Reading Tasks

T a s k 1. Answer the questions.

1. What was the life of Salvatore like when he was a child?

2. Why did Salvatore have to part with his true love?

3. What did he miss most of all about his motherland while he was serving in the navy?

4. What made Salvatore go home earlier than expected after serving in the navy?

5. What did Salvatore expect to see at his arrival home?

6. How did the girl explain to Salvatore her break-up with him?

7. Do you approve Salvatore’s attitude to the girl: “…he didn’t blame her”?

8. How did Salvatore’s mother change his life? Was it a reasonable decision?

9. What did Assunta have to offer to Salvatore?

10. What was the life of Salvatore after the marriage like? (his family life and his work)

11. Did Salvatore marry Assunta because of his goodness, in your opinion?

12. Explain the author’s words at the beginning and at the end of the story: “I wonder if I can do it”.

T a s k 2. Look through the story once again and find the events in Salvatore’s life which refer to the words happy and unhappy. Which of them outweigh?

HAPPY ……… ……… ………

UNHAPPY ……… ……… ………

T a s k 3. Give a character and appearance sketch of:

1. Salvatore (before and after illness);

2. The girl he loved;

c) Assunta.

Post-Reading Tasks

Discuss the following ideas.

• Do parents have a right to decide the future of their children for them? Does it happen in your family?

• Do you agree with the author that goodness is the rarest, the most precious and the loveliest quality that anyone can have?

• What other good qualities does our society lack nowadays? Do we sometimes have to be cruel to be kind?

Mrs bixby and the colonel’s coat

Pre-Reading Tasks

T a s k 1. Brainstorm the following ideas.

1. What is the stereotype of:

a) American men; b) American women; c) American way of life?

2. What are the marriage stereotypes in America and Belarus? What are the main differences and similarities between these marriage stereotypes?

T a s k 2. Discuss the following questions.

1. Which marriage do you prefer and why:

   match love, marriage of convenience, an open marriage,

   monogamy, polygamy, marriage between young and elderly people.

2. Why do people get together or get married?

3. Would you prefer an upper-class husband/wife or a middle-class husband/wife? Why?

4. Do you agree that a family is a society in miniature? Is the family ever likely to disappear as an institute?

T a s k 3. Study the vocabulary:

a) use an English-English dictionary to give definitions to the following words and expressions.

colonel n spouse n groom n jiggery-pokery n the dirty dog id cuckold n alibi n mink n label n queer adj dazzling adj radiant (about a person) adj pawnbroker n suspense n neckpiece n an average income n closet n garment n mangy-looking adj deceitful adj

stupefy v humiliate v vigorous adj encumber sb v pounce on sth v overlook sth vital v lurk v slyly adv subtle adj slip v redeem v fondle v entitle v claim the article v charge sb double v ridiculous adj stammer v reckon v gorgeous adj cunning adj