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Directions: You are expected to study this section in class. Don’t preview.
Word Pretest
For each italicized word or expression, choose the best meaning below.
1. His death gave his father much grief
A. relief B. anxiety C. sadness D. happiness
2. They tried to arouse nationalistic passions against the foreigner.
A. thoughts B. feelings C. struggles D. ideas
3. Oh, do be careful, don't tread on the flowers.
A. treat B. jump C. destroy D. step
4. People fled in fear when the bull got loose.
A. flew B. stood C. stayed D. ran away
5. I despair of ever passing my driving test.
A. lose all hope of B. have some hope of
C. lose some hope of D. have all hope of
6. The house was restored to its former owner.
A. fixed B. returned C. rebuilt D. repaired
7. The little boy looked with a longing at the toys in the shop window.
A. great length B. strong wish
C. short length D. strong dislike
8. He glanced around to make sure that nobody was watching.
A. took a quick look B. took a close look
C. gazed D. stared
9. Already the mountains are fading in the evening light.
A. rising B. forming C. disappearing D. appearing
10. It was painful of course but I bore it.
A. carried B. held C. put up with D. yielded
Text A
Orpheus and Eurydice
ORPHEUS
Orpheus with his lute made trees,
And the mountain tops that freeze,
Bow themselves when he did sing;
To his music plants and flowers
Ever sprung, as sun and showers
There had made a lasting spring.
Everything that heard him play,
Even the billows of the sea,
Hung their heads, and then lay by.
In sweet music is such art,
Killing care and grief of heart
Fall asleep, or hearing, die.15
——William Shakespeare
In a pleasant valley in Thrace, among springing flowers and the happy songs of the birds, lived Orpheus, the first and greatest of musicians. By his wonderful playing he so charmed the hearts of men that they forgot their angry passions and evil desires and became gentle little children. Even rocks and trees would leave their resting place and come near to listen, while wild beasts became tame and harmless under the spell of his music.
Orpheus had a beautiful wife, Eurydice, and her sisters, the nymphs of the valley, living near by, accompanied them. Their life was a bright and wonderful one, with the music of Orpheus running through it like a magical thread, till a sudden and terrible thing happened. Eurydice, treading unwittingly on a serpent, was bitten in the foot, and, in spite of all that Orpheus and the nymphs could do, after a few hours of suffering she died, and her spirit fled to the Underworld, where Pluto the king and Persephone his young queen ruled over those who had died and been carried to Hades.
Now indeed were the days darkened for Orpheus. Nothing, not even his beloved lyre, could drag him from the depths of sorrow into which he had fallen, and at length, despairing of ever finding happiness without Eurydice, he determined to journey to Hades and ask Pluto to restore his lost bride to him. The ferryman refused to allow him to cross the river Styx; he had to face the fierce three-headed dog, the terrible Cerberus, which guarded the entrance to Pluto's realm; but his music so charmed these that he was allowed to pass.
Still playing on his lute, he went down the dark passages of Hades. At last he entered Pluto's palace, and before the King could protest at a living mortal thus appearing before him, Orpheus had poured forth the story of his grief and longing in a song surprisingly sweet and painful, which so moved even Pluto's hard heart that he agreed to give up Eurydice and allow her to return to earth. One condition he made. Till he had reached the upper air and was quite free of the kingdom of Hades, he was to trust the King's word that Eurydice was following him and do not look back.
Joyfully Orpheus set out on the return journey. The shadows of the Underworld were giving way to the pleasant light of day, when, moved by some unexplainable terror, Orpheus glanced back to see if Eurydice were really following. Too late he remembered the punishment for his lack of faith. He saw the form of his beloved fade away into the gloom of Hades, her arms stretched out toward him longingly but helplessly, and although he lingered for days hoping for another chance, he had to return alone -- but not to the happy valley. That, without his bride, he could not bear, and he retired to the hills alone, where, for a few months, the sad songs of his lute could be heard. Then that stopped, and no one knew what happened to Orpheus.
Some say he was killed by a band of Thracian dancing-women because he would not play merry music to them -- he whose heart had no joy left in it -- but at the last he and his Eurydice were united for ever in the Kingdom of the Dead.
Total words: 660
Total reading time: __ minutes seconds
The text is based on A Book of Classical Stories by A. J. Merson (London, 1937).
◆Reading Skill Recognizing the Pattern of Details
Read the following passage carefully and identify the organizational pattern(s) with the help of the signal words or phrases.
Orpheus had a beautiful wife, Eurydice, and her sisters, the nymphs of the valley, living near by, accompanied them. Their life was a bright and wonderful one, with the music of Orpheus running through it like a magical thread, till a sudden and terrible thing happened. Eurydice, treading unwittingly on a serpent, was bitten in the foot, and, in spite of all that Orpheus and the nymphs could do, after a few hours of suffering she died, and her spirit fled to the Underworld, where Pluto the king and
Persephone his young queen ruled over those who had died and been carried to Hades.
Pattern(s):
Resuming his beggar's disguise, Odysseus went the next day with Eumaeus .to the palace. As he came near the gate, his old hunting dog Argus pricked up his ears, wagged his tail, and tried to crawl a few inches toward him. His master had come home at last. With a long, happy sigh the dog put down his head and died.
