Everyday Use for Your Grandmama
I. Give brief answers to the following questions, using your own words as much as possible:1) In real life what kind of woman is the mother
2) What kind of woman would Dee like her mother to be?
3) How does the mother act when she meets a strange white man?4) What kind of girl is Maggie?
5) Why do you think colored people asked fewer questions in 1927?
6) Why does the mother say Dee will never bring her friends to visit them? What does this tell about Dee? Give otherinstances to prove your point.
7) Why did Dee want the quilt so much?8) Why did Maggie want the quilt?9) Why did Dee visit her mother and sister?
10) What is the mother’s feeling toward Dee? How is it changed in the course of the story?11) What is implied by the subtitle ‘ for your grandmama’’?II. Paraphrase:
1) She thinks her sister has held life always in the palm of one hand2)”no” is a word the world never learned to say to her
3) Johnny Carson has much to do to keep up with my quick and witty tongue.4) It seems to me I have talked to them always with one foot raised in flight5) She washed us in a river of make-believe
6) Burned us with a lot of knowledge we didn’t necessarily need to know7) Like good looks and money, quickness passed her by.8) A dress to the ground, in this hot weather.
9) You can see me trying to move a second or two before I make it.10) Anyhow, he soon gives up on Maggie.
11) Though, in fact, I probably could have carried it back beyond the Civil War through the branches.12) Every once in a while he and Wangero sent eye signals over my head.13) Less than that.
14) This was the way she knew God to work.III. Translate the following into Chinese:
1) In real life I am a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands. In the winter I wear flannel nightgowns to bedand overalls during the day. I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man. My fat keeps me hot in zero weather. I canwork outside all day, breaking ice to get water for washing; I can eat pork liver cooked over the open fire minutes after itcomes steaming from the hog. One winter I knocked a bull calf straight in the brain between the eyes with a sledge hammerand had the meat hung up to chill before nightfall. But of course all this does hot show on television. I am the way my
daughter would want me to be: a hundred pounds lighter, my skin like an uncooked barley pancake. My hair glistens in thehot bright lights. Johnny Carson has much to do to keep up with my quick and witty tongue.
2) But that is a mistake. I know even before I wake up.Who ever knew a Johnson with a quick tongue? Who can even
imagine me looking a strange white man in the eye? It seems to me I have talked to them always with one foot raised in flight,with
my head turned in whichever way is farthest from them. Dee, though. She would always look anyone in the eye, Hesitationwas no part of her nature.
3) I used to think she hated Maggie, too. But that was be-fore we raised the money, the church and me, to send her to
Augusta to school. She used to read to us without pity; forcing words, lies, other folks’ habits, whole lives upon us two, sittingtrapped and ignorant underneath her voice. She washed us in a river of make-believe, burned us with a lot of knowledge wedidn’t necessarily need to know. Pressed us to her with the serious way she read, to shove us away at just the moment, likedimwits, we seemed about to understand.
4) I never had an education myself. After second grade the school was closed down. Don’t ask me why: in 1927 coloredasked fewer questions than they do now. Sometimes Maggie reads to me. She stumbles along good-naturedly but can’t seewell. She knows she is not bright. Like good looks and money, quickness passed her by. She will marry John Thomas (whohas mossy teeth in an earnest face) and then I’ll be free to sit here and I guess just sing church songs to myself. Although Inever was a good singer. Never could carry a tune. I was always better at a man’s job. I used to l ove to milk till I was hookedin the side in ‘49. Cows are soothing and slow and don’t bother you, unless you try to milk them the wrong way.IV. Replace the following italicized words with more formal words or expressions:1) even though she has told me once that she thinks orchids are tacky flowers.2) like dimwits, w e seem to understand. ( )
3) and hanging from his chin like a kinky mule tail ( )
4) Impressed with her they worshiped her well-turned phrases5) I heard Maggie go “Uhnnnh” again. ( )
6) It looks like Asalamalakim wants to shake hands but want to do it fancy. ( )7) “Well,” said Asalamalakim, “There you are.” ( )
8) After I tripped over it two or three times he told me to just call him Hakim-a-barber. ( )9) “You must belong to the beef-cattle people down the road,” I said. ( )10) She talked a blue streak over the sweet potatoes. ( )V. Complete the following elliptical sentences:1) Dee, though.
2) Never could carry a tune.
3) Like when you see the wriggling end of a snake just in front of your foot on the road.4) Dee, next. A dress down to the ground, in this hot weather.5) Earrings gold, too, and hanging down to her shoulders.
6) “No, Mama,” she says. “Not ‘Dee, ‘ Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo!”7) “Why shouldn’t I?” I asked.
