Lesson 4 Nettles

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Lesson 4 Nettles

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Title: Lesson 4 Nettles

1
Lesson 4 Nettles

Preparation
Author Alice Munro
She was born in Wingham, Ontario, Canada on 10
July 1931. Nearly all of Alice
She began writing in her teens. She published her
first story in 1950 while a student at Western
Ontario University. While at school, she also
worked as waitress, tobacco picker and a library
clerk.

Munros fiction is set in southwestern Ontario,
but her reputation as a brilliant short-story
writer goes far beyond the borders of her native
Canada.

Her accessible, moving stories offer immediate
pleasures while simultaneously exploring human
complexities in what appear to be effortless
anecdotal re-creations of everyday life. In one
novel and eight collections of stories she has
established herself as a major voice among
fiction writers.

4
Alice Munro at Giller Prize ceremony of 2004.
(CP file photo)
5
2. Cultural notes

1. Uxbridge, Ontario

6
Ontario
7

Ontario is Canada's second largest province,
covering more than one million square kilometers,
an area larger than France and Spain combined.
More than 12 million people live in Ontario. The
province is bounded by Quebec on the east,
Manitoba on the west, Hudson Bay and James Bay on
the north, and the St. Lawrence River and the
Great Lakes on the south.

8
4. About the story Nettles

The short story Nettles, which first appeared
in New Yorker in 2000, is included in this book.
In this story, the author uses first person
narration. The plot of story evolves around a
middle-aged womans reunion with a childhood boy
friend in 1979, but it moves back and forth
between past and present. Like most other stories
by Munro, the leading actor is a woman.

The I in the story should not be taken as the
author herself although the subject matter of
Munros stories has often developed from her own
experience. Munro has explained in various
interviews that her stories are not
autobiographical, but she does claim an
emotional reality for her relatively poor
provincial southwestern Ontario town during the
depression, going through the rebelliousness

and idealism of adolescence, discovering sex,
leaving home, falling in love, getting married,
having children, getting divorced, and getting
along in a variety of complicated relationships,
all inform the fiction she creates. Nettles is
no exception. Her fictional world ranges across
the whole breadth of Canada, but her stories that
take place in Ontario are rooted in recollected
by a perceptive adult memory.

11
II. Outline

Part 1(para. 1-2) Meeting again by chance in
1979
Part 2 (para. 3-15) Childhood memory, her
friend, Mike.
Part 3 (para. 16-93) The detailed story that
happened in 1979
Part 4 (para 94-95) conclusion--- a new
perception of love

12
III. Theme

Life is not always smooth love is not always
sweet. Nettles are here and there in the journey
of peoples life .

13
IV. Detailed Study of the Text

Part 1 (para.1-2)
1. Nettle
any of numerous
plants having
stinging hairs that
cause skin
irritation on
contact

14
2. Why does the author choose Nettle as the
storys title?

3. counter - a piece of furniture that stands at
the side of a dining room has shelves and
drawers
e.g.
The counter is covered with
a plastic cloth.

4. ketchup - thick spicy sauce made from tomatoes
e.g.
I enjoy the taste of the
fresh ketchup.

16
Part 2 (para.3-15)

1. pen n. a fenced enclosure for animals any of
various enclosures, such as a bullpen or playpen,
used for a variety of purposes
v. to confine in or as if in a pen
( enclose)
e.g.
He was kept chained in a pen at the rear of the
fort, and here Beauty Smith teased and irritated
and drove him wild with petty torments.

17
playpen ?????
18
2. mug n. with handle and usually cylindrical

e.g.
Bear mug
Coffee mug
He asked me to make him a mug of
coffee.??????????
I've Latin to take for the examination, I suppose
I must mug it up somehow???????,?????????????

3. boarding house a private house that provides
accommodations and meals for paying guests (??)
e.g.
He had no wife and no
home save his two-room
office in a boarding house.

4. at hand A) close by near.
B) soon in time imminent
e.g.
I havent my photograph album at hand, but Ill
show it to you later.?????????,?????????
As the selling season is at hand, lots of fresh
orders will pour in. ??????????,??????????????

5. cab a taxi can be called a cab, but here is a
compartment in front of a motor vehicle where
driver sits.
e.g.
Shall we walk or take
a cab????????????

