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One can see the idea of a passage through the so-called key elements, i.e. suggestive words or phrases.
Example:
"No. Not as frightening. Maybe worse."
"Think positive," he said. He reached out and took her hand. It was cold and moist. /Dean Koontz The Key to Midnight/
Here the key element is the phrase “cold and moist”. It describes the way the woman's hand felt when touched, which suggests the idea that the woman is nervous, or frightened.
Exercise 2.1. Read the following passages and point out the key elements to suit the given idea.
Example:
She flung the lamp – already battered – furiously across the room. /Phyllis A. Whitney The Singing Stones/
Idea: she threw the lamp more than once.
Here you should point out the insertion "already battered", because it proves that the lamp has undergone similar flights.
1. He called me “ma’am” with respectful courtesy, and I thanked him warmly. In brusque northern cities one forgot how pleasant consideration and courtesy could be. /Phyllis A. Whitney The Singing Stones/
Idea: in northern cities people are less courteous.
2. “I don't have a lot of years left," he admitted. I suspected Arthur would attend my funeral. /John Grisham The Street Lawyer/
Idea: Arthur looked healthy enough to live much longer than he claimed.
3. Mordecai had launched into a detailed account of the last hours of Lontae and her children. It was a spellbinding performance, given off the cuff with the skill of a gifted storyteller. As the lone juror, I would have handed him a blank check. /John Grisham /The Street Lawyer/
Idea: his speech was so convincing that the narrator was ready to hand him any sum of money.
4. He put the strand over her head. Sunlight through glass touched a warm glow into the heart of each bead and Jilly touched the strand as if she drew courage and strength through her fingers. /Phyllis A. Whitney The Singing Stones/
Idea: probably Jilly believed that the gems of the strand had magic power.
5. He settled into one of the two sturdy folding chairs I'd bought at a flea market for six bucks. They were quite ugly, but at least I had stopped worrying about my clients and visitors collapsing in mid-sentence. /John Grisham The Street Lawyer/
Idea: probably there were cases when his clients dropped from the broken chair he used to have.
6. That was something else that she and Julian had promised each other - never to be imprisoned by hideous maturity, never to stop finding life amazing and ridiculous, never to become solemn and incurious. /Charlotte Bingham The Blue Note/
Idea: The two people wanted to remain children as long as possible.
7. I left without a hug, a kiss, a touching of any kind. I simply said good night and walked through the door. That was precisely what she wanted. /John Grisham The Street Lawyer/
Idea: The couple had already no feelings nor any other common touch left for each other.
8. She was rich, powerful, and what was more she was Beatrice Harper, and if Bobbie did not believe her now then she would live to regret it. /Charlotte Bingham The Blue Note/
Idea: Beatrice Harper intended to harm Bobbie for her doubts about the woman's influence and opportunities
9. Sophia knocked and pushed the door open while still tapping. No Hello. No Excuse me. /John Grisham The Street Lawyer/
Idea: Sophia had bad manners.
10. Trying to stay warm in my sleeping bag, I'd slept for three hours. I turned a few times but further sleep escaped me. There had been too many changes in my life to rest comfortably. /John Grisham The Street Lawyer/
Idea: he could not sleep well in his new surroundings.
Exercise 2.2. Read the following fragments, taken from the book The Street Lawyer by John Grisham, and formulate the idea using the key elements in bold type.
Example:
The bad blood between Luther Kersten and Stephen was well known, and the police believed there was fight between them up there at the site. /Phyllis Whitney The Singing Stones/
The idea that runs through the passage is that the two men were on very unfriendly terms.
1. Judge Kisner was at least seventy, with bushy gray hair and a scraggy gray beard, and brown eyes that burned holes as he talked.
2. How long would Arthur Jacobs allow his beloved firm to be dragged through the mud?
3. I had no sympathy for Braden Chance and Arthur Jacobs and Donald Rafter. They had chosen to go for jugular. Let them sweat.
4. “So the Drake &Sweeney bridge has been burned?” He asked as we ate.
5. The Burton tragedy was fast becoming a political and social hot potato in the District.
6. He studied the names with great intensity, but no bells went off.
7. “I think the cops might be waiting,” Mordecai announced solemnly. My first reaction was to duck under the desk, but, of course, I did not.
