shopping at

a thrift store in Indianapolis, Indiana. He

walked past the used clothing and stopped

at the used books. He looked at the

books and then at some old dishes. Mr.

Jones was looking for something that

might be valuable. If he found something

valuable, he would buy it cheaply and

then resell it, perhaps to an antique

dealer. But today Mr. Jones didn't see

anything he wanted, so he started walking

toward the door. Then something caught

his eye. Leaning against a wall there was

a large cardboard map.

Mr. Jones walked over for a closer look.

The map was covered with dust, so Mr.

Jones wiped it with his handkerchief.

Under the dust was a color map of Paris.

It looked old. On the back of the map,

someone had written the price: $3. Mr.

Jones was quite certain that the map was

worth more than three dollars, so he

bought it. He thought he could probably

sell it for $40.

Later, at home, Mr. Jones looked more

closely at the map. He decided it might

be very old. maybe it was worth even

more than $40.

The next day Mr. Jones took the map to a

geography professor at a nearby

university. The professor was a map

expert. After looking at the map for a few

minutes, he became very excited. "I've

read about this map!" he exclaimed. Then

he told Mr. Jones what he knew.

In 1671, the king of France, Louis XIV,

asked a cartographer to make a map of

Paris. The cartographer worked on the

map for four years. The map he drew was

beautiful-it was not just a map, but a work

of art as well. The cartographer made

several black and white copies of the map.

Then he carefully colored one of the

copies, using blue for rivers, green for

trees, and brown for buildings. The

professor said that one black and white

copy of the map was in the British

Museum in London, and another was in

the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. "I

think," the professor told Mr. Jones, "that

you've just found the color copy of the

map-in a thrift store in Indianapolis! "The

professor suggested that Mr. Jones take

the map to New York City. Experts there

could tell Mr. Jones if the professor was

right.

The New York experts said the professor

was right. They told Mr. Jones that he

had the only color copy of the map and

that it was extremely valuable. How much

do you think it's worth? "Mr. Jones asked

the experts. "Millions," they replied. "It's

impossible to say exactly how much the

map is worth. It's worth whatever

someone is willing to pay for it. "

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133

Soon Mr. Jones discovered how much

people were willing to pay for the map.

Someone offered him 10 million

dollars;then someone else immediately

offered him 12 million. The most recent

offer was 19. 5 million dollars. Mr. Jones

hasn't decided whether he will sell his

three-dollar map at that price or wait for a

higher offer. He is thinking it over.

But how in the world did this map find its

way to a thrift store in Indianapolis? Here

is what some experts think: The map was

probably in a museum or in the home of a

wealthy family in France. Then a thief

stole it, perhaps during the confusion of

World War I or World War II. The thief

sold the map to an antique dealer in

France. The French antique dealer, not

knowing how valuable the map was, sold

it to an antique dealer in Indianapolis.

That antique dealer, who also did not

know its value, gave it to a neighbor. For

ten years the map hung on a wall in the

neighbor's house. Then the neighbor got

tired of it and sold it to the thrift store.

The map sat in the thrift store for months.

Finally Mr. Jones discovered it.

When Mr. Jones went shopping at the

thrift store, he was looking for a bargain.

He wanted to find' something that was

worth more than the price he paid. He

paid three dollars for the map, and it is

worth at least 19. 5 million dollars. Now

that's a bargain!

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

134


EXPRESSIONS


sentence on p. 47. Write the letter of

your answer o the line.

5. WRITING

A. What would you do if, like Mr. Jones,

you suddenly had 19. 5 million dollars?

How would you use the money? Make a

list of what you would do.

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135

B. Imagine that you went to a thrift store

and bought something cheaply. The

object could be jewelry, a book, a

painting, a photograph, a toy, a vase-or

anything else that you want it to be.

Imagine that later you discovered that the

object you bought is very valuable-that

it's worth much, much more than you paid

for it.

Make up a story. In the story,

describe what you bought, tell what

it's really worth, and explain why it's

valuable. Here is what one student

wrote.

Now write about the object that you

bought

1. PRE-READING

Are you superstitious? Read the

sentences. Then check "yes" or "no. "

It you checked "yes" after any of these

statements, you are probably a little

superstitious.

Who in your class is superstitious?

Who in your class is not superstitious?

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

136

BLACK CATS AND BROKEN MIRROS

Do you think that it is bad luck to walk

under a ladder or break a mirror? Do you

think that black cats and the number 13

are unlucky? The three men in the picture

don't. Every Friday the 13th they walk

under ladders, break mirrors, and open

umbrellas indoors. They want to prove

that they aren't at all superstitious. They

may be the only people in the world who

aren't. There are over one million

superstitions, and most people believe at

least one or two of them.

Many people are superstitious about

numbers. They think that there are lucky

numbers and unlucky numbers. The

number 13 is often considered unlucky.

In some parts of the world, buildings have

no 13th floor and streets have no houses

with the number 13. In Japan, 4 is

considered unlucky because in Japanese

the word "four" is pronounced the same as

the word "death. " Japanese never give

gifts of four knives, four napkins, or four

of anything. What are the lucky numbers?

Seven is a lucky number in many places,

and 8 is considered lucky in Japan and

China. In China, businesses often open on

August 8 (8-8), and many couples register

to get married at eight past eight on

August 8.

Superstitions about numbers are so

widespread that some people-called

numerologists-make a living giving advice

about numbers. In 1937, when the

Toyoda family of Japan wanted to form a

car company, they asked a numerologist if

"Toyoda" would be a good name for the

company. The numerologist said it would

not be. He explained that "Toyoda" took

ten strokes of the pen to write, and 10

was not a lucky number. "Toyota,"

however, took eight strokes to write, and

eight was a very lucky number. The

numerologist recommended "Toyota" as a

better name for the company. The family

took his advice. As a result, millions of

people drive "Toyotas" and not "Toyodas.

"

In addition to superstitions about

numbers, there are many other kinds of

superstitions. There are superstitions

about eating, sleeping, sneezing, and

itching. There are superstitions about

animals and holidays and horseshoes.

There are even superstitions about

superstitions. Those superstitions tell

people how to reverse bad luck.

For example, in many parts of the world

spilling salt is bad luck. Throwing salt,

however, is good luck. So, people who

spill salt throw a little of the spilled salt

over their left shoulder. Throwing the

spilled salt reverses the bad luck. When

the Japanese bump heads, they

immediately bump heads again.

According to a Japanese superstition, the

first bump means their parents will die,

but the second bump "erases" the first

bump. To reverse bad luck in general,

people turn around three times, turn their

pockets inside out, or put their hats on

backwards. In the United States, baseball

players sometimes wear their caps

backwards when their team is losing. It

looks silly, but the baseball players don't

mind if it helps them win the game.

Because there are so many superstitions,

it is not surprising that some of them are

contradictory. In Germany, it is good luck

when the left eye twitches and bad luck

when the right eye twitches. In Malaysia,

it is exactly the opposite: a twitching right

eye means good luck, and a twitching left

eye means bad luck. Accidentally putting

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

137

on clothes inside out brings good luck in

Pakistan but bad luck in Costa Rica. In

Chile, unmarried people won't take the

last piece of food on the plate because it

means they will never marry. In Thailand,

unmarried people take the last piece

because it means they will marry someone

good-looking.

Some superstitions have been with us for

so long that they have become customs.

In many parts of the world it is polite to

say "Health" or "God bless you" when

someone sneezes. People used to think

that the soul could escape from the body

during a sneeze. They said "God bless

you" to protect people from losing their

souls. Today we no longer believe that

people who sneeze are in danger of losing

their souls, but we say "God bless you"

anyway. We say it not because we are

superstitious, but because we are polite.

Even people who say they aren't

superstitious would probably not . do what

the men in the picture dointentionally walk

under ladders and break mirrors. Almost

everyone is at least a little superstitious.

One woman says that when she got

married, her aunt gave her white bath

towels. "Never buy purple towels," her

aunt said. "If you use purple towels, your

marriage will end. " Does the woman

believe that superstition? "No. of course

not," she says. "It's silly. " Does she use

purple towels? "Well, . no," she answers.

"Why take chances?"

2. VOCABULARY


Which words or picture has the same

meaning as the words in the reading

selection? Circle the letter of the

correct answer.

1. Do you think that it is bad luck to walk

under a ladder?

2. The men walk under ladders and break

mirrors to prove that they aren't

superstitious

a. believe it is crazy

b. show it is true

3. Superstitions about numbers are

widespread.

a. found in many places

b. believed only by children

4. Some people make a living giving

people advice about numbers.

a. make money

b. make mistakes

5. "Toyota" took eight strokes of the pen

to write.

6. The family took his advice.

a. did what he suggested b. asked

for more information

7. There are superstitions that reverse

bad luck.

8. If you spill salt, immediately throw a

little of the spilled salt over your left

shoulder.

a. use too much salt

b. pour out salt accidentally

9. It looks silly, but the baseball players

don't mind if it helps them win the game.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

138

10. Some superstitions are contradictory.

In Germany, it is good luck when the left

eye twitches. In Malaysia, it is bad luck

when the left eye twitches.

a. are very old

b. mean the opposite

11. Putting; clothes on inside out brings

good luck in Pakistan

12. People used to think that the soul

could escape from the body during a

sneeze.

a. enter

b. leave


EXPRESSIONS


sentence. write the letter of your answer

on the line.

As a result=because of tha

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

139


SKILLS


IDEAS

What information is not in the story? Draw

a line through the three sentences with

information that is not in the story.

•The men in the picture want to prove

they are not superstitious.

•There are over one million superstitions.

•Children are usually not superstitious.

•Many people are superstitious about

numbers.

•Numerologists make a living giving

people advice about numbers.

•It is always a good idea to take a

numerologist's advice.

•Some superstitions tell people how to

reverse bad luck.

•Some superstitions are contradictory.

•Some superstitions have become

customs.

•People who use purple towels are silly.

•Almost everyone is at least a little

superstitious.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

140

5. WRITING

A. Make a list of superstitions that some

people in your country believe. Here is an

example from a student from Panama:

1. Always sleep with your feet facing the

door of your room.

2. If you give your sweetheart a

handkerchief or socks, you will argue.

3. If you want a visitor to leave, turn your

broom upside down'

4. If a young woman is sweeping the floor

and the broom accidentally touches her

feet, she will marry a rich old man.

5. To protect your self from evil spirits,

wear your pajamas inside out.

NOW MAKE YOUR LIST.

B. Write about something you have that

is lucky-a lucky number or a lucky hat, for

example. Why is it lucky? Can you

remember a time when it brought you

good luck? Here is what one student

wrote.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

141

NOW WRITE ABOUT SOMETHING YOU

HAVE THAT IS LUCKY.

C. Has there ever been a time when

you've had very good-or very bad-luck?

Write about it. Here is what one student

wrote.

Now write about a time when you had

good luck or bad luck.

1. PRE-READING

Which of these statements do you

think is true? Check one.

1. ___ Women work harder than men.

2. ___ Men work harder than women.

3. ___Both men and women work hard.

NOW, AS A CLASS, ANSWER THESE

QUESTIONS.

How many people in the class

checked #1? How many checked

#2? How many checked #3?

Why did you check the statement

you did? Were you thinking about

your own family?

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

142

Were you thinking; about men and

women everywhere, or only in

your native country?

Did people from the same country

check the same statement? Did

the men in the class check the

same statement? Did the women

in the class check the same

statement?

Mother's Camp

The women in the picture have everything

they need for a wonderful vacation. They

have beautiful scenery and warm, sunny

weather. They have hotel rooms that are

just a few minutes walk from a clear blue

lake. They have time for swimming,

boating, and hiking. What they don't have

are their husbands and children-and that,

they say, is what makes their vacation

really wonderful. The women left their

husbands and children at home and are

spending a weekend at a resort called

Mother's Camp. At Mother's Camp,

husbands and children are not allowed.

Why would a woman want to take a

vacation without her family? Some

mothers say they need time to be alone.

"At home the only place where I can be by

myself is the bathroom," one woman said.

At Mother's Camp a woman has a room to

herself. She can sleep, read, or watch TV,

and no one will bother her. No children

will ask, "Mom, what's for dinner?"No

husband will say, "Honey, I can't find any

clean socks. "

Other women go to Mother's Camp not to

be alone, but to be with women who are

in similar situations. "I work full-time and

have two kids," one woman says. "I take

care of my husband, too. I'm incredibly

busy. At Mother's Camp I meet other

women who are working and raising

families. We talk and talk. It helps me to

know that other women have the same

problems I do. "

Actually, many women have the same

problems she does. Almost 50 percent of

women in the United States work outside

the home. Many of them work full-time

and then come home to a second job-

taking care of their homes and families.

These working women say fone of their

biggest problems is housework.

In the United States, working wives do

about 75 percent of the housework. Many

of their husbands say they want to help.

But then they burn the rice or they can't

find the pans. They ask so many

questions that their wives decide it is

easier to do the job themselves. Also,

many husbands don't do daily jobs, like

making dinner or washing dishes. They

do jobs they can do when they have some

free time, like washing clothes or fixing

things that are broken. Many wives think

that their husbands need to do more of

the daily housework; many husbands

admit that they aren't doing enough.

Some women go to Mother's Camp just to

get a break from housework. For two

days they don't cook, they don't clean,

and they don't do laundry. What do they

do? They relax in the sun, go for boat

rides, and sing songs around the campfire.

In the evening, they get massages and sip

champagne. Mostly, they try to escape,

at least for one weekend, the

responsibilities of being a wife and

mother.

Recently a woman who was staying at

Mother's Camp decided to spend an entire

afternoon lying on the beach. She took a

towel, her sunglasses, and a book, and

she headed for the door of the hotel. Just

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

143

as she was walking out the door, she

heard the telephone ring. She turned

around, laughing, and said, "If that's my

husband or kids, tell them you haven't

seen me!" Of course, she was just kidding.

. . wasn't she?

2. VOCABULARY


Sue, a working mother, spent a weekend

at Mother's Camp. While she was there,

she wrote a letter to her friend Maria.

Some words are missing from Sue's letter.

Write the correct word(s) on the line.

scenery resort bothers raising

a family admits responsibilities

hiking allowed situation

a break sip entire

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

144







too. Hold your paper so that no one can






listen to your classmates stories and try



SKILLS


IDEAS

Circle the letter of the best answer.

1. Mother's Camp is a resort where

a. the weather is always beautiful.

b. men and children are not allowed.

c. there are no single rooms.

2. Women go to Mother's Camp to

a. be alone, talk to women who are in

similar situations, or just get a break from

housework.

b. learn better ways of doing daily jobs

like making dinner and washing dishes.

c. swim, hike, go boating, and just relax

with their families.

3. Women who work full-time and have

families say one of their biggest problems

is

a. their bosses.

b. housework.

c. getting to work on time.

