Baptism Day with the Maasai

By Joel Hindson (The Daily Telegraph, 04.10.2013) Read the text carefully, paying attention to the underlined words. Can you figure out their meaning just by looking at their context? Have a look at the explanations below. Look at each words pronunciation and meaning. Try to make a sentence with each new word. Why not, write a short composition using these words (you can re-tell the story or invent a new story).

It was baptism day in Kimuka village, Kenya. The confining, corrugated walls of the church were replaced by Maasailands flat expanse. The parched earth was brick red, and scattered with stones and boulders. Young acacia trees jutted out of the ground at every angle, their green canopies littering the ground with barbed thorns tough enough to pierce the sole of any shoe. The sky was a tranquil blue, the Kenyan sun oppressive, beating down on our party as we silently trod the dusty trail to the nearby watering hole.

The village pianist and two young Maasai girls, armed with microphones, set up camp beside the waters edge. A breeze taunted the villagers, all sprawled in any available shade. Minutes later, the heat of the afternoon was long forgotten and the baptisms were under way. The congregation was alive and on its feet. The tinny, alien tones of the keyboard were cranked right up, three simple chords bouncing around in a repetitive sequence that filled the clearing with energy. The two girls gave life to the music, hollering simple refrains in Kimaasai and competing in volume with the overzealous pianist. Resplendent in patterned reds and blues, the Maasai men and women gathered around the pond, hands in the air, swaying and clapping to the pulse of the music. Friends and strangers danced, their shuffling feet possessed. The men whooped and whistled, laughing boyishly, and the women sang as one, in response to the two girls. The clearing was buzzing with energy and music as one villager, then another, then another was led into the center of the pond. Then came my turn. Thoughts of leeches and typhoid fever floated at the back of my mind as I waded into the opaque, muddybrown water. Murmuring my assent to the vicar, I crossed my arms across my chest

and gazed up into the clear blue sky. Suddenly, my entire body was dunked backwards and swallowed completely by the murky water. Everything slowed, and the music became a dull, throbbing echo. As quickly as it had been extinguished, the world, the music, and 100 whooping Maasai rushed back to greet me. Dripping wet, seated on a sun-baked rock, I was given a piece of paper on which is my new middle name, Leshan, Maasai for rain. Vocabulary To confine [k n-fain] = a restriction, a limita, a reduce v. 1. To keep within bounds; restrict: Please confine your remarks to the issues at hand. 2. To shut or keep in, especially to imprison. 3. To restrict in movement: The sick child was confined to bed. To corrugate = a ondula, a gofra v. [krgeit] to fold or be folded into alternate furrows and ridges the house had a corrugated iron roof. Expanse [ikspense] = intindere (de pamint, de cer, de mare) n. wide and open extent, as of surface, land, or sky . The wide expanse of snowy fields To parch = a pirjoli, a arde v. to make extremely dry, to become very dry The midsummer sun parched the earth. Parched = a. pirjolit, ars de soare: the parched plains of India To jut out [dt] (juts, jutting, jutted) = a iesi in afara v. to stick out or overhang beyond the surface or main part; protrude or project He had a sharp crooked nose jutting out of a lean dancer's face (Graham Greene). A line of rocks jutted into the sea. Canopy [ken -pi] = 1. acoperamint, baldachin; 2. umbra, bolta n. 1. a covering, usually of cloth; 2. the uppermost layer in a forest, formed by the crowns of the trees The leaves created a dense canopy that cut out much of the light. To litter = v. a murdari, a impinzi 1. to make untidy by discarding rubbish carelessly Selfish picnickers litter the beach with food wrappers. 2. to scatter about: littered towels all over the locker room. n. serie de pui nascuti din aceeasi mama in acelasi timp: It was the finest puppy in a litter of six. To tread trod trodden

v. = to walk on, over, or along. To form by walking or trampling: tread a path. To taunt [tont] = a-si bate joc, a lua peste picior v. to reproach in a mocking, insulting, or contemptuous manner The bullies have been taunting the little boy. To sprawl [sprol] = a se intinde, a se labarta v. to sit or lie with the body and limbs spread out awkwardly Exhausted, he sprawled out on the couch. Congregation = adunare religioasa (Christianity) a group of persons gathered for worship, prayer, esp in a church To crank up = a porni (cu manivela); a spori, a intensifica to cause to intensify, as in volume or force: cranks up the sound on the stereo. To holler [hol ] = to yell or shout Resplendent [ri-splend nt] = a. splendid or dazzling in appearance, brilliant. Leech = lipitoare n. Any of various chiefly aquatic bloodsucking or carnivorous annelid worms of the class Hirudinea, of which one species (Hirudo medicinalis) was formerly used by physicians to bleed patients and is now sometimes used as a temporary aid to circulation during surgical reattachment of a body part. To dunk [dk] = a (in)muia v. to plunge into liquid, immerse I dunked my biscuit in the cocoa. To throb = a pulsa, a palpita, a zvicni v. to beat rapidly or violently, as the heart; pound: My head was throbbing to vibrate, pulsate, or sound with a steady pronounced rhythm: boat engines throbbing. Whoop n. [wup] = strigat de bucurie; a striga de bucurie n. a loud cry of exultation or excitement; v. to cry with joy He whooped with delight when he found out the results. Whoopee! = Ura!

Grammar: Look at the verbs in the above text; the narrator uses Past Tense Simple to express actions that happened in the past. Now try to fill in the spaces with the correct form of the verb in past tense (do not forget the changes of the verbs: look looked; play played; fly flied;

cry cried, watch watched, stop stopped, sob sobbed). There are also irregular verbs (say-said-said, put-put-put, cost-cost-cost, swimswam-swum, etc). See the list of irregular verbs here: http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/irregular-verbs

When Abby (be) _______(1) seven years old, she (do, not, like) _______ _______ _______(2) piano lessons. She (do, not, like) _______ _______ ________(3) to practice, and sometimes she even (cry) _______(4) when it (be) _______(5) time to practice. Finally, she (stop) _______(6) taking lessons. Some of Abby's friends (do, not, quit) _______ _______ _______(7) their lessons. They (continue) _______(8) to play. After much practice, they (learn) _______(9) to play very well. About ten years (pass) _______(10) before Abby (become) _______(11) interested in music or the piano again. After she (graduate) _______ (12) from high school, Abby (decide) _______(13) that she (want) _______(14) to study music in college. She (call) _______(15) the lady who (teach) _______(16) her when she (be) _______(17) a little girl. The lady (say) _______(18) she would teach Abby again. The lady (need) _______(19) someone to help her daughter with homework. Abby (say) _______(20) she would help with homework in exchange for lessons. Because of this, the piano lessons (cost) _______(21) her nothing! She (work) _______(22) very hard to catch up. Now she is making good progress. Soon she will go to college, majoring in music.

Answer Key: 1) was 2) did not like 3) did not like 4) cried 5) was 6) stopped 7) did not quit 8) continued 9) learned 10) passed 11) became 12) graduated 13) decided 14) wanted 15) called 16) taught 17) was 18) said 19) needed 20) said 21) cost 22) worked