8. Seven years in the sweatshop of Drake & Sweeney had not been conductive to nurturing friendship, or a marriage either, for that matter.
9. Madam Devier, one of our very resilient receptionists, greeted me with her typical look of disdain.
10. She was on the phone, terrorizing someone in Spanish.
Selecting the Correct Idea
Exercise 2.3. Here each passage is followed by three possible variants of idea. Choose the letter of the variant that would best formulate the author's message
Example:
That was not how she and Julian had been. They had been twin souls. /Charlotte Bingham The Blue Note/
a) In contrast to the first couple, the second is a perfect match Ö
b) She and Julian looked very much alike
c) She and Julian made an ideal couple in contrast to the rest of spouses
Apparently the second couple had as much in common as only twins could. Therefore you should choose the letter (A).
1. “Roberta, I can bring pressure to bear in certain quarter to de-fame you” /Charlotte Bingham The Blue Note/
a) Someone is going to make Roberta bear pressure in certain quarters
b) Someone threatens Roberta to disgrace her and thus strip of social position.
c) Roberta has lost fame in certain quarters
2. Rain fell into short soft hair and ran down her face, and mascara tracks that resembled some kind of weird shorthand message slid across her cheeks. /Campbell Armstrong Blackout/
a) It rained heavily that day
b) The woman did not like the rain
c) The rain made her look ugly by destroying her makeup
3. Not many men want to marry damaged goods even nowadays, do they? /Charlotte Bingham The Blue Note/
a) Nowadays only e few men would marry just for the sake of marriage
b) Men, irrespective of their age and looks, prefer to stay single
c) Men, irrespective of their age and looks, prefer to marry young unblemished girls instead of older or divorced women
4. Sometimes it was difficult, sometimes their faces were mere shadows. /Jackie Collins Sinners/
a) Sometimes the character saw shadows instead of faces
b) The character could hardly recollect people from the past
c) The character had sight problem
5. Now she started to run, away from Bobbie, and away from Dick, too, away from all realities. /Charlotte Bingham The Blue Note/
a) The woman wanted to distract herself from reality, because it was too painful
b) The woman left her companions for a new lover
c) Bobbie and Dick spoilt the woman’s mood
6. His lightweight summer suit was soaked and clung to him like a second skin. /Campbell Armstrong Blackout/
a) The suit turned into the man’s skin
b) The wet suit distinctively showed the shape of the man’s body
c) The suit became invisible on the man’s body
7. He bought her presents, jewelry, furs, a new car. She accepted them all in a cold unthrilled way. /Jackie Collins Sinners/
a) The woman did not like the presents
b) The woman wanted a more expensive present
c) The woman did not love the man
8. And seeing their look, directed straight at her, it seemed to Bobbie that that was how the Jesuits’ eyes during the Spanish Inquisition must have looked; brown, hard flints, with not a flicker of humour or humanity. /Charlotte Bingham The Blue Note/
a) The look Bobbie received was harsh and cruel
b) Bobbie witnessed the Spanish Inquisition
c) Bobbie was frightened every time someone looked straight at her
9. He has a faint Brooklyn accent, but in spite of that he is as brutally correct and as cuttingly punctilious as a third-generation English butler. /Stephen King The Breathing Method/ (from Different Seasons by Stephen King/
a) The speaker doesn’t like the man because of his accent
b) The man’s manners gave away his occupation and true social position
c) Although the man’s manner manners were aimed at a higher social position, his accent revealed his low-class origin
10. Ruby sat on the edge of my brown folding client’s chair, her shoulders slumped, her entire upper body wrapped around the cup of coffee, as if it might be the last warm thing in life. /John Grisham The Street Lawyer/
a) Ruby wanted to drink her cup of coffee very much
b) Ruby felt very cold
c) Ruby was tired and hungry
Checking the Idea
Exercise 2.4. Each of the following passages is followed by a sentence that formulates its idea. If the stated idea is correct, go to the next passage. If it's not correct, write your variant of idea.
Example:
Charlie's mother was a bird-like woman. /Jackie Collins Sinners/
Idea: Carlie's mother resemled a bird.
Apparently the suggested idea is wrong. The author means that Charlie's mother was a very tiny woman.