4. In the United States, working wives

a. sleep only six hours a night.

b. do one hour of housework every day.

c. do about 75 percent of the housewort

5. Women at Mother's Camp don't

a. swim, hike, or relax in the sun.

b. get massages or sip champagne.

c. cook, clean, or do laundry.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

145

4. DISCUSSION

First complete the chart yourself. Read

each question and check "yes" or "no. "

Then ask a classmate the questions. After

your classmate answers "yes" or "no," ask

"Why?" or "Why not?"

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

146

NOW WORK AS A CLASS AND ANSWER

THE QUESTIONS.

1. Are there any mothers in the class?

Would they like to go to Mother's

Camp? Why or why not?

2. In which countries would a Mother's

Camp be popular? In which countries

would it not be popular?

3. Is Mother's Camp a good idea? What

did the women in the class answer?

What did the men answer?

4. Are there any fathers in the class?

Would they like to go to a Father's

Camp? Why or why not?

5. Do you know any husbands who help

with the housework? What jobs do they

do?

5. WRITING

A. Look at the chart in the discussion

exercise. Answer one of the questions in

writing. Explain why you answered the

way you did.

B. For some women, a weekend at

Mother's Camp is a "dream vacation. "

What would your "dream vacation" be?

Where would you go? How long would you

stay there? What would you do? Here is


THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

147

Now write about your “dream vacation. ”

1. PRE-READING

Look at the pictures and answer the

questions. Discuss your answers with

your classrr

The small island in the picture is

off the coast of eastern Canada.

There is a deep hole of the island.

Men began digging in the hole in

1795-and men are still digging

today. whe do you think they are

trying to find?

Digging in the hole is difficult. It

is also dangerous: six men have

died in the hole. Look at the

drawing of the hole. Can you see

why digging in the hole is difficult? Can

you see why it is dangerous?

THE TREASURE HUNT

0n a summer afternoon in 1795 a teenage

boy named Daniel McGinnis was exploring

a tiny island off the eastern coast of

Canada. He was walking through a

meadow of tall grass when he noticed

something strange. In the center of the

meadow stood a huge oak tree with part

of one branch cut off. The ground beneath

that branch was lower than the

surrounding ground. Daniel knew that

pirates had once sailed in the waters

around the island. Was this, he wondered,

where they had buried their treasure?

The next day Daniel returned to the island

with shovels and two friends. The boys

began digging. Two feet down they

discovered a layer of stones. Under the

stones was a hole about 13 feet wide. It

was filled with loose dirt. The boys kept

digging for several days. Ten feet below

the ground their shovels hit an oak floor.

They broke through the floor and kept

digging. Twenty feet below the ground

they found another oak floor. They broke

through it, too, and kept digging. But

when they discovered another oak floor 30

feet below the ground, they decided that

they couldn't dig any deeper. They gave

up the search and left the island.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

148

Eight years later Daniel McGinnis, now a

young man, returned with a group of men

to continue digging beneath the oak tree.

Day after day the men dug in the hole.

One evening, 98 feet below the ground,

their shovels hit a large wooden box. The

box had to be a treasure chest! Certain

that the treasure was almost theirs, the

men went home to rest until daylight.

When they returned in the morning, there

was an unpleasant surprise: the hole had

nearly filled with water. The men couldn't

remove the water. Once again, Daniel

McGinnis had to give up the search.

Over the years, other search groups came

to the island. They all had the same

problem: the hole filled with water. Not

until 1850 did someone discover why.

In 1850 a man from a search group was

eating his lunch on a beach not far from

the hole. The man noticed water bubbling

up through the sand. He went and got

other men from the search group. When

they saw the water coming up through the

sand, they, too, thought it was odd. The

men decided to dig on the beach. What

they found amazed them. Under the sand

there were entrances to five tunnels. All

five tunnels led to the hole.

Later search groups discovered more

tunnels leading from another beach to the

hole. Engineers examined the tunnels.

They estimated that 20 people worked two

years to build them. The tunnels were

cleverly planned. If anyone digging in the

hole dug deeper than 95 feet, ocean water

came through the tunnels andfilled the

hole.

Although the water problem made digging

almost impossible, more and more men

came to dig on the island. The tunnels

convinced them that the hole held a great

treasure. None of the men found the

treasure, however, and six men died

trying.

In 1967, a group of investors put their

money into a search for the treasure.

They brought huge drills, pumps, and

other machines to the island. After drilling

212 feet into the hole, workers sent down

a video camera. The camera took pictures

of three wooden chests and a human

hand. But then the walls of the hole

collapsed, nearly killing a worker who was

in it. The investors decided that the

search was too dangerous and gave it up.

Then, in 1989, they decided to try again.

They raised 10 million dollars for another

search. They said that this time they

would not stop digging until they found

the treasure.

But is there a pirates' treasure at the

bottom of the hole? A lot of people think

so. A brown, stringy material covered the

oak floors that search groups found every-

ten feet in the hole. That brown material

came from coconut trees. Coconut trees

do not grow in Canada; the nearest

coconut trees are over 800 miles away.

Pirate ships could have brought the

coconuts to Canada. Also, a heart-shaped

stone was found in the hole. It is very

similar to one that was found with

pirates'treasure in the Caribbean.

If there is a pirates' treasure, it won't be

easy to find. There is still the problem of

water filling the hole. And there is

another problem. During the past 200

years, dozens of search groups have dug

in the hole, and each search group made

the hole bigger. The hole that was once

13 feet wide is now enormous. The oak

tree is gone. . Where is the hole that

Daniel McGinnis found? Today nobody

knows for sure, so it is impossible to know

exactly where to dig.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

149

The investors who paid 10 million dollars

think they will find the treasure in spite of

the problems. And they think that when

they find it, they will get every penny of

their money back, and much more. One

investor says, "This could be one of the

greatest treasures ever'found. "It could

be. Or it could be a 10-million-dollar

hole.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

150


SKILLS

A. UNDERSTANDING TIME

RELATIONSHIPS

What information is not correct? Draw a

line through it.

1. Before 1795

a. a deep hole was dug on an island.

b. tunnels were built from beaches to the

hole.

c. the walls of the hole collapsed.

d. pirates sailed in the waters off the

eastern coast of Canada.

2. In 1795

a. Daniel McGinnis discovered an oak tree

with part of one branch cut off.

b. Daniel McGinnis and two friends dug

under the oak tree.

c. investors raised lots of money to

search for the treasure.

d. oak floors were found, ten, twenty,

and thirty feet below the ground.

3. Eight years after Daniel McGinnis

discovered the hole,

a. he returned with a group of men to

continue digging.

b. men digging 98 feet down hit a

wooden object with their shovels.

c. the hole filled with water.

d. six men died trying to find the

treasure.

4. I n 1850

a. a man from a search group ate his

lunch on a beach not far from the hole.

b. investors brought huge drills, pumps,

and other machines to the island.

c. a search group saw water coming up

through the sand.

d. men found tunnels that led from a

beach to the hole.

5. In 1967

a. a group of investors decided to put

their money into a search for the treasure.

b. workers drilled 212 feet and then sent

down a video camera.

c. workers discovered a layer of stones in

the hole.

d. the walls of the hole collapsed, nearly

killing a worker who was in it.




and write it. Work quickly; try to


less.

1. In 1795 a teenage boy named Daniel

McDonald was exploring a tiny island off

the eastern coast of Canada.

2. In the center of the meadow stood a

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

151

huge maple tree with part of one branch

cut of

3. Two days later Daniel returned to the

island with shovels and two friends.

4. Three feet down they discovered a

layer of stones.

5. Under the stones was a hole about 12

feet wide.

6. Ten years later Daniel McGinnis, now a

young man, returned with a group of men

continue digging beneath the oak tree.

7. One afternoon, 98 feet below the

ground, their shovels hit a large wooden

box.

8. In 1860 a man from a search group

was eating his lunch on a beach not far

from the hol,

9. Under the sand the man found

entrances to four tunnels.

10. Engineers estimate that 40 people

worked two years to build them.

4. DISCUSSION


THESE QUESTIONS.

1. How many students think that pirates

dug the hole? (If the pirates didn't dig the

hole, then who did?)

2. How many students think there is a

great treasure in the hole? What do they

think the treasure is? How much do they

think it's worth? (One investor says,

"Billions of dollars”, Is that possible?)

3. How many students would invest

$10,000 in a search for the treasure?

4. How many students would like to go to

the island and dig for the treasure? Why

do those students want to go there? Why

do some students not Want to go there?

B. Talk about other treasures. Think

about these questions and discuss


1. Has a great treasure ever been

discovered in your native country? What

was the treasure? Who buried it? Who

discovered it? What happened to it?

2. Do you know about any other searches

for treasure? What were the searchers

looking for? What did they find?

5. WRITING

One of the investors says, "This could be

one of the greatest treasures ever found. "

What is your greatest treasure? Write

about it. Here is what one student wrote.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

152

Now write about your greatest treasure.

1. PRE-READING

LOOK AT THE PICTURE AND GUESS

THE ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS.

In what country was the picture

taken?

In what year was the picture

taken?

Listen while your classmates tell their

guesses. Then look in the answer key for

the correct answers. Did the answers

surprise you? Do you know anything about

the Amish? If you do, tell the class what

you know.

THE PLAIN PEOPLE

It is still dark when Elizabeth wakes up.

She gets out of bed and shivers when her

feet touch the cold, bare floor. The

bedroom is not heated, and it is so cold

that she can see her breath. She quickly

puts on her long dress, black apron, and

black shoes. Then she hurries downstairs

to the kitchen.

The only light in the kitchen comes from

kerosene lamps; Elizabeth's husband lit

the lamps earlier, before he went out to

milk the cows. Elizabeth puts a few pieces

of wood into the stove and starts the fire.

Then she begins to prepare a big

breakfast for herself, her husband, and

their six children. It is the beginning of a

typical day for Elizabeth.

Although Elizabeth's day will be typical,

her life is certainly not typical of life in the

United States in the 1990. Elizabeth

belongs to a religious group known as the

Amish. The Amish are often called the

"Plain People" because they live and dress

very simply. Their homes have no carpets

on the floors, no pictures on the walls, and

no soft, comfortable furniture. The men

wear dark pants with white or blue shirts,

and the women wear long dresses in dark

colors. The women never wear makeup or

jewlery.

The Amish have a saying:"The old way is

the best way. " Although the Amish accept

some new ideasthey use new medicines,

for example-their way of life has not

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

153

changed much in 300 years. They do not

use electricity, so Amish homes have no

electric lights, no TVs, and no kitchen

appliances like refrigerators. The Amish

don't own telephones, either. They ride in

buggies pulled by horses, and they speak

German, the language that the first Amish

people spoke.

The first Amish people lived in Germany

and Switzerland. They were called Amish

because their leader was Jacob Amman.

The Amish were persecuted in Europe, so

around 1700 they came to the New World.

They settled in what is now the state of

Pennsylvania.

Most of the Amish still live in

Pennsylvania, although there are large

communities in other states, too. All

Amish, no matter where they live, have

similar beliefs.

The Amish believe that life in the

countryside is best. Almost all Amish live

on farms. Amish farmers do not use

modern machinery, yet their farms are

successful because the Amish work hard

and take good care of their land and

animals. Their farms are always small.

The Amish think it is wrong to have more

land or more money than they need to

live. A few years ago some Amish farmers

discovered oil on their land. Was there a

lot of oil under the ground, or just a little?

The Amish farmers didn't want to know.

They immediately sold their land and

moved away, without telling anyone about

the oil. They didn't want to be rich.

The Amish, who are Christians, believe

they should follow the peaceful example of

Jesus. Amish men will not fight in wars or

serve in the army. They will not even

wear coats with buttons, because military

uniforms often have large gold or silver

buttons.

The Amish will not buy insurance of any

kind. When there is trouble, they help

one another. If an Amish farmer gets sick,

relatives and neighbors will milk his cows,

plant his fields, and harvest his crops. If a

barn burns down, as many as 200 men

will come and build a new barn in one day.

The Amish are not allowed to marry

people who are not Amish. That has

caused a peculiar problem. The 500 or so

Amish who came to the New World in the

1700s had about 40 last names. The

100,000 Amish who live in the United

States today are the descendants of those

people-and have the same 40 last names.

In one school in Pennsylvania, 95 percent

of the students-and their teacher-have the

last name "Stolzfus. " The Amish custom

of choosing first names from the Bible

adds to the problem. In one small Amish

community there are 11 men named

Daniel Miller! To avoid confusion, the

Amish give nicknames to people who have

the same name. Some nicknames have an

obvious explanation:"Chicken Dan" sells

chickens, for example;"Curly Dan" has

curly hair. But what about "Gravy Dan"?

How did he get his nickname? At dinner

one evening this Dan wanted to pour

some cream into his coffee. He reached

for the pitcher of cream but took the

pitcher of gravy by mistake and poured

gravy into his coffee. Ever since that

evening, his nickname has been "Gravy

Dan. "

People are curious about the lives of

Amish like Elizabeth and Gravy Dan.

Every year thousands of tourists visit the

part of Pennsylvania where most Amish

live. They take pictures of the black

buggies and the plain white houses. They

watch Amish children as they walk to

school and Amish men as they work in

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

154

their fields. Most Amish are not happy

about the tourists, but they tolerate them.

Perhaps the Amish understand that the

tourists want to experience, at least for a

few days, the quieter, simpler Amish way

of life.

2. VOCABULARY


Which words have the same meaning

as the words in the story? Circle the

letter of the correct answer.

1. Elizabeth shivers when her feet touch

the cold, bare floor.

a. floor that is not covered with a carpet

b. floor that is painted white

2. They do not use electricity, so Amish

people have no kitchen appliances like

refrigerate.

3. The Amish were persecuted in Europe,

so they came to the New World.

4. They settled in what is now the state of

Pennsylvania.

a. found a new leader b. came to

live

5. There are large Amish communities in

other states, too.

a. groups of people who left their b.

groups of people who live together

countries because of politics

6. All Amish have similar beliefs.

a. objects that are important b. ideas

that they think are true to them

7. Amish men will not fight in wars. They

will not even wear coats with buttons

because military uniforms often have

large gold or silver buttons.

a. the clothes worn by schoolchildren

b. the clothes worn by soldiers

8. If an Amish farmer gets sick, relatives

and neighbors will harn''st his crops.

9. It a barn burns down, as many as 200

men will come and build a new barn in

one day.

10. The Amish are not allowed to marry

people who are not Amish. That has

caused a peculiar problem.

a. big b. strange

11. A man took a pitcher of gravy by

mistake and poured the gravy into his

coffee.

12. Most Amish are not happy about the

tourists, but they tolerate them.

a. allow them to come b. make

them pay

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

155

5. WRITING

Write about one of the world's religions.