22
6. racket n. a loud and disturbing noise (
noise)

A racket is a wooden paddle, as one used in table
tennis. Here it refers to loud noise
e.g.
My neighbors are making an unholy racket.
???????????
The students kicked up no end of a racket in the
street. ???????????.
What's your racket?????????

23
7. sour v. go sour or spoil adj.
having a sharp biting taste

e.g.
The milk has turned sour. ???????
She gave me a sour look.
??????????
What a sour face she has! ???????!
Every white hath its black, and every sweet its
sour.??????,????????????

24
8. damp adj. slightly wet ( moist moist)

e.g.
The clothes are damp with perspiration.
Her eyes were moist with tears.
I don't like damp weather.
??????????

25
9. skunk n.

American cat-like animal typically ejecting an
intensely malodorous fluid when startled

10. Our farm was small nine acres
Nine acres are 54 mu. Owing to Canadas vast
land, a farm of this size is considered rather
small.

11. Each of the trees on the place had an
attitude and presence the elm looked serene and
oak threatening, the maples friendly, the
hawthorn old and crabby

In the eyes of the little girl, every tree
existed like a person that had a distinct
character. In the previous sentence the narrator
says that the farm was small enough for her to
have explored every part of it. She was familiar
with everything on the farm including the trees.
The use of personification of the trees reveals
the close and harmonious relationship between
nature and the narrator.

12. serene unaffected by disturbance calm and
unruffled
e.g.
The school campus is charmingly simple and
serene. ???????.
She was always calm and serene.???????? .

12. crabby - perversely irritable (
ill-tempered, bad-tempered)
e.g.
The crabby guy never said No ,whenever he came
across difficulties.

31
13. stony covered with or full of stones

fall on stony ground
??, ????(??????????, ????)
e.g.
Two of the tyres punctured on the stony
road.?????????????.
Warnings about the disastrous effect on the
environment fell on stony ground.

14. wade - walk (through relatively shallow
water)
e.g.
Can we wade across the river to the other side?
No lives were lost, and we could wade ashore in
safety.
I finally waded through the dull book.
?????????????.

15. scum n. a covering of usu. unpleasant
material that forms on the surface of liquid
Scummy adj. covered with scum
e.g.
Be careful of the scummy surface of the polluted
pond.
Look at that scummy table. Lets move to another
one.

34
16. plow (AmE) move in a way resembling that of
a plow cutting into or going through the soil (
plough BriE.)

e.g.
The ship plowed through the water.

17. They might have followed the boys out but
somehow when they have all got together , the
game had taken shape
The subjunctive mood is used here, suggesting
that the girls was not sure how the boys and
girls got together, but she knew one way or
another they had all got together and made up
this game of war.

18. harassment a feeling of intense annoyance
caused by being tormented
e.g.
Without him, travel is a bitter harassment.

37
19. take shape to take on a distinctive form (
take form)

e.g.
Our plans began to take shape.
The new building is beginning to take shape.
After years hard working, a modern international
port city landscape has taken shape.

38
20. call out - utter aloud often with surprise,
horror, or joy ( cry out, shout)

e.g.
She did not call out because she wished to
surprise him, and then she did.
When I call out your name,there is nothing to
fearcoz I will be there

21. dress - apply a bandage or medication to
(care for, treat, bandage )
e.g.
The nurses dress the victim's wounds.
We dress wounds and bandage injuries, busy all
the afternoon.

22. There was a keen alarm when the cry came, a
wire zinging through your whole body, fanatic
feeling of devotion.
Both a wire zinging through your whole body,
and fanatic feeling of devotion are in
apposition to a keen alarm, further explaining
what this keen alarm was like.

keen intense or vivid strong
e.g.
His entire body hungered for keen sensation,
something exciting (Richard Wright)
(???????????????,????????)
She's keen to get ahead in her career.???????????
.

Zing v. move quickly, making a whistling noise
to be vivacious or lively(??,??)
e.g.
An arrow is zinging toward its target
In the corner of a nice coffee bar, a chat
between the newly married couple was zinging
along .

fanatic adj. marked by excessive enthusiasm for
and intense devotion to a cause or idea
n. a person motivated by irrational enthusiasm
(as for a cause )
Hi, guy, anything may happen in this anti-logic
fanatic world.
My bother is a car fanatic.
She is a ballet fanatic.