1. There were voices in the hallway behind me. Someone yelled, "He's got a gun!" And then the voices disappeared into the background, growing fainter and fainter as my colleagues hit the back door. I could almost see them jumping out of the windows. /John Grisham The Street Lawyer/
Idea: The narrator's colleagues got very frightened of the terrorist's gun and ran for safety.
2. "Are you changing jobs?"
"Thinking about it."
"Where are you going?"
"I don't know. It's too early. I haven't been looking for another position."
"Then how do you know the grass is greener if you haven't been looking?" /John Grisham The Street Lawyer/
Idea: The first speaker suggests that the grass is not yet greener in other places.
3. You are all bits of skin and bones, Clay thought. /Jackie Collins Sinners/
Idea: Clay's is large-boned
4. People that have the idea that when we entered the twentieth century we also entered an age of medical light and reason have no idea of how utterly crazy medicine could sometimes be. /Stephen King The Breathing Method/ (from Different Seasons by Stephen King)
Idea: Medicine can be very dangerous if misused.
5. Dave chose one, rolling it lovingly through his fingers. While he had long ago given up cigarettes, a good cigar was not to be resisted. /J.R. Gardner Vertical Run/
Idea: Because Dave had given up smoking, he simply enjoyed rolling a cigarette through his fingers.
6. One held the corpse of the shark by the gill slits while the other used the knife. She saw the butchery and turned away. /Jonathan Kellerman The Web/
Idea: The woman did not like sharks
7. The ocean was all-encompassing and the island seemed very small. /Jonathan Kellerman The Web/
Idea: The fragment reveals the striking contrast between the ocean and the island
8. She walked over to the girl in the chair and nudged her gently. The girl sat up like a startled rabbit. /Jackie Collins Sinners/
Idea: The girl looked like a rabbit at the moment
9. Abe Stein was among them, with a horse-faced wife. /Jackie Collins Sinners/
Idea: Abe Stein's wife was not pretty
10. "A nice lady?"
Split-second pause. "Yes." /Kellerman The Clinic/
Idea: the speaker was not sure of the positive answer
Formulating Ideas
Exercise 2.5. Read the following passages from The Clinic by J. Kellerman. Formulate the idea of each passage the way you see it, giving the suggestive phrases:
Example:
A laughing couple of students darted across the street, holding hands, wrapped up in each other. Milo had to brake hard. They kept going, unaware.
"Ah, love," I said.
"Or too many years on Walkmans and video games." /Kellerman The Clinic/
The idea conveyed in the passage is that the development of science and technology has made young people less concerned about their security, and, consequently, more exposed to danger.
One of the interlocutors explains the couple's carelessness while crossing the street by their spending "too many years on Walkmans and video games", which means that teenagers are used to listening to their Walkmans in the street and to being oblivious of what goes on around them; "video games" also contribute to danger neglecting, in the speaker's opinion, because they presuppose multiple life choice and several lives of the character, as well as energy and sometimes even life restoration during the game.
1. A microdress girl brought out two beers anyway and we drank them
2. "Professor Devane?" she said in a husky voice. "It sure took a long time." Her hands tightened around the handlebars of her bicycle.
3. I made coffee and toast and ate without tasting, thinking of the crowd at the women's clinic last night.
4. I used a pay phone in the lobby and called the number. Locking liquid voice said, "No one home. Speak or forget it." Hanging up I left the building. Then I used a library phone and gave Casey Locking's home another try. Same tape.
5. I made a call to the L.A. Medi-Cal office, was referred to an 800 number in Sacramento, put on hold for ten minutes, and cut off. Trying again, I endured another hold, got through, and was transferred to another 800 number, more holds, two shell-shocked sounding clerks, and finally someone coherent.
6. The office was big, walled in oak veneer and carpeted in beige shag. They were both positioned behind the canoe-shaped blond oak desk. A cigar smell filled the room but no ashtrays were in sight.
7. "I'm Mr. Storm's attorney of record. I handle all his business affairs." Bateman said. Junior rolled his eyes. His father tapped his sleeve with an index finger.
8. His father quickly turned to Milo: "Are you happy now, detective? Have you squeezed enough blood out of the rock? Why don't you just leave us alone and go out and catch some gang members?"
9. I was stretched on a sofa rereading the transcripts. Spike [his dog] had chosen to stay with me. Now his big head rested in my lap and he snored. Just as I put the transcripts down, the phone rang. Spike snapped upright, bounded off, and ran to the offending machine, baying.
