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Question
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Contextual Clues
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Answer
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1
(Level 1)
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From the
passage: "... birthmark...
which was laid upon me before I came into the world"
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A birthmark is
a spot or blot that a person has from birth.
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2
(Level 1)
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References made
to it include "fatal birthmark" and " it may be the stain"
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The word is
`stain'. (`Fatal' is not as suitable a word since it refers to the grave
consequence of having the birthmark rather than a description of what it
means to the bearer.)
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1
(Level 2)
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She fears that
"perhaps its removal may cause cureless deformity; or it may be the
stain goes as deep as life itself."
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The two
possible dangers are that the removal may lead to a permanent defect or it
could even lead to death.
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2
(Level 2)
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Georgiana
refers to him having "deep science" and Aylmer himself speaks of going
"deeper than ever into the heart of science."
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Aylmer is a
scientist. (If you speculate that he is an aesthetic or cosmetic surgeon, you
can't be faulted.)
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1
(Level 3)
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Aylmer: ". I have already given this matter
the deepest thought... what will be my triumph when I shall have corrected
what Nature left imperfect in her fairest work!"
Georgiana:
" Danger is nothing to me... while this hateful mark makes me the object
of your horror and disgust"
"Is this
beyond your power, for the sake of your own peace, and to save your poor wife
from madness?"
(From the
conversation that both Aylmer and Georgiana has, one can see that the
birthmark bothers Aylmer and the only reason Georgiana is troubled by it is
because of Aylmer's reaction to it. Georgiana is willing to even face death
if it will rid the birthmark which Aylmer finds so offensive. Aylmer is also
very confident of his capabilities and he also sees himself as someone who
makes perfect what Nature left imperfect.)
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Aylmer is selfish
since he is willing to subject Georgiana to possible dangers from the
procedure to rid her of the birthmark that he finds offensive. He is also a
perfectionist for he seems the birthmark as an imperfection and wants to remove
it.
Georgiana is
selfless since, for her husband's sake, she is willing to go through a
procedure that she knows may be dangerous. She is loving person since she is
more concerned about her husband's adverse reaction toward the birthmark and
wants to make him happy even at the expense of losing her life in the
process.
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2
(Level 3)
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It shows that
he is avoided the blemished cheek and from Georgiana's early remark we know
that it causes him "horror and disgust" and has taken away his
"peace".
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The author
wants to highlight Aylmer's revulsion for the birthmark.
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1
2
3
4
5
6
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"Aylmer," resumed Georgiana,
solemnly, "I know not what may be the cost to both of us to rid me of
this fatal birthmark. Perhaps its removal may cause cureless deformity; or it
may be the stain goes as deep as life itself. Again: do we know that there is
a possibility, on any terms, of unclasping the firm gripe of this little hand
which was laid upon me before I came into the world?"
"Dearest
Georgiana, I have spent much thought upon the subject," hastily
interrupted Aylmer. "I am convinced of the perfect practicability of its
removal."
"If
there be the remotest possibility of it," continued Georgiana, "let
the attempt be made at whatever risk. Danger is nothing to me; for life,
while this hateful mark makes me the object of your horror and disgust,--life
is a burden which I would fling down with joy. Either remove this dreadful
hand, or take my wretched life! You have deep science. All the world bears
witness of it. You have achieved great wonders. Cannot you remove this
little, little mark, which I cover with the tips of two small fingers? Is
this beyond your power, for the sake of your own peace, and to save your poor
wife from madness?"
"Noblest,
dearest, tenderest wife," cried Aylmer, rapturously, "doubt not my
power. I have already given this matter the deepest thought--thought which
might almost have enlightened me to create a being less perfect than
yourself. Georgiana, you have led me deeper than ever into the heart of
science. I feel myself fully competent to render this dear cheek as faultless
as its fellow; and then, most beloved, what will be my triumph when I shall
have corrected what Nature left imperfect in her fairest work! Even
Pygmalion, when his sculptured woman assumed life, felt not greater ecstasy
than mine will be."