23. He lay limp and still while I pressed slimy
large leaves to his forehead and throat and
pulling out his shirt to his pale tender
stomach, with its sweet and vulnerable belly
button.
At this point of the game, the boy was supposed
to be wounded, and by pressing slimy large leaves
to his forehead, his throat and his stomach, the
girl was pretending to dress his wounds.

24. disintegrate break into parts or components
lose cohesion or unity
e.g.
The machine disintegrated.
The group disintegrated after the leader died.
disintegrate the enemy troops????

25. resurrection revival from inactivity and
disuse (revival)
e.g.
He had a resurrection of hope.????????
With the joint efforts, the Asian economic
resurrection started by the end of 1999.

47
26. Filthy adj extremely dirty covered with
filth (nasty dirty, soiled, unclean)

e.g.
Our campus is clean and beautiful but the streets
outside the campus are really filthy.
The guy is always telling filthy
jokes.????????????
Isn't it a filthy day????????!

27. One morning, of course, the job was all
finished, the well capped, the pump reinstated,
the fresh water marveled at
1) Of course is used to mean that it was
natural for the job to be finished one day. When
the job was finished, Mikes father would leave
the farm and move onto another place for new
jobs, and Mike would of course leave with his
father.

The implied meaning of of course is that the
girl had known this would happen sooner or later,
but she wished that the time spent on the work
would be prolonged so that Mike would not have to
leave so soon. She had not expected his departure
would come so soon.

2) marvel at be amazed at ( wonder)
e.g.
We marveled at the child's linguistic abilities.
We marveled that they walked away unhurt from the
car accident. (????????????????????)
It was a real marvel that the baby was unhurt
when he fell from the fifth floor.???????????????
?????
She works so hard in spite of her illness she's
a marvel. ???????, ??????!

51
28. He liked to put ketchup on his bread

The girl noticed this unusual eating habit of
Mikes and remembered it. So when she saw a man
standing at the counter, making himself a ketchup
sandwich, in 1979, many years after the last saw
each other, she recognized Mike at once.

29. boom v. n. to utter or give forth with a
deep, resonant sound to cause to grow or
flourish boost
e.g.
Profit multiply in the boom year.?????????
The clock began to boom out twelve.?????????
We heard a hollow boom of thunder.????????????

30. line up to arrange in or form a line.
e.g.
The buildings all line up neatly.
Customers lined up in front of the store.
He is a busy man. He always has some urgent
things lined up for him to do, let alone the
routines.

31. Living as he did, in the hotel, he could just
pack up and be gone
1) Since he stayed in the hotel, he could simply
pack up and has disappeared.

2) gone Gone is the past participle of go, used
as an adjective.
Something is gone when it has disappeared, or
when it no longer exists.
e.g.
All the passion is now gone from his eyes.
My youth has gone. ??????????

32. How all my own territory would be altered, as
if a landside had gone through it and skimmed off
all meaning except loss of Mike

The implied meaning of this sentence is that the
impact of Mikes leaving on my life was beyond my
imagination. I didnt expect that Mikes leaving
would have such a tremendous power that it would
change the meaning of my existence completely.
All my thoughts were about loss of Mike.

Here both words territory and landslide are
used metaphorically, comparing her life
experience to a territory and the great impact
of Mikes departure to a devastating landslide.

59
33. A common name.

This is an elliptical sentence. The complete
sentence would be Mike was a common name.

34. My heart was beating in big thumps, like
howls happening in my chest
I was so excited that my heart was bounding
violently as if my chest was bursting with long
loud cries.

35. howl - a long loud emotional utterance
the long plaintive cry of a wolf
e.g.
He gave a howl of pain.
The howl of the wolf made
him horrified.

62
Part 3 (para. 1693)

1. matron A married woman or a widow, especially
a mother of dignity, mature age, and established
social position. ( lady, woman)
e.g.
I happened to met his mama,
a nice matron with a dog
walking in the park.

2. girlish - befitting or characteristic of a
young girl
e.g.
The matron with girlish charm and sweet smiles
was busy nodding to the guests around.
Oh, the dress is too girlish for me to wear in
office.

3. flush - rinse, clean, or empty with a liquid
e.g.
The nurse flushed the wound with antibiotics
Dont forget to flush the toilet before leaving.

4. throw up eject the contents of the stomach
through the mouth ( vomit)
e.g.
After drinking too much,
the man threw up in
the street.
The patient threw up
the food last night.