Use the information you wrote in Exercise

4B, or use the information your classmate

gave you. Here is what one student

wrote.

Now write abuot one of the word´s

religions.

1. PRE-READING

THINK ABOUT THESE QUESTIONS.

DISCUSS YOUR ANSWERS WITH YOUR

CLASSMATES.

Do you know of any old person

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

156

who died soon after an important

event, like a holiday or birthday.

Do you think that people can

control the time of their own

deaths

POSTPONING DEATH

Yinlan looked at the people sitting around

the table and smiled contentedly.

Everyone in her family was there-her

children, her grandchildren, and her new

great-grandson, just one month old. Her

whole family had come to celebrate the

Harvest Moon Festival.

Yinlan had grown up in China, but she and

her family now lived in San Francisco,

California. Although they lived in the

United States, Yinlan's family celebrated

the Harvest Moon Festival just as Yinlan

had in China. At the time of the full moon

in August or September, her family

gathered at her house for dinner. After

dinner they ate moon cakes, a special

round cookie. Then, if the sky was clear,

they always walked outside to admire the

full moon.

Tonight there was not a cloud in the sky,

and the full moon shone brightly. Yinlan

suggested that they all go outside. Her

grandson helped her up from her chair. As

Yinlan and her grandson walked toward

the door, she held on to his arm and

leaned against him for support. Yinlan

was 86 years old. She had not been well

the past few months, and her family

noticed that she seemed weak.

Two days after the Harvest Moon Festival,

Yinlan died peacefully in her sleep. Her

family was sad but at the same time

grateful. They felt happy that they had

been able to celebrate the Harvest Moon

Festival with her one last time. Everyone

said it was remarkable that Yinlan had

died just two days after the holiday.

Actually, the timing of Yinlan's death was

not remarkable at all. Recently

sociologists studied the death rate among

elderly Chinese women in California. They

discovered that the death rate drops 35

percent before the Harvest Moon Festival

and then rises 35 percent: Each year

there are fewer deaths than usual the

week before the festival and more deaths

than usual the week after. Sociologists

believe that these changes in the death

rate show the mind's power over the

body. The Harvest Moon Festival, when

families gather, is important to elderly

Chinese women. Apparently some women

are able to postpone their deaths so that

they can celebrate the festival one last

time.

Sociologists also studied the death rate of

elderly Jewish men around the time of

Passover,a Jewish holiday. They

discovered the same phenomenon.

During the week before Passover, the

death rate among elderly Jewish men

drops 24 percent. The week after

Passover, the death rate rises 24 percent.

Passover is a Jewish religious holiday that

is a family holiday as well. On the first

two days of Passover, families gather in

their homes for a ceremony. They sit

around a table to share a special meal and

to listen to the story of Passover.

Traditionally, the oldest man in the family

sits at the head of the table and reads the

story. It is an important event for elderly

Jewish men-so important that some men

postpone their deaths until after Passover.

The idea that people can postpone the

time of their deaths is not new. Many

families tell stories of a relative who held

on to life until after an important event.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

157

They tell of a grandmother who died after

the birth of a grandchild, a grandfather

who died after his 92nd birthday party.

The stories people tell, however, are just

that: stories. They are not proof that

people can postpone their deaths. The

sociologists' work is important because the

sociologists studied facts, not stories. The

facts-the drop and rise in death rates-

prove that people really can postpone

their deaths.

One famous person who may have

postponed his death was Thomas

Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson wrote the

Declaration of Independence, one of the

most important U.S. documents. The

Declaration of Independence was signed

on July 4, 1776. Thomas Jefferson died

exactly 50 years later, on July 4, 1826.

He died after asking his doctor, "Is it the

Fourth?"

Historians have always thought that

Jefferson's death on the Fourth of July was

a remarkable coincidence. It now seems

quite possible that the timing of

Jefferson's death was ino coincidence at

all.

2. VOCABULARY


Which words have the same meaning as

the words in the story? Circle the letter of

your answer.

1. Yinlan looked at the people sitting

around the table and smiled contentedly.

a. nervously

b. happily

2. Yinlan's family celebrated the Harvest

Moon Festival just as Yinlan had in China.

a. exactly

b. almost

3. Her family gathered at her house for

dinner.

a. came together

b. cooked

4. Her family was sad, but at the same

time grateful.

a. not surprised

b. thankful

5. It was remarkable that Yinlan had died

just two days after the holiday,

a. unusual; surprising b.

sad; depressing

6. Sociologists studied the death rate

among elderly Chinese women in

California.

7. The death rate drops 35 percent before

the Harvest Moon Festival.

a. goes up

b. goes down

8. The death rate rises 35 percent after

the festival.

a. goes up

b. goes down

9. Apparently some women are able to

postpone their deaths.

a. It seems that

b. It is lucky that

10. Sociologists who studied the death

rate of elderly Jewish men around the

time of Passover discovered the same

phenomenon.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

158

11. Some Jewish men postpone their

deaths until after Passover.

12. The Declaration of Independence is

one of the most important U. S.

documents.

a. buildings b.

papers

13. Historians thought that Jefferson's

death on the Fourth of July was a

coincidence.

3. COMPREHENSION/READING SKLLS


IDEAS


a line through the information.

1. Yinlan

a. celebrated the Harvest Moon Festival

with her family.

b. was 86 years old.

c. died two days after the Harvest Moon

Festival.

d. lived in small apartment in san

Francisco.

2. Sociologists

a. studied the death rate among elderly

Chinese women in San Francisco.

b. believe that Chinese women live long

because they eat a healthy diet.

c. discovered that there are fewer deaths

before the Harvest Moon Festival and

more deaths after it.

d. believe that the changes in the death

rate show the mind's power over the

body.

3. What happens during Passover?

a. Families gather in their homes for a

ceremony.

b. Families share a special meal.

c. Parents give their children gifts of

money and chocolate.

d. The oldest man in the family reads the

story of Passover.

4. Sociologists

a. studied the death rate of elderly Jewish

men around the time of Passover

b. discovered that their death rate drops

24 percent before Passover.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

159

c. discovered that their death rate rises

24 percent after Passover.

d. went to Jewish homes to learn how

Jews celebrate Passover.

5. The sociologists' work on death rates

a. is important.

b. was a study of facts, not stories.

c. was done in 1989.

d. proves that people really can postpone

their deaths.

6. Thomas Jefferson

a. wrote the Declaration of Independence.

b. helped plan the city of Washington, D.

C.

c. died on July 4, 1826-exactly 50 years

after the Declaration of Independence was

signed.

d. may have postponed his death.


THE UNDERLINED INFORMATION IS

NOT CORRECT. FIND THE CORRECT

INFORMATION IN THE STORY ARID,

WRITE IT. WORK QUICKLY; TRY TO

COMPLETE THE EXERCISE IN THREE

MINUTES OR LESS.

1. Yinlan had grown up in China, but she

and her family now lived in Los Angeles'

California.

2. Five years ago sociologists studied the

death rate among elderly Chinese

women in California.

3. They discovered that the death rate

drops 24 percent before the Harvest Moon

Festiva

4. Sociologists also studied the death rate

of elderly Jewish men at the time of

Hanukkab a Jewish holiday.

5. During the week before Passover, the

death rate drops 23 percent.

6. On the first three days of Passover,

families gather in their homes for a

ceremony.

7. One famous person who may have

postponed his death was William

Jefferson.

8. Jefferson was the author of the Bill of

Rights, one of the most important U. S.

documents.

9. The Declaration of Independence was

signed on July 4,1774.

10. Jefferson died exactly 40 years later.

4. DISCUSSION

THINK ABOUT THESE QUESTIONS.

DISCUSS YOUR ANSWERS WITH YOUR

CLASSMATES.

1. One question in the pre-reading

exercise was:"Do you think people can

control the time of their own deaths?

"After reading the story, is your answer to

that question still the same, or has it

changed?

2. After reading "Postponing Death," do

you now think someone you know may

have postponed his or her death? Tell your

classmates about it.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

160

3. Do you think the mind has power over

the body? Do you think, for example, that

people can control whether or not they get

sick or feel pain?

4. The Harvest Moon Festival is important

to the Chinese, and Passover is important

to Jews. Is there a holiday that is

important to you-so important that you

would postpone your death to experience

it one last time?

5. Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826-

50 years after the Declaration of

Independence was signed. That was a

remarkable coincidence. Do you know of a

remarkable coincidence? Tell your

classmates about it.

5. WRITING

A. The sociologists believe that their

studies show the mind's power over the

body. Have you ever used your mind to

control your body? Do you know a story

that shows that the mind can control the

body? Write a paragraph or two. Here is


NOW WRITE YOUR PARAGRAPH(S).

B. Write about a holiday that is important

to you. How do you celebrate it? Here is


Now write about a holiday that is

important to you.

I. PRE-READING

Imagine that after shopping, you return to

your car, which is parked in a parking lot.

It 9 o'clock at night, and there are only a

few people in the parking lot. When you

get into your car, a man jumps up from

the back seat, holds a gun to your head,

and says, “Drivel” What would you do?

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

161

Check an answer, or write your own

answer. Then compare your answer with

those of your classmates.

I would

1. ___scream and yell to get the attention

of the people in the parking lot. 2. ___try

to grab the gun.

3. ___tell the man I'll drive him where he

wants to go, but then drive to a police

station.

4. ___drive where the man tells me to go.

5.

__________________________________

_______________________

AN UNEXPECTED ADVENTURE

0ne summer afternoon Jean and Clothilde

Lestarquit, an elderly couple, visited their

daughter at her home in Lille, France. A

few minutes before six o'clock, the

Lestarquits decided to leave. They said

goodbye to their daughter, walked to their

car, and got in. They expected a quiet,

uneventful ride home. The ride, however,

was anything but quiet and uneventful.

Mr. Lestarquit was about to start the car

when a gunman jumped up from the back

seat. He held a gun to Mr. Lestarquit's

head. "Drive me to Paris!" he demanded.

"All right, "Mr. Lestarquit replied. "I'll drive

you anywhere you want to go. But first

let my wife out of the car. "

The gunman agreed to let Mrs. Lestarquit

go. After she was safely out of the car,Mr.

Lestarquit started the engine, pulled away

from the curb, and drove down the street.

He was driving slowly, but his mind was

racing. Unarmed and 81 years old, he

knew he could not fight the gunman. He

knew he needed help. Where were the

police? As he drove through each

intersection, he looked up and down the

side streets, hoping to spot a police car.

There was none in sight. "Just my luck,"

he thought. "if I were speeding, there

would be a police car on every corner. "

Suddenly Mr. Lestarquit realized how he

could attract the attention of the police.

He pushed his foot down on the

accelerator of his Mercedes, and the car

sped forward. "What are you doing?"

shouted the gunman. "Avoiding the

police," Mr:' Lestarquit lied. "I thought I

saw a police car back there. "

Mr. Lestarquit began driving like a

madman. He drove 60 miles an hour on

side streets, ran red lights, and drove the

wrong way on one-way streets. On two

way streets he drove on the wrong side of

the road. Not one police officer saw him.

Obviously, Mr. Lestarquit's plan was not

working. He needed a new plan. But

what? Suddenly he remembered that the

Lille police station was only a few blocks

away. "All right," he thought. "If I can't

bring the police to my car, I'll bring my

car to the police. "

He turned a corner and saw the police

station ahead. Immediately his heart

sank. There was a courtyard in front of the

police station, and the two large doors

that led to the courtyard were closed. Mr.

Lestarquit hesitated for a moment. Then

he pushed the accelerator to the floor and

steered straight for the doors.

The car crashed through the doors and

stopped in the courtyard. Mr. Lestarquit

yelled, "Help! He's going to kill me!" Then

he reached back to grab the man's gun.

Just as he grabbed it, the gunman pulled

the trigger. The bullet grazed Mr.

Lestarquit's hand and went through the

windshield. Before the gunman could pull

the trigger again, Mr. Lestarquit opened

the car door and fell to the ground.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

162

Officers from the police station, who had

come running when they heard the crash,

quickly captured the gunman. It was 6:30

P. m. exactly 35 minutes since the

Lestarquits had left their daughter's house

on a quiet street in Lille.

It seemed to Jean Lestarquit that for those

35 minutes he had stepped out of reality

and into an action movie. There were so

many things action movies have-a

gunman, a hero, a speeding car, and a car

crash. Fortunately for Jean Lestarquit,

there was one more thing most action

movies have a happy ending.

2. VOCABULARY


Think about the story and answer the

questions.

1. Mr. Lestarquit pulled away from the

curb. Is the car pulling away from the

curb in picture a or in picture b?

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

163


EXPRESSIONS



THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

164

on the line.

Anything but = not at all


SKILLS

A. UNDERSTANDING TIME

RELATIONSHIPS

What information is not correct? Draw a

line through it.

1. About six o'clock Mr. and Mrs.

Lestarquit

a. decided to leave their daughter's

house.

b. arrived home safely

c. said goodbye to their daughter.

d. walked to their car and got in.

2. Mr. Lestarquit was about to start the

car when a gunman

a. jumped up from the back seat.

b. held a gun to Mr. Lestarquit's head.

c. demanded that Mr. Lestarquit drive

him to Paris.

d. pulled the trigger.

3. After Mrs. Lestarquit was out of the

car, Mr. Lestarquit

a. started the engine.

b. pulled away from the curb.

c. got into his car.

d. tried to spot a police car.

4. After Mr. Lestarquit realized how he

could attract the attention of the police,

he

a. drove 60 miles an hour on side streets.

b. ran red lights.

c. drove the wrong way on one-way

streets.

d. said, "Let my wife out of the car. "

5. After Mr. Lestarquit crashed through

the doors leading to the courtyard,

a. the car stopped.

b. he grabbed the gun.

c. the gunman pulled the trigger.

d. the gunman shouted, "What are you

doing?"


Read the sentences from the story. One

word in each sentence is not correct. Find

the word and cross it out. Write the

correct word.

1. Jean and Clothilde Lestarquit, an

elderly couple, visited their daughter at

her home in Lille, Spain.

2. They said goodbye to their daughter

and walked to their bicycles.

3. Mr. Lestarquit was about to start the

car when a policeman jumped up from the

back seat.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

165

4. "Drive me to Barcelona!" the man

demanded.

5. Mr. Lestarquit said, "I'll drive you

anywhere you want to go, but first let my

daughter out of the car"

Now copy three sentences from the story,

but change one word in each sentence so

that the information is not correct. Give

your sentences to a classmate. Your

classmate will find the incorrect word in

each sentence, cross it out, and write the

correct word. When your classmate is


4. DISCUSSION



1. Do you think Mr. Lestarquit was brave

or foolish? Why?

2. What would you have done if you had

been in his place?

B. WITH A PARTNER OR IN SMALL

GROUPS,TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU

WOULD DO IN THE FOLLOWING

DANGEROUS SITUATIONS.

