READ THIS
This story is about the conflict between two young women in a small South African town.
The older one has defined her territory as centre of attention of the young men. And then a rival appears
and invades her territory.
READ THIS PASSAGE:
I have an old, brown, carved box; the lid is broken and tied with a string. In it I keep little squares of
paper, with hair inside, and a little picture which hung over my brother's bed when we were children, and
other things as small. I have in it a rose. Other women also have such boxes where they keep such
trifles, but no one has my rose.
When my eye is dim, and my heart grows faint, and my faith in woman flickers, and her present is an
agony to me, and her future a despair, the scent of that dead rose, withered for twelve years, comes back
to me. I know there will be spring; as surely as the birds know it when they see above the snow two tiny,
quivering green leaves. Spring cannot fail us.
There were other flowers in the box once: a bunch of white acacia flowers, gathered by the strong hand
of a man, as we passed down the village street on a sultry afternoon, when it had rained, and the drops
fell on us from the leaves of the acacia trees. The flowers were damp; they made mildew marks on the
paper I folded them in. After many years I threw them away. There is nothing of them left in the box now,
but a faint, strong smell of dried acacia, that recalls that sultry summer afternoon; but the rose is in the
box still.
Have you looked at the questions in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer the following questions:
Explain the following expressions taken from the story:
[Need help?]
"My eye is dim": when she gets old and cannot see clearly any more.
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- quivering green leaves; (2)
[Need help?]
"Quivering green leaves": new green leaves that are shaking with life in spring.
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[Need help?]
"Mildew marks": mildew is a fungus which grows in damp conditions.
Because the flowers were packed into her box while still wet, they developed mildew which made marks
on the paper in which they were packed.
The mildew marks were still there even though the flowers had been thrown out.
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How did it come about that the narrator owned the rose in the box? (5)
[Need help?]
The woman, when she was a girl, had become a rival of another girl in the village. The other girl resented
her for usurping her place as the most popular woman in the village.
When she decided to leave, however, there was a party held and the older girl gave her the rose as a sign
of reconciliation.
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The narrator speaks of the time when her "faith in woman flickers".
- Is the word "woman" used correctly here? Should it not be "women"? How do you
know? Explain your answer carefully. (3)
[Need help?]
It is indeed correctly used. The word refers to the concept of womanhood rather than several specific
women.
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- Why therefore has the author used the word "woman". To what is she
referring? (3)
[Need help?]
The author is not speaking about women in the plural sense, but rather about womanhood. She is
speaking about WOMAN as if she is single person who represents all women.
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"Spring cannot fail us."
- To whom is the narrator referring when she speaks of "us"? (2)
[Need help?]
She is either speaking about all people or all women.
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- Explain the meaning of this expression. (4)
[Need help?]
The author means that there is an eternal cycle. Winter will always be followed by spring. It will always
happen
After a time of sorrow, there will always be joy. Spring represents everything vibrant in life, a time of new
life, a fresh beginning.
It will always happen, says the author.
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Explain the expression "but no one has my rose". (3)
[Need help?]
Although there are many roses in the world, her rose is UNIQUE. There is no other rose like it because
it represents a moment of friendship between one woman and another.
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For how long did the writer own the rose? (1)
[Need help?]
She has owned the rose for twelve years.
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