5. dovetail - fit together tightly, as if by
means of a dovetail
e.g.
How well do these new
ideas dovetail into
the existing system??????????
???????

6. reel to feel dizzy
e.g.
My head reeled with the facts and figures.
Dozens of opportunities suddenly opened up, and
my mind was reeling.

7. stoke to eat steadily and in large quantities
e.g.
Before going out into the cold, we stoked up on (
filled our stomachs with) porridge and bacon
and eggs.

8. rampage an outbreak of violent or raging
behavior
Here launch out on a rampage of talk means to
started to say ones say or to talk freely and to
ones hearts content or to get something off
ones chest. (???? ??????)
e.g.
The captured tiger was on the rampage for several
days??????????????????

9. forgo to do without, give up
e.g.
Ill have to forgo my vacation in order to attend
a summer Chinese course?????????????????
She decided to forgo dessert for a few
days???????????

10. keep track of keep contact with
e.g.
As a doctor James has to keep track of the latest
developments in medicine. ??????,?????????????????
He reads the newspapers to keep track of current
events. ??????????.
Please ask if you cannot keep track of what I'm
telling you????????????,????

11. discreditable tending to bring discredit or
disrepute blameworthy (disreputable)
e.g.
His marks were not at all discreditable .

11. During that time of life that is supposed to
be a reproductive daze, with the womens mind all
swamped by maternal juices, we were still
compelled to discuss Simone de Beauvior and
Arthur Koestler and The Cocktail Party

1) Reproductive daze
Daze means being amazed, or bewildered often by a
shock or blow. Here reproduction refers to the
process by which animals or plants produce new
individuals. So reproductive daze describes
the amazing and confusing condition that young
mothers are stereotypically ( in old fashion)
supposed to be in. Since these two young mothers
continued to discuss literary and intellectual
matters, the stereotype is called into question.

2) maternal juice mothers milk
Here the plural is used, probably referring to
juices with which a mother feeds the baby, such
as milk, fruit juices in addition to mothers
milk. The phrase swamped by maternal juices
should not be taken literally, but rather
figuratively, meaning the young mothers were busy
looking after their babies.

76
3) The implied meaning of the sentence is

As young mothers, we supposed to lead a terribly
busy and sometimes confused life brought about by
giving birth to and raising babies, and our minds
were supposed to be fully occupied by how to feed
the babies and things like that. However, in the
midst of all this felt the need to discuss some
of the important thinkers of our time like Simone
de Beauvoir and Arthur koestler and T. S.
Eliots sophisticated verse play The cocktail
Party.

77
12. The main idea of paragraphs 20-26

In Paras.20-26 the narration returns to 1979 when
she spent the weekend at Sunnys country home.
First she explains the different reasons for
which they had moved away from Vancouver. Then
the narrator talks about her unsuccessful
marriage and her problems with her children,
which lead her to phone Sunny and get the
invitation to spend the weekend with the latters
family.

13. And I had moved for the newfangled reason
that was approved of only in some special circles
leaving husband and house and all the Things
acquired during the marriage ( except, of course,
the children, who were to be parceled about), in
the hope of making a life that could be lived
without hypocrisy or deprivation or shame

1) The tone of this sentence is slightly ironic.
The word newfangled is a humorously derogatory
term, meaning newly made, new novel, untested.
Some special circles refer to feminists and
their sympathizers and supporters. The more
conservative social values and attitudes do not
approve of women leaving their husbands and
houses, and would consider doing so as newfangled
in a native sense.

2) Husband and house
Without articles before them the two words
function as collective nouns for the normal
acquisitions associated with marriage. In
addition they alliterate( ???), making them more
memorable.

3) the children, who were to be parceled
about
Parcel about share by division
As the wife and husband were separated, the
arrangement for the children was to take turns in
living with the father and mother.

14. a long necessary voyage from the house of
marriage
The house of marriage is a metaphor,
comparing marriage to a house, a place that
provides shelter, living space, etc. On the other
hand, such a house can be a sort of confinement,
hindering ones freedom.

15. But it was too much to expect of my daughters
who were ten and twelve years old that they
should feel the same way.
expect sth of sb hope or think it likely that (
someone or something) will be or do ( something)

e.g.
Dont expect much of him he is at best a
student.?????????????????
We will never fail to live up to what our parents
expect of us??????????????????