1. You are walking down the street when

suddenly a big dog runs toward you. The

dog is barking.

2. You are walking down a busy street in

a big city. A man walks up to you and

says, "Give me your money!" He has a

knife.

3. It is 11 o'clock at night. You are home

alone watching TV. There is a knock at

the door. You aren't expecting anyone.

4. You come home late at night. The

door to your house or apartment is open.

You are sure you locked the door when

you left the house. You live alone.

5. You and a friend go to a party in your

friend's car. Your friend drinks beer at the

party. When it is time to go home, you

realize that your friend has had too much

to drink.

5. WRITING

A. Write a police report. Imagine that

you were one of the police officers at the

Lille police station. After capturing the

gunman, you asked Mr. Lestarquit what

happened and then wrote down what he

told you. What is your report?

B. Have you ever had an experience like

Jean Lestarquit's? Have you ever been in a

dangerous situation where you had to

decide what to do? Write about your

experience. Here is what one student

wrote.

Now write abuot your experience

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

166

1. PRE-READING

A. the people in the picture are standing

in a field of wheat in England. What do

you this made the clacircles in the wheat?

check one more answer or write you own

answer then compare your answer with

those of your classmates.

B. Have you read or heard about these

circles? where did you read or hear about

them? tell your classmates what you know

about them.


SKILLS


IDEAS


a line through the information.

1. The circle of wheat that Ian Stevens

found in 1978

a. was about six meters across.

b. was lying flat on the ground.

c. had four smaller circles around it.

d. was made by his tractor

2. The crop circles

a. are making farmers in England rich.

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

167

b. probably form at night.

c. usually appear in fields of wheat or

corn.

d. appear only from May to September.

3. The grain inside the circles

a. always lies flat on the ground.

b. is never broken.

c. can be eaten only by farm animals.

d. can be harvested.

4. People said that the circles were made

by

a. teenagers who wanted to play a joke.

b. farmers who wanted to attract tourists.

c. animals who slept in the fields at night.

d. beings from outer space.

5. Scientists think the circles might be

caused by

a. microbursts of wind.

b. helicopters.

c. forces within the earth.

6. The problem with the scientific theories

is that it is hard to believe that any

natural for could

a. create formations like the five-dot

formation.

b. create shapes like rectangles and

triangles.

c. create crop circles during the night.

7. In the summer of 1990 some scientists

a. spent three weeks in the part of

England where many circles have

appeared.

b. had all the latest high-tech equipment.

c. did not see or hear anything when the

crop circles in the photograph formed.

d. thought of some important new

theories about crop circles.




and write it. Work quickly; try to


less.

1. In the summer of 1978 an English

farmer named Ian Smith was driving his

tractor through a field of wheat when he

discovered something strange.

2. The flattened wheat formed a circle

about three meters across.

3. Around this circle were five smaller

circles of flattened wheat.

4. Two years later another farmer who

lived nearby discovered similar circles in

one of fields.

5. These circles were larger-nearly 14

meters across.

6. That same year vet another English

farmer discovered two circles of flattened

wheat o his land.

7. In 1987 farmers in England discovered

50 circles; in 1988, 108 circles; and in

1989, 270 circles.

8. In the summer of 1990 some scientists

spent four weeks in the part of England

where many circles have appeared.

9. The equipment-worth 1. 7 million

dollars-recorded nothing.

10. But on morning aas the scientists

were watching a field, crop circles formed

in the field behind then).

THE SENTINEL______________________________________________________________

168


THE QUESTIONS.

1. How many students checked #1? How

many checked #2? #3? #4? #5? #6? #7?

What did the students who checked #7

write? Why did you check the theory you

did? Which theory got the most checks?

2. People reported seeing unidentified

flying objects (UFOs) near fields where

crop circles later appeared. Many think

the UFOs are spaceships. In your native

country, do people sometimes report that

they saw UFOs? What do you think about

UFOs?

3. Perhaps you had read or heard about

the crop circles before you read the story.

Did the story give you any new or

different information about the circles? Did

it change your opinion about what causes

them?

5. WRITING

A. What do you think causes the crop

circles? Write about a theory that you

think is correct.

B. Imagine that you are standing alone in

a field in southern England when a

spaceship lands. Beings from outer space

get out of the spaceship. Write five or six

questions that you would like to ask them.

READ & THINK

SKILL SHEETS 5____________________________________________________________

169

Directions: Use the Score Box on your

Read and Think Skill Sheet to find your

rating. Then find the number of the Skill

Sheet on the chart below. If your rating

for Skill Sheet 1 is Excellent, color in the

Excellent box for Skill Sheet 1 and also

READ & THINK

SKILL SHEETS 5____________________________________________________________

170

color in all the boxes below the Excellent

box. If your rating is Very Good, color in

the Very Good box and all the boxes below

it,and so forth. Do this for each Skill

Sheet. Soon you will have a graph of your

reading progress.

by Matilda Nordtvedt

READ & THINK

SKILL SHEETS 5

READ & THINK

SKILL SHEETS 5____________________________________________________________

171

ead and Think Skill Sheets 5

Second Edition

Edition Editors: Laurel Hicks,

Marion Hedquist, Heidi Mayfield

Copyright © 1998, 1988 Pensacola

Christian College

All rights reserved. Printed in U. S. A.

2002/2 C02

No part of this publication may be

reproduced or transmitted in any form or

by any means, electronic or mechanical,

including photocopy, recording, or any

information storage and retrieval system,

R

READ & THINK

SKILL SHEETS 5____________________________________________________________

172

or by license from any collective or

licensing body, without permission in

writing from the publisher.

A Beka book. a Christian text a book

ministry a Pensacola Christian College, is

designed to meet the need for Christian

textbooks and teaching aids. The purpose

of this publishing ministry is to help

Christian schools reach children and young

people for the Lord and train them in the

Christian way of life.

Somearticles are copyrighted by Regular

Baptist Press and used here with their

permission.

Cataloging Data

Nordtvedt, Matilda

Read & Think 5/ Matilda Nordtvedt

Second edition

Readers (Elementary)

Includes quizzes; A Beka Book Reading

Program Library of Congress: PE 1119 .

A254 gr. 5 Dewey System: 428. 6

Directions: You have 4 1/2 minutes to

read the selection and answer the

questions. Do not begin reading until your

teacher gives the signal.

Note these words before you begin.

abound: to be full of

species (spe'shez): a group of animals or

plants which share the same

characteristics

distinguish: to tell apart

Would you believe that the flashing lights

of water beetles kept English sailors from

landing on the island of Cuba in 1694?

Thinking the lights were the torches of

Spanish soldiers, the English decided to

sail on.

Many different kinds of luminous creatures

inhabit the earth. One type of beetle that

gives off light is called the "automobile

bug" because it has two large, round,

greenish-yellow lights on either side of its

back which resemble lighted headlights.

This insect is found on the islands of the

Caribbean. A luminous worm in Central

and South America is called "the railroad

worm" because it has two red headlights

and eleven pairs of greenish-yellow

lanterns along the side of its body. As the

creature crawls through the grass at night,

it looks like a miniature lighted passenger

train.

The sea abounds with luminous creatures,

too, many of which are found in the

depths of the ocean, far away from the

light of the sun. They flash their lights to

attract mates as well as prey. Each

species of the small lantern fish has a

different pattern of lighting, so they can

be easily distinguished for mating. Male

and female also have their lights at

different positions on their bodies.

The pony fish. type of shark,has no light

of its own but becomes host to luminous

bacteria which live in a cone-shaped organ

on its abdomen. A tissue stretches across

this organ to enable the fish to "turn off

the light" when it does not want to be

seen.

CIRCLE THE CORRECT ANSWER.

1. Luminous means?

a. brightly colored c.

able to see in the dark

b. giving off light d.

READ & THINK

SKILL SHEETS 5____________________________________________________________

173

giving off an odor

2. The "automobile bug" is found?

a. in Australia c.

on the Caribbean Islands

b. in Alaska d.

in the Hawaiian Islands

3. There is a luminous worm in Central

and South America that looks like?

a. alighted candle c. an

automobile

b. a lighted passenger train d. a

fire

4. Luminous creatures are found?

a. only on land c. on

both sea and land

b. only in the sea d.

only in the winter

5. Often luminous creatures flash their

lights?

a. to attract a mate c. to

show off

b. to scare enemies d. to

find their way in the dark

6. The lights on the bodies of male and

female lantern fish are?

a. exactly alike c.

hard to see

b. in different positions d.

beautiful

7. The pony fish?

a. is a luminous creature b.

hosts luminous bacteria

c. has two red headlights d. is

attracted to luminous creatures

8. In 1694, water beetles kept the English

from?

a. sailing around the world c.

conquering Peru

b. finding a route to India d.

landing on Cuba.

9. The lights of water beetles were

mistaken for?

a. fireflies c.

torches

b. flashlights d. gunfire

10. A good title for this selection would

be?

a. "Lighted Passenger Train"

b. "Lights in the Sea"

c. "Luminous Creatures"

d. "Don't Land on Cuba"





TO FLY LIKE A BIRD

From ancient times, man has longed to fly

like the birds. As early as A. D. 1000, a

Benedictine monk put on a pair of wings

and jumped from a tower. He broke both

of his legs when he landed.

The great Italian artist and inventor

Leonardo da Vinci drew models of

parachutes and helicopters, but it was not

until one hundred fifty years later that

inventors began to seriously explore

power sources to lift man from the

ground. The first triumph was in the

1700s when two French brothers thought

up the idea of a hot air balloon. In 1783,

two other Frenchmen accomplished the

amazing feat of soaring to three hundred

feet in the balloon the brothers had

invented and traveled in it for five miles.

READ & THINK

SKILL SHEETS 5____________________________________________________________

174

Hiram Maxim, the American who invented

the machine gun, built a steam-powered

flying machine, but it was too heavy to be

successful. A German scientist built a

glider that flew up to 250 yards, but after

2,000 successful short flights, it plunged

him to his death.

A French engineer, Henri Giffard, built the

first successful airship powered by a

steam engine. An airship is a lighter-

than-air craft that rises because of the gas

(such as hydrogen or helium) in its airbag.

Giffard's airship traveled 17 miles at 6

miles an hour. A number of years later, a

Brazilian and a German achieved a speed

of 20 miles an hour in their lighter-than-

air craft.

The Wright brothers made the first

successful powered airplane Flight at kitty

Harwk North Carolina, on December 17

,1903. Un like an airship, an airplane is a

heavier-than-air craft which rises because

of the force of air upon its wings. A short

time after their first flight, the Wright

brothers built the world's first practical

airplane, the Flyer III, which had a 16-

horsepower engine and could fly for 30

minutes. They had solved the problem of

powered flight. Man could fly at last!


1. In ancient times man?

a. never thought of flying

c. built airplanes

b. wanted to fly

d. harnessed birds

2. The Benedictine monk who jumped

from a tower in A. D. 1000 ? .

a. sailed to the ground

c. broke both his legs

b. was killed

d. invented the parachute

3. In order to fly, man needed?

a. stronger wings

c. a power source

b. a steering apparatus

d. more courage

4. Two French brothers invented a

successful?

a. airplane

c. hot air balloon

b. helicopter

d. glider

5. The first steam-powered flying

machine was invented by?

a. the Montgolfier brothers

c. a Benedictine monk

b. Hiram Maxim

d. the Wright brothers

6. The first successful airship powered by

a steam engine traveled?

a. 300 feet

c. 5 miles

b. 250 yards

d. 17 miles

7. This early aircraft traveled at the speed

of?

a. 6 miles an hour

c. 20 miles an hour

b. 15 miles an hour

d. 25 miles an hour

8. The Wright brothers built the first?

a. steam-powered airplane

c. practical airplane

b. hot-air balloon

d. helicopter

9. This event took place in the?

a. middle of the 1800s

c. early 1900s

b. end of the 1800s

d. middle of the 1900s

READ & THINK

SKILL SHEETS 5____________________________________________________________

175

10. The Wright brothers discovered the

secret of?

a. balance

c. powered flight

b. gliding

d. steam engines



questions. Do not beginn reading until

your teacher gives the signal.

Note these words before you begin. oə

Peoria (pē•ôr‘ē•ə)

modified: slightly changed

Snohomish (snō•hō'mĭsh) barren:

unfruitful, not containing

Issaquah (ĭ'sə •kwä) much

plant life

Snoqualmie (snō•kwŏl'mē)

flourishing (flûr'ĭsh•ĭng): growing well

PLACE NAMES

Have you ever become curious about the

names of places you visit or pass while

traveling? Why would anyone give a

California town the name of Weed? What

happened at Whoop-it-up Creek in North

Dakota? The fascinating study of place

names is called toponymy. From it we can

learn interesting historical facts. Did you

know that the city of Chicago got its name

from the Indians and means "the place

where wild onions grow"? Peoria, a large

city south of Chicago, has a name

meaning "place of fat beasts," which tells

us that buffalo once roamed there.

Some place names describe the weather

of a town, such as Rains, Cloudy, Windy,

Frost, and Warm Lake. In the Southwest.

we find Spanish names, such as Los

Angeles, San Bernardino, Espanola, Los

Lunas. In the Northwest, Indian names

abound: Snohomish, Issaquah,

Snoqualmie. Seattle is the modified name

of Sealth, a powerful Indian chief in that

area.

The British influence in our country gave

us such names as Yorktown, Amherst,

Cornwall, and London. Some settlers

named their town after the countries from

which they came. As a result, we have

Moscow, Idaho; Norway, Michigan; New

Palestine, Indiana; Poland Mines,

Pennsylvania. Many of our cities are

named after famous presidents A

numberof estates have towns name

Lincoln, Jefferson, Monroe, and others. In

the state of Washington is a town named

George. We cannot help but wonder what

the story is behind towns such as Egg

Harbor, Bacon Park, Toast, Bean City, and

Pie Town.

When a group of settlers considered

starting a town in a barren spot of North

Dakota, onlookers thought they would fail.

They built the town anyway, naming it

Candu (Can do!), and it is still flourishing.


1. The study of place names is called?

a. geography

c. toponymy

READ & THINK

SKILL SHEETS 5____________________________________________________________

176

b. typography

d. calligraphy

2. Chicago got its name from the?

a. Spanish

c. English

b. French

d. Indians

3. "The place of fat beasts" is the

meaning of the name of?

a. Chicago

c. Jeffersonville

b. Los Angeles

d. Peoria

4. We find Spanish names mostly in the?

a. southeast

c. northeast

b. southwest

d. northwest

5. The city of Seattle was named after?

a. a French explorer

c. an Indian chief

b. an American statesman

d. an early pioneer

6. Such names as Yorktown and Cornwall

are from the?

a. French

c. Indians

b. British

d. Russians

7. Immigrants to the United States

sometimes named their towns after?

a. relatives

c. animals

b. their countries

d. food

8. Many towns in our country are named

after famous?

a. movie stars

c. kings

b. sport heroes

d. Presidents

9. Los Angeles is a name from?

a. the Spanish

c. the Dutch

b. the Indians

d. the English

10. The people who named their town

Candu expressed?

a. fear

c. stubborness

b. determination

d. intelligence

Directions: You have 4 minutes to read

the selection and answer the questions.

