续约《英语短篇小说教程》练习参考答案unit5、6

《英语短篇小说教程》

练习参考答案

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Keys to Unit Five

Roald Dahl: The Taste

1) Questions for Discussion:

(Suggested answers for reference)

(1) Can you explain the writer

’

s plotting -- which part is the exposition, or complication, or climax,

or resolution of this short story?

(

exposition

:

lines

1-17);

complication

:

lines

18-404;

climax

:

lines

405-425;

resolution

:

lines 426-431)

(2) The narrator seems to be rather suspicious of Pratt

’

s motive. Can you find the places in the

story where he shows his suspicion and underline them?

1)

He

was

completely

engrossed

in

conversation

with

Mike

’

s

eighteen-year-old

daughter,

Louise.

…

As he spoke, he leaned closer and closer to her, and the poor girl leaned as far as she

could away from him, nodding politely, rather desperately

…

(lines 67-72)

2)

…

in two short swallows he tipped the wine down his throat and turned immediately to

resume his conversation with Louise Schofield. (lines 78-80)

3) Except that, to me, there was something strange about his drawling voice and his boredom:

between the eyes a shadow of something evil, and in his bearing an intentness that gave me a faint

sense of uneasiness as I watched him. (lines 121-124)

4)

And

yet,

curiously,

his

next

questions

seemed

to

betray

a

certain

interest.

“

You

like

to

increase the bet?

”

(lines 138-139)

5) It was a solemn, impassive performance, and I must say he (Pratt) did it well. (line 289)

6)

…

he was becoming ridiculously pompous, but I thought that some of it was deliberate

…

(lines 316-317)

(3)

Can

you

say

a

few

words

about

each

of

the

three

members

of

the

Schofield

family?

Write

down your impression on a piece of paper and read out what you have written to the class.

(Michael

Schofield

is

stockbroker,

getting

rich

almost

too

effortlessly.

Conscious

of

being

less

“

cultured,

”

he imitates the way of life of high class, attempting to copy the manners of the

“

polite society,

”

to suppress his emotion, to be courteous whenever possible. He loves his daughter,

but pays little attention to his wife

’

s opinion.

Mrs. Schofield is similarly conscious of

“

cultured behavior,

”

always fearing that her husband

may fail to keep to the polite manners. She is almost completely disregarded by her husband, and

she knows it, but behaves as if her words had weight on him.

Louise is a lovely young lady, generally behaving in the way that her parents would wish her

to behave. She does not show her anger though obviously she is displeased by Mr. Pratt. She also

accepts the ridiculous betting upon her father

’

s repeated pleading.)

(4) The ending of the story is unexpected but significant. What does it reveal to you about the two

characters, the humble maid and the wealthy and

“

highly cultured

”

Richard Pratt?

2

(Though low in social status and in economic position, the humble

maid demonstrates her

wisdom,

cool-mindedness,

loyalty

and

nobility.

On

the

contrary,

the

member

of

so- called

“

cultured class

”

such as Mr. Pratt, reveals fully his dishonesty, meanness and evil intention.)

3) Explanation and interpretation:

(Explain the implied meaning of the following sentences, and point out their significance

in the context of the story.)

(1) He (Pratt) was completely engrossed in conversation with Mike

’

s eighteen-year-old daughter,

Louise. He was half turned towards her, smiling at her

…

(Pratt had an interest in his friend

’

s daughter and showed that almost openly. This shows that

he is not a gentleman, but a mean-minded person.)

(2) (The narrator):

“

But why the study?

”

Mike:

“

It

’

s the best place in the house. Richard helped me choose it last time he was here.

”

(This is a foreshadowing. Richard Pratt had set the trap. From the very beginning of the betting,

Pratt had already had the plan, and step by step he led Mike into the trap.)

(3)

…

and then he (Mike) picked up his knife, studied the blade thoughtfully for a moment,

and put it down again.

(He was making an effort to restrain himself and suppress his anger, but he might do anything

if

he

can

not

control

himself

in

an

explosive

moment.

Pratt

’

s

desire

for

his

daughter

was

outrageous and he had been challenging his patience for almost too long.)

(4) It was a solemn, impassive performance, and I must say he (Pratt) did it well.

(The

narrator

seemed

to

have

noticed

that

what

Pratt

had

staged

was

a

well- prepared

“

performance.

”

)

(5) Pratt glanced around, saw the pair of thin horn- rimmed spectacles that she held out to him, and

for a moment he hesitated.

“

Are they? Perhaps they are, I don

’

t know.

”

(Pratt now saw the big hole in his plan, but after a moment of indecision, he calmly attempted

to cover it up by saying something in a careless manner.)

4) Suggested Homework:

(Turn the short story into a performable short play.

)

Task One:

Divide the class into groups of six.

Task

Two:

Rewrite

the

story

in

the

form

of

a

play.

Shorten

it

by

keeping

only

the

necessary

conversation

and

cutting

away

the

rest.

Add

a

brief

introduction

and

some

conclusive comments.

Task Three: Prepare to act out the story with 6 characters in the play

–

the narrator who introduces

the story at the beginning and makes a brief comment at the end, Mike Schofield, his

wife, his daughter Louis, Richard Pratt and the maid.

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