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A. |
ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS. |
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1. |
What subject did the
young man choose for his first remark to the girl in gray? |
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2. |
Why did he change his manner of speaking to her?
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3. |
What did the girl want him to tell her about? |
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4. |
What reason did she give for not telling him who she was? |
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5. |
What did she say about her way of life and her attitude to it? |
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6. |
What did the young man tell her about his position in life and why did
he tell her this? |
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7. |
Why did she ask him to stay in the park when she left? |
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8. |
How did the other girl make clear to her that she was late on duty? |
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9. |
What is the significance in the story of the book that she had been
reading? |
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10. |
What does the last sentence of the story tell us about
the young man? |
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B. |
FIND EXPRESSIONS IN THE TEXT WITH THE SAME MEANING AS
THOSE BELOW. |
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1. |
very boldly |
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2. |
waiting to see what would happen to him |
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3. |
to avoid newspaper publicity |
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4. |
a person with too much respect for money and position
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5. |
I like to get my facts right |
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6. |
the highest levels of society |
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7. |
an idle person |
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8. |
to get on in life |
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9. |
the same boring series of activities |
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10. |
leaned back in comfort |
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C. |
WRITE THIS PASSAGE IN
REPORTED SPEECH BEGINNING WITH:
She said that... |
|
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'It is impossible to keep one's name out of print. This veil and this
hat of my maid's hide my identity. You should have seen the chauffeur
stare at it when he thought I did not see. There are five or six names
that belong to the holy of holies, and mine, by accident of birth, is one
of them. I spoke to you because I wanted to talk for once with a natural
man. Oh! You do not know how weary I am of it — money, money, money. And
of the men who surround me, dancing like dolls all cut by the same
pattern. I am sick of pleasure, of jewels, of travel, of society, of
luxuries of all kinds.' |
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D. |
READ THROUGH THE STORY AGAIN
AND FIND EXAMPLES: |
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1. |
of the ways in which the girl in grey tries to impress the young
man with her high social position. |
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2. |
of mistakes she makes which show that she is only pretending. |
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E. |
USE A VERB FROM THIS LIST TO
GIVE THE MEANING OF THE EXPRESSIONS IN ITALICS IN EACH OF
THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES: can, could, may, might,
must, should, would. |
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1. |
She would be able to read for another half hour. |
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2. |
The young man spoke to her and stood for a moment, wondering what
she was going to answer. |
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3. |
He asked if he had her permission to sit on the seat beside
her. |
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4. |
'You have my permission if you like,' she answered
graciously. |
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5. |
You have to remember that I am a lady. |
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6. |
The park is the only place where I find it possible to
meet ordinary working men and women. |
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7. |
Are you able to guess why I spoke to you? |
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8. |
You ought to have seen the chauffeur stare at my hat. |
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9. |
I always thought that money would surely be a pretty good thing. |
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10. |
The young man wanted to accompany her to her car, in case one of
those rude men happened to speak to her. |
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F. |
SUBJECTS FOR COMPOSITION AND
DISCUSSION: |
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1. |
How does this story illustrate O. Henry's ability to invent and work
out a clever plot? |
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2. |
Have you ever been tempted to pretend that you were someone else?
Say what happened. |
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3. |
These are two tests of a good 'surprise' ending:
(a) you should not be able to see it coming.
(b) when you think over the story again, you realise that you should
have seen it coming, as there were plenty of clues.
Does While the Auto Waits satisfy these tests?
What clues to the
ending are given?
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