16. Accusations, confessions of misery
This is another incomplete sentence. The complete
sentence is In their angry outburst, the girls
admitted that they were miserable and blamed
their mother for causing their misery.

17. snap to open, close, or fit together with a
click
e.g.
The lock snapped shut.?????????

87
18. A picture of Italian deli
88
18. sun porch an enclosed porch designed as a
sunroom
89

19. I would be frightened, not of any hostility
but of a kind of nonexistence
I would be frightened, not of any hostility
but of a kind of nonexistence.
The implied meaning of the sentence is that I
would be frightened, and my fear was not caused
by my neighbors visibly noisy and
violent way of life, but by a feeling that
compared to them I did not really exist.

90
(paras.27-93)

1. The main idea of this part (paras.27-93)
This is the main part of the story, in which the
author tells what happened during the weekend she
spent with Sunnys family in the country.

91
2. The hills were a series of green bumps and
some cows.
92
3. squalid ( shabby filthy)

1) very dirty and unpleasant ( esp. as a result
of lack of care or lack of money)
2) having or concerning low moral standard
sordid
e.g.
That is a squalid overcrowded apartment in the
poorest part of town.
Its a squalid story of sex and violence

4. She did not ask me was it delicacy or
disapproval ? about my new life
1) She did not ask me about my new life, either
out of subtle consideration for my feeling about
this sensitive subject or out of disapproval for
my new life style.

94
2) delicacy subtly skillful handling of a
situation ( finesse tact)

e.g.
The diplomatic negotiations of great delicacy
were still going on. ?????????????.
The man phrased the apology with delicacy.
????????????
Everyone admired the delicacy of her
features????????????

95
5. I would have told her lies, anyway, or half
lies

Sunny didnt ask me about my life. If she had
asked me, I wouldnt have told her the truth--not
the whole truth anyway.
This shows that the 2 friends have different
attitudes toward marriage and have taken 2
different roads of life.

They used to share a lot in their lives when they
were young, but now Sunny remains a typical wife
and mother while the narrator has abandoned
everything in order to live a life without
hypocrisy, deprivation or shame. Her choice
would be considered rather unconventional in the
eyes of many people, perhaps including her friend
Sunny. This parting of the ways prepares for
their later dwindling friendship mentioned in
the last paragraph.

97
6. Veranda (1)
98
Veranda (2)
99
7. A lady with an overnight bad
100

8. . where Mike McCallum was spreading ketchup
on a piece of bread
The sentence in Para.31 is connected with the
opening sentence of the story I walked into
the kitchen of my friend Sunnys house and saw a
man standing at the corner, making himself a
ketchup sandwich.

101

9. I was full of happy energy
The word happy is transferred epithet(????.)
Though used before the noun energy, it
actually modifies I. The sentence means I was
full of energy because I felt so happy.

102

10. We were washing the dishes together, so that
we could talk all we wanted without being rude

103

It would be rude of them if they talked to each
other only, ignoring the host and hostess and
leaving them out of the conversation. However,
when they were washing the dishes in the kitchen,
they could talk all they wanted without being
socially impolite.

104
11. scrabble
105
12. crap something worthless and unwanted

e.g.
They call computer a good thing, for most of
the time, it is, but now, never! It runs as
slowly as crap snails. When one step has been
operated, some virgin has already got married and
given birth to millions of babies! God damn! I
cant stand my computer! It's sheer crap!
Computer?!
Crap!!! It gets my blood boiled!
Craputer should be its justified name!!!

106

13. scrupulous - having scruples arising from a
sense of right and wrong principled
conscientious and exact painstaking
e.g.
He is not over-scrupulous in his business.
(????????)

107

14. refrain - not do something ( forbear act)
e.g.
He refrained from hitting him back.
She could not refrained from weeping .

108
15. Why does the narrator ask a series of
questions in paragraph 46?

They reveal what was going on in her mind whole
watching the stars. Standing near Mike in the
darkness, she felt sexually aroused and wanted to
be intimate with Mike, but she was not sure if
that was what he also wanted. She concluded that
he was a scrupulous man and that he would refrain
even if he also felt sexually attracted to her.

109

16. sleazy adj. morally degraded ( seamy,
squalid disreputable )
e.g.
Some kids are badly influenced by those sleazy
films.
Some sleazy characters hang around
casinos.(????????????)

110

17. It would be a sleazy thing to do, in the
house of his friends
It would be a morally low thing to have
extra-marital affairs in the house of his friends.

