The burden of the past

138

Track 39

Read the text once and decide which sentences are false and correct them.

1. Maggie and Philip have been seeing each other regularly since their childhood. 2. Philip’s father is to blame for Maggie’s unhappiness. 3. Maggie was walking along the path, hoping to see Philip. 4. Philip was very good to Maggie and her brother when they were children. 5. Philip made a picture of Maggie as he remembered her. 6. Philip didn’t think that Maggie was as beautiful as she was when she was a child.

READING

Maggie and Philip, who were good friends during their childhood, haven’t seen each other for a few years. Her family had a great deal of trouble because Maggie’s father went bankrupt and blamed other people for his problems, including Philip’s father. That’s why the two young friends had to part. Maggie and Philip met again when she was 17 years old.

It was late afternoon and Maggie became aware of a moving shadow on the grassy path in front of her. She looked down to see Philip, who came forward to her and held out his hand. ‘I saw you yesterday on the bank near your house and I came here today to see if you would come out,’ said Philip, slightly embarrassed. Maggie held out her hand, too and looked at him warmly, her eyes filled for a moment with the memory of her childhood feelings – a memory that was always strong in her. ‘You surprised me,’ she said smiling; ‘I never meet anyone here, but I’m very glad you came,’ said Maggie. ‘I’ve never forgotten how good you were long ago to my brother, Tom, and me, too.’ ‘Do you know, when I was away, I painted a picture of how you looked that morning in the study when you said you would not forget me?’ said Philip timidly. Philip took a tiny box out of his pocket and opened it. Maggie saw a water-colour sketch of herself from long ago. She was leaning on a table, with her black hair behind her ears, looking into space with strange, dreamy eyes. ‘Oh dear,’ said Maggie, smiling with pleasure. ‘What a strange little girl I was! I remember myself with my hair that way, in that pink dress. I was like a gypsy.’ She added, after a little pause: ‘Am I now what you expected me to be?’ Philip met her eyes and looked at her in silence for a long moment, before he said, quietly, ‘No, Maggie.’ A little of the light disappeared from Maggie’s face. Philip continued to look at her. Then he said slowly, ‘You are much more beautiful than I thought you would be.’ ‘Am I?’ said Maggie, her face bright red. As they continued walking, Maggie’s face had lost its glow. Looking at

Philip, she said in a serious, sad voice. ‘I had to part with everything I cared for when I was little. Because of our families we must part and never take any notice of each other again.’ Maggie’s eyes began to fill with tears. The expression of pain on Philip’s face deepened. ‘I see what you mean. I know what keeps us apart on both sides. But it isn’t right, Maggie. I would give up a great deal for my father, but I wouldn’t give up friendship just to obey him.’ Taken from ‘The Mill on the Floss’, by George Eliot

Mary Ann Evans (1819 – 1880), known to us by her pen name of George Eliot, began to write late in life, and attained a leading position among living English novelists in the years between 1870 and 1880. She is best known for her novels Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, and Middlemarch.

Glossary

bankrupt – unable to pay one’s debts to blame – to say that somebody is responsible for something slightly – to a small degree embarrassed – ashamed to obey – to do what one is told to do by someone

COMPREHENSION

In the text, find sentences that give the following information. 1. The two friends were separated for a long time. 2. The problems in Maggie’s family were the cause of their separation. 3. Maggie is now a grown-up girl. 4. Seeing Philip brought back a lot of memories of Maggie’s childhood. 5. Maggie’s appearance in the sketch. 6. Maggie was embarrassed when Philip said she was beautiful. 7. Maggie was sad because her life had changed a lot. 8. Friendship meant a great deal to Philip.

VOCABULARY

a cb

1 Use these adjectives with suitable nouns from the text. Think of other nouns you can use these adjectives with.

strange __________ grassy __________ black __________ dreamy _________ tiny __________ sad __________ water _________ pink __________

139

140

2 Fill in the gaps with the correct prepositions. 1. She was aware ________ his presence. 2. He blamed me ________ spilling milk. 3. She had to part ________ all her toys. 4. An expression ________ happiness. 5. The child’s eyes filled _______ tears. 6. He was leaning _______ the table.

GRAMMAR

ADVERBS Which words do the adverbs in italics modify?

1. Maggie looked at Philip warmly. 2. She watched him slightly embarrassed. 3. He walks very quickly, but he is always late.

Adverbs usually modify verbs, telling us how, how often, when, or where something is done. Adverbs can also modify adjectives or other adverbs.

Adverbs of manner, place, time, frequency and degree

Most adverbs of manner (and some adverbs of degree and frequency) are formed by adding -ly to the adjective, e.g. careful – carefully, terrible – terribly, usual – usually. Some adverbs of time which end in -ly are related to nouns, e.g. month – monthly, year – yearly. Pay attention to spelling changes: happy – happily, comfortable – comfortably, day – daily

Adverbs of manner: hard, slowly, rapidly, gladly, beautifully, shyly Adverbs of time: now, then, yesterday, nowadays, soon, early, later, daily, weekly Adverbs of place: here, there, somewhere, upstairs, inside, outdoors, below Adverbs of degree: absolutely, almost, fairly, very, rather, utterly, terribly, really Adverbs of frequency: often, sometimes, always, usually, ever, never

Position of adverbs

1. Adverbs of manner, place and time normally come after the direct object if there is one. He opened the door silently. 2. If there is more than one adverb, the usual order is: manner – place – time.

He was working quietly in his office all day. Note: when there is a verb of movement, the order is place – manner – time. She went to the station by bus yesterday. 3. Some adverbs of manner, place and time can come at the beginning of a sentence if we want to give special emphasis to manner, place or time.

Slowly, she started the car. 4. Adverbs of frequency normally come before a main verb, but after an auxiliary verb.

I have never written such an unpleasant letter. Note: Adverbs come after the verb to be when it is used as a main verb. She is always on time. 5. Adverbs of degree can be used before or after a verb. She admired him greatly. / I greatly enjoyed the lesson.

PRACTICE

Choose an adverb from the box for each sentence below and put it in the right position.

utterly rarely gently dangerously highly almost

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. She woke the sleeping child. Do you think that people drive in your country? He looked confused when he heard my request. When he entered the bar, the place was empty. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in biology. I have time to read newspapers.

KEY WORD TRANSFORMATIONS

Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given. Do not change the word given.

1. I strongly advise against continuing the journey in that car. (you)

If I ______________________________ continue the journey in that car. 2. ‘Why don’t we buy a bigger house?’ said Kate. /suggested Kate ___________________________ a bigger house. 3. Stella’s mother forced her to study French, though she didn’t like it. /made Stella’s mother _________________________________. 4. He didn’t want to join in the celebrations. (take)

He didn’t want ___________________ the celebrations. 5. I don’t care what you do. (concerned)

As __________________________ , you can do what you like.

COMMUNICATION ASKING FOR AND GIVING ADVICE

Giving advice

Should… ought to… had better …

I think you should get a lawyer. Maybe you should try again. Why don’t you call the company? If I were you, I would tell her.

Asking for advice

What do you think I should do?

What do you suggest?

What would you do (in this situation)?

Example:

A: I don’t think you should sell your car. B: Thanks for the advice, but I really need the money.

141