HOME READING TEXTS 16 – 20 Page 10 of 10

TEXT 16 THE SHELL SEEKERS

By Rosamunde Pilcher

Rosamunde Pilcher (b. 1924) – a British author of romance novels.

(This 1987 novel tells the story of a woman, now in her 60s, and her relations with her parents and her adult children. The unifying thread is an oil painting entitled “The Shell Seekers”, which symbolizes to her the ties between the generations.)

She found herself standing, hand clamped around her glass, in the cockpit of the yacht along with about fourteen other people; it was like trying to be sociable in a very crowded lift. And another awful thing about being on a boat was that there was no way you could leave. You couldn’t simply walk out of the door and into the street and find a taxi and go home. You were stuck. Jammed, moreover, face to face with a chinless man, who seemed to think that you would find it fascinating to be told that one was in the Guards, and how long it took one to drive in one’s fairly fast car, from one’s place in Hampshire to Windsor.

(10) Olivia’s face ached with boredom. When he turned for a moment to get his glass refilled, she instantly made her escape. On the foredeck she found a corner of empty deck and there sat, her back propped against the mast.

A shadow fell across her legs. She looked up, fearing the guard from Windsor, and saw that it was the man with the beard.

He said, “Do you need another drink?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Do you want to be alone?”

He had a charming voice. She didn’t think he looked the sort of man (20) who would refer to himself as “one”. She said, “Not necessarily.”

He squatted beside her. Their eyes came level and she saw that his were the same pale, soft blue as his jeans. His face was lined and deeply tanned, and he looked as though he might be a writer.

“Can I join you, then?” She hesitated and then smiled. “Why not?”

His name was Cosmo Hamilton. He lived on the island, had lived here for twenty-four years. No, he was not a writer. To begin with, he had run a yacht business and then had a job as agent for a firm in London which ran package holidays, but now he was a gentleman of leisure.

Olivia, despite herself, became interested.

(30) “Don’t you get bored?”

“Why should I get bored?”

“With nothing to do.”

“I have a thousand things to do.”

“Name two.”

His eyes gleamed with amusement. “That’s almost insulting.” And indeed he looked so fit and active that it probably was.

Olivia smiled. “I didn’t mean it literally.”

NOTES

cockpit – an area near the stern of a yacht or other decked vessel

one – used for referring to someone when it is obvious who is being talked

about

Hampshire – a county on the Southern coast of England

Windsor – a town not far from London

foredeck – the upper deck of a ship forward of the foremast

package holidays – a holiday arranged by a travel company for a fixed price

that includes the cost of the hotel, food and

transport

EXERCISES

I Choose the right ending.

1 The scene takes place … .

a) on a yacht; c) in a crowded lift;

b) on an island; d) on board a plane;

2 Olivia … .

a) admired the chinless man;

b) was bored by the chinless man;

c) asked the chinless man to refill her glass;

d) wished she could spend a lot of time with the chinless man

3 The chinless man enjoyed … .

a) talking about the weather; c) chatting about the boat trip;

b) telling Olivia about himself; d) describing places he had visited

4 Olivia … .

a) refused Cosmo Hamilton’s company;

b) accepted Cosmo Hamilton’s company;

c) looked for Cosmo Hamilton everywhere;

d) pretended asleep to avoid talking to Cosmo Hamilton

5 Cosmo Hamilton … .

a) is a writer; c) does not work at all;

b) is a travel agent; d) is a sailor on the yacht

II Choose the appropriate title for the passage.

a) A contemptuous lady c) A Mediterranean cruise

b) Boredom and sickness d) The beginning of a romance

III Among the three options given, choose the one that explains the initial sentence.

1 “… there was no way you could leave.”

a) The door was locked.

b) It was impossible to leave

c) You couldn’t find the way out.

2 “Olivia’s face ached with boredom.”

a) Boredom made her cry.

b) Olivia felt awfully bored.

c) Boredom made her face change colour.

3 “(… he) had lived on the island for twenty-five years.”

a) He was still living on the island.

b) He lived on the island 25 years ago.

c) He lived on the island for 25 year and then moved to London.

