Reading Tasks

T a s k 1. Read the story and say whether these statements are True or False. Correct the false statements.

1. Mr Bixby never accompanied his wife to the aunt because he was unwilling to do that.

2. The Colonel and Mrs Bixby’s meetings faced no hitches.

3. It was just before Easter when Mrs Bixby saw the Colonel for the last time.

4. On the train Mrs Bixby decided to get rid of the coat by sending it back to the Colonel.

5. She went to the pawnbroker because she was broke and needed money to pay the taxi driver.

6. Mrs Bixby told her husband that she had found the pawn ticket in the taxi.

7. It was the pawnbroker who gave Mrs Bixby a ridiculous fur neckpiece instead of the mink coat.

T a s k 2. Give extended answers to the following questions.

1. What was Mrs Bixby’s real reason for visiting Baltimore? What was her convenient alibi?

2. What was the Colonel like? What proves that he was exceedingly wealthy?

3. Did the Colonel and Mr Bixby treat Mrs Bixby in a different or similar way?

4. When Mrs Bixby was given a large flattish cardboard box what did she expect to see in it? What was actually in it?

5. How did the coat change the whole personality of the woman when she tried it on?

6. What was Mrs Bixby’s reaction to the letter? Did she immediately forget about her feelings towards the Colonel?

7. Why did the sense of satisfaction of owning the coat leave Mrs Bixby?

8. Why did Mrs Bixby go to the pawnbroker? How does the plan describe her?

9. Why didn’t she want to leave her address and have any description of the coat on the ticket?

10. How was Mrs Bixby to redeem the mink coat?

11. In what way did Mrs Bixby try to prove to her husband that she should go to the pawnbroker?

12. Did they come to the agreement who should go to the pawnbroker?

13. Why was Mrs Bixby very excited on Monday morning? Where did she go at half past one in the afternoon?

14. What did Mrs Bixby feel when she saw the garment her husband had brought from the pawnbroker? What was it?

15. Why was Mr Bixby going to be late home that night?

16. At the end of the story who received the Colonel’s mink coat?

T a s k 3. “For my own personal reasons I shall not be able to see you any more” – was written in the Colonel’s last letter. In your own opinion, what was the real reason for not seeing Mrs Bixby again?

T a s k 4. Find the lines in the story that show Mrs Bixby’s attitude towards her husband and her marriage. Who do you sympathize with in this story?

Post-Reading Tasks

Discuss the following ideas.

• Will Mrs Bixby tell her husband the truth about the coat in the evening when he comes home? How will the family relations develop after this incident? Will the couple get divorced?

• Divorce has become a lucrative process, simple to arrange and easy to forget: do you agree with this statement? Name the most frequent reasons for divorce. Explain your choice.

• Make an imaginary picture of a solid house which will present your idea of a family life. What relationship between husband and wife will make the basement, the floor, the walls, the ceiling, the attic, the roof? (For example, love, reliability, faithfulness, etc.). Don’t let your house fall apart! What relationship or features won’t you let in your house? Why? (For example, greed, deceit, vanity).

• Explain the first sentence of the story: “America is the land of opportunities for women”. What is the author’s attitude to American women, in your opinion?

• “Soon women will have it all”. What is the role of women in the modern society nowadays? In what spheres of life would you prefer male or female domination and where would you prefer equality between men and women?