Do not begin reading until your teacher

gives the signal.


economic: having to do with money

editorial: a newspaper or magazine

article expressing an opinion

precede: to come before

turmoil: a state of confusion and unrest

SARAH HALE

Sarah Hale, who was born in Newport,

New Hampshire, in 1788, longed for an

education. Because schools for girls were

rare in those days, her mother and

college-educated brother agreed to teach

the eager young girl. When Sarah was

eighteen, she started a school for girls

where reading and writing were taught

along with the usual sewing and social

READ & THINK

SKILL SHEETS 5____________________________________________________________

177

graces.

After marrying David Hale, Sarah

continued her education by studying with

her husband for two hours each evening.

After nine years of marriage, David Hale

died, leaving his wife with five children to

support.

Sarah put her education to work and

eventually became the first woman editor

in the United States, editing The Ladies'

Magazine for many years. She did many

things to help women raise their social

and economic standards. For example, an

editorial she wrote inspired the invention

of the washing machine. She encouraged

Elizabeth Blackwell to become the first

woman doctor in the United States. In

her spare time, she wrote the well-known

poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb. "

Perhaps Sarah Hale's greatest

achievement, however, was to persuade

President Lincoln to establish a national

Thanksgiving Day on the fourth Thursday

of November. She was seventy-five years

old at the time, and she had tried to

persuade the three Presidents who

preceded Lincoln, but without success.

Even though the Civil War was raging and

the country was in turmoil, President

Lincoln took time to declare a national day

of Thanksgiving to thank and praise God

for His many blessings. At last Sarah Hale

had achieved her goal.


1. Sarah Hale was born in?

a. 1840

c. 1680

b. 1788

d. 1900

2. She could not go to college because?

a. she was not smart enough

c. she was too sickly

b. she had no money

d. schools for women were rare

3. Sarah received her education from?

a. the family doctor

c. a minister

b. her mother and brother

d. an editor

4. At 18 years of age, Sarah started a

school for girls to teach them? as well as

sewing and the social skills.

a. cooking

c. politics

b. reading and writing

d. mathematics

5. After nine years of marriage, Sarah's

husband died, leaving her?

a. a fortune

c. five children to support

b. a school

d. a magazine company

6. Sarah Hale was the first woman in the

United States to become?

a. a doctor

c. an editor

b. an inventor

d. a college president

7. Through her writing, Sarah Hale helped

especially?

a. children

c. prisoners

b. soldiers

d. women

8. Sarah's best-known achievement was

to persuade President Lincoln to?

a. set the slaves free

b. start a school for girls

c. declare a national Thanksgiving Day

d. invent a washing machine

9. At the time she did this, Sarah Hale

was?

READ & THINK

SKILL SHEETS 5____________________________________________________________

178

a. 35 years old

c. 75 years old

b. 40 years old

d. 90 years old

10. This happened dug ing?

a. the Revolutionary War

b. the Spanish-American War

c. the Civil War

d. World War I


the selection and answer thequestions. Do

not begin reading until your teacher gives

the signal.


dominion: control; rule

persistence: not giving up; continuing

It took many years for Canada to become

the nation it is today. At first it consisted

of only four provinces in the east: Quebec

Ontario, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.

The leaders of the new Dominion of

Canada dreamed of the time when their

nation would reach from the Atlantic to

the Pacific Oceans. The motto they chose

for their country was from Psalm 72:8-"He

shall have dominion also from sea to sea.

"

In order to establish dominion from the

Atlantic to the Pacific, transportation had

to be developed. Waterways proved to be

the best "roads" at first. The United States

and Canada worked together to improve

the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes

water system by building locks and canals

to bypass dangerous rapids and the

Niagara Falls. They deepened the channel

so that large ocean ships could travel to

the inland cities bordering the Great

Lakes. As trade increased, settlers came

to make their homes.

But what of the western half of Canada,

the dream to reach from sea to sea?Only

a railroad could solve this problem. It took

much courage and persistence to build

such a long railroad across swamps and

prairies and through the Rocky Mountains.

Finally, in 1885, after years of hard work,

the railway was finished. Canadians could

travel from one coast of their country to

the other. People from the United States,

eastern Canada and Europe

began: moving into western Canada, and

new towns sprang up.

The settlers of British Columbia, Canada's

most westerly province, came mostly by

sea. At last the people of Canada realized

their dream: their country stretched from

sea to sea.




gives the signal.

Note this word before you begin.

diaphragm(dĭ´•frăm'): a thin disk that

vibrates in response to sound waves

READ & THINK

SKILL SHEETS 5____________________________________________________________

179

SENDING SPEECH OVER ELECTRIC

WIRES

Like his father before him, Alexander

Graham Bell taught deaf-mutes, people

who can neither hear nor talk. Bell left his

homeland of Scotland for Canada when he

was twenty-three and later moved to

Boston. He taught deaf-mutes during the

day and experimented with electricity in

the evenings. While Bell was trying to

design a telegraph machine for

communicating with the deaf, he

discovered the basic principles for the

telephone.

Thomas Watson, a workman in an

electrical shop, became Bell's friend and

partner in his experiments. Bell and

Watson discussed the possibility of

sending speech over electric wires. Bell

discovered that the human voice sent

through a wire could make an iron

diaphragm vibrate. A nearby magnet with

a wire coil created a current that could be

sent along a cable to another iron

diaphragm.

The two men worked many hours before

they were able to send a message through

the wire that could be understood. The

first message to be transmitted in this way

was a cry for help. As Bell was testing his

invention, he accidentally spilled acid on

his clothes. Watson, waiting in the attic,

heard these words plainly: "Mr. Watson,

come here! I want you!" The telephone

had been invented!

Much work had to be done before the

invention was perfected. Thirty-nine

years after that first sentence had been

transmitted over the telephone in Boston,

the first telephone line between New York

and San Francisco was opened. Among

Alexander Graham Bell's other inventions

is the electric eye, a device used to open

doors and set off burglar alarms. He is

best known, however, as the inventor of

the telephone.


1. Alexander Graham Bell was born in?

a. the United States

c. Canada

b. England

d. Scotland

2. He was a teacher of?

a. electrical engineers

c. the blind

b. deaf-mutes

d. inventors

3. Bell discovered the principles of the

telephone when he was?

a. reading

c. working on a telegraph machine

b. teaching about electricity

d. inventing the electric eye

4. Bell was assisted in his invention of the

telephone by Thomas Watson, who was?

a. his uncle

c. a scientist

b. a fellow teacher

d. a workman in an electrical shop

5. Bell discovered that a human voice

could make an iron diaphragm?

a. rust

c. melt

b. squeak

d. vibrate

6. When Bell was testing his invention,

he?

a. broke his finger

c. spilled acid on his clothes

b. dropped the telephone

READ & THINK

SKILL SHEETS 5____________________________________________________________

180

d. became ill

7. How many years after the telephone

was invented was it before a line was

opened between New York and San

Francisco?

a. sixty days

c. twenty years

b. two years

d. thirty-nine years

8. Bell invented the telephone while living

in?

a. New York

c. Toronto

b. San Francisco

d. Boston

9. Alexander Graham Bell also invented

the?

a. locomotive

c. electric light

b. electric eye

d. telegraph

10. The inventions we enjoy today were

perfected

a. quickly

c. with much hare work

b. with little effort

d. with loss of life




gives the signal.


light: to come to rest

mottled: spotted

Clever Disguises

One way creatures escape from their

enemies is to use disguises. Some

animals, such as rabbits and many birds,

"freeze" when pursued. By standing

perfectly still, they cannot be easily seen

in their surroundings. Bitterns and herons

have another protective habit as well: as

the wind rustles over the cattails, the

birds sway right along, with these plants

and become almost impossible to detect.

The glass-winged butterfly of the South

American jungle can hide behind her

wings, which are completely transparent.

Her enemies look right through her wings

at the tree or leaf behind her and do not

see her at all.

The dead-leaf butterfly of the Far East

flashes deep blue and orange wings while

in flight; but when she lights on a branch

among dead leaves and closes her wings,

she looks like a dead leaf, too, and thus is

very difficult to see.

Many sea creatures, such as crabs, fish,

and shrimp, pretend to be pieces of coral,

sea fans, or sea lilies. Some shrimp

disguise themselves as sea grasses, and

angler fish often disguise them-selves as

rocks. Since the pipefish has a green-

mottled body, he naturally pretends to be

a piece of eelgrass. He carries his

disguise so far that he even swims and

rests in an upright position.

Leaf-shaped fish which swim near the

surface of the water sink to the bottom in

times of danger as if they were nothing

more than waterlogged leaves. Their

READ & THINK

SKILL SHEETS 5____________________________________________________________

181

wonderfully designed disguise serves as

an excellent protection.


1. Creatures use disguises mainly to?

a. get more food

c. have fun

b. escape from enemies

d. produce young

2. Bitterns and herons avoid detection

by?

a. hiding under logs

c. swaying with the wind

b. swimming underwater

d. flying high

3. One way animals such as rabbits

escape when pursued is to?

a. make aloud noise

c. change colors

b. stand perfectly still

d. run around in circles

4. The glass-winged butterfly avoids

detection by her enemies because her

wings are

a. strong

c. drab

b. beautiful

d. transparent

5. The dead-leaf butterfly looks like a

dead leaf?

a. always

c. when she lights on a branch

b. when in flight

d. after she dies

6. The pipefish rests and swims in an

upright position so it will look like a piece

of?

a. pipe

c. coral

b. eelgrass

d. wood

7. When in danger, some leaf-shaped fish

pretend to be leaves and?

a. float on the surface

c. attack their pursuers

b. sink to the bottom

d. hide

8. Some angler fish disguise themselves

as?

a. seaweed

c. sponges

b. anemones

d. rocks

9. A disguise is a way to?

a. distress enemies

c. attack enemies

b. be a guide

d. hide one's identity

10. These clever disguises are a result of?

a. God's master design

c. hard work

b. chance

d. the seasons




gives the signal.


bout: a time of illness

MISSIONARY WIFE

READ & THINK

SKILL SHEETS 5____________________________________________________________

182

Mary Moffat, the daughter of missionaries

Robert and Mary Moffat, grew up in Africa

and was therefore well suited to become a

missionary wife. She did not know when

she married David Livingstone, however,

that she would have to endure long,

painful separations from him because of

his work.

At first the young couple carried on

missionary work much as other

missionaries had-teaching the Africans the

Word of God and also reading, writing,

and other skills. Soon, however, David

Livingstone was planning journeys of

exploration into the vast uncivilized

regions of Africa to open the way for

missionaries to bring the gospel. Although

Mary and their children accompanied him

on some of his trips, they soon discovered

that such a life was impossible for them.

Repeated bouts of fever among the

children finally made it necessary for Mary

to take them back to England.

Four and a half years went by before

Livingstone returned to England to be

reunited with his family. Mary

accompanied him back to Africa, but

because of illness she could not go with

him on his expeditions as she had hoped,

and thus she decided it would be better to

return to England.

After four years, she again joined her

husband in Africa. For three happy

months they lived and worked together,

but the unhealthful climate and other

strains were too much for Mary. At the

end of three months, after only seventeen

years of marriage, this brave, self-

sacrificing woman died at her husband's

side.


1. Mary Livingstone was the daughter of?

a. a lawyer

c. missionaries

b. a businessman

d. Africans

2. Mary was fitted to be the wife of David

Livingstone because?

a. she was strong

c. she liked traveling

b. she was a teacher

d. she had grown up in Africa

3. At first the missionary couple's work

consisted mostly of?

a. translation

c. teaching

b. nursing

d. agriculture

4. David Livingstone's dream was to?

a. go to Egypt

c. explore new areas

b. found a Bible school

d. go back to England

5. The end result of David Livingstone's

work was?

a. new geography books

b. opening up Africa for the gospel

c. freeing of slaves

d. founding a geographical society

6. When Livingstone went on his

exploration trips, Mary and their children?

a. refused to go along

c. went along whenever they could

b. became angry

d. went to Capetown

7. Mary and their children could not

continue to travel with Livingstone

because?

a. they were bored

c. there were too many snakes

b. they became ill

d. there was no school for them

READ & THINK

SKILL SHEETS 5____________________________________________________________

183

8. The Livingstones' first long separation

was?

a. four and a half months

c. four and a half years

b. two years

d. six years

9. Mary moved back to England?

a. once

c. three times

b. two different times

d. four times

10. The hardest thing for Mary to endure

was?

a. the unhealthful climate

c. the difficult sea voyages

b. caring for live children

d. African customs




gives the signal.


Plutarch (ploo'tark')

antics: playful acts

endears: to make lovable

The Friendly Dolphin

It has been said that the friendliest of all

creatures is the playful dolphin. Plutarch

of ancient Greece wrote,"The dolphin is

the only creature who loves man for his

own sake. " Most creatures love the

people who feed and care for them. Not

so the dolphin; his friendliness bears no

price tag.

In New Zealand, a dolphin began playing

in the bay with the children of some

fishermen. The villagers named the

friendly dolphin Opa. She played ball with

the children in the water and gave one girl

short rides on her back. People from all

over New Zealand came to watch the

antics of the friendly dolphin.

Some dolphins are captured and trained to

be entertainers. They quickly learn to

jump through hoops, shake hands, wave

with their flippers, and even play

basketball. Dolphins often swim beside

ships and amuse the passengers with their

antics.

Besides entertaining and amusing people,

dolphins can be very helpful. Sometimes

they drive fish into a fisherman's net.

They have been known to rescue drowning

people by giving them a push toward

shore. For many years a dolphin acted as

a guide for ships through treacherous

waters near New Zealand.

The dolphin appears to be smiling

whenever he has his mouth closed. His

apparent cheerfulness endears him to

everyone.

Are you, like the dolphin, willing to be

friendly, to give and expect nothing in

return? Are you, too, known for your

cheerfulness and helpfulness?


