READING

Read and listen to the story and answer the questions, section by section.
1. What do you find out about the characters George and Alice Smith from this
first section?

George Smith sprawled burning there, you’d think him only a tourist flown to
Europe and soon to be transported home.

2. Guess what these verbs might mean from the context:

Detrained (1.1) = crazy
Sprawled (1.4) = lying down or very relaxed
Loomed (1.7) = to put on
Winced (1.12) = Get nervous
3. What is George's dream?

George's dream is to have 5,000 dollars and buy a private space

4. What do you understand by the metaphors...?

“their bodies all lobster colors” = they are tanned

“their wedding-cake hotels” = the hotels are luxury
“the shoreline stage was set” = they want to do something on the coast

5. What impression do you get of what the other man on the beach looks like?

He was shorter, square-cut man walked alone, He was deeper tanned, his
close-shaven head dyed almost mahogany by the sun, and his eyes were clear

6. What does the stranger start doing, and how does George react?

He sketched one figure and then moved over and still looking down, George
approached to put appreciate it better

7. Look at the two groups of three words. What’s the connection between the
three?
a) glance (1.46) spied (1.48) gazed (1.60)
b) sketched (1.56) scribbling (1.64) doodling (1.65)
Each group are synonymous
8. What is the artist’s attitude to George, and George’s to the artist?

George got too close and ran into the gaze of an artist who, surprised to see
him so close, smiled at him.
9. Look at these verbs in the text: tremble (1.72), slash 1.76), drawback (1.79),
shrug (1.83), stare (1.90), blink (1.96).
What kind of actions do you think they are?

They are things we do when we are nervous or scared

10. Why might George have “wanted to run”?

He got too scared

11. What is George's dilemma? What options does he consider? What does he
decide to do in the end? Why?

George thought about running away to the hotel and also if he could be faster
than the other man, in the end the other man understood that he was scared
and went in another direction to walk, George just looks at him as he was
leaving,

12. Look at these verbs in the text: grab (1.98), flick (1.102), whirl (1.105), nod
(1.111). What kind of movements do you think they are?

they are movements that we do all the time when we walk or talk, they are
innate to us

13. Why do you think George didn’t tell his wife about his experience?

George was ashamed of what had happened and also somewhat scared

14. How do you think he is feeling as he listens to the tide come in?

It is a metaphor to say that the tranquility has arrived, now it is calmer and it will
be better