2. The Open Window –After Saki — and ZOOM meeting test

TEXT : The Open Window --After Saki

"My aunt will com down every soon, Mr  Nuttel, " said  a very clam young lady of fifteen years of age; " meanwhile you must try to bear my company. "

Framton Nuttel tried to say something which would please the niece now present, without annoying the aunt that was about to come . He was supposed to be going through a cure for his nerves, but he doubted whether those polite visits to a number of total strangers would help much.

"I know how it will be, " his sister had said when  he was preparing to go away into the country; "you will lose yourself down there and not speak to living soul, and your nerves will be worse than ever through loneliness. I shall just give you  letters of introduction to all the people I know there. Some of them, as far as I can remember, were quite nice."

Framton wondered whether Mrs. Sappleton, the lady to whom he was bringing one of the letters of introduction , one of the nice ones.

"Do you know many of the people  round here? " asked the niece, when she thought that  they had sat  long enough in silence.

"Hardly one, " said Framton. " My sister was staying here, you know, about four years ago, and  she gave me letters of introduction to some of the people here."

He made the last statement in a sad voice.
"Then you know almost nothing about my aunt ? " continued the calm young lady.

"Only her name and address;" Framton admitted, He was wondering whether Mrs. Sappleton was married ; perhaps she had been married and her husband was dead. But there was something of a man in  the room.

"Her great sorrow came just three years ago,"  said the child. "That would be  after your sister's time."

"Her sorrow?" asked Framton. Somehow, in this restful country place, sorrows seemed far away.

"You may wonder why we keep that window wide open on an October afternoon, " said the niece, pointing to a long window that opened like a door on to the grass outside.

"It is quite  warm for the time of the Year." said Framton; "but has that window got anything to do with your aunt's sorrow?"

"Out through that window,  exactly three years ago, her husband and her two young brothers went off for their day's shooting . They never came back. In crossing the country to the shooting ground they were all three swallowed in a bog. It had been that terrible wet summer, you know, and places that were safe in other years became suddenly dangerous. Their bodies were never found . That was the worst part of it . " Here the child's voice lost its calm sound and became almost human. "Poor aunt always thinks that they will come back someday, they and the little brown dog that was lost with them, and walk in at that window just as they used to do. That is why the window is kept open every evening till it is quite dark. Poor dear aunt, she has often told me how they went out, her husband with his white coat over his arm, and Ronnie, her youngest brother, singing a  song, as he always did to annoy her, because she said it affected her nerves. Do you know, sometimes on quiet evenings like this, I almost get a strange feeling that they will all walk in through the window---"

She stopped and trembled. It was a relief to Framton when the aunt came busily into the room and apologized for being late.

"I hope Vera has been amusing you?" she said.

"She has been very interesting, " said Framton.

"I hope you don't mind the open window, " said Mrs. Sappleton brightly; "my husband and brothers will be home soon from shooting, and they always come in this way. They've been shooting birds today near the bog, so they'll make my poor carpets dirty. All you men do that sort of thing, don't you?"

She talked on cheerfully about the shooting and the scarcity of birds, and the hopes of shooting in the winter. To Framton it was all quite terrible. He made a great effort, which was only partly successful, to turn the talk on to a more cheerful subject. He was conscious that his hostess was giving him only a part of her attention, and her eyes were frequently looking past him to the open window and the grass beyond . It was certainly unfortunate that he should have paid his visit on this sorrowful dday.

"The doctors agree in ordering me complete rest, no excitement and no bodily exercise," said Framton, Who had the common idea  that total strangers want to know the least detail of one's illnesses, their cause and cure. "on the matter of food, they are not so much in agreement, " he continued.

"No" said Mrs. Sapleton in a tired voice. Then she suddenly brightened into attention-but not to what Framton was saying.

"Here they are at last!" she cried . "just in time for tea, and don't they look as if they were muddy up to the eyes!"

Framton trembled  slightly and turned towards the niece with a look intended to show sympathetic understanding. The child was looking  out through the open window with fear in her eyes. With a shock Framton turned round in his seat and looked in the same direction.

In the increasing darkness three figures were walking across the grass towards the window; they all carried guns under their arms, and one of them had also a white coat hung over this shoulders. A tired brown dog kept close at their heels. Noiselessly they drew near to the house. and then a young voice started to sing in the darkness.

Framton wildly seized his hat and stick; he ran out though the front door and through the gate. He nearly ran into a  man on a bicycle.

"Here we are, my dear," said the bearer of the white coat, coming in through the window; "fairly muddy, but most of it's dry. Who was that who ran out as we came up ?"

