1 D ■ Culture, vocabulary and grammar Belief and commitment

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1 SPEAKING Rank the things below in order of

This extract is from an autobiography called Long Walk
importance in your life. If you had to make a
to Freedom by the form er President of South Africa,
choice and support just one of them, which
Nelson Mandela. In the book, Mandela describes h.s
would you choose? Then read the extract from an
early life and later fight against the South African
autobiography. What was important to the writer?
apartheid regime. He first became involved with the
■ a political movement education ■ family African National Congress (ANC) in 1942, supporting non­
afight against poverty fight against discrimination violent protest. ’ B y i m h e h a d b e e n y ^
solution to an environmental issue ı career party for mom thnn tw enty years. He started to realize
that armed struggle w as the only __
2 The extract is from a book Long Walk to Freedom by w ay forward and began
Nelson Mandela. Read the extract again and discuss to use guerrilla tactics.
the questions. He was arrested in 1963
1 W hy was Mandela's impression of time different from for political offences
other people's? and sentenced to life
2 W hat did Mandela realize when he saw his mother imprisonment. In this
and children? passage he describes his
3 W hy did he have mixed emotions when he saw his time at Robben Island, a

mother? maximum security prison

for political prisoners. 2At
4 W hat impression of the authorities does Mandela
this point in his life, he
give in the second paragraph?
had been living in a small
5 W hat family tradition was Mandela forced to break?
p r k n n cell for many y e a n
6 How did it make him reflect on his life choices? W hat
regrets did he have?
7 W hat is the'struggle'he refers to? How did his family
initially react to his commitment to this 'struggle?
From Robben Island:
8 W hat conclusion does he com e to about the life the D a rk Years
choices he made?
A Time may seem to stand still for those o f us in
insight W o rd analysis
prison, but it did not halt for those outside. I was
3 Answer the questions, referring closely to the reminded of this when I was visited by my mother in
extract. the spring of 1968. 1 had not seen her since the end of
1 Which tw o adjectives does the writer use to describe
the Rivonia Trial. Change is gradual and incremental,
and when one lives in the midst o f one’s family, one
'change'? W hat is the difference between these two
rarely notices differences in them. But when one
adjectives? (A)
doesn’t see one’s family for many years at a time, the
2 Which adjective describes a transformation that is
transformation can be striking. My mother suddenly
extreme or unusual, and therefore attracts attention?
seemed very old.
W hy does the writer use it to describe his mother's
B She had journeyed all the way from the Transkei,
appearance? (A)
3 Which word refers to a period of time between one
accompanied by my son Makgatho, my daughter
Makaziwe, and my sister Mabel. Because 1 had four
event and another? (C)
visitors and they had come a great distance, the
4 Which word means to look tired and ill? W hat does it
authorities extended the visiting time from a half an
describe? (D)
hour to forty-five minutes.
5 Which phrase does the writer use instead of a lot?
C I had not seen my son and daughter since before
W hat does it refer to? (F)
the trial and they had become adults in the interim,
6 Which word means helpful? W hat does the writer
growing up without me. I looked at them with
refer to when he uses this word? (F)
amazement and pride. But though they had grown
7 Which word does the writer use for a confusing
up, I am afraid I still treated them more or less as the
problem or a question that is difficult to solve? W hat
children they had been when I went to prison. They
problem did the writer have? (G)
may have changed, but I hadn’t.
8 Which word means to be punished for something?
D My mother had lost a great deal of weight, which
How was the writer's family punished? (G)
concerned me. H er face appeared haggard. Only my
sister Mabel seemed unchanged. W hile it was a great
pleasure to see all o f them and to discuss family issues,
I was uneasy about my mother’s health.
E Several weeks later, after returning from the quarry,
I was told to go to the Head Office to collect a telegram.
It was from Makgatho, informing me that my mother
had died o f a heart attack. I immediately made a

10 In sp iratio n