8)Always too busy: feeding the cattle, fixing the fences,putting up salt-lick shelters, throwing down the hay.9) “Uncle Buddy whittle that, too?” asked the barber.
10) “Imagine!” she breathed again, clutching them to her bosom.
Ⅵ. The following sentences all contain metaphors or similes. Ex-plain their meaning in plain, non-figurative language.1) I am the way my daughter would want me to be: ... my skin like an uncooked barley pancake.
2) It seems to me I have talked to them always with one foot raised in flight.
3) Impressed with her they worshiped her well-turned phrases,the cute shape, the scalding humor that erupted like bubblesin lye.
4) He flew to marry a cheap city girl from a family of ignorant flashy people.5) And she stops and tries to dig a well in the sand with her toe.6) “Maggie’s brain is like an elephant’s,” Wangero said, laughing.
7) You didn’t even have to look close to see where hands pushing the dasher up and down to make butter had left a kind ofsink in the wood.
8) “Mama, “ Wangero said, sweet as a bird.9) She gasped like a bee had stung her.10) It’s really a new day for us.
VII. Explain how the meaning of the sentences is affected when the italicized words are replaced by the words in brackets.Pay attention to the shades of meaning of the words.1) It is like an extended living room. (large)
2) She will stand hopelessly in corners, homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs. (helplessly,embarrassed by)
3) Dee and I are suddenly brought together on a TV program of this sort. (like this one)
4) Out of a dark and soft-seated limousine I am ushered into a bright room filled with many people. (car)5) Furtive boys in pink shirts hanging about on washday after school. (sly)
6) Bracelets dangling and making noises when she moves her arms up to shake the folds of the dress out of her armpits.(hanging)
7) After dinner Dee (Wangero) went to the trunk at the foot of my bed and started rifling through it. (suitcase, searching)8) “Imagine!” she breathed again, clutching them closely to her bosom. (breathed) VIII. The following are rhetorical questionsrequiring no answers.
Turn them into statements without changing the main ideas.
1) A pleasant surprise, of course: What would they do if parent and child came on the show only to curse out and insult eachother?
2) Who ever knew a Johnson with a quick tongue?
3) Who can ever imagine me looking a strange white man in the eye?4) Why don’t you do a dance around the ashes?5) “Why don’t you take one or two of the others?” I asked.
IX. Choose the appropriate set phrase from the list below for each blank. Make changes where necessary.to put up to bring up to bring togetherto crop up to keep up with to hand downout of style with a style to stick toby hand to hang to hang about
to hang down to hang back to carry back
1) Serious trouble_______ when Martin thought the problem of his college education was solved.
2) The soldiers________ barricades of live wire around the whole area.
3) The work that Group A is doing is too difficult for me. I’m afraid that I won’t be able to_________ them.4) That matter was_______ at the Committee meeting that very afternoon.5) I’m not sure that John and Mary can be______
6) He noticed several furtive and rough-looking guys_______ the bus stop.
7) Everyone approved of the project but when we asked for volunteers they all ______8) A colored reproduction of Raphael ____________ on the wall over the fireplace.
9) The waterfall was running down from the high cliff so smoothly that it looked like a piece of silver cloth ________from thesky.
10) These ceremonies have been __________through the centuries, and remain practically unchanged.11) What surprised me most was the amount of work still done____12) You can put that frock away, for it is already_____
13) All the paintings were exquisite. It was obvious that the artist did every one of them______14) Did the letter arrive or through the post?15) I’ve got some glue my fingers.
16) The sound of the seagull me to my childhood holidays to the seaside.
X. The narrator uses a number of images of animals in describing people or things. Point them out and then put them intoChinese.
XI. The narrator says, “I never had an education myself.” What are some of the characteristics of her use of language (such aschoice of words, sentence structure and grammar) that suit this background of hers?
XII. Translate the following sentences into English, (using the following words or expressions- to look sb. in the eyes, to burn... to the ground, to match, over, despite, to confront, to recompose, to imagine, to stick to, to trace ... to):1)⼀场⼤⽕把贫民区三百多座房⼦夷为平地。
2)只要你为⼈正直，不怕失去什么，那你对任何⼈都不会畏惧。3)尽管发了⽔灾，今年的农业⽣产损失并不严重。4)这件衬衫与裙⼦的颜⾊和式样都不相配。5)咱们⼀边喝咖啡⼀边谈这件事吧。
6)我怎么也不能想象你能做出不光彩的事来。7)他⽆法想象为什么⼈们反对他的看法。8)这位官员在下汽车时碰到两个恐怖分⼦。9)只要我们坚持这些原则，我们就会成功。
10)这个消息使她⼤为震惊，但她很快就镇定了下来。11）这段引⽂的来源很难查找到。
12）他们的⽣活⽅式可以追溯到⼀千多年前他们的祖先所开创的古⽼传统。XIII. Topic for oral work: Compare the threewomen in the story.