111

18. My sleep was shallow, my dream monotonously
lustful, with irritating and unpleasant subplots
I didnt sleep peacefully that night, thinking
about Mike with sexual desire.

112

19. lustful feeling or showing strong sexual
desire
e.g.
Is it not better to fall into the hands of a
murderer, than into the dreams of a lustful
woman?

113

20. brunch n. combination breakfast and lunch
usually served in late morning v. eat a
late-morning meal
A new word formed by joining two others and
combining their meanings "smog' is a blend of
smoke' and fog'" "motel' is a portmanteau
word made by combining motor' and hotel'"
"brunch' is a well-known portmanteau".
e.g.
We brunch in Sundays.

114

21. caddy v. If you caddy for a golfer, you act
as their caddie (a person who carries golf clubs
and other equipment for a player)
e.g.
Every weekend I like go playing golf with my
friends and Jack always caddies for me.

115

22. I liked riding beside him, in wifes seat
The front seat beside the driver is usually taken
by the wife when the husband is driving. So
sitting in the wifes seat, the narrator felt a
pleasure in the idea of them as a couple,
indulging in a womanly emotional fantasy.

116

23. light-headed lacking seriousness given to
frivolity
e.g.
He did not know what he was talking of, I dare
say ten to one but he was light-headed at the
time.
I dont care what you care, said the
light-headed young woman

117

24. beguile attract cause to be enamored
e.g.
Her ways beguiled him.?????????
We beguiled the children with fairy
tales.??????????He beguiled us with
songs.?????????

118
25. they dont bother with Canadian

Here Mike was complaining about foreigners who
dont bother to make a distinction between
Americans and Canadiansgt The Canadians are
annoyed when they are taken for Americans. They
like to think of themselves as being different
from the Americans, as having their own Canadian
identity.

119

26. It might be that he thought it unseemly to
talk of our partners or our children, under the
circumstances
It seemed that he thought it improper to
talk of our spouses or kids when we were alone.

120

1) Unseemly not decent or proper ( improper)
e.g.
It would be unseemly for judgers to receive pay
increases when others are having to tighten their
belt.

121

2) Under the circumstances used to say that a
particular situation makes an action, decision
necessary when it would not normally be. Pay
attention to the plural form of the noun
circumstance and the use of the definite article
the before the noun.
? Circumstance is usually used in plural form.
(e.g. under any circumstances)

122

27. iron Sports Any of a series of golf clubs
having a bladelike
metal head and
numbered from one
to nine in order of
increasing loft (????).

123

28. Here comes our weather
Before they set out for golf course, Johnston
warned them that there was a prediction of rain.
But they said they would take their chances. As
the rain was coming, Mike called it our weather

124
29. He began methodically to pack up and fasten
his bag

He began methodically to pack his bag because
golf clubs were of various sizes, and he needed
to put them in good order. Also the word
methodically shows that Mike was calm, not in a
hurry, without particular alarm as he said that
the rain was coming.

125

30. wheel v. To fly in a curving or circular
course
e.g.
A flock of gulls wheeled just above the dock.

126

31. agitate v. upset disturb
e.g.
He became quite agitated when he was asked about
his criminal past.
My dear,' said he to Esther, 'you must not
agitate yourself.

127
32. Stinging nettle photo
128

33. and what I thought were flowering nettles
with pinkish-purple clusters, and wild asters
The narrator mistook these plants as nettles.
Later in the last sentence of paragraph 91 she
corrects herself. As we can see, the word
nettles in the story has both meanings, the
literary meaning, that is the plant with rough
leaves that sting people,

129

and the figurative meaning, that is something
irritate and annoy people. It may not be
far-fetched to suggest that the author is
comparing life, human relationships, etc. to the
effects of nettles.

130

34. frail adj. physically weak easily broken or
damaged or destroyed (delicate fragile)
e.g.
Also, he is so thin and frail (at times I meet
him in the corridor) that his knees quake under
him.
Be careful of these frail porcelain plates

131

35. from the direction of the midnight clouds
These clouds were very dark, the color of the
night. Note that earlier in Paragraph 70 the
narrator has said the clouds had changed color,
becoming dark blue instead of white. The
changing of colors of the clouds indicated that a
wild storm was coming.

132

36. splatter - the noise of something spattering
or sputtering explosively
e.g.
Hearing a splatter of gunfire from the distance,
he wondered if something happened.

