《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

Somerset 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 seeing Mr. Kelada because _______.

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 purchase 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 passenger’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 nose 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. …(observing) 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 else. (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 itself, 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 resented bitterly the Levantine’s cocksureness. (lines 103-104)

2) He was a great heavy fellow from the Middle West, with loose 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 insensitive (lines 155-170)

Mrs. Ramsay:

1) Mrs. Ramsay was a very pretty little thing, with pleasant manners and a sense of humor. (lines 110-111)

2) She was dressed 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?

1) “They’ll never be able to get a cultured pearl that an expert like me can’t tell with half an eye.” He pointed to a chain that Mrs. Ramsay wore. “You take my word for it, Mrs. Ramsay, that chain you’re wearing will never be worth a cent less than it is now.” (lines 134-137)

2) Mrs. Ramsay in her modest way flushed a little and slipped the chain inside her dress. (line 136)

3) “Oh, in the trade somewhere round fifteen thousand dollars. But if it was bought on Fifth Avenue, I shouldn’t be surprised to hear that anything up to thirty thousand was paid for it.” (lines 145-147)

4) “Oh, Elmer, you can’t bet on a certainty,” said Mrs. Ramsay. (line 155)

5) “But how can it be proved?” she continued. “It’s only my word against Mr. Kelada’s.”(line 159-160)

6) Mrs. Ramsay hesitated a moment. She put her hands to the clasp. (line 164)

7) “I can’t undo it,” she said. “Mr. Kelada will just have to take my word for it.” (line 165)

8) The Levantine took a magnifying glass from his pocket and closely examined it. A smile of triumph spread over his smooth and swarthy face. (lines 170-172)

9) … Mrs. Ramsay’s face. It was so white that she looked as though she were about to faint. She was staring at him with wide and terrified eyes. They held a desperate appeal. (lines 173-175)

(4) Why did Mr. Kelada choose not to tell the truth of the value of the pearl necklace?

(Obviously he wanted to help the helpless lady by not revealing the true value of the necklace. Otherwise she would have to face an awful and embarrassing explanation. He might have regarded Mr. Ramsay as being unworthy for the lady and acted out of disdain.)

(5) Why did the narrator say by the end of the story “I did not entirely dislike Mr. Kelada”?

(He seemed to be aware of his own prejudice after he had seen the positive quality of the Levantine: wisdom, self-sacrifice, and sensitiveness to other’s misfortunes.)

3) Explanation and Interpretation:

(Explain the implied meaning of the following sentences, and point out their significance in the context of the story.)

(1) I was prepared to dislike Max Kelada even before I knew him.

(This indicates that the narrator, the English gentleman, had a deep-rooted racial and cultural bias against non-English. It is not the person, but what his name represents that he disliked.)

(2) But when I was told the name of my companion my heart sank…. I should have looked upon it with less dismay if my fellow passenger’s name had been Smith or Brown.

(“Smith”and “Brown”are typical English surnames. The name “Max Kelada”indicates a man from a different, most likely “inferior” culture in the opinion of the narrator.)

(3) The Consular Service is ill paid, and she was dressed always very simply.

(This foreshadows the fact that the pearl necklace was far too expensive for her purse.)

(4) Mrs. Ramsay in her modest way flushed a little and slipped the chain inside her dress.

(She quickly hid the chain inside, an act that reveals her fear of its true value being noticed by somebody.)

(5) “If I had a pretty little wife I shouldn’t let her spend a year in New York while I stayed at Kobe,” said he.

(Mr. Kelada hinted that the husband’s leaving her alone in New York was unwise and had led to some consequences. She had now a wealthy suitor. )

4) Suggested Homework:

Let us suppose that in the afternoon on the same day when Mr. Kelada got back the 100 dollars, he met Mrs. Ramsay somewhere on the deck, and there were no other people around. They had a short conversation about what had happened previously. Using your imagination, write out the short dialogue between the two. The conversation may begin like this:

(-- Good morning, Mrs. Ramsay. It’s a surprise to see you alone here.

-- Good morning, Mr. Kelada. I don’t feel well, so I come out for a bit of fresh air.

-- It’s always a pleasure to see a charming lady like you.

-- Thank you for saying so. I’m extremely sorry for what happened yesterday, and I’m grateful for what you did, for me.)

-- Lying about the necklace?

-- Lying for my sake. You are generous and have a good heart.

-- Anyway, I got the 100 dollars back. You delivered it yourself?

-- Yes, I did. You did me a great service, and there is no way that you should be paying that money.

-- I have been the laughingstock of everybody on board.

-- You have my respect. I was real terrified yesterday, and fortunately you came to the rescue.

-- It is a wonderful gift, that necklace, from a true admirer, I guess?

-- You embarrass me, Mr. Kelada, but you seem to notice everything.

-- It’s a good match to a pretty lady like you.

-- Don’t laugh at me, I beg. I don’t think I’ll be wearing it anymore. Thank you again, and I think I’ll be going back to the cabin.