"A most extraordinary man, a Mr. Nuttlel," said Mrs. Sappleton, "he could only talk about his  illnesses, and ran off without a word  of good-bye or apology when you arrived. One would think he had seen a ghost."

" I expect it was the dog," said the niece calmly."he told me he had a terrible  fear of dogs. He was once hunted into a graveyard somewhere in India by a lot of wild dogs, and had to spend the night in a newly-dug grave with the creatures just above him. Enough to make anyone lose their nerve."

She was very clever at making up stories quickly.

 

READER'S QUIZ

Some of the following statements are true (T) , and some are false ( F ), Can you tell which are true and why the others are not ?

(    )  1,  Mr, Nuttel came to Mrs. Sappleton's house to take a complete rest to help the nerve cure.

(    )  2, While waiting with the child for Mrs. Sappleton, Framton doubted if his visits to those strangers would do much towards helping the nerve cure.

(    )  3, The child asked Nuttel  a lot of questions about his knowledge of Mrs. Sappleton, because she wanted to know if he was a real mental patient.

(    )  4, According to the child, Mr. Sappleton and his two brothers-in-law always returned from hunting, muddy and exhausted.

(    )  5, Mrs, Sappleton was late in making her appearance, because she knew that her niece was old enough to look after the patient.

(    )  6, Framton was trying to turn the talk on to a less embarrassing topic , but he was ignored by the hostess.

(    )  7, Framton turned towards the child with a look intended to convey sympathetic comprehension, which suggests that he started to be conscious that everything the child said to him was true .

(    )   8. The child pretended to be staring out through the open window with horror in her eyes in order to  attract Framton's attention.

(    )  9,   Mrs. Sappleton was not unhappy, though Framton dashed off without a word of good-bye or apology when her husband arrived back.

(    )  10. From the story's ending , it could be concluded that the child was good at inventing frightening stories .

VOCABULARY

A . Use each of the following terms in a sentence.

1. to be about to do .

2, in silence

3. something of

4, to annoy

5, to lose one's nerve .

6, partly .

7, to pay one's visit .

8. without a word of

9. to keep close at somebody's heels.

10. just  in time for.

B. Match the term in the left column with one which has a SIMILAR meaning in the right column.

1,  sorrowful.      a , put up with

2, restful.       b. more and more .

3, tremble.         c, sad.

4. increasing.     d. cheer up

5, extraordinary.          e, comfort

6, relief.           f, kindhearted.

7,  brighten .      g, peaceful .

8. sympathetic.        h   . chase.

9. bear.      i,  shiver.

10. hunt.       j. odd.

C . Read the text below, and  fill in the numbered gaps with the vocabulary provided in the box . Note that there are more  lexical items than needed, and that some changes in form are necessary.

----------------- below are choice vocabulary .-----
in youth .   over  again.  surmount. part.   practice.
precisely.   sustain. itself.   at once.  between.
----------------- below are choice vocabulary .-----

 

If I Were a Boy Again

If I were a boy again. I would (1)_____ perseverance more often. and never give up a thing because it was difficult or inconvenient, If we want light , we must conquer darkness. Perseverance can sometimes equal genius in its results. "There are only two creatures. " says  a  proverb. "who can(2) ____ the pyramids--the eagle and the snail."

If I were a boy again, I would school myself into a habit of attention, I would let nothing come(3) ____ me and the subject in hand . I would remember that a good skater never tires to skate in two directions(4) ____ .

The habit of attention becomes(5) _____ of our life. If we begin early enough,  I often hear grown up people say. " I could not fix my attention on the sermon or book. although I washed to do so " and the reason is. the habit was not formed(6)_____.

If I were to live my life (7) ____, I would  pay more attention to the cultivation of the memory. I would strengthen that faculty by every possible means, and on every possible occasion. It takes a little hard work at first to remember  things accurately. but memory soon helps (8) _____,  and gives very little trouble . It only needs early cultivation to become a power.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION & APPRECIATION

1, What was the problem with Mr.  Framton Nuttel? Why is Mr. Nuttel's problem important to this story?  Why was Mr. Nuttel especially vulnerable to someone like Vera?

2,What different  things does the open window in the story symbolize to the characters?

3. when and how should the reader be aware that Mrs. Sappleton's niece had been lying?  Can you find anything earlier in the story that, in retrospect, might seem like a clue to her deception ?

4. The most remarkable of Saki's devices in The Open Window is his constructing of the story's narrative. The structure of the story is actually that of a story-within-a-story.  What is the larger  narrative frame and how is the second story told within this frame?