XIV. Write a short composition on: My Family习题全解
I .
1)In real life the mother was a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands.2)Dee like her mother to have a slender figure and a fair skin, glistening hair anda quick and witty tongue.
3)When she meets a strange white man, she always avoids looking him in the eye and is ready to go away.4)Maggie is an innocent, timid and kind-hearted girl.
5) Because they were more seriously looked down upon by white men at that time, and they were not as awaken as they aretoday.
6)Because Dee doesn’t like her friends to see the poor state her family is in, which she thinks is shameful. This tells us thatDee is somewhat a snob. Another instance to prove this is that she wants nice things.
7)Because it was old and stitched by hand instead of by machine. So that she could use them for decoration showing to thepeople she was associated with.
8)Maggie wanted the quilt because she could remember her grandma better, who taught her to do needle work.9)Because she wanted to get some valuable heritages of the family, mainly out of her vanity.
10)At first the mother liked Dee because of her beauty, taste, and education. But with the development of the story, her lovewas transferred to a dislike because of Dee’s egotism, which was obviously revealed when she insisted on taking the quiltswhile her sister Maggie gave up keeping it willingly to satisfy her desire.
11)It’s implied that the story is written in honor of the grandma mentioned in it and that the ordinary old thing may besomething precious for the young.Ⅱ.
1)She thinks that her sister has a firm control of her life.
2)She could always have anything she wanted, and life was extremely generous to her.
3)The popular TV talk show star, Johnny Carson, who is famous for his witty and glib tongue, has to try hard if he wants tocatch up with me.
4)It seems to me that I have talked to them always ready to leave as quickly as possible.5)She imposed on us lots of falsity.
6)imposed on us a lot of knowledge that is totally useless to us7)She is not bright just as she is neither good-looking rich.8)Dee wore a very long dress even on such a hot day.
9)You can see me trying to move my body a couple of seconds before I finally manage to push myself up.10)Soon he knows that won’t do for Maggie, so he stops trying to shake hands with Maggie.
11)As I see Dee is getting tired of this, I don’t want to go on either. In fact, I could have traced it far back before the Civil Waralong the branches of the family tree.
12)Now and then he and Dee communicated through eye contact in a secretive way.13)If Maggie put the old quilts on the bed, they would be in rags less than five years.14)She knew this was God’s arrangement.Ⅲ. See the translation of the text.IV.1)inelegant
2)a stupid person/a simpleton3)tightly curled
4)expressed or worded well/felicitous5)say (used to describe dialogue)
6)as if shake hands in a fancy and elaborate way7)I knew you couldn’t trace it further back8)mispronounced, failed to pronounce it correctly9)people who bred and fatten cattle for meat10)talked much and rapidlyV.
1)Dee, however, is not like me.2)I could never carry a tune.
3)It was like the reaction you have when you see the wriggling end of a snake just in front of your foot on the road.4)Dee comes out of the car next. She is wearing a dress long enough to touch the ground, in spite of this hot weather.5)Her earrings are gold，too，and they are hanging down to her shoulders．
6) “No，Mama，”she says “My name is not Dee now，it has changed into Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo!”7) “Why shouldn’t I call you by your new name?8)Those people were always too busy：…
9) “Did Uncle Buddy whittle that one, too?” asked the barber．
10) “Imagine that she did all the stitching by hand!” she breathed again，clutching them to her bosom．Ⅵ．
1)…my complexion had a smooth an d creamy texture．
2)…uncomfortably and nervously，wanting to get away as soon as possible．3)…the quick and great humor that would make everybody laugh immediately．
4)He wasted no time in marrying a contemptible city girl from a family of ignorant ostentatious and vulgar people．5)…move her feet in great discomfort．
6)”Maggie’s brain is very slow，”Wangero said, laughing．7)…slightly sunken areas．
8) “Mama，”Wangero said in an extremely sweet voice．9)She breathed suddenly in painful surprise．
10)For us colored people。this is a new era and we must seize our opportunities．Ⅶ．
1)extended意为”加长的”、”加⼤的”；large指空间⼤，宽敞。
2)hopelessly指没有希望或指望；helpless指没⼈帮助或保护；ashamed指因为⾃卑感⽽感到卑微或尴尬；embarrassed指感到不⾃在，举⽌失态。
3)of this sort带有贬义，暗⽰这种电视节⽬质量低劣，档次不⾼；like this one ⽆贬义。
4)limousine是⼤型豪华轿车，由⼀专职司机驾驶，有⼀玻璃板把司机与乘客隔开；car可指各种汽车。5)furtive 俩。指做事偷偷摸摸，⼼中有⿁；sly指长于欺骗，玩弄伎俩。6)dangling意为在空中摇荡；hanging指把东西挂起来。
7)trunk指存放东西或旅⾏⽤的⼤箱⼦，⽤⽊头或别的材料做成；suitcase指放⾐服的旅⾏箱，常由⽪⾰类材料制造。rifling意为抢劫或掠夺(在这⾥是⼀种夸张，说明母亲Dee的⾏为很不满)；search是⼀个通⽤的词，不带感情⾊彩。8)breathe意思是轻声地说，低语；breathe again是固定词组,意为如释重负，松了⼀⼝⽓。Ⅷ．
1)A pleasant surprise，of course．This is much better than a situation in which the parent and child came on the show onlyto curse out and insult each other．
2)None of the Johnsons had a quick tongue．
3)I could never possibly look a strange white man in the eye.