"It
is resolved, then," said Georgiana, faintly smiling. "And, Aylmer,
spare me not, though you should find the birthmark take refuge in my heart at
last."
Her
husband tenderly kissed her cheek--her right cheek--not that which bore the
impress of the crimson hand
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Answer: The author feels that his medical
problems are too many and hence, would take too much of the doctor's precious
time, which is already limited in its short span.
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Answer: The `it' refers to the knowledge that,
excluding housemaid's knee, he had all the diseases.
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Do you use your prior knowledge?
Do you look for clues to read in
between the lines?
Do you note down the key words in the
questions?
Do you pay particular attention to the
grammar?
Do you look for what is missing, or
what has been left unsaid?I went to my medical man. He is an old chum of mine, and feels my pulse, and looks at my tongue, and talks about the weather, all for nothing, when I fancy I'm ill; so I thought I would do him a good turn by going to him now. "What a doctor wants," I said, "is practice. He shall have me. He will get more practice out of me than out of seventeen hundred of your ordinary, commonplace patients, with only one or two diseases each." So I went straight up and saw him, and he said: "Well, what's the matter with you?"
I said: "I will not take up your time, dear boy, with telling you what is the matter with me. Life is brief, and you might pass away before I had finished. But I will tell you what is NOT the matter with me. I have not got housemaid's knee. Why I have not got housemaid's knee, I cannot tell you; but the fact remains that I have not got it. Everything else, however, I HAVE got."
And I told him how I came to discover it all.
Then he opened me and looked down me, and clutched hold of my wrist, and then he hit me over the chest when I wasn't expecting it - a cowardly thing to do, I call it - and immediately afterwards butted me with the side of his head. After that, he sat down and wrote out a prescription, and folded it up and gave it me, and I put it in my pocket and went out.I did not open it. I took it to the nearest chemist's, and handed it in. The man read it, and then handed it back.
He said he didn't keep it.I said: "You are a chemist?"He said: "I am a chemist. If I was a co-operative store and family hotel combined, I might be able to oblige you. Being only a chemist hampers me."
I read the prescription. It ran:"1 lb. beefsteak, with
1 pt. bitter beer
every 6 hours.
1 ten-mile walk every morning.
1 bed at 11 sharp every night.
And don't stuff up your head with things you don't understand."
I followed the directions, with the happy result - speaking for myself - that my life was preserved, and is still going on.
Qn No.
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Key Words in:
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Answer
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1
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Question: Refer to question for key words in blue
Passage: (highlighted in turquoise) Refer to passage
for key words in red.
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(A `what' question
calls for a specific answer, and here we are looking for the doctor's
opinion.)
The doctor thinks that
the author is imagining his illness / In the doctor's opinion, the author is
a hypochondriac. (When the doctor does the usual superficial examination, he
doesn't seem concerned at all since he is talking of the weather.)
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2
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Question: Refer to question for key words in blue
Passage: (highlighted in yellow) Refer to
passage for key words in red.
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(A `how' question calls
for a look at the process, at the way in which the author will be helping his
friend.)
The doctor will have a
better opportunity to work on finding ways to heal various diseases from
treating him since he has so many more diseases than an ordinary patient who
would have just one or two.
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3
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Question: Refer to question for key words in blue
Passage: (highlighted in grey) Refer to passage
for key words in red.
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The five advices are:
1.
Eat
a hearty meal;
2.
Drink
liquor;
3.
Exercise
daily;
4.
Sleep
at the right time; and
5.
Don't
pretend to be knowledgeable in areas that are beyond one's expertise.
Each helps the author
to lead a healthy life by:
1.
Giving
him the proper nourishment;
2.
Making
him carefree and forget his worries;
3.
Keeping
his body fit;
4.
Enabling
his body to get ample rest; and
5.
Ensuring
that he doesn't get unduly anxious by unsubstantiated thoughts.
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