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Word Work
1
A House in the Country
Word Work
Language in Use
“..was used to..” “..got used to..”
A. In the story of Ray and Siri there are many examples of things that one or
either of
them were accustomed to doing – things they had been doing for some time and
which
were familiar to them.
For example, what is it that Siri, in this extract, is accustomed to doing?
Siri doesn’t see the purpose in having a new bed, etc. He was quite happy with
his old
bed. We can, therefore, say:
Siri was used to sleeping on an old bed and didn’t see the need for a new one.
What was Siri used to in the next extract?
1. Siri was used to __________________________________________________.
What were Ray or Siri used to doing in the following extracts?
2.________________________________________________________________________
3._________________________________________________________________________
4.
___
_____________________________________________________________________
You now have four examples of ‘was used to’. Add them to table A at the end of
this
exercise.
When Ray brought furniture for Siri’s room, Siri looked dismayed.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t need all this.’ Siri pointed at the cupboard and the new bed, the new
pillow and
mats.
‘Some comfort won’t harm.’
‘I have nothing to put in the cupboard. The old bed was fine, just as it was.’
'The radio?' Ray asked. Siri always had a radio on somewhere in the house
droning public
service. 'Radio is not on?'
The old conventions of Colombo serfdom died years ago, but Siri kept saying
'Sir' and
circumscribing their roles.
Although in England Ray had done many of these things himself, here he found he
needed
Siri.
It was the first time since childhood that Ray had had a constant companion.
Word Work
2
B. In the story of Ray and Siri, there are a number of things that the two
characters were
NOT used to doing: they were not accustomed to doing some things in the past
HOWEVER they learnt to do them. They accepted new things. For example, look at
the
following extract:
We can deduce that two years previously – before he returned to the country – he
had not
been used to curfews. However, two years later there have been many curfews, and
they
no longer had an effect on him (‘they had lost their significance’). In other
words, over a
period of time (two years) he became familiar with curfews. In other words Ray
got used
to curfews.
What did Ray or Siri get used to in the following extracts?
1._________________________________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________________________________
3._________________________________________________________________________
(The third extract also appeared in the exercises for ‘was used to’. How is this
possible?)
Add these three sentences to table B at the end of the exercise.
C. Now look at the following extracts. Some tell us about situations where Ray
or Siri
were used to doing something and some where Ray or Siri got used to doing
something.
Which is which? Add your completed sentences to the correct table, A or B, at
the end of
this exercise.
1._________________________________________________________________
In the two years that Ray had been back in the country there had been many
curfews.
They had lost their significance.
Siri seemed exhilarated by the freedom he had to use any material he desired to
turn
ideas into reality, even this own ideas.
He had never been given such complete responsibility before. Ray didn't
understand
this. It took time for him to see Siri as himself.
Usually Ray walked for about twenty minutes. On his way back he would collect a
newspaper from
the small general store near the temple.
Although in England Ray had done many of these things himself, here he found he
needed Siri.
Word Work
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2._________________________________________________________________
3.
___
__________
__________
__________
__________
______________________
4.__________________________________________________________________
5. _________________________________________________________________
TABLE A (…..was used to…..) TABLE B (…..got used to…..)
Siri was used to sleeping on an
old bed.
Ray got used to curfews.
Even two days ago he told me that he will not stop selling newspapers just like
that. But they
said he must stop, or it will be the end for him. I don't know why he
continued.'
He found himself thinking that without Siri he would have to make his own
morning tea
again.
Ray felt things had to change incrementally: he acquiesced and played the roles
Siri expected.
Ray would normally find the tray on a glass table. He had learned to accept this
service as a
part of life.
Word Work
4
A House in the Country
Word Work
Language in Use
“..used to ….”
In the story both Ray and Siri used to do things that they don’t do any more. In
other
words, they stopped doing something that once was customary.
For example, Ray used to live in England.
Ray used to live in England, but now he lives in
Colombo.
Siri, on the other hand, used to live in the country, where
his brother still lives.
Siri used to live in a village, but now he lives in Colombo.
Look at these quotes from the text, and say what Ray or Siri used to do. Write
complete
sentences like the examples above. There may be more than one example to take
from
each quote.
1.__________________________________________________________________
2.__________________________________________________________________
3._________________________________________________________________
4. _________________________________________________________________
Ray had not planned on having any
help or company when he first
returned to Colombo from England.
‘Go back to the country? Village
life?’ Siri smiled like a little boy
thinking about the ripeness of
mangoes. ‘Yes. Yes, I think I could
go back to a life in the country. Like
my brother’s. If there was a house
He'd had a secure job with a building society, a flat in London, a car, and a
happy circle of
acquaintances.
There had also been a woman he'd spend a night or two with from time to time.
But they
never had much to talk about and quite often he simply thought about going back
to Sri
Lanka
Word Work
5
5._
___
_____________________________________________________________
6._________________________________________________________________
7.________________________________________________________________________
8. ________________________________________________________________________
9._________________________________________________________________
10. ________________________________________________________________
His father had tried milch cows, but couldn't compete with the local MP's
people.
'Several times they told him to stop selling those newspapers. Mister Ibrahim
didn't listen.
This house had nothing of the elegance of his converted London flat, nor the
sensuality of the
open tropical houses of his Sri Lankan childhood.
Word Work
6
A House in the Country
Word Work
Language in Context:
Sequencing time: Past tenses.
1. Look at this section from the story. The parts are not in the right order.
Can you
find a better sequence for the story to make sense.
