Daddy-long-legs Unit 1. (Blue Wednesday)

Vocabulary work

Exercise 1.

a) Consult a dictionary and translate the following words from the extract. Practice their pronunciation paying attention to stresses.

Squirm, gingham, asylum, straighten, blessed, undulating, curiosity, discommoded, orphan, chant, anxiety, cherubic, elongated, affluential, philanthropy, immoderate, impertinent, superintend, excitement, platitude, heretofore.

b) Listen to your partners’ reading of the above exercise. Correct their mistakes.

Exercise 2. A suggested list of useful expressions. Learn them and recall the situations from the extract in which they are used. Use them in your own examples.

To bear the brunt of something,

To drop down,

To lean against,

To be on feet,

To make round,

To grow blurred,

To get into trouble,

The troubles of life,

On the point of departure,

By nature,

To remain unknown,

To be brought up.

Exercise 3. Check whether you know the meaning of these words. Match the words on the left with their meanings on the right.

1. chant	a. a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome
2. platitude	b. not showing proper respect; rude
3. orphan	c. rich and socially influential
4. anxiety	d. a feeling of great enthusiasm and eagerness
5. affluential	e. an institution offering shelter and support
6. impertinent	f. a repeated rhythmic phrase, typically one shouted or sung in unison by a crowd
7. excitement	g. a child whose parents are dead
8. asylum	h. a remark or statement, esp. one with a moral content, that has been used too often to be interesting or thoughtful

Exercise 4. Look at these sentences. Pick out the missing words from the list on the right. Make sure you use the proper form of the verb.

1. Mrs. Lippett overlooked the fact that Jerusha had … for her board during those two years.	a. to educate
2. Jerusha escaped from the pantry where she had been … sandwiches for the asylum’s guests.	b. to go
3. He is planning … you to become a writer.	c. to think
4. Jerusha … into the nearest chair and waited with a touch of breathlessness	d. to make
5. “Did you notice the gentleman who … just …?”	e. to work hard
6. This will … you to enter on the same standing as the other students.	f. to discuss
7. She wished only to escape from Mrs. Lippett’s platitudes, and …	g. to enable
8. He waited … the terms with me.	h. to drop

Exercise 5. Make these sentences complete, recalling the situations they are used in the extract.

1. She advanced to the office quite cheered by the tiny episode, …

2. He is one of our most affluential Trustees, …

3. She also read aloud an essay that …

4. Now you are finishing that, and of course the asylum …

5. These monthly letters are absolutely obligatory on your part; …

6. Your board and tuition will be paid directly to the college, …

7. She pictured herself in a fur coat and a velvet hat trimmed with feathers leaning back in the seat and …

8. Her special care was room F, …

Exercise 6. Fill in the blanks with the postpositions and prepositions:

With, in, for, against, on, at, into.

1. These monthly letters are absolutely obligatory … your part.

2. I hope that they will always be respectful …tone and will reflect credit on your training.

3. He waited to discuss the terms … me.

4. That on days like the present she was kept … home to scrub.

5. He does not, I may tell you, care … girls.

6. As it sprang … motion and approached, head on for an instant, the glaring headlights threw his shadow sharply … the wall inside.

Exercise 7. Say it in Ukrainian.

1. But this particular first Wednesday, like, its predecessors, finally dragged itself to a close.

2. She was by nature a sunny soul, and had always snatched the tiniest excuse to be amused.

3. Even the most hardened little orphan felt sympathy for an erring sister who was summoned to the office to face an annoyed matron; and Tommy liked Jerusha even if she did sometimes jerk him by the arm and nearly scrub his nose off.

4. The shadow pictured grotesquely elongated legs and arms that ran along the floor and up the wall of the corridor. It looked, for all the world, like a huge, wavering daddy-long-legs.

5. I trust that you are properly grateful for this very rare good fortune that has befallen you? Not many girls in your position ever have such an opportunity to rise it the world.

Reading Comprehension

Attention check

1. Answer the following questions:

1. How many orphans were there in the asylum?

2. What room was Jerusha’s special care?

3. Who informed Jerusha that she is wanted in the office?

4. How old is Jerusha?

5. Since what time had Jerusha been on her feet that morning?

6. What was the title of Jerusha’s essay?

7. How should Jerusha thank her Trustee?

8. How did the talk between Mrs. Lippett and Jerusha end?

2. What do these numbers refer to:

11, 5, 97, 14, 16, 2, 4, 7, 17?

Discussion

1. Discuss the events of the extract you have read:

1. Who is going to visit the asylum?

2. What has to be done before Trustees’ visit?

3. What are Jerusha Abbott’s duties?

4. How does Jerusha describe this time?

5. Why was Jerusha called into office?

6. What did Mrs. Lippett tell her about her future life?

7. Who is going to invest some money into Jerusha’s education and why?

8. What was the main condition that Jerusha should strictly follow?

2. What is your opinion why the author chose the title of her novel – “Daddy-long-legs”?

3. “Blue Wednesday” is the title of the first part of the novel. Is it used in its direct meaning? What are your suggestions?

4. Reproduce the atmosphere in which Jerusha lived in the asylum.

5. What have you known about Jerusha’s Trustee in this part? What is his name? What was his attitude toward girls? Why has he decided to invest some money into Jerusha’s education? What is the only payment that Mr. Smith requires?