1. Dolphins are best known as?

a. good swimmers

c. friendly entertainers

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SKILL SHEETS 5____________________________________________________________

184

b. fierce creatures

d. poor jumpers

2. Who wrote,"The dolphin is the only

creature who loves man for his own

sake"?

a. Shakespeare

c. Benjamin Franklin

b. Plutarch

d. Solomon

3. Most creatures love people because

they?

a. are inferior to people

c. want to be helpful

b. are naturally loving

d. get food and care from them

4. What did Opa do?

a. jumped through a hoop

c. gave a girl rides

b. helped fishermen

d. rescued a drowning person

5. Opa was a dolphin of?

a. Australia

c. New Zealand

b. Indonesia

d. the Philippines

6. When being taught tricks, dolphins

are?

a. slow to learn

c. quick to learn

b. stubborn

d. angry

7. Dolphins have been known to rescue

drowning people by?

a. calling for help c.

pushing them into a fish net

b. giving them a ride

d. pushing them to shore

8. Near New Zealand a dolphin for many

years?

a. guided ships through dangerous waters

b. swam beside boats

c. waved at passing boats

d. pushed boats to shore

9. The dolphin always looks as if he is ? .

a. angry

c. sad

b. smiling

d. nervous

10. The dolphin teaches us to?

a. learn tricks

c. be friendly

b. learn to swim well

d. be cautious




gives the signal.

CLEVER ENGINEERS

Beavers are clever builders and engineers.

These rodents (gnawing mammals) cut

down trees with their teeth to build dams

and homes. Working with other beavers,

they build strong dams of logs and twigs

weighted down with stones and plastered

with mud. The dams create quiet pools in

which they can build their homes.

That messy-looking pile of branches,

stones, and mud on the little island in the

middle of the pond is a skillfully built

beaver home. Did you know that beavers

build their homes with three rooms, two

small and one large, and have more than

one underwater entrance for their safety?

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185

After his swim, the beaver enters one of

the two small rooms to shake off the

water, and then steps into the large, dry

middle room, where he eats and sleeps.

Because of air bubbles trapped in his fur,

a beaver can stay under water as long as

fifteen minutes! When he does need air,

he can simply enter his home. Holes

between the branches in the roof of his

home provide good ventilation.

The beaver's lodge is skillfully plastered

with mud and is too strong for any other

animal to break into. Just outside the

beaver's house is an underwater

storehouse where he piles young, leafy

branches to eat during the winter.

One morning when the beaver wakes up,

he finds that the pond is covered over

with ice. He doesn't mind. He has a cozy

home and plenty of food stored up for the

cold days. He is prepared.


1. Beavers are known for their building

of?

a. bridges

c. underground homes

b. dams and homes

d. sandcastles

2. Rodents are animals that use their

teeth to?

a. chew

c. tear

b. gnaw

d. grind

3. The beaver's home consists of?

a. many rooms

c. three rooms

b. one room

d. tunnels

4. A beaver can stay underwater?

a. for three minutes

c. for fifteen minutes

b. as long as he likes

d. not at all

5. The beaver plasters his house with

mud to make it?

a. warm

c. strong

b. private

d. hidden

6. The beaver builds dams to?

a. prevent floods

c. help farmers

b. make a pool for his home

d. keep busy

7. Beavers belong to the family of?

a. meat-eating mammals

c. gnawing mammals

b. egg-laying mammals

d. odd-toe mammals

8. When the pond freezes over in the

winter, the beaver?

a. dies

c. gnaws his way out

b. becomes ill

d. stays in his home

9. During the cold winter the beaver?

a. does not eat

b. eats the food in his storehouse

c. looks for food under the ice

d. becomes thin

10. We can learn from the beaver to be?

a. attractive

c. prepared

b. friendly

d. thankful

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186




gives the signal.


emit: to give off

EXCITING DISCOVERY

Marie and Pierre Curie were scientists who

became fascinated by the discovery that

the element uranium gives off peculiar

rays. These rays are not caused by heat

or sunlight but by the uranium itself.

Were there other substances which also

emit strange rays? Marie was determined

to find out.

She began by testing every known

element and many minerals. Marie

discovered that only one other known

element, thorium, also emits rays. To

describe the rays, she coined the term

"radiation. "

As she tested various minerals,Marie Curie

discovered a puzzling fact. A mineral

called pitchblende, which contains

uranium and thorium, gave off far more

radiation than Marie believed it should.

Carefully, Marie checked her work, not

once or twice, but twenty times. Her

calculations were correct. A thought

flashed into her mind. Since she had

already tested every known element,

there must be an unknown element in the

pitchblende. She must find it and prove

its existence!

Realizing the importance of his wife's

discovery, Pierre Curie set aside his own

work to assist Marie. Their laboratory was

a shed with a leaky roof. They took

money from their own small savings to

buy the large quantities of pitchblende

needed for their experiments.

Three years and nine months after their

experiments, Pierre and Marie Curie finally

saw the new element, radium. Radium

emits rays and produces heat. Doctors

became excited when they realized that

radium could be used to burn away cancer

cells. The dedicated work of the Curies

resulted in great advancements in science

and new hope for the victims of cancer.


1. Marie Curie named the rays emitted by

uranium?

a. thorium

c. x-rays

b. radium

d. radiation

2. Pierre and Marie Curie were?

a. wealthy

c. dedicated

b. selfish

d. lazy

3. The substance with which Marie and

Pierre Curie worked to discover radium is

called?

a. tin

c. helium

b. pitchblende

d. phosphorus

4. The Curies did their research with

radium in a?

a. school

c. hospital

b. science laboratory

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187

d. shed

5. The Curies got the money for their

experiment from?

a. their own savings

c. a wealthy patron

b. a friend

d. their parents

6. How long did the Curies experiment

with radium before they succeeded in

finding it?

a. one year

c. nearly four years

b. two years

d. nearly six years

7. Why did Pierre help Marie?

a. He realized the importance of her

work.

b. He saw a chance to become famous.

c. He was not working on any project of

his own at the time.

d. He hoped to become wealthy.

8. Pierre was Marie's?

a. brother

c. husband

b. father

d. son

9. What causes radioactive elements such

as uranium and radium to send out rays?

a. sunlight

b. something within the element itself

c. increase in temperature

d. chemicals added to the element

10. Because radium can burn away

diseased cells, it is useful in the treatment

of ?

a. heart trouble

c. tuberculosis

b. boils

d. cancer




gives the signal.


Emerge: to come out of

consistency: firmness or thickness

Bee Smart starts her life as a tiny egg and

hatches three days later into a pale grub,

or larva. For the first few days of her life

as a larva, she is fed over one thousand

meals a day by older worker bees and

grows so rapidly that she must shed her

skin every twenty-four hours.

In five days, Bee Smart, who is still a

grub. is ready to spin a cocoon for herself

with silk that comes from glands in her

mouth. Round and round she turns, about

one hundred fifty times, before she is

completely wrapped up in her cozy

covering.

During her twelve days in the cocoon,

amazing changes take place in the bee

larva. When she emerges from the

cocoon, she has changed from a grub to

an adult insect with a head, thorax, and

abdomen.

As soon as Bee Smart emerges from the

cocoon, she is given food. But the next

day she is expected to begin working for

her living. Perhaps her job will be to feed

the larvae. Perhaps she will guard the

entrance of the hive from intruders or

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188

form a blanket with other bees to keep the

larvae warm.

Another duty of Bee Smart's is to produce

wax for the honey-combs. The wax

comes from glands on the underside of

her body. To make one pound of wax, the

bee must eat seven pounds of honey. She

chews the wax thoroughly until it is of the

proper consistency to be placed on the

comb being built by her sister bees.


1. Another word for a larva is?

a. cocoon

c. pupa

b. grub

d. insect

2. The bee larva sheds its skin every?

a. twenty-four hours

c. month

b. week

d. sixty days

3. During this time of growth the larva?

a. is left alone

c. sleeps

b. is fed constantly

d. searches for food

4. The larva spins a cocoon for itself when

it is?

a. five days old

c. two weeks old

b. ten days old

d. a month old

5. The silk from which she spins her

cocoon comes from?

a. older bees

c. her mouth

b. the honeycomb

d. her legs

6. The bee larva stays in the cocoon?

a. two days

c. two months

b. twelve days

d. all winter

7. Bees make wax to?

a. eat

c. build honeycombs

b. chew

d. give to the larvae

8. In order to prepare the wax for use,

the bee must?

a. warm it

c. walk on it

b. chew it

d. cool it

9. How many pounds of honey must a

bee eat to make one pound of wax?

a. one

c. seven

b. three

d. ten

10. A good title for this selection would

be?

a. Making a Cocoon

c. How Bees Make Honey

b. Bee Smart Grows Up

d. Feeding the Larvae




gives the signal.

BEE SMART'S WORK

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SKILL SHEETS 5____________________________________________________________

189

Bee Smart explores the fields outside the

hive to gather pollen and nectar with

which to feed the larvae and to make

honey for use in the winter. (The bees

don't really make their honey for man,

you see). Bee Smart deposits pollen in the

tiny pollen baskets on the inside of her

hind legs. The nectar which she sips from

the flowers goes into her honey sac inside

her thorax. Before she gets back to the

hive, the nectar has begun to turn to

honey in her body. Bee Smart transfers

the honey from her sac to the cells of the

comb.

After depositing the honey in the comb,

Bee Smart fans it with her wings until it is

cooled to the proper thickness, something

like the way you cool and beat fudge to

make it hard. Then she seals the honey

by putting a wax lid over the cells of the

comb.

Bee Smart makes many trips to the fields

for pollen and nectar, but amazingly she

and the other workers usually gather from

only one kind of flower at a time. If the

bees are making clover honey, they

bypass the other blossoms and suck

nectar only from clover. This is important,

because flowers will not produce seeds

unless they receive pollen from the same

kind of plant as themselves. The bees

bring them this pollen as they go from

blossom to blossom.

Bee Smart is wise because God has made

her that way. She is doing the work God

has created her for.


1. Your skin wears away little by little

when it comes in contact with?

a. dirt c. pressure

b. air d. sun

2. The layer of skin beneath your outer skin is

called the?

a. fatty tissue c. epidermis

b. dermis d. sweat glands

3. This layer of skin?

a. causes sweat c. lubricates

b. produces new skin d. cools

4. Your skin protects you from?

a. hunger c. germs and dirt

b. carbon dioxide d. indigestion

5. The third layer of skin is made up of?

a. oil glands c. follicles

b. fatty tissue d. dead cells

6. You get a new set of skin ?

a. once a year c. twice a year

b. everyday d. every few weeks

7. How many sweat glands does every square

inch of skin contain?

a. 100 c. 500

b. 700 d. 300

S. The sweat glands are useful to?

a. heat the body c. cool the body

b. provide new skin d. lubricate the skin

9. When the skin is harmed in some way, it

receives an "ouch" signal from?

a. the dermis c. nerve endings beneath it

b. the fatty tissue d. the oil glands

10. When a person becomes old, his skin

wrinkles because he loses?

a. his sweat glands c. his nerve endings

b. his dermis d. his layer of fatty tissue




gives the signal.

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190

Note this word before you begin.

cumbersome: awkward

LOUIS BRAILLE'S DESIRE

Louis Braille became blind at the age of

three as a result of an accident in his

father's leather shop. His father made a

cane for him which he used to tap his way

around his neighborhood near Paris,

France.

Louis was lonely because he could not do

many of the things other boys did. He

attended the village school when he

became old enough and learned eagerly,

but the teacher had no way to teach him

to read and write.

In the early 1800s, when Louis lived, the

only way for blind people to earn money

was to beg. The Brailles, however, did not

want their son to become a professional

beggar.

One day the village priest told the Braille

family about a school in Paris where blind

children were taught to do useful things,

even to read. So Mr. Braille took ten-

year-old Louis to this school and left him

there.

At first, Louis was homesick and unhappy

at the Institute for Blind Youth, but he

gradually adapted to his new situation.

He learned to find his way around the

school by counting steps. He studied

history, grammar, math, and geography,

and he learned to play the piano.

He also learned to read. The reading

system for the blind was called

embossing. Large, raised letters were put

on thick sheets of paper to be identified by

the fingers. Reading this way was ex-

tremely slow, however and the books

were large and cumbersome because

there was room for only a few sentences

on each page.

Because Louis knew that the stores of

knowledge he longed for could never be

opened to him through this clumsy

method of reading, he wanted to find a

better way.


1. The inventor of night writing was?

a. the village priest c.Charles Barbier

b. Louis Braille d. the head of the

Institute for the Blind

2. Night writing was first devised as?

a. a game for blind people

b. a criminal code

c. a secret code for soldiers

d. musical notations

3. Night writing consisted of?

a. embossed letters c. engraved letters

b. raised dots d. sounds

4. The school authorities thought that night

writing was too?

a. complicated c. simple

b. simple d. small

5. Louis Braille started to experiment with

night writing when he was?

a. ten c. fifteen

b. twelve d. twenty

6. Which of these words describes the kind of

reading and writing system Louis was striving

for?

a. brilliant c. simple

b. complicated d. dramatic

7. Louis Braille worked on his invention?

a. occasionally c. quickly

b. haphazardly d. intensely

8. How long did he work before he perfected

his system?

a. six months c. nearly three years

b. nearly two years d. five years

9. Louis Braille's invention enabled blind people

to read and?

a. speak c. write

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SKILL SHEETS 5____________________________________________________________

191

b. sing d. spell

10. What is the most important result of

Braille's invention?

a. It made him famous.

b. It gave status to the blind.

c. More schools for the blind were started.

d. It opened up knowledge to the blind.






Aeolus (ē'ə-lǐs)

whim: a sudden desire

capricious (kə•prǐsh'əs): quick to change

one's mind

vengeful: wanting revenge

WINDY TALES

Ancient peoples held many superstitions

about the wind. The Greeks and Romans

believed that their imaginary god Aeolus

kept the winds in bags and set them free

as he chose. The American Indians

believed in four wind gods who each lived

in a corner of the earth. Finnish sailors

used to buy windropes from the wizards.

Undoing the three knots on the rope was

supposed to make the wind blow.

Even in modern times people in some

non-Christian lands have believed they

can start or stop a wind by using magic.

In some Pacific islands the people have

marched out as an army with clubs and

torches to frighten away a stot my wind.

Natives in Australia have used

boomerangs for the same purpose. In

New Guinea people have believed they

can start the wind by striking a special

"wind-stone" with a stick. Some people in

West Africa have believed that on one of

their high mountains, a god named Bagba

keeps the winds in huge pots and lets

them out at his whim.

We know that wind is moving air and very

much a part of our weather. It is not

controlled by some capricious or vengeful

god but by our Creator, the Heavenly

Father, who has only good. in mind for His

children. When Jonah ran away from

God's will for him, God hurled a € neat

wind on the sea to chasten the

disobedient prophet. ,Jesus stopped the

wind for His disciples on the Sea of

Galilee; "the wind ceased, and there was a

great calm. " It is comforting to know that

our God is in control of even the wind!