2. REMEMBER: The two tenses used here are the simple past and the past perfect.
The
simple past sets the time of the narrative or story, and the past perfect is
used to talk about
earlier events.
There are 10 sequences of events outlined above. They are
1. finding out what he wanted/retrieving
his past
2. resigning from job/selling house
3. not planning on having help
4. deciding to return to Colombo
5. having no time to think
6. friend getting married
7. not having things to talk about
8. having a secure job/flat etc
9. having a house left to him
10. spending some nights with a woman
1 He hoped he would find out what he wanted once he had freed himself from the
constraints of his London life, and once he had retrieved his past.
2. He resigned from his job, sold his flat and left.
3. Ray had not planned on having any help or company when he first returned to
Colombo from England.
4. That year he too decided he would go back home.
5. The business of moving absorbed his energies, and he had no time to think.
6. One summer she went back home to Ulster; she got married.
7. But they had never had much to talk about and quite often he simply thought
about going back to Sri Lanka.
8. He'd had a secure job with a building society, a flat in London, a car, and a
happy
circle of acquaintances.
9. He had a house left to him in Colombo and money saved over the years.
10. There had also been a woman he's spent a night or two with from time to
time.
NOTE:
'Once' is used here to mean 'when this has occurred'. This tells us that Ray
assumes or
hopes that he will "find himself" after he has arrived in Sri Lanka. Because it
refers to
a time, we can see that the time being referred to is before the result of the
action, so
we use the past perfect:
'once he had freed himself' means he will reach a point AFTER WHICH he will be
free.
Do not confuse this word with 'since'.
Word Work
7
Put these events into the correct 'time box'. The middle box represents the time
of the
narrative (simple past) the first box represents time or actions which happened
before
the time of the narrative (past perfect) and the third box represents time that
hasn't
happened yet, or it is unknown if the event has happened.
Before narrative time Narrative time After narrative time
3. In another part of the story, Ray sees a burnt out shop where the owner has
died.
Use the notes below and work in groups to reconstruct the story. Use the
sequence you
are given.
Sequence 1 G D C A B H F D
Sequence 2 G D H F C B E F
Connectors.
Use only: and or but
A
rebels/burn shop
B
rebels/stop sell/
papers
D
Ray/look/destructi
on
C
Ibrahim/sell/
newspapers
E
Ray/see/burnt
shop
F
Ibrahim/die
G
Ray/walk
H
Ibrahim/refuse
Word Work
8
A House in the Country
Word Work
Glossary
Note: these definitions are accurate for the context of the story but may
have different meaning in different contexts.
babble sound of many people
talking
buckled bent/twisted by heat
building society a kind of bank used
for buying houses.
cardamon spice used in Eastern
cooking
charred carbonised by burning
cinnamon spice used in cooking
clasped held tightly
clogged blocked
cloves spice used in cooking
corrugated made into waves or
wrinkles
crows black birds
curfew regulation obliging
people to stay at home
dangled hang loosely
droning continuous low sound
faltered failed, became
uncertain
fireflies flying insects
gecko wall lizard
glowing luminous appearance
gouged cut deeply
gravel small stones used for
paths etc
grubby dirty
marbles small glass balls used
in children's games
milch cows milk cows
moth cloth eating insect
usually seen at night
around lights
mottled uneven colouring
plummeted fell rapidly
puffs small amounts of
smoke
pungent strong smell
running amok out of control
rut something you can't get
out of
sarong skirt-like garment for
men or women
serfdom feudal slavery
serving his turn helping in his own way
shoved pushed carelessly
shutters wooden window
protectors
Sinhala language spoken in Sri
Lanka
slats thin strip of wood
smudged blurred
snorted noise made through
nose
staining colouring
stalking as if hunting
strewn left carelessly
tea-cosy soft cover for tea-pot
thud soft, heavy sound
thugs cut-throat; ruffian
Tigers Tamil Tigers - group of
rebels fighting for Tamil
independence
tugging pulling
waning decreasing in size
wings side piece of a building
wood grain direction of the fibres of
wood
Word Work
9
A House in the Country
Word Work
Glossary
Nota: estas definições são correctas no contexto da história mas
podem ter significados diferentes em contextos diferentes.
babble burburinho
buckled retorcido
building society espécie de banco
para empréstimos para
comprar casas.
cardamon especiaria: cardamomo
charred carbonizados
cinnamon canela
clasped entrelaçadas
clogged apertada
cloves cravinho da Ìndia
corrugated ondulada
crows corvos
curfew recolher obrigatório
dangled a baloiçar
droning emitindo em som
monótono
faltered falhou-lhe
fireflies luzicus
gecko geco,
glowing resplandecia
gouged escavar
gravel cascalho
grubby sujo
marbles berlindes
milch cows vacas leiteiras
moth traça
mottled manchada
plummeted baixaram
puffs baforadas
pungent pungente, acre
running amok perder as estribeiras
rut buraco
sarong vestimenta, tipo saia
para homem e mulher
serfdom servidão feudal
serving in his turn a sua vez de ajudar
shoved enfiada
shutters portadas
Sinhala lingua falada no Sri
Lanka
slats tabuinhas
smudged manchado
snorted resfolegou
staining pintura
stalking a passear a passo largo
strewn espalhados
tea-cosy abafador de bule
thud som pesado
thugs rufiões
Tigers Tigres Tamil - grupo de
rebeldes que lutam pela
independência Tamil
tugging a puxar
waning no quarto minguante
wings alas
wood grain textura da madeira
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