I Choose the appropriate answer or answers.

1 The text is … .

a) purely fictional; c) a historical document;

b) autobiographical; d) fictional with a historical background

2 It deals with … .

a) Asian emigration to California;

b) an episode in the history of Japan;

c) the conquest of California by the Japanese;

d) an episode of the Second World War in America

3 This passage refers to … .

a) a historical event (quote)

b) the consequences this event had on the population concerned (quote);

c) the area in the USA where these people lived (quote)

II The main character.

1 When the war broke out, the hero was … . (quote)

a) a member of the FBI

b) a recently immigrated Japanese citizen;

c) an American citizen of Japanese descent;

d) a Japanese student at Berkley University

2 Pick out three elements that reveal his partial integration into American society:

a) ……… ………. ………. ; b) ……… ………. ………. ; c) ……… ………. ……….

3 Say if the following is Right or Wrong and justify with a sentence from the text:

a) As a result of his integration he gave up all Japanese traditions.

b) He managed to get a degree

4 Find the contradiction between his present job and his education:

a) He is a ……… ………. ………. ,

b) and yet he ……… ………. ……….

5 Say if these statements about his views on the situation are True or False and justify your answer.

a) He was aware of a possible threat and advised his family to leave.

b) His views proved to be right.

6 Find two quotations to prove that he condemned the war effort on both sides.

a) ……… ………. ………. ……… ………. ………. ……… ………. ……….

b) ……… ………. ………. ……… ………. ………. ……… ………. ……….

7 Prove that he was extremely surprised at the action that was taken against him.

……… ………. ………. ……… ………. ………. ……… ………. ……….

III The situation of the Japanese Americans.

1 Say if this is Right or Wrong. Justify by quoting the text.

The Japanese Americans feared the worst as they did not feel part of the US population.

2 Fill in the blanks, using the words and expressions from the text.

1) to be loyal 2) dangerous to national security 3) disloyal 4) expressed excessive bitterness over the loss of their property and the disruption of their lives 5) find employment in some nonstrategic area 6) remain in relocation camp

Some Japanese Americans were judged …(a)… if they agreed to …(b)… or to …(c)… .

Others were judged …(d)… if they …(e)… ; or seemed to be …(f)… .

3 Choose the right answer.

In the end their fate was… .

a) quite different; b) almost the same

IV The author’s point of view.

1 The author suggests that the American government sent the Japanese Americans to special camps … .

a) for good reasons: they represented a real threat to the country as foreigners;

b) for false reasons: they were suspected of being potential spies in spite of their belonging to the American nation

2 The author describes the behaviour of a number of Americans to prove that Japanese Americans were … .

a) exploited ………. ………. …..….. ………. ……… ………. ………. (quote)

b) denied freedom ………. ………. ………. ……… ………. ………. (quote)

c) murdered ………. ………. ………. ………. ……… ………. ………. (quote)

d) were given discrediting names ………. ……… ………. ………. (quote)

3 The narrator obviously sides with ……….……….……….……….

4 Choose the right answer.

The tone of the text can be regarded as … .

a) humorous; b) bitterly ironical

THE END

TEXT 20 A CHRISTMAS MEMORY

By Truman Capote

Truman Capote (1924 -1984) – an American writer

(The largely autobiographical story, which takes place in the 1930s,

it describes a period in the lives of the seven-year-old narrator and

a ‘sixty-something’ woman who is his distant cousin and best friend.)

Of the ingredients that go into our fruitcakes, whiskey is the most expensive, as well as the hardest to obtain: State laws forbid its sale. But everybody knows you can buy a bottle from Mr. Haha Jones. And the next day, having completed our more prosaic shopping, we set out for Mr. Haha's business address, a "sinful" (to quote public opinion) fish-fry and dancing café down by the river. We've been there before, and on the same errand; but in previous years our dealings have been with Haha's wife, an iodine-dark Indian woman with brassy peroxided hair and a dead-tired disposition. Actually, we've never laid eyes on her (10) husband, though we've heard that he's an Indian too. A giant with razor scars across his cheeks. They call him Haha because he's so gloomy, a man who never laughs.

As we approach his cafe (a large log cabin festooned inside and out with chains of garish-gay naked light bulbs and standing by the river's muddy edge under the shade of river trees where moss drifts through the branches like gray mist) our steps slow down. Even Queenie, our tough little orange and white rat terrier who has survived distemper and two rattlesnake bites, stops prancing and sticks close by. People have been murdered in Haha's cafe. Cut to pieces. Hit on the head.

(20) There's a case coming up in court next month. Naturally, these goings-on happen at night when the colored lights cast crazy patterns and the Victrola wails. In the daytime Haha’s is shabby and deserted.

I knock at the door, Queenie barks, my friend calls: "Mrs. Haha, ma'am? Anyone to home?"

Footsteps. The door opens. Our hearts overturn. It's Mr. Haha Jones

himself! And he is a giant; he does have scars; he doesn't smile. No, he glowers at us through Satan-tilted eyes and demands to know: "What you want with Haha?" (30) For a moment we are too paralyzed to tell. Presently my friend half-finds her voice, a whispery voice at best: "If you please, Mr. Haha, we'd like a quart of your finest whiskey." His eyes tilt more. Would you believe it? Haha is smiling! Laughing, too. "Which one of you is a drinkin' man?" "It's for making fruitcakes, Mr. Haha. Cooking. " This sobers him. He frowns. "That's no way to waste good whiskey." Nevertheless, he retreats into the shadowed café and seconds later appears carrying a bottle of daisy yellow unlabelled liquor. He demonstrates its sparkle in the sunlight and says: “Two dollars.” (40) We pay him with nickels and dimes and pennies. Suddenly, as he jangles the coins in his hand like a fistful of dice, his face softens. "Tell you what," he proposes, pouring the money back into our bead purse, "just send me one of them fruitcakes instead." "Well," my friend remarks on our way home, "there's a lovely man. We'll put an extra cup of raisins in his cake."

NOTES

peroxided – treated with a chemical used to make hair lighter

distemper – a serious infectious disease that affects animals, esp. dogs

Victrola – a popular type of home phonograph (record player) produced in the USA from 1906 until the early 1970s

a quart – about 0.95 litre

liquor – strong distilled alcoholic beverage

nickel – a coin worth 5 cents

dime – a coin worth 10 cents

EXERCISES