1. Which pagan god was believed to keep the

winds in bags?

a. Vulcan c. Diana

b. Jupiter d. Aeolus

2. Which people believed in four wind gods

who each lived in a corner of the earth?

a. Aztecs c. American Indians

b. Mexicans d. Aborigines

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192

3. What did Finnish sailors buy from wizards to

make the wind blow?

a. windmills c. umbrellas

b. windropes d. sails

4. Why do you think the Finnish sailors wanted

the wind to blow?

a. to cool them c. to move their ships

b. to bring rain d. to bring them water

5. People in some Pacific Islands have tried to

frighten away a stormy wind by?

a. praying to their gods

b. making a sacrifice

c. marching against it with clubs and torches

d. chanting

6. Boomerangs are native to?

a. Finland c. Borneo

b. Australia d. India

7. People in? have believed in a god named

Bagba who supposedly keeps the winds in pots.

a. Europe c. West Africa

b. Indonesia d. Tibet

8. People in New Guinea have believed they

can start the wind by?

a. praying to the spirits c. forgiving their

enemies

b. striking a wind-stone d. shouting

9. God sent a great wind to chasten?

a. David c. Jonah

b. Joseph d. Peter

10. What does the Christian realize about the

wind?

a. God controls it.

b. No one controls it.

c. Jonah stopped the wind.

d. Windropes are the best protection against

the wind.






wick: the threads or cord in a candle

which one lights

apprentice: one who learns a job by

working with someone experienced in that

field

submit: to offer something to a person

for him to look over

WHEN BENJAMIN FRANKLIN WAS A

BOY

Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, the

fifteenth of seventeen children. His father

took him out of school when he was ten

years old to learn the trade of

candlemaking. Bored with dipping candles

and cutting wicks all day, Benjamin talked

about going to sea and exploring faraway

places. His father decided to interest him

in the printing business so he would not

run away to be a sailor.

When Benjamin was twelve, he became an

apprentice to his older brother, who was a

printer. At first he did the cleanup jobs,

but eventually he was allowed to set type

and print. He prepared his own meals

instead of eating with the other workers

so that he could spend meal time reading.

One day Benjamin secretly wrote a letter

to the editor of the newspaper (who was

his older brother), signing it "Widow

Dogood. "Unaware that it was Benjamin's

work, his brother praised the writer and

printed the letter in his newspaper.

Benjamin continued to submit articles

under the name of "Widow Dogood" until

his brother found out and became angry.

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193

Benjamin, seventeen years old by then,

ran away to Philadelphia.

Hired by a Philadelphia printer, Benjamin

Franklin quickly became known as a good

worker. Because he was well read and

witty, he became popular at social

gatherings, even attracting the attention

of the governor. This gentleman urged

Benjamin to go back home to ask his

father's forgiveness for running away.

Benjamin realized his mistake in not

honoring his father. After eight months in

Philadelphia, he returned home to his

father, who readily forgave him.


1. How many brothers and sisters did

Benjamin Franklin have?

a. twelve

c. sixteen

b. fifteen

d. seventeen

2. His father took him out of school when

he was?

a. ten

c. fourteen

b. twelve

d. sixteen

3. Benjamin first learned the trade of?

a. shoemaking

c. boat building

b. candlemaking

d. tailoring

4. Benjamin dreamed of?

a. becoming rich

b. becoming famous

c. experiencing adventures in faraway

places

d. going into politics

5. When Benjamin was twelve, his father

put him to work in his older brother's?

a. bakery c.

print shop

b. grocery store d.

paper mill

6. Benjamin was very fond of?

a. music c.

eating

b. reading d.

sports

7. Benjamin wrote letters to the editor of

the newspaper?

a. angrily c.

secretly

b. proudly d.

meekly

8. When his brother became angry with

him, Benjamin ran away to?

a. sea

c. Philadelphia

b. England

d. Canada

9. There he became?

a. successful

c. tired

b. poor

d. homesick

10. Of what Bible character does

Benjamin remind you?

a. the Good Samaritan

c. the Prodigal Son

b. Noah

d. Samson

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A GREAT AMERICAN

Benjamin Franklin started his own print

shop in Philadelphia while still a young

man. There he began the magazine that

eventually became the well-known

Saturday Evening Post. He also published

a book full of interesting information

called Poor Richard's Almanac. In it he

put many of his wise sayings, such as

"Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man

healthy, wealthy, and wise. "

Besides printing, Benjamin Franklin

conducted scientific experiments and

worked on inventions. Flying a kite in a

thunderstorm, he discovered that lightning

is electricity. He invented bifocal glasses

and the Franklin stove.

Benjamin Franklin was also a patriot who

served his country well. First he

concentrated his effort in the colony of

Pennsylvania, and later he helped all the

colonies by representing them in Europe.

One of this statesman's greatest deeds

was to help write the Declaration of

Independence that brought freedom to the

colonies. Later he assisted in writing the

Constitution of the United States.

The churches of Philadelphia would not

allow the evangelist George Whitefield to

preach in the pulpits, forcing him to

conduct his meetings in the open air.

Benjamin Franklin, together with other

admirers of Whitefield, erected a building

in which the great evangelist could preach

to the huge crowds that gathered to hear

him. That structure became the first

building of the University of Pennsilvania.

Thus Benjamin Franklin, together with his

many other achievements, had an

influence upon religion and education in

the United States.


1. Benjamin Franklin started printing the

magazine that became the?

a. Atlantic Monthly c. Saturday Evening Post

b. New Yorker d. Popular Science Monthly

2. His Poor Richard's Almanac contains many

of his?

a. predictions c. inventions

b. wise sayings d. recipes

3. Benjamin Franklin learned about electricity

by flying a kite?

a. at the World's Fair c. during a thunderstorm

b. over the ocean d. on a still night

4. Benjamin Franklin was called a? who served

his country well.

a. soldier c. traitor

b. patriot d. President

5. When Benjamin Franklin first lived in

Pennsylvania, it was?

a. a state c. Indian territory

b. a British colony d. Dutch territory

6. Benjamin Franklin invented?

a. spectacles c. contact lenses

b. bifocals d. the telescope

7. Besides working for the colonies in America,

Benjamin Franklin represented them in?

a. South America c. Europe

b. Japan d. Russia

8. Benjamin Franklin helped to write?

a. the Gettysburg Address c. the Declaration

of Independence

b. Whitefield's sermons d. the Mayflower

Compact

9. An admirer of the evangelist George

Whitefield, Benjamin Franklin helped to

erect for him a?

a. statue

c. home

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SKILL SHEETS 5____________________________________________________________

195

b. building to preach in

d. church

10. Benjamin Franklin influenced our

country?

a. in education only

c. in politics only

b. a little

d. in many different ways






canopy: overhead covering

mythical: imaginary

constellation: a definite star group

STARS

Did you know that some ancient people

thought that stars were merely holes in

the canopy of space? They believed these

holes permitted man to see, on a clear

night, the eternal brightness that lay

beyond.

It is true that there is eternal brightness

where God dwells, but we know that the

stars are not holes to let this brightness

through; they are created bodies of light.

We read in Genesis 1 that when God

created the sun and the moon, "He made

the stars also. "

Some ancient peoples believed that the

stars were the lanterns of their mythical

gods and that the heroes of their stories

lived in the constellations of stars.

From ancient times men have used stars

in navigation. You remember that wise

men from the East, about whom we read

in Matthew 2, were guided to the Christ

Child by an unusual star.

Not until the telescope was invented in the

1600s did people realize that there were

billions of stars besides the ones they

could see with the naked eye.

Astronomers tell us that there are 100

billion stars in our galaxy alone, while

some other galaxies contain even more.

Astronomers estimate that there are at

least 80 billion galaxies in the universe.

We cannot even imagine the billions of

stars in the universe. The amazing thing

is that God has not only created them all

but also calls them all by name.


1. Charles Dickens was brought up?

a. in wealth

b. in poverty

c. with educational advantages

d. in prison

2. How many children were in the Dickens

family?

a. 6 c. 8

b. 7 d. 9

3. Mr. Dickens was put into prison for?

a. stealing c. murder

b. not paying his debts d. treason

4. Charles was on his own at the age of?

a. nine c. sixteen

b. eleven d. eighteen

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5. Charles worked at a?

a. bakery c. cobbler shop

b. bookstore d. blacking establishment

6. Roaming the streets of London

prepared Charles for?

a. a life of crime c. his life's work of writing

b. marriage d. prison reform

7. When Charles attended school, he was

known for his?

a. jokes c. good looks

b. athletic ability d. storytelling ability

8. In order to be a good reporter, Charles

studied?

a. typing c. poetry

b. shorthand d. law

9. Charles Dickens's first outstanding literary

success was?

a. A Christmas Carol c. Oliver Twist

b. David Copperfield d. Pickwick Papers

10. Charles Dickens proved that success comes

from?

a. wealth

b. luck

e. being in an important family

d. hard work






critic: a judge of literary works

pathos (pā'dhōs'): a quality that awakens

pity or sympathy

conceive: to form in one's mind

FAME COMES TO CHARLES DICKENS

Charles Dickens became famous overnight

when his Pickwick Papers came out in the

newspaper. The adventures of Mr.

Pickwick and his friends were humorous

and true to life. It seemed as if everyone

read and talked about them.

Charles continued to write, amazing his

critics with the number of works he wrote.

Many of his stories, such as Oliver Twist,

showed the lives of the children of the

slums, with whom he had close

acquaintance. England had never had

such books that presented the pathos of

everyday life while at the same time em-

phasizing home, love, and honor. Most of

his books were novels, although he wrote

a number of plays and other books as

well.

Dickens was the first great English

novelist to visit America, where he was

received with such admiration that he

enjoyed no privacy whatsoever. Back in

England, he conceived the idea of writing

an annual Christmas story. A Christmas

Carol is still giving inspiration and joy to

readers all over the world. For several

years Dickens wrote a new Christmas

story for his readers every Christmas, but

he is best known for his story of Scrooge

and Tiny Tim.

Charles Dickens walked one hour for every

hour he wrote. It is estimated that his

walks in the country and on the streets of

London during his lifetime numbered over

200,000 miles.

This great writer obtained satisfaction, not

from the riches his writing brought him,

but from doing his work well and inspiring

better living conditions, especially for little

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197

children. His books are classics-they live

on even today although their author died

many years ago.


I. Pickwick Papers first appeared as?

a. a play c. a newspaper serial

b. poetry d. a book

2. The people of England enjoyed the

adventures of Mr. Pickwick because they were?

a. sophisticated c. fanciful

b. far-fetched d. humorous and true to life

3. Many of Dickens's stories portray?

a. royalty c. extreme poverty

b. wealth d. knights and ladies

4. Most of Dickens's writings were?

a. articles c. poems

b. plays d. novels

5. Mr. Dickens was the first great English

writer to visit?

a. France c. Australia

b. Norway d. America

6. The people of this country received him

with?

a. criticism c. great admiration

b. indifference d. hostility

7. When not writing, Charles Dickens spent

much time?

a. riding c. playing rugby

b. walking d. traveling

8. Charles Dickens wrote?

a. an annual Christmas story

b. Christmas plays

c. operettas

d. stories about religious freedom

9. Through his writings, Charles Dickens

brought about reforms especially for?

a. libraries c. elderly people

b. children d. workers

10. A classic book is a book that?

a. is popular c. lives on

b. is only for schools d. is hard to read






obsolete: out of date

circuit: a journey in a circle

accurate: correct

ACCURACY OF THE BIBLE

Would you believe that in Paris there is a

library containing three miles of science

books, the facts of which are already

obsolete? Old books are important for

their historical value but not for scientific

information, which is constantly changing

as new discoveries are made.

Would you believe that the Bible, parts of

which were written at least three thousand

years ago, is up to date scientifically?

Galileo discovered in 1630 that air has

weight, but Job talked about this many

years before that: "To make the weight

for the winds," we read in Job 28:25.

Until the Phoenicians were bold enough to

sail around Africa, people insisted that the

earth was flat and that to go beyond the

Mediterranean would result in certain

disaster. Yet 2,500 years ago, Isaiah

stated that the earth is round (Isaiah

40:22). Galileo discovered in 1630 that

winds have regular circuits, but Solomon

spoke of this principle many years before

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198

Christ, as recorded in Ecclesiastes 1:6.

Although the Bible is not a science book,

when it speaks of scientific laws it is 100

percent accurate -not like the three miles

of outdated science books in Paris based

on man's ideas!


1. In a Paris library there are three miles of

science books that are?

a. up to date c. interesting

b. no longer accurate d. moldy

2. Old books are important for?

a. historical information c. antique dealers

b. scientific information d. old people

3. Scientific information constantly changes

because of?

a. computers c. new discoveries

b. new books d. television

4. The only ancient writings that are

scientifically accurate are?

a. historical novels

b. the works of the Phoenicians

c. the Scriptures

d. Greek mythology

5. Galileo's discovery in 1630 that air has

weight was mentioned in the Bible many years

before by?

a. Abraham c. Daniel

b. Job d. Paul

6. Who were the first people to sail around

Africa?

a. the Chinese c. the Vikings

b. the Romans d. the Phoenicians

7. Isaiah stated that the earth was round?

a. 2,500 years ago c. during the days of Jesus

b. 1,000 years ago d. during the Dark Ages

8. Solomon spoke of wind circuits many years

before Christ in the book of?

a. Proverbs c. Psalms

b. Song of Solomon d. Ecclesiastes

9. The Bible is scientifically accurate?

a. sometimes c. always

b. never d. often

10. You can put your confidence in?

a. the latest scientific discoveries

b. old theories

c. television reports

d. the Bible





YOUNG MAN WITH A PURPOSE

William Booth of Nottingham, England,

had to quit school and go to work at a

pawnshop when he was thirteen years old.

He felt sorry for the poor people who had

to pawn their treasures in order to get

necessary money.

When he was fifteen, his father died,

leaving William the man of the family.

William thought often about death after

his father died. If he died, where would

he go? His mother told him not to worry-

he was a good boy and would go to

Heaven-but William was not convinced.

He began to attend services at a chapel,

where he learned that nobody is good

enough to go to Heaven. Only those who

trust in Jesus' sacrifice for them can be

saved. William gladly did this, telling God

that He could have all of William Booth.

As soon as he was converted, William

began to share his faith with others. He

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199

preached on the streets to all who would

listen. Soon he had a following of ragged

boys. When he took them to church with

him, the well-dressed worshipers were

displeased. A deacon told William to seat

his ragged friends where the respectable

people could not see them.

William Booth began to dream of starting

a church for poor folks. Besides preaching

the gospel to the poor, he also wanted to

help them with their daily problems.

Many years passed before his dream came

true, but finally he began the gospel

organization known as the Salvation

Army. He and his fellow workers eventu-

ally provided lodging houses for the

homeless, jobs for the unemployed, and

food for the hungry. He waged war

against evils such as liquor. The Salvation

Army spread to many countries of the

world and gave aid to millions.


