Focus on Words

Read the text and answer the questions.
On Herbert’s twenty-first birthday Mrs. Sunbury gave him a kite. It wasn’t by any
means the first one she had given him. That was when he was seven years old. Flying
kites had become a passion with Herbert since then, and as he grew older, his mother
bought him larger and larger kites. He grew very clever at catching the winds and could
do things with his kite you would never have thought possible. Mr. Sunbury took up
flying kite with enthusiasm as well.
Saturday afternoon became a great day for them. The first thing they did in the
morning was to look up at the sky to see if it was flying weather. They liked best of all
a gusty day, with uncertain winds, for that gave them the best chance to exercise their
skill. All through the week in the evenings, they talked about it. They discussed the
performances of other flyers, as boxers or football players discuss their rivals. Their
ambition was to have a bigger kite than anyone else and a kite that would go higher...
Then an unfortunate thing happened. Herbert began to go out every evening. Mrs.
Sunbury didn’t like it much, but Mr. Sunbury reasoned with her. After all the boy was
twenty two, and it must be dull for him to stay at home all the time.
Herbert had fallen in love. One day he asked a young lady, Betty Bevan, to come
in to tea. Mrs. Sunbury arranged the tea very stylishly. She put a tea-cloth on a little
table in the sitting room, which they never used. She got out the tea service, which they
never used either, and she baked a cake and cut thin bread-and-butter.
Mrs. Sunbury took an instant dislike to Betty Bevan, but she had made up her
mind to behave like a lady, and if she didn’t know how to behave like a lady nobody
did, so that at first things went well.
At tea Mrs. Sunbury talked about the weather. She had the satisfaction of seeing
that Betty was getting more and more ill at ease 1 . Then she cut the cake and pressed a
large piece on her guest. Betty took a bite at it and when she put it on her saucer it on
her saucer it fell to the ground.
“Oh, I am sorry,” said the girl as she picked it up.
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll cut you another piece,” said Mrs. Sunbury.
“Oh, don’t bother, I am not particular. The floor’s clean.”
“I hope so,” said Mrs. Sunbury with acid smile, “but I wouldn’t dream of letting
you eat a piece of cake that’s been on the floor. Bring it here, Herbert, and I’ll give
Miss Bevan some more.”
“I don’t want any more, Mrs. Sunbury, I don’t really.”
‘I’m sorry you don’t like my cake. I made it specially for you.” She took a bite. “It
tastes all right to me.”
“It’s not that, Mrs. Sunbury, it’s a beautiful cake, it’s only that I’m not hungry.”
She refused to have more tea and Mrs. Sunbury saw she was glad to get rid of the cup.
Comprehension
1. What special interest did Herbert have? How did he feel about it?
2. What can you say about Herbert? Mrs. Sunbury? Betty?
3. Can you find cases of irony in the text?
4. What do you think will be the end of the story?
1. ill at ease ³ÝѳݷÇëï, ϳßϳݹí³Í, ³ÝѳñÙ³ñ
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