5. The story winds up with a statement " She was very clever at making up stories quickly". What does this reveal about the child's character?

 

SPEED READING

April Fool's Day

Unlike most of the other non-foolish holidays. The history of April Fool's Day, sometimes  called All Fool's Day, is not totally clear.  There really wasn't a "First April Fool's Day " that can be pinpointed on the calendar.  Some believe it sort of evolved simultaneously in several cultures at the same time from celebrations involving the first day of spring.

The closest point in time that can be identified as the beginning of this tradition was in 1582, in France . Prior to that year. the new year was celebrated for eight days. beginning on March 25. The celebration culminated on April 1. With the reform of the calendar under Charles IX, the Gregorian calendar was introduced. and New Year's Day was moved to January 1.

However, communications being what they were in the day when news traveled by foot , many people did not receive the news for several years .Others,  the more obstinate crowd, refused to accept the new calendar and continued to celebrate the new year on April 1 . These backward folk were labeled as "fools" by the general populace. They were subject to some ridicule. and were often sent on "fools errands" or were made the butt of other practical jokes.

This harassment evolved. over time. into a tradition of  prank-playing on  the first day of April . The tradition eventually spread to England and Scotland in the eighteenth century. It was later introduced to the American colonies of both the English and French . April Fool's Day thus developed into an international fun fest. so to speak, with different nationalities specializing in their own brand of humor at the expense of their friends and families .

In Scotland, for example , April Fool's Day is actually celebrated for two days.  The second day is devoted to pranks involving the posterior region of the body . It is called Taily Day . The origin of the "kick me" sign can be traced to this observance.

Mexico's counterpart of April Fool's Day is actually observed on December 28. Originally. the day was a sad remembrance of the slaughter of the innocent children by King Herod. It eventually evolved into a lighter commemoration involving pranks and trickery.

Pranks performed on April Fool's Day range from the simple, (such as saying, "Your shoe's untied! ") , to the elaborate. Setting a roommate's alarm clock back an hour is a common gag . Whatever the prank. the trickster usually ends it by yelling to his victim. "April Fool!"

Practical jokes are a common practice on April Fool's Day. Sometimes, elaborate practical jokes are played on friends or relatives that last the entire day. The news media even gets involved. For instance, a British short film once shown on April Fool's Day  was a fairly detailed documentary about "spaghetti farmers " and how they harvest their crop from the spaghetti trees.

April Fool's Day is a "for-fun-only" observance. Nobody is expected to buy gifts or to take their "significant other " out to eat in a fancy restaurant. Nobody gets off work or school . It's simply a fun little holiday. but a holiday on which one must remain forever vigilant , for he may be the next April Fool!

Comprehension Exercises

 

1, Decide the answer that best completes the following statements according to the information provided in the text.

1, Some people believe that April Fool's Day developed from _____.

[a], many other non-foolish holidays .
[b], an ancient New Year's festival in France .
[c], the celebrations of the first day  of spring in Europe.
[d], the mixture of traditions in different cultures

2, According to the pre-Gregorian calendar, the beginning of the new year was celebrated____.

[a], on the first of January.
[b], on the first of April .
[c], on the first day of spring .
[d], on December 28.

3, The news did not reach all the people in France that the beginning of the new year was changed and celebrate on January the first, because ______..

[a], most of the people refused to accept Charles IX
[b], most of the people accepted the Georgian calendar.
[c], communications seldom occurred among the people in those days.
[d], communications were so backward in those days that people did not receive the news for years.

4, In France , those people who ______ were known as April Fools"

[a] resisted in changing the date of the new year and continued to celebrate it on April 1
[b] were victimized by pranksters who played practical jokes on him.
[c] were often sent on "fools errands"
[d] were made the butt of many practical jokes.

5, The italicized word in the sentence. " April  Fool's Day is a  'for-fun-only' observance" means ______.

[a] practice
[b] performance
[c] adherence
[d] celebration

II ,  Decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F) according to the information given in the text.

(    ) 1, It can not be determined when and where the tradition of April Fool's Day exactly started in France .

(    ) 2, In France when the implementation of the Gregorian calendar was abandoned by Charles IX, the beginning of the new year was changed and celebrated on January 1.

(    ) 3, The custom of prank-playing made its way around to many other nations as well. April Fool's Day gradually developed into an international fun festival .

(    ) 4, On April Fool's Day , nobody is expected to buy gifts for their lovers or to take them out to eat in a fancy restaurant.

(    ) 5,  April Fool's Day is an international fun holiday on which people do not need to go to work or school.

 

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