4 “…now he was gentleman of leisure.”

a) He provided leisure facilities for tourists.

b) He spent his time loafing in the sunshine.

c) He was financially secure without any typical employment.

5 “His eyes gleamed with amusement."

a) He shut his eyes because he was annoyed.

d) His eyes were wide open because he was amused.

c) There was a light in his eyes because he was interested.

IV Decide whether the following statements are True or False and

justify your answers by quoting the text.

1 Olivia had a feeling of claustrophobia.

T

F

2 She could leave the party whenever she wished to.

T

F

3 In the cockpit she was entertained by a handsome man.

T

F

4 She left the place because she was sick.

T

F

5 She had no wish to speak to the man with the beard.

T

F

6 She was attracted by the man with the beard against her will.

T

F

7 Cosmo Hamilton wasn’t a busy man.

T

F

8 Cosmo was upset by Olivia’s remarks.

T

F

THE END

TEXT 17 THE KINGDOM BY THE SEA

By Paul Theroux

Paul Theroux (b. 1941) – an American travel writer and novelist.

(The book is an account of a three-month long journey round the UK in the summer of 1982. Walking the perimeter of Britain, staying at cheap hotels, the author preferred chance to provide him with insightful encounters. )

There was a South African couple at the hotel. Tony and Nora Swart. He was a fat and a rather silent red-faced man in his midforties, and she was harder and younger, talkative and unsmiling, a girl with a grudge. Tony’s silence was a kind of apology, for Nora was usually complaining, and she had that hypersensitivity that some South Africans have, the bristling suspicion that any moment she is going to be accused of being a bumpkin, and the justified fear that she is a bumpkin. She was proud of, and at the same time hated, her snarling accent and bad manners.

(10) It had been a terrible trip from Cape Town. They had wanted to stop in Nigeria and Zaire, but those African countries would not let them enter. Nora Swart said, “It’s bleddy unfair.”

I said it was probably because Africans were discriminated against in South Africa. They treated Africans like dogs, so African countries were disinclined to put out the red carpet for South Africans.

“The real trouble,” Mrs Swart said, “is that we were too nice to them. When the Australians were shooting their Abos and you were killing your Indians, we were looking after our Blacks.”

“Of course,” I said. “You’re famous for looking after your Blacks.”

(20) “Kristy, my Australian friend, said to me, ‘If you’d shot yours like we did ours you wouldn’t have these problems today.’”

I said, “What a pity you didn’t exterminate them.”

“That’s what I say,” Mrs Swart said. The thought of mass murder softened her features and for the first time she looked almost pretty.

But her husband saw I was being sarcastic. He kept his gaze on me and went very quiet.

They especially hated the Africans in Namibia. They called it ‘Southwest’, they said it belonged to them, they wanted to raise caraculs there, and Nora made a noise at me when I asked her what a (30) caracul was. They said they would never turn it over to African rule, but when I said that African rule was inevitable in Namibia (‘stop calling it Namibia,’ she said) the Swarts said they would fight for it. It was an empty land, Tony Swart said – only 400,000 people in it. He swore this figure was correct, but later I checked and found the population to be almost two million, of whom 75,000 were white.

I asked them where they had travelled in England.

“Lyme Regis,” Mrs Swart said. “Where they made that movie.”

“We’re just motoring down the coast.”

“What was the name of that movie, Tony?”

(40) Tony shook his head. He didn’t know.

Mrs Swart said, “People around here keep telling us to read Daphne du Maurier. Have you read it?”

She thought Daphne du Maurier was the name of a novel. Instead of setting her straight I said that it was a very good novel indeed and that the author, Rebecca something, had written many others. I urged her to ask for Daphne at the local bookshop.

NOTES

bumpkin (derog.) – an ignorant uncultured person from a rural area

to put out the red carpet – to give special treatment to an important visitor

Abos (short for Aborigines) – people regarded as indigenous to the Australian continent

Namibia – a country in Southern Africa with a population of 2, 1 million, which gained its independence from South Africa in 1990

Lyme Regis [laim 'ri:ʤis] – a town on the English Channel coast, featuring in the famous 1981 film “The French Lieutenant’s Woman”

EXERCISES