10. The label was a work of art. I'd steamed off an old one for penicillin, whited out all the specifics but left the pharmacy's name and address and the RX, DATE, and PRESCRIBING PHYSICIAN blanks. Photocopied it, typed in the new information, put some glue on the back, stuck it back on the vial. Pretty good job, though I wasn't ready for 20-dollar bills.
Checking Your Progress:
Exercise 2.6. Using your acquired skills, formulate the ideas of the given passages and explain how you did it:
1. The center of the house was one-sixty foot stretch of dark-paneled space, filled with groupings of green and brown couches, ceramic lamps, heavy, carved tables full of souvenir-shop porcelain and crystal. Clown paintings and Rodeo Drive oils of rainy Paris street scenes said all talent should not be encouraged. /Jonathan Kellerman The Clinic/
2. The Judge smiled with great assurance and waved at the chair in the witness box. Stella shot wild looks in all directions as she sat down. /John Grisham The Runaway Jury/
3. Her eyes watered, and the poor woman was about to lose control. She bit her lip and clenched her teeth. /John Grisham The Runaway Jury/
4. It was good to get back out in the sunlight. Pretending the warmth could melt the bitterness I'd absorbed up in his office. /Jonathan Kellerman The Clinic/
5. Mrs. Gladys Card and Millie were trying their best to disappear into the walls and would not under any circumstances look the Judge in the eyes. /John Grisham The Runaway Jury/
6. Later, they sat in the sand, at the edge of the water, splashing in the foam as the gentle waves broke across their feet. A few boats with dim lights inched along the horizon. The hotels and condos stood quiet behind them. They owned the beach for the moment. /John Grisham The Runaway Jury/
7. All humanity drank from the same river of emotion; and by drinking, every race, religion, and nationality became one indivisible species. /Dean Koontz The Key to Midnight/
8. I walked halfway down the block to the club, bent over against the whistling wind, holding my hat on my head with one gloved hand. /Stephen King The Breathing Method/ (from Different Seasons by Stephen King/
9. I was struck by his diction – a slow methodical rhythm with no hurry and each syllable getting equal treatment. He as a street bum at the moment, but there had been better days. /John Grisham Street Lawyer/
10. Taking the risk that her hands might shake, and her guardian notice it, but determined on her next course anyway, very deliberately Bobbie opened her chic leather handbag and took out a cigarette which she fitted slowly, oh so slowly, into a holder, lit and inhaled. /Charlotte Bingham The Blue Note/
REVISION
Exercise 2.7. Read the following passages from The Deceiver by Frederick Forsyth. Formulate the idea of each passage the way you see it, giving the suggestive phrases:
1. Bruno Morenz knocked on the door and entered in response to the jovial, “Herein.” His superior was alone in the office, in his important revolving leather chair behind his important desk. He was delicately stirring his first cup of real coffee of the day in the bona-china cup, deposited by the attentive Fräulein Keppel, the neat spinster who waited upon his every legitimate need.
2. „Could you come to his surgery at six?“
His wife looked up and returned to her absorption in the evening game show on television. Bruno hoped she had got the message exactly right.
3. „He really thinks you‘re going to marry him?“
„Head over heels, besotted. Stupid.“
4. When she spoke it was not in the tones he knew, but the speech of a fishwife.
5. Her face was quite contorted. She spat the words. „You are a fool. A fat old fool.“
6. „My trip with Herr Direktor has been postponed,“ he said. „Oh, that‘s nice,“ she said.
He sometimes thought he could come in from the office of an evening and say: „Today I popped down to Bonn and shot Chancellor Kohl,“ and she would still say, „Oh, that‘s nice.“
7. it was a large brown stain, quite dry and hard. She tut-tutted at the extra work she would have to scrub it off, and went to get a bucket of water and a brush.
8. At two minutes to eleven McCready purred the black BMW forward into the corridor.
9. „Enjoy your visit to the German Democratic Republic,“ said the senoir border guard. He didn‘t look as if he meant it.
10. „Thank you, guv,“ said the newsvendor. He gestured towards his placard. „All over, then, eh? All them international crises, Things of the past.“
Дата: 2019-07-30, просмотров: 414.