《英语短篇小说教程》练习参考答案unit4
《英语短篇小说教程》练习参考答案
Keys to Unit Four
Somert Maugham: Mr. Know-All
1) Opinions of Understanding:
(1) Which of the following is a round character?
A. The narrator “I”.
B. Mr. Kelada.
C. Mr. Ramsay.
D. Mrs. Ramsay.
(2) Which of the following is a most typical flat character?
A. The narrator “I”.
B. Mr. Kelada.
C. Mr. Ramsay.
D. Mrs. Ramsay.
(3) The narrator decided that he might have an unpleasant company even before eing Mr. Kelada becau _______.
A. he had to share a cabin with the latter
B. he had known the latter to be a loud and noisy person
C. the latter had a foreign name
D. the latter had a bad reputation
(4) From the story we can deduce that Mrs. Ramsay’s pearl necklace was probably ____
____.
A. a worthless imitation
B. an expensive purcha that she borrowed money to pay for
C. a gift from her husband
D. a gift from a lover of hers that her husband knew nothing about
(5) By the end of the short story, the narrator said, “At that moment I did not entirely dislike Mr. Kelada.” The words may suggest that _______.
A. he actually enjoyed the company of Mr. Kelada
B. he found that Mr. Kelada was entirely different from what he had expected him to be
C. he liked Mr. Kelada just for a moment
D. he had changed his earlier attitude towards Mr. Kelada
2) Questions for Discussion:
(Suggested answers for reference)
(1)What are the undesirable qualities of Mr. Kelada according to the narrator? Find them out in
the text and list them. Are they good proof that Mr. Kelada is an unpleasant person?
1）…my fellow pasnger’s name was (not) Smith or Brown. (not Anglo-Saxon sounding) (line 9).
2) When I went on board I found Mr. Kelada’s luggage ..and toilet things (showing bad taste) (lines 11-16)
3) Mr. Kelada was short and of a sturdy build, cleanshaven and dark skinned, with a fleshy, hooked no and very large lustrous and liquid eyes. His long black hair was sleek and curly. (His physical features indicate that he is not a white European.) (lines 32-34)
4) He spoke with a fluency in which there was nothing English and his gestures were exuberant. (lines 34-35)
5) Mr. Kelada was chatty. (line 57)
6) Mr. Kelada was familiar. …(obrving) no such formality. (lines 64-68)
7) “The three on the four,” said Mr. Kelada (participating in other person’s card game, being rather nosy) (lines 71-81)
8) I not only shared a cabin with him and ate three meals a day at the same table, but I could not walk round the deck without his joining me. (caring little about other people’s privacy) (lines 85-86)
9) He was a good mixer, and in three days knew everyone on board. He ran everything. (line 90-91)
10) He was certainly the best hated man in the ship. We called him Mr. Know-All. (line 94)
11) He was … argumentative. He knew everything better than anybody el. (lines 96-97)
But the above list only proves that Mr. Kelada was a person of different culture and behaved differently. Nurtured by his more Oriental culture, he behaved in a way that was nothing wrong in itlf, but was disliked by the narrator of the story, who held a prejudice against non-Western culture.
(2) Underline the descriptions of Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay, and discuss the contrast between the couple.
Mr. Ramsay:
1) He was as dogmatic as Mr. Kelada and rented bitterly the Levantine’s cocksureness. (lines 103-104)
2) He was a great heavy fellow from the Middle West, with loo fat under a tight skin, and he bulged out of his ready-made clothes. (lines 106-108)
3) He was argumentative (lines 122-124) and innsitive (lines 155-170)
Mrs. Ramsay:
1) Mrs. Ramsay was a very pretty little thing, with pleasant manners and a n of humor. (lines 110-111)
2) She was dresd always very simply; but she knew how to wear her clothes. She achieved an effect of quiet distinction. (lines 111-113)
3) You could not look at her without being struck by her modesty. It shone in her like a flower on a coat. (lines 115-116)
(The husband and the wife are very different almost in every way. One is loud, fatty,
aggressive and the other is quite, pretty and modest. The contrast gives the reader an impression that the man is unworthy of the lady and may indicate at possible lack of harmony in the marriage.)
(3) We have been given enough hints about the true value of the necklace and the possible story behind it. Can you find them?