133

37. bear down exert a force with a heavy weight
To apply maximum effort and concentration
e.g.
The snow bore down on the roof.
The ship bore down on our canoe.
If you really bear down, you will finish the
task.

134

38. stoop v. To bend (the head or body) forward
and down ( crouch, bend, bow)
e.g.
They had to stoop in
order to fit into the cave.

135

39. butt - to strike, thrust or shove against,
often with head or horns
e.g.
He butted his sister out of the way.

136

40. crouch - bend one's back forward from the
waist on down
e.g.
He crouched down to stroke the dog.
The cat crouched, ready to spring at the bird.
Cf. squat ( down, on) v.
To sit on a surface with the knees bent and the
legs drawn fully up under the body, esp.
balancing on the front of the feet
e.g. He squatted down beside the footprints and
examined them closely.

137

41. miniature - being on a very small scale (
small little)
e.g.
He took lots of photos with a miniature camera.
She pointed to a miniature portrait, hanging
above the wall.

138

42. clamp n. a device (used by carpenters) that
holds things firmly together
v. To fasten, grip, or support with or as if with
a clamp.
e.g.
He clamped the chair
Together until the glue
has hardened

139

43. This was more of a ritual, a recognition of
survival rather than of our bodies inclinations
In this sentence, the author makes a distinction
between the spirit and the body. During the
storm, the two were holding each other tightly,
but they did that to protect themselves from the
terrible storm. We can see that in a sense, the
rain had washed away the lust and purified her
mind, thus purifying their relationship, too.

140

1) ritual a set form or system of rites,
religious or otherwise
e.g.
He had made a ritual of the kisses he gave her
when he bade her good-night first he kissed the
palms of her hands then he kissed her closed
eyes, first the right one and then the left, and
at last he kissed her lips.

141

2) inclination a particular disposition or bent
of mind tendency a more or less vague mental
disposition toward some action, practice, or
thing ( tendency)
e.g.
He had an inclination to give up too easily.
It is fortunate that your inclination and your
father's convenience should accord so well.

142

44. drench To wet through and through soak.
e.g.
29 dead as rains
drench southern
China
a drenching
rain ????

143

45. I felt the heat of the sun strike my
shoulders before I looked up into its festival
lights
The sun and its light are in sharp contrast with
the midnight clouds, curtains of rain,
thick and wildly slapping curtains, etc. The
sunlight is festival, celebrating the ending
of the world storm and the survival of the two
main characters.

144

46. His voice surprised me, like the sun. But in
the opposite way. It had a weight to it, a
warning
Right after the storm was over, the sun came out
suddenly, with its cheerful light, and so it
surprised the narrator pleasantly. Now Mike said
something in a voice that also surprised her, but
in the opposite way. The weight and warning in
his voice told the narrator what he was going to
tell her was not happy news. So he surprised her
in the opposite way. As he made up his mind to
tell her something, he sounded apologetic. He
seemed to say, I know how you feel and what you
want. I feel the same, but I cant because

145

47. We had passed right by that
By these words, the narrator means they were not
ordinary friends but soul mates. As they
understand each other perfectly, no words were
needed at this moment.

146

48. I knew now that he was a person who had hit
rock bottom
Rock bottom the lowest level or point
This is a vivid way of saying that he was a
person who had experienced the worst in life, the
hardest experience a person might have to endure.

147

49. He and his wife knew that together and it
bound them, as something like that would either
break you apart or bind you, for life

148

He and his wife experienced the worst together
and knew the meaning of that experience.
Experience of this kind, involving life and
death, posed the gravest test to people. If they
were able to stand the test and emerged from the
worst together, their friendship or marriage
would be strengthened, and sacred bondage would
be formed between them. But if they failed the
rest, their relationship would be broken and they
would be driven apart.

149

50. But they would share a knowledge of it that
cool, empty, locked, and central space
The implied meaning of the sentence is that they
both understood what that terrible experience was
like and what it meant to them. Note the use of
the four adjectives before the word space,
which refers to the rock bottom. The word cool
( or cold) may be associated with death, tragedy
and sorrow the word empty indicates a sense
of loss locked implies secret, private, not
open to others central perhaps means this
experience was essential to their lives.

150

51. I was not one of the people among whom they
would make their new, hard, normal life.
?????????????, ????????????????????.