Odysseus entered the banquet hall and began to beg food from the noisy suitors. They laughed at his dirt and rags. Then, not content with words alone, one struck at him with a stool. Seeing this, Telemachus controlled himself and said: "You forget the laws of hospitality! Even a beggar deserves a better treatment than this!"
Pattern(s):
◆Reading Comprehension
Circle the letter of the best answer.
1. The ending lines of Shakespeare's poem "Orpheus" suggest that Orpheus' sweet music is able to .
A. bring sleep and death B. get rid of worry and grief
C. kill care D. fall asleep and die
2. "Springing flowers" means .
A. flowers in spring time B. flowers by a mountain stream
C. flowers that are coming out D. flowers that are jumping
3. Eurydice was attacked by a .
A. servant B. ferryman C. snake D. dog
4. Orpheus' music was not powerful enough to .
A. help him cross the river Styx
B. help him pass the entrance of Pluto's realm
C. make Pluto agree to give Eurydice back without any condition
D. make Pluto agree to give Eurydice back on condition that he would not look back before Eurydice reached the Earth
5. The land of the dead can be named by the following terms except .
A. Underworld B. Pluto's realm
C. Cerberus D. Hades
6. On the return journey Orpheus lost Eurydice because .
A. he was impatient and looked back
B. she wasn't following him
C. Pluto went back on his word
D. he was frightened and looked back
7. Orpheus went away to the hills alone and stayed there for .
A. ever B. a few years
C. a few months D. a few days
8. It is said that some Thracian dancing-women killed Orpheus because .
A. he refused to play music
B. he hated Thracian women
C. he still loved Eurydice
D. he refused to play merry music
◆Vocabulary Building
Match the following words with their definitions within each group of five words.
ripple a large sea wave
mischief delightful influence
hospitality a little wave on the surface of water
billow naughty behavior by children
spell welcoming behavior
nymph a soldier
band a human being
suitor a goddess of nature
mortal a man wishing to marry a particular woman
warrior a group of musicians
crafty not wild
hostile satisfied
merry cunning
tame unfriendly
content cheerful
resume a strong feeling of fear, anxiety and hopelessness
gloom the time just before night
despise take again
dismay look down on with contempt
dusk darkness
Semantic Variations
For each italicized word, decide which semantic variation best conveys the meaning of the author. Circle the letter of the best answer.
1. spell (A: 22)
A. brief period of time
B. to write the letters of a word
C. irresistible influence
2. passage (A: 39)
A. a long narrow space
B. a journey by ship
C. a portion of a written work
3. mortal (A: 40)
A. human being
B. deadly
C. extremely great
4. reach (A: 44)
A. to arrive at
B. to stretch out a hand or arm
C. part of a fiver
5. band (A: 55)
A. group of persons
B. group of musicians organized to play together
C. flat strip of material
6. content(B:78)
A. subject matter
B. amount contained
C. satisfied
Stems
Study the following stems and their meanings. List some more examples in the space provided
|
Stems |
Meanings |
Examples |
1
2
3 |
val/vail
serv
tend/tens |
worth; strength
keep
stretch |
value; avail
observe
extend; extension |
val/vail 1. 2. 3. 4:
serv 1. 2. 3. 4:
tend/tens 1. 2. 3. 4:
Read each of the following sentences, and write down the meaning of the italicized word in the space provided.
1. There is a tendency these days for more people to go to college.
tendency:
2. Old people are usually more conservative than young people.
conservative:
3. They tried to preserve their customs against the effects of the modern world.
preserve:
4. Your advice at present would be exceedingly valuable to me.
valuable:
5. As we have nothing available to measure the length with, we have to guess at it.
available:
6. Political arguments prevailed over economic sense.
prevail:
④Antonyms
Circle the one word in each of the following groups that is the antonym of the other three.
1. allow permit let forbid
2. baffle perplex mystify clarify
3. joy delight bliss sorrow
4. wander meander ramble remain
5. reveal disclose uncover conceal
◆ Cloze
Fill in each blank with a word given below. Change the form of the word if necessary.
place name win wander neglect
arrows power celebrate mischief expedition
Eros was the god of love, better known by his Latin Cupid. Son of Aphrodite by Ares, he took his among the lesser gods of Olympus. He was represented as a little naked boy with wings, and he carried his bow and wherever he Shooting his thrilling arrows in mischief, he inspired the passion of love and endowed all nature with life and the of reproduction No man nor god, Zeus himself included, was safe from his . At one time Eros was wounded by his own arrows and fell in love with Psyche, a princess whose beauty her the adoration of all who looked on her. Aphrodite hated Psyche because people were so attracted by the princess' matchless beauty that they the goddess. Aphrodite tried many ways to punish Psyche. Cupid then went. to Zeus for help. The father of gods and men held a meeting to which all gods, including Aphrodite, were invited. Zeus raised Psyche among the gods, and a grand feast was spread to the eternal union of the pair. Another famous story where Eros played an important role was the Argonautic . Medeia, daughter of King Aietes, was wounded by Eros' arrows, helped Jason recover the golden fleece and eventually became the hero's wife.
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