4)1 know you hated the house and so you are very glad to see the house being burnt down．5)You may take one or two of the other quilts．Ⅸ．
1)cropped up 2)put up 3)keep up with 4)brought up5)brought together 6)hanging about 7)hung back 8)hung9)hanging down 10)handed down 11)by hand 12)out of style13)with a style 14)by hand 15)stuck to 16)carried backⅩ．
1)hog猪2)bull calf⼩公⽜3)dog狗4)cow奶⽜5)mule骡⼦6)snake蛇7)sheep⽺8)lizard蜥蜴9)fish鱼lO)cattle⽜
Ⅺ．Since she never had an education herself，she tended to use simple words，fragmented sentences and otherungrammatical sentences．To give one example。she used “like” to introduce a clause instead of “as”．XII．
1)A big fire burned to the ground more than 300 homes in the slum neighborhood.
2)If you are upright and not afraid of losing anything, you will be able to look anyone in the eye.3) Despite the flood, the losses in agricultural production were not that serious.4) This blouse doesn’t match the color or the style of the skirt.5)Let’s talk about the matter over a cup of coffee.6)I can’t imagine you doing disgraceful things.
7)He couldn’t imagine why peop le were opposed to his suggestions.8)Stepping off from the car, the official was confronted by two terrorists.9)As long as we stick to these principles, we will surely be successful.10)She was shocked at the news, but before long she recomposed herself.ll)It is very difficult to trace this quotation to its source.
12)Their way of life could be traced to the ancient traditions handed down to them by their ancestors more than one thousand
years ago.XlII. Omitted.XlV.My Family
Ours is a big family. My father is a worker who lives in a lo-cal city. Both my oldest uncle and second uncle set up house-keeping in the countryside. My youngest
uncle is a teacher and lives far from us. Great changes have taken place in my family since the beginning of the reform andopening policy.
In the late 1970s, our big family had a get-together and discussed the problem of my grandma’s residence. Those were hardtimes. No one took the initiative to live with her. Each family had a skeleton in the cupboard. Oldest uncle had room onlye-n0ugh to shelter them from the wind and rain. He had to tighten his belt to keep the family pot boiling. Second uncle hadnothing but four bare walls to face and led a dog’s life. Youngest uncle was said to be living in a dormitory and couldn’t evenafford a trip back. My father lived in a bungalow which was a doll’s house thing and had to eke out our livelihood. But it wasbetter anyway. My grandma lived on with us.
Such was my family at that time. Each family of the big ex-tended family was in financial straits.
In the early 1990s, my big clan held another family meeting and still my grandma’s residence was discussed. But great
changes had occurred. Each smaller family was “fighting” for the chance to live w ith grandma. The meeting began in a merryatmosphere. My father started, “The government has established a system of floor wages and ceiling working hours. Wehave a steady income and regular leisure time. Besides, we have a well-furnitured apartment. “ Oldest uncle hastened, “Thestate has legalized us to be engaged in household sideline production, so I have set up a small but rather profitable poultryfarm. Moreover, there is more spacious room. “ Second uncle would’t fall behind, “I have contracted to r un a large stretch ofland and engage many farm hands. I profit a lot from it. I have more leisure time.
“ Eventually, as regards the peace in the country-side, my grandma moved to second uncle, youngest uncle took a flight backand told us he had just bought a flat.
That was my family about 10 years later. Each smaller family lived in abundance.
Now, oldest uncle is manager of a large-scale poultry farm and second uncle’s farm has been mechanized.
To sum up, the spring wind of the reform and opening policy has led to great changes and my family is well on the way toprosperity.
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