151

52. I was a person who knew that was all. A
person he had, on his own, who knew
These words mean that the narrator was different
from all other people in his life. She was a
person he could confide his deepest secret to.
She was a soul mate.
?????????. ????????, ??????.

152
53. What is Paragraph 91 about?

Para.91 is essential for understanding the
meaning of the title of the story. While they
were driving back, Mike and the narrator noticed
an itch or burning on their bare forearms, the
backs of their hands and around their ankles. She
remembered the nettles.

153

But those plants with big pinkish-purple flowers(
described in Para. 72) are not nettles. They are
called joe-pye weeds. The nettles are stinging
insignificant-looking plants with stalks
outfitted with skin-piercing spines. Her
mistaking joe-pye weeds for nettles implies that
ordinary life is more like the insignificant-looki
ng nettles that are stinging and piercing, thus
irritating and annoying people rather than the
joe-pye weeds with showy pinkish-purple flowers.
Real life is disturbing, frustrating, and
unsettling, offering no tidy resolution.

154

54. outfit - provide with (something) usually for
a specific purpose ( equip, fit out, fit)
e.g.
She bought a ski outfit.??????????
We will outfit with necessities
two days before sailing.????????????

155

55. inflame v. To make more violent intensify
To arouse to passionate feeling or action
e.g.
The crimes inflamed the
entire community.
The good news inflamed
the young couple.

156

56. welt - a raised mark on the skin (as produced
by the blow of a whip)
e.g.
The mad man went the stick on the back of the
other's head, raising such a welt that the blood
came.

157

57. wriggle - to move in a twisting motion,
(especially when struggling)
e.g.
The child tried to wriggle free from his aunt's
embrace.
He will find a dozen ways to wriggle out of any
charge that can be brought against him.

158

58. Love that was not usable, that knew its
place
The sentence means that love was not an object
that could be used or be made use of and we knew
exactly the limits of our love and would not
displace it.

159
59. With the weight of this new stillness on it,
this seal

Here the narrator is comparing her love for Mike
to a well. Remember in Para. 12, the narrator
said, the well capped, the pump reinstated,
the fresh water marveled at. Just as it was
necessary to put a cap on the well to keep the
water clean and fresh, it was also necessary to
have the weight of this new stillness as a seal
on their underground resources of love.

160
Part 4. (Para.94-95)

Like some of Munros other stories, this one ends
with the narrators epiphany, a moment of sudden
intuitive understanding, or a flash of insight.
It is part of the authors style to search for
some revelatory gesture by which an event is
illumunated and given personal significance.

161

. What happened, or rather what did not happen
between Mike and her gave her a new perception of
love. This is the theme of the story. The event
that took place during that weekend may not seem
very special or exciting, but through it the
author explores the complexity of human emotions
and the beauty of ordinary life.

162

61. dwindle - become smaller or lose substance
e.g.
Her savings dwindled down.
It will dwindle and dwindle as the months roll
on, and there is no more fuel.

163
V. Assignment

Proofreading and Error Correction (15 min)
The hunter-gatherer tribes that today live as our
prehistoric
       1.___? human ancestors consume primarily a
vegetable diet supplementing
                 2.___? with animal foods. An ana
lysis of 58 societies of modem hunter-?
gatherers, including the Kung of southern Africa,
revealed that one ? half emphasize gathering pla
nt foods, one-third concentrate on fishing?
and only one-sixth are primarily hunters.

164

Overall, two-thirds? and more of the hunter-gathe
rers calories come from plants. Detailed
                         3.___?
studies of the Kung by the food scientists at the
University of? London, showed that gathering is
a more productive source of food?
than is hunting. An hour of hunting yields in ave
rage about 100
        4.___? edible calories, as an hour of gat
hering produces 240.

165

5.___? Plant foods provide for 60 percent to 80
percent of the Kung
                6.___? diet, and no one goes hung
ry when the hunt fails. Interestingly, if?
they escape fatal infections or accidents, these c
ontemporary? aborigines live to old ages despite
of the absence of medical care.
                     7.___?

166

5.___? Plant foods provide for 60 percent to 80
percent of the Kung
                6.___? diet, and no one goes hung
ry when the hunt fails. Interestingly, if?
they escape fatal infections or accidents, these c
ontemporary? aborigines live to old ages despite
of the absence of medical care.
                     7.___?