1. William Booth grew up in the English city of?

a. London c. Birmingham

b. Bristol d. Nottingham

2. He had to quit school and go to work when

he was?

a. twelve c. fifteen

b. thirteen d. seventeen

3. He worked at a?

a. bakery c. factory

b. pawnshop d. blacksmith shop

4. His father died when he was?

a. thirteen c. sixteen

b. fifteen d. seventeen

5. After that William worried about?

a. making money c. death

b. his education d. his family

6. At the chapel he learned he could go to

Heaven by?

a. being good c. supporting his family

b. preaching d. trusting in Jesus

7. After he was converted, William began?

a. to attend school c. to take music lessons

b. to preach on the streets d. to write a book

8. When he took a group of ragged boys to

church with him, the other worshipers were?

a. glad c. unconcerned

b. upset d. jealous

9. William's dream was to?

a. get rich c. start a church for poor people

b. start an orphanage d. get married

10. Besides preaching to people, the Salvation

Army?

a. supports museums

b. gives scholarships

c. operates travel agencies

d. helps people with daily problems






staff: a support

nobility: people with titles, such as dukes

and lords

gentry: landowners; in rank, just below

the nobility friar: a monk ,

THE STAFF OF LIFE

If you could have only one kind of food,

which should you choose? Probably bread.

Bread is called "the staff of life"because it

is such an important food.

The ingredient in bread that makes it light

is yeast, thought to have been discovered

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200

by the Egyptians many years ago. Yeast

causes the dough to get bigger, or

expand, making it light.

Since china dishes were not known during

the Middle Ages, slices of bread were used

as plates by the rich and after dinner were

thrown to the dogs or given to the

servants. During part of the Middle Ages,

only royalty were allowed to eat fresh

bread. Those of the nobility were

permitted day-old bread, gentry ate two-

day-old bread, and scholars and friars got

three-day-old bread; the poor peasants

had to be content with bread four days

old.

The English baked bread without yeast to

take on ocean voyages because bread

without yeast does not mold. We are told

that this bread was made in huge batches

and mixed by a man jumping on it in his

bare feet. How would you like a

trampoline like that?

In order for the yeast to do its work,

bread dough must be kept warm. Long

ago, French farm families mixed their

dough in long troughs. To keep the dough

warm, the farmer's wife covered it with a

sheet and slept on top of it.

The Bible frequently mentions bread. In

John 6:51 we learn that as bread can

meet our physical needs, the Living Bread

can meet our spiritual needs. Jesus

said,"I am the living bread which came

down from Heaven: if any man eat of this

bread,he shall live for ever. " Even more

than we need the staff of life in our

stomachs, we need the Bread of Life in

our hearts.


1. What is bread often called?

a. the rod and staff c. prisoner's fare

b. a staple d. the staff of life

2. Yeast makes the dough?

a. get smaller c. dry out

b. get bigger d. spoil

3. Yeast gives bread?

a. taste c. nutrition

b. lightness d. color

4. Yeast was first used by the ancient?

a. Babylonians c. Egyptians

b. Greeks d. Romans

5. During the Middle Ages, rich people used

bread for?

a. bird feed c. money

b. ornaments d. plates

6. During part of the Middle Ages, the only

ones, allowed to eat freshly baked bread were?

a. royalty c. gentry

b. nobles d. friars

7. The English baked bread without yeast to

take on sea voyages because it? a. took up

less space c. was tastier

b. didn't mold d. cost less

8. The way the English mixed large batches of

this bread reminds us of a?

a. bicycle c. trampoline

b. diving board d. bed

9. In olden days, French women covered their

bread and lay on it?

a. because it was soft c. because they were tired

b. to hide it d. to keep it warm

10. What is the Bread of Life that we need in

our hearts?

a. angels c. Jesus

b. blood d. nutritious foods

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SKILL SHEETS 5____________________________________________________________

201






intent: determined

occupant: one who lives in a place

A Worm Who Lives in a House

The caddis worm, which turns into a

caddis fly or moth, would be quite

unprotected were it not for his house. The

amazing thing is that the tiny white worm

carries his house about with him. No, it is

not a shell such as the snail has, but

rather something like a mobile home or a

house boat.

Down on the bottom of the pond, the

worm manufactures a structure like a

wicker basket from stiff, peeled roots.

After making a framework, he saws the

roots into little sticks with his jaws. He

plasters these sticks on his basketlike

structure until he has a neat little log

cabin in which to live.

Although the caddis worm's house cannot

float at first, when the worm sticks part of

his body out of his front door, the empty

part of the house fills with air. Slowly the

house and the worm begin to float up to

the top of the pond.

Floating about on the top of the pond, the

caddis worm uses the front part of his

body as a paddle and rudder to steer

himself. When he wants to return to the

bottom of the pond, all he has to do is

wriggle back into his house, and down he

goes! When water beetles pounce upon

the caddis worm's house, intent on tearing

it to shreds and eating the occupant, the

tiny white worm slips out his front door

and escapes right between the legs of his

enemy.


1. The caddis worm builds his house of?

a. mud c. weeds

b. shell d. peeled roots

2. His house looks like a miniature?

a. church c. coffin

b. log cabin d. bell

3. His protection is his?

a. color c. house

b. odor d. sting

4. The caddis worm?

a. turns into a moth c. turns into a water

beetle

b. stays a worm d. turns into a tadpole

5. This interesting creature builds his house?

a. at the bottom of the pond c. In a hollow log

b. in a tree d. at the top of the pond

6. The caddis worm is?

a. red c. black

b. tan d. white

7. To build his house, he uses his?

a. saliva c. feet

b. jaws d. friends

8. When the caddis worm sticks part of his

body out of his house, the house?

a. sinks c. floats

b. flies d. crumbles

9. The caddis worm's enemies are?

a. fishermen c. water beetles

b. children d. birds

10. He escapes from his enemy by?

a. fighting

b. slipping out his front door

c. sinking to the bottom of the pond

d. hiding in the weeds

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SKILL SHEETS 5____________________________________________________________

202






Roentgen (rĕnt'gən)

denounce: to express disapproval of

ridicule: to make fun of

pelt: to throw things at

clergy: ministers

NEW INVENTIONS

Would you believe that a man named

Joshua Coppersmith was arrested in New

York for promoting the idea of

transmitting voices over a wire and trying

to raise money for the project?

Would you believe that the first baby

buggy, invented by Charles Burton, was

outlawed as a traffic hazard?

Would you believe that the German

scientist William Roentgen, who

discovered X-rays, was denounced as a

man who wanted to invade the privacy of

people and see into their bedrooms?

Would you believe that it took one

hundred years after the fork was adopted

in Italy for England to accept its use? The

English ridiculed the Italians as sissies

who could not bear to get their hands

greasy.

Would you believe that the first man to

walk down a London street carrying an

umbrella was ridiculed and pelted with

garbage?

Would you believe that spectacles, in spite

of their usefulness, were not readily

accepted by people at first? Doctors

believed them to be harmful to the eyes.

The clergy believed wearing them in an

effort to restore failing eyesight was an

act of rebellion toward God.

Would you believe that when the Wright

brothers flew their first airplane, they

could not even get the newspaper to print

the news at first? The story was just too

unbelievable.


1. People thought Joshua Coppersmith's idea of

transmitting voices over a wire was?

a. unlawful c. interesting

b. ingenious d. sensible

2. The first baby buggy invented was outlawed

as being?

a. afire hazard c. a waste of money

b. a traffic hazard d. unhealthful

3. The English were how many years behind

the Italians in adopting the use of the fork?

a. two years c. fifty years

b. ten years d. one hundred years

4. The first man to walk down a London street

carrying an umbrella was?

a. cheered c. arrested

b. pelted with garbage d. chased

5. When spectacles were first invented, doctors

believed they were?

a. a wonderful invention c. unsanitary

b. only for looks d. harmful to the eyes

6. Preachers thought that trying to restore

failing eyesight with spectacles was?

a. impossible c. useless

b. defiance against God d. ridiculous

7. The German scientist William Roentgen

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203

discovered?

a. spectacles c. X-rays

b. the microscope d. the telephone

8. Why did newspapers fail to print the story of

the first airplane?

a. They were jealous.

b. They did not believe it.

c. They were afraid of being ridiculed.

d. They ran out of ink.

9. The first X-rays were denounced as

destroying people's?

a. cells c. tissues

b. privacy d. personality

10. The main point of this article is that often

people?

a. dislike inventors

b. are slow to accept new ideas

c. lie to reporters

d. immediately praise new inventions






loam: rich soil

silt: mud deposits

humus (hū'məs): the part of soil resulting

from decayed plants and animals

remnant: the part left over

ORDINARY SOIL

We take some of the wonders of God's

creation for granted, not stopping to

consider what miracles they are. One of

these is the soil that produces our food.

There are different kinds of soil, each one

particularly suited to certain crops: sandy

soil, sandy loam, silt loam, clay, and

humus.

Soil is a combination of ground-up

particles of rock mixed with the decayed

remnants of plants and animals. When

plants and animals die, they are received

back into the earth and become a part of

the soil. They then serve as a natural

fertilizer for new plant life.

Soil is so common that we do not stop to

think of the miracles taking place in it

every day. For six thousand years or

more, it has produced grains, vegetables,

fruit, trees for lumber, and a multitude of

other products. Look around your home

or school and you will discover that nearly

everything you see is made from products

of the soil. The amazing thing is that even

after producing these many products, the

soil remains to do its job over and over

again.

Windstorms and floods move topsoil from

one place to another, but the basic soil

remains the same year after year, quietly

doing the work God created it to do.

Mountains of food and other necessary

products are produced annually from the

soil that we take for granted.

God promised that soil would continue to

produce food year after year. "While the

earth remaineth, seedtime and

harvest…shall not cease" (Genesis 8:22).

We should be thankful for ordinary soil. It

is one of the wonders of God's creation.


READ & THINK

SKILL SHEETS 5____________________________________________________________

204

1. We tend to take soil for granted because it

is?

a. common c. a nuisance

b. dirty d. useful

2. The production of food from the soil is?

a. the result of man's cleverness

b. a miracle of God

c. an accident of nature

d. the result of science

3. Dead animals and plants?

a. ruins the soil c. make the soil richer

b. clog the soil d. disappear

4. The desk you are writing on originated in?

a. man's mind c. the soil

b. the sea d. space

5. How many kinds of soil are there?

a. one kind c. three kinds

b. two kinds d. more than three kinds

6. In God's careful management of His creation

nothing is ever?

a. used twice c. wasted

b. certain d. necessary

7. Which of the following is a kind of soil?

a. asteroid c. okra

b. humus d. cumulus

8. What force moves topsoil?

a. heat c. wind and floods

b. snow d. freezing temperatures

9. Over hundreds of years the soil?

a. completely changes

b. remains basically the same

c. stops producing crops

d. disappears

10. God promised that as long as the earth

remains so will?

a. travel c. Schools

b. the growing of food d. fishing






inhabitant: one that lives in a place

recast: remade by pouring the liquid

metal into a mold again

Over one million people a year go to

Liberty Bell Pavilion in Philadelphia to see

the famous Liberty Bell, which is three

feet tall and weighs over a ton. The bell

was made in England and then brought to

America in 1752 to be put in the new

State House (now called Independence

Hall) in Philadelphia. Around the top of

the bell was inscribed the verse from

Leviticus,"Proclaim liberty throughout all

the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.

"The Pennsylvania Assembly purchased

the bell in celebration of William Penn's

charter of privileges.

Unfortunately, when the huge bell was

first rung, it cracked and had to be recast.

Since the recast bell clanged instead of

rang, it was taken down again for

recasting. At last the bell rang clearly,

calling the people of Philadelphia to

sessions of leg slature, funerals, and other

important events.

No one thought to ring the bell on July 4,

1776, when the Declaration of

Independence was adopted, but four days

later it rang out with other bells all over

the nation announcing the Declaration to

all.

During the War for Independence, the

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SKILL SHEETS 5____________________________________________________________

205

British silenced the Liberty Bell by taking it

out of its tower and carting it to

Allentown, Pennsylvania. There for nearly

a year it was hidden under the floor of a

church.

Afert the wan the bell was returned to its

tower in Philadelphia and rung faitlifuily

every Fourth of July and on other

important occasions until it severely

cracked again in 1846. Too brittle to ring

any longer, the bell rested at

Independence Hall until January 1, 1976,

when it was moved to the pavilion. This

great bell serves to remind thousands of

Americans each year of their "liberty

throughout all the land. "

ORAL LENGUAGE EXERCISE__________________________________________________

206

LANGUAGE

A. BEKA BOOK PUBLICATIONS

AMINISTRY OF PENSACOLA

CHRISTIAN COLLEGE PENSACOLA.

FLORIDA 3252223.

. Beka Book Publications

a ministry of Pensacola Christian

College

Pensacola, Florida 32522

Copyright 1982 Williams A. Kappele

all rights reserved. printed in U. S. A

2001 C00

No part of this publications may be

reproducer or transmited in any form or

by any means, electronic or mechanical,

including, photocopy, recording, or any

information storage and retrieval system,

or by license from any collective or

licensing body, without permission in

writing from the publisher.

A. Beta book, a Christian textbook

ministry of pensacola Christian college is

desinneg to meet the need for Christian

textbook and teaching aids. the purpose of

this publishing ministry is to help Christian

schools reach children and young people

for the lord and train them in the

christian way of life.

EXERCISE 4. 2

1 . Bill writes very badly.

6. Sue's dress had a bad stai

2. Bill's writing is very bad.

7. Molly feels well today.

3. Terry writes very well.

8. Sharon feels bad today.

4. Terry's writing is very good.

9. He hit the ball badly.

5. Sue's dress was badly stained

10. He is a bad hitter.

EXERCISE 4. 3

1 . That is a very bad painting.

6. How good was the job?

2. The artist did the painting badly.

7. How bad was her injury?

3. How well did he do the job?

8. Was she hurt badly?

4. Did he do a good job?

9. Was it a good job?

5. Did he do the job well?

10. Was the job done well?

EXERCISE 4. 4

1. Is Joan feeling well?

6. The tennis match was plak

2. Is Joan feeling bad?

7. John's leg was badly brok

3. His sweater was badly torn.

A

ORAL LENGUAGE EXERCISE

Grades One throgh Six

ORAL LENGUAGE EXERCISE__________________________________________________

207

8. The break in his leg was i

4. How bad a tear was it?

9. He did a good job.

5. That was a good tennis match.

10. The job was done well.

EXERCISE 4. 5

1. Did you do well on the test?

6. It was a very bad wreck.

2. Did you make a good grade?

7. Jerry doesn't feel well tod

3. Were you treated badly?

8. He has not been well for

4. How bad was your treatment?

9. Is that a good painting?

5. The car was badly wrecked.

10. The painting was done ve

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