13. Questions and Topics for Discussion.

15. What was Kitty’s state of mind while she was travelling to Mei-tan-fu? What questions did she ask herself? Did she have answers to them? Why did she think that “she was finished with life”?

16. Speak of the epidemic and the state of things in Mei-tan-fu. What were her feelings when she was looking at the town? What impression did their new home make on her? What was Kitty busy with all days long? What about Walter’s working day? What did Kitty know about Walter’s work? Why had Walter been unpopular in Hong Kong? Why was it different in Mei-tan-fu?

17. Speak about Waddington, his character, his social position, the way he treated life, people at large and the situation in Mei-tan-fu. Why did Kitty find Waddington’s company refreshing? What drew them together? What conclusions did Waddington make concerning the relationship between Kitty and Walter?

18. Discuss the change in Kitty’s attitude to Townsend. Did Waddington guess why Kitty started talking about Charles? What was his opinion of Charles? What words hurt Kitty most? Why?

Part 5 Chapters XXXIX-xlix (pp. 104 – 138)

1. Active Vocabulary.

• malice (114)

• a confirmed drunkard (114)

• to come to one’s rescue (114)

• an infirmary (115)

• an orphan (115)

• charity (115)

• repulsive (117)

• to be short of smth (118)

• to fall a victim to smth (119)

• to baptize (120)

• from curiosity (121)

• to praise smb/smth (122)

• contempt (122)

• homesickness

• to ascribe some qualities to smb

• to commit adultery (129)

• to supervise smb/smth (134)

• to cope with (135)

a) Reproduce the situations and the sentences with these words.

14. Paraphrase.

19. You could have knocked me down with a feather. (106)

20. … he never hesitated to speak his mind. (107)

21. … otherwise they will not take the trouble, but do away with them. (117)

22. I suppose I shouldn’t have been taken in by him … (126)

23. They are very shorthanded … (127)

24. He must have suggested it only to frighten her and to get back on Charlie. (128)

25. It’s like reproaching someone who has no ear for music … (129)

26. No, it is out of the question. (134)

15. Comment or explain.

27. … we English have no strong attachment to the soil, we can make ourselves at home in any part of the world. (111)

28. But to all that moving experience there had been a shadow (a dark lining to the silver cloud) …, which disconcerted her. (124)

29. They spoke a different language, not only of the tongue but of the heart. (124)

30. If I were you I’d leave well alone, Kitty. (126)

31. He told her nothing of his work, but even in the old days he had been reticent on this; he was not by nature expansive. (127)

32. It was all make-believe that he had lived on. (129)

33. … but the Mother Superior paid no attention to her entreaties and Kitty stood sufficiently in awe of her not to be importunate. (136)

16. Questions and Topics for Discussion.

34. Speak about the convent, its history, the role it played in the life of the city.

35. What kind of woman was the Mother Superior? What was the most striking thing about her? What did Kitty learn about the nuns and their work? Find proof that the nuns had sacrificed their lives for other people. What was Waddington’s opinion of the Mother Superior and the nuns? What was the difference between the Protestant missionaries and the nuns?

36. Speak about the people and the things that struck Kitty at the convent. Why did she make up her mind to offer her help to the nuns? What work was she set to do there? How did she take its repulsive sides? What made Kitty realize that she was still a “casual stranger” to the nuns. What did she learn about her husband? Did it make her form another opinion of him?

37. Comment on Kitty and Walter’s conversation about their future and past. What was Kitty’s new view on her adultery? What was their in their conversation that exasperated Walter most? Find proof that Kitty treated her adultery much lighter than Walter did.

38. “What was it in the human heart that made you despise a man because he loved you?”