3 Answer the questions.
1 What were Sylvia Plath’s most important memories? She remembered winning a prize, Paula Brown’s new suit and the view from her window.
2 Where did she live and what could she see from her bedroom window?
She lived on the bay side of town, on Johnson Avenue, and she could see the lights of Boston and Logan Airport from her bedroom window. 3 What did the view make her want to do? It made her want to fly in her dreams. 4 Why did she have such vivid dreams?
Because she was rarely tired when she went to bed. 5 Who appeared in her dreams?
Superman appeared and taught her to fly.
6 Why did she enjoy the radio adventures of Superman? Because she loved the sheer poetry of flight. 7 Where did her friend and she play Superman?
At the dingy back entrance to the school, an alcove in a long passageway.
Unit 2 Childhood memories 46
8 Why do you think they chose Sheldon to be the villain? Because he was a mamma’s boy and was left out of the other boys’ games.
9 How did she feel about her Uncle Frank?
She admired him as she thought he bore an extraodinary resemblance to Superman incognito. 4 Choose the best summary of the passage.
3 Sylvia Plath wrote about her real and imaginary life as a child.
Dealing with unfamiliar words
5 Match the words in the box with their definitions. 1 accurate and true (definite) 2 continuing all the time (perpetual) 3 to spin quickly in circles (whirl) 4 to shine very brightly (blaze)
5 to laugh in a nervous, excited or silly way that is difficult to control (giggle)
6 to encourage someone to speak or continue speaking (prompt) 7 to fall to the ground (tumble)
6 Complete the paragraph with the correct form of the words in Activity 5.
Plath never needed to be (1) prompted to talk about her
childhood memories. They were very (2) definite
and still real to her as an adult. She imagined she could fly and (3) whirl through the air like Superman.
Coming from the highways around Boston was the (4) perpetual sound of traffic. In the distance a plane
was taking off, its lights (5) blazing into the night sky. She remembered the sound of (6) giggling which
came from the group of girls. Sadly in her later life it seemed as if Superman had (7) tumbled to earth.
7 Replace the underlined words with the correct form of the words in the box.
1 The lights at the airport went on and off all day and night. (blinked)
2 The playground was like a desert. It was without any interesting or positive features and unfriendly. (barren)
3 The boys were playing a children’s game in which the players chase and try to touch each other and the girls were gossiping and giggling. (tag)
4 Pulling the legs off insects is a form of action causing extreme physical pain by someone as a punishment, and is extremely cruel. (torture)
5 The similarity in appearance between the twins was striking. (resemblance)
6 He would cover candy with a piece of cloth used for cleaning lips and hands, and make it disappear. (napkin)
8 Answer the questions about the words and expressions. 1 If you look through a kaleidoscope, are you likely to see (a) changing coloured patterns, or (b) a single coloured pattern?
2 If you flaunt something, do you (a) deliberately try to make people notice, or (b) try to hide it?
3 If you marvel at something, do you find it (a) boring, or (b) surprising and fascinating? Childhood memories Unit 2 47
4 Are shooting stars likely to (a) move brightly through the night sky, or (b) stand still?
5 Is the twilight likely to be (a) at the end of, or (b) in the middle of the day?
6 If you drift off to sleep, are you likely to fall asleep (a) quickly, or (b) slowly?
7 If someone is bookish, are they likely to be (a) more, or (b)
less interested in reading books than doing other activities?
8 If you make up something, do you (a) invent it, or (b) borrow it from someone else?
9 If you come into your own, are you likely to show (a) how effective and useful, or (b) ineffective and useless you can be?
10 Is a villain likely to be a (a) good, or (b) bad person? 11 If you are left out of something, are you likely to be (a) included, or (b) excluded? Active reading (2) Language points
1 These changing ideas about children have led many social scientists to claim that childhood is a “social construction”. (Para 4)
A social construction refers to the process or result of creating an idea or system of behaviour in social
contexts, ie it is created and developed between people and is not something natural or genetic. Childhood memories Unit 2 53
2 Social